Here’s a roundup of the key developments from the day: Keir Starmer said it was “a mistake to end free Covid tests” – a measure which Rishi Sunak is pushing – though he stopped short of calling for mandatory isolation to continue in England beyond next week. The Labour leader said in an interview with the Guardian he would reserve judgment on ending isolation until these proposals were put forward next week. Ministers’ plans to scale back free PCR Covid tests could weaken the UK’s defences if a new variant of the virus emerged that resulted in “significant new waves” of cases, a group representing local public health chiefs has warned. The group said that despite the government being expected to roll back the last remaining Covid laws from next week, coronavirus was “yet to become endemic”, and added it was “difficult to predict when this state may be attained”. Inflation in the UK increased to the highest rate for three decades in January as the impact of rising energy bills fed into a wide range of goods and services, adding to the squeeze on household living standards. The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, responded by saying: “We understand the pressures people are facing with the cost of living. These are global challenges but we have listened to people’s concerns.” Workers are entitled to ask for a pay rise after a gruelling pandemic and faced with a severe cost-of-living crisis, Keir Starmer has said as official figures showed wages falling in real terms. The Labour leader’s call came in contrast to comments by the Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, who warned this month that wage rises would fuel inflation Dozens of Conservative MPs had been in private contact with Labour leader Keir Starmer expressing dismay at Boris Johnson’s false claim he had failed to prosecute the child abuser Jimmy Savile. The accusation – which the prime minister has “clarified” but never withdrawn – caused many Conservative MPs to get in touch with Starmer privately to express distaste. The Cabinet Office has sought to clarify with the Metropolitan police whether it will publish more than 300 photos received as part of the inquiry into alleged parties in Downing Street and across Whitehall. The force is unlikely to reveal the names of any individuals hit with fines linked to the 12 gatherings under investigation, as the identity of people issued with a fixed penalty notice (FPN) is not usually disclosed by police. The Scottish government has confirmed it will offer Covid vaccinations to all children aged five to 11 years, adding to the pressure on UK ministers to do so in England. The Scottish decision follows an announcement on Tuesday from the devolved government in Wales that it would follow unpublished advice from the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) that all children in that age group should be jabbed. Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance had not seen any evidence of a Russian withdrawal from the Ukraine border. Arriving at the meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels, he said: “So far we have not seen any de-escalation on the ground – on the contrary, it appears that Russia continues the military buildup.” Russia has the ability to “overwhelm” Ukraine despite claims to have pulled back some forces from the border, defence secretary Ben Wallace has warned. He urged caution about the “direction of travel from the Kremlin” as efforts to resolve the crisis by diplomatic means continued. Nato defence ministers have reaffirmed their support for the “territorial integrity and sovereignty” of Ukraine. In a statement released on Wednesday afternoon, they warned that any further Russian aggression against the country will have “massive consequences” and “carry a high price”. Thanks so much for joining me today and for all your tweets, emails and comments below the line. Sorry I couldn’t reply to everyone. We’re closing this blog but I’ll be back again tomorrow and we have some other live blogs which are still live. Our dedicated blog on the Russia/Ukraine crisis is here:
Meanwhile our global coronavirus blog is here: