Matt Hancock, the health secretary, has announced that the government has ordered a further 60m doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine in an effort to ensure that booster jabs can be given from this autumn. He made the announcement at a No 10 press conference where Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer for England, also gave a relatively upbeat assessment of progress being made in the fight against coronavirus. Van-Tam said that the expected third wave of coronavirus cases could be reduced to a “third upsurge” if the vaccination programme continued at pace (see 5.50pm) and he said new variants in the UK were not “rushing away” to the extent to which they could soon present a major problem. (See 5.44pm.) But Hancock faced criticism after the briefing was over for his decision to completely ignore questions about the “sleaze” issues facing the government. A formal investigation into how Boris Johnson funded refurbishments to his Downing Street flat has been launched by the Electoral Commission, which said there were “reasonable grounds” to suspect multiple offences may have been committed. A furious Johnson tried to fight off allegations he broke donation reporting rules, as Sir Keir Starmer branded him “Major Sleaze” in the “cash for curtains” row increasingly engulfing the prime minister.
Johnson will retain power to quash investigations and exonerate himself and ministers despite the appointment of a new standards adviser, it has been revealed, sparking high-level criticism from former top civil servants. Arlene Foster has announced she is stepping down as leader of the Democratic Unionist party and Northern Ireland’s first minister after a sudden internal party revolt. The European parliament has given its overwhelming backing to the Brexit trade and security deal, prompting senior figures on both sides to speak of hope for a “new chapter” of friendly relations after four years of division. MPs have for the fifth time rejected an attempt to protect hundreds of thousands of leaseholders from crippling fire safety bills of up to £100,000 each. That’s all from me for tonight. But our coronavirus coverage continues on our global live blog. It’s here.