Katy Balls

After France's Europe Minister became the latest politician to threaten a vaccine export ban on the UK, Boris Johnson used today's press conference to try to diffuse the row ahead of Thursday's summit of EU leaders. When asked in the Q&A session whether such an export ban could derail the UK roadmap for ending lockdown and if the UK would retaliate, the Prime Minister stressed the need for cooperation from all sides. No. 10 fear retaliatory measures in the event of a vaccine export ban could make the situation go from bad to worse Johnson said the UK would continue to work with European partners to deliver the vaccine rollout – suggesting that the pandemic wouldn't be over for anyone until it was over for everyone.

It's only days before the Holyrood election campaign gets underway and Nicola Sturgeon is facing one of the most testing weeks of her political career. Two verdicts are due in the coming days on whether the First Minister broke the ministerial code over the Alex Salmond inquiry.  One is the finding of Scottish parliament's Alex Salmond committee which is due on Tuesday. The panel, which is made up of MSPs, is widely expected to say she did mislead parliament. Sturgeon and her allies will likely dismiss it as politically motivated. Already this line is being pushed out by the First Minister and SNP politicians.

Is the UK about to be forced into a vaccine war? That's the concern in Westminster after Brussels upped the ante over a potential vaccine export ban. Ursula von der Leyen suggested last week that the European Commission could block vaccine exports to countries with a high volume of jabs already. Now an EU official has said that the EU will rebuff any British government calls to ship Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines from a factory in the Netherlands.  The primary complaint among EU leaders is that AstraZeneca is yet to make good on its contractual obligations to them and deliver them the number of doses first promised. The Dutch plant can make between five and six million doses a month so has the potential to boost supply for both the UK and EU.

The message from Boris Johnson's press conference this evening was one of reassurance. Following the decision by several EU member states to suspend use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine over concerns about a potential link with blood clots, the Prime Minister said that the vaccine is safe and that 'the benefits of the vaccine in preventing Covid far outweigh any risks'.Pointing to statements from both the UK and EU regulators on its safety, Johnson said the thing that 'isn't safe is catching Covid'. Johnson was also at pains to calm concerns over vaccine supply. The Prime Minister admitted that the UK was experiencing a supply issue — but said that despite this, there would still be more vaccinations in April than there were in February.

What is Keir Starmer thinking? His approach might baffle Tory MPs, who wonder if he will ever spring to life. The answer, though, is that he’s playing a long game. He hopes he will be a strong opposition leader when the time is right. For now, it is time to offer support to Boris Johnson’s government. The pandemic has created tricky terrain for the shadow cabinet. Much like in wartime, normal political rules don’t apply, because ‘people want the government to succeed’. Starmer’s supporters say coronavirus means the Labour party has been squeezed out of the conversation. It’s not as simple as Starmer not knowing what he wants, even if some Labour MPs see this as the main problem.