Matthew Taylor

Robert Jenrick – ‘None of us’ want to return to national lockdown This morning Andrew Marr interviewed the Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick, amid news that the UK’s ‘R’ number (the rate of transmission of the coronavirus) is now estimated at between 1.2 and 1.5, remaining stubbornly above the critical number 1.0. With the Prime Minister

Boris Johnson – People must behave ‘fearlessly but with common sense’ The Prime Minister joined Andrew Marr this morning, and inevitably the interview began with a focus on Covid-19 and the government’s efforts to suppress the virus. Johnson’s key message for the public was one of stoicism, saying that the virus would still be hovering

Steve Baker – Liberty ‘dies like this’ with ‘draconian powers’ unchecked The government has come under fire from its own side this morning as it prepares to renew the Coronavirus Act six months after it was first put into effect. Graham Brady, the chair of the influential 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers, is spearheading an

Health Secretary Matt Hancock was one of the two big political guests of the day on the Andrew Marr show. The government is preparing to introduce a new system of fines and restrictions to combat a winter wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Andrew Marr asked about the government’s strategy if the rate of re-infection did

Robert Buckland – ‘I will resign’ if government breaks law in ‘unacceptable’ way The Justice Secretary Robert Buckland was put on the spot this morning over the government’s proposed Internal Market Bill, which is due to be introduced to the House of Commons tomorrow. The bill intends to override aspects of the Northern Ireland Protocol

Dominic Raab – This week is ‘the moment of reckoning’ for EU deal The Sunday interview shows return this week to general fanfare across the nation… The first government guest to join Sophy Ridge was the Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who was asked about the prospect of the UK reaching a satisfactory trade deal with

Dominic Raab – ‘Swift decisive action’ needed on new quarantine rules The government updated its rules on foreign travel yesterday so that anybody returning to the UK from Spain has to self-isolate for 14 days. The new guidance reflects the discovery of 971 new coronavirus cases in Spain in one day, prompting fears of a

Liu Xiaoming – No Muslim concentration camps in Xinjiang Today’s Sunday interviews took a heavier focus on foreign affairs than usual, with Andrew Marr counting not one, but two ambassadors among his guests. He began by speaking to Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese ambassador, and confronted him with aerial footage appearing to show restrained Uighur Muslims

Michael Gove – We want to see more people back on the shop floor It was Michael Gove’s turn to lead the government’s broadcast rounds this morning. Sophy Ridge began by seeking clarification from the Cabinet Office Minister about the government’s message on returning to the workplace: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1282228898852462593?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw MG: We want to see more people

Matt Hancock – ‘I’m pleased with what happened yesterday’ The Health Secretary was Sophy Ridge’s first guest this morning. Pubs and restaurants were allowed to reopen yesterday, prompting concerns from some quarters that the public would overindulge themselves. Ridge asked Hancock how he felt so-called ‘Super Saturday’ had gone: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1279681822159507456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw MH: From what I’ve seen…

Priti Patel – Violence against police will be met with ‘full force of the law’ Sophy Ridge interviewed the Home Secretary Priti Patel, asking her about the difficulties involved in policing Britain under lockdown. Recent weeks have not only seen mass protests on the streets, but also scenes like an illegal street party in Brixton

Rishi Sunak – Protest violence ‘shocking and disgusting’ The Chancellor of the Exchequer led the batting for the government this morning. Recent weeks have seen considerable unrest playing out in the heart of British cities, and on Saturday central London played home to a ‘counter-demonstration’ prompted by the defacing of the Cenotaph and the statue

Professor John Edmunds, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who has been advising the government throughout the Covid crisis, spoke to Andrew Marr this morning. Edmunds told Marr that, with the UK’s official death toll having now passed 40,000, the UK should have locked down faster in retrospect: https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1269553742476648448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw AM:

Nicola Sturgeon – England’s care home deaths are under-reported Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has argued that the reason for Scotland’s relatively high rate of Covid-19 deaths in care homes could be because the figures for England and Wales are artificially low: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1267004284891267072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw NS: It’s often put to me that the death rate for… care

Grant Shapps – Dominic Cummings won’t resign A media storm has been battering the government this morning after it emerged that the Prime Minister’s key adviser Dominic Cummings could have breached the government’s strict advice against travel during the lockdown. In March, Cummings and his family left London to self-isolate in his native Durham, in

Michael Gove – We’re confident children and teachers will be safe Michael Gove was in charge of the government’s media rounds this morning. Andrew Marr was keen to ask him about the provisions being made for children returning to school. The government wants primary school children in reception, Years 1 and 6 to return to

Robert Jenrick – Staying at home still ‘very important’ Sophy Ridge began this morning interviewing Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick. The Prime Minister will address the nation at 7pm tonight, updating the government’s Covid-19 strategy, and it is anticipated that he will outline a vision for the end of the lockdown. The official message will change

Grant Shapps – Raw mortality figures don’t tell the whole story Sophy Ridge’s first guest this morning was the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps. There have been over 28,000 deaths attributed to Covid-19, now that the government is including figures from care homes and the wider community. Ridge confronted Shapps with comparisons of known mortality figures

Dominic Raab: Vaccine ‘not likely’ this year The Foreign Secretary was in charge of the government’s media round this morning. Yesterday, hospital figures showed the UK’s official death toll for those displaying symptoms of Covid-19 had now passed 20,000. Acknowledging this ‘grim milestone’, Dominic Raab told Sophy Ridge that the government was ‘driving forward’ in