Early evening summary Scotland’s schools are expected to fully reopen in early April, with some household mixing allowed, after Nicola Sturgeon unveiled a partial route map to lifting the country’s strict Covid controls. Nicola Sturgeon has said “vaccine passports” would be worth considering if they could help people to get “some greater normality back”. But she also said she would like to see a “broad consensus” behind any plan to introduce them. (See 3.14pm.) Earlier Boris Johnson expressed concern that “vaccine passports” could be discriminatory”. He said Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, will lead the review to consider policy on this. (See 1.11pm.) The review is described as genuinely open, but it is understood that that ministers are not keen on a system where entry to a venue might depend entirely on whether or not someone has been vaccinated. Instead there is more interest in using test results too - so that entry might depend on either having been vaccinated, or having tested negative. Matt Hancock, the health secretary, has been criticised for a “disgustingly disrespectful” claim that there was never a national shortage of personal protective equipment during the pandemic. Welsh ministers and health experts have expressed concern at the UK government’s target to lift all limits on socialising in England by June and insisted that reopening schools to all pupils at the same time is unsafe. Boris Johnson has said he is “very optimistic” all restrictions on normal life in England will end on 21 June, saying the government will continue to provide economic support to businesses until they can operate as normal – appearing to confirm that many financial packages will be extended in the chancellor’s March budget. Airlines and travel companies have reported a surge in holiday bookings after the Boris Johnson announced his roadmap out of lockdown. Unemployment in the UK edged higher to 5.1% in December as the government’s furlough scheme continued to prevent a steep rise in job losses in the run-up to Christmas. Boris Johnson quit journalism for politics because he felt guilty about “abusing or attacking people” without putting himself in their shoes, he told a group of schoolchildren. Labour has been accused of an anti-left “stitch-up” after it reopened the contest to find a mayoral candidate for Liverpool, sidelining the three women who were in the running. (See 4.53pm.) Sir Keir Starmer has used a speech to the National Farmers Union conference to say Labour would be “absolutely committed” to investing in farming and rural communities. Boris Johnson has warned world leaders that failure to address the issue of climate change will undermine global security. As PA Media reports, chairing a virtual meeting of the United Nations security council (UNSC), the prime minister said climate change was a “geopolitical issue every bit as much as it is an environmental one”. The UK has given the European Union until April 30 to approve the Brexit trade deal. As PA Media reports, MEPs insisted they did not have time to scrutinise the deal between it being struck on Christmas Eve and coming into effect on January 1 so it has only been provisionally implemented since then.A deadline to approve it by February 28 has now slipped after Michael Gove agreed to the EU’s request for an extension. The Scottish parliament is redacting one of Alex Salmond’s submissions about “malicious” attempts by former colleagues to banish him from public life after legal warnings from the Crown Office. That’s all from me for tonight. But our coverage continues on our global coronavirus live blog. It’s here. This is from Liam Thorp, political editor of the Liverpool Echo, on the Labour mayoral selection controversy. (See 4.53pm.) This is from Dan Carden, the Labour MP from Liverpool Walton, on the party’s decision to reopen the Liverpool mayoral selection contest (which means closing it for the three current candidates, who are being sidelined). And this is from Jennie Formby, who was general secretary of the party when Jeremy Corbyn was leader. The Scottish Conservative leader at Holyrood, Ruth Davidson, has criticised the Scottish government for not providing enough detail about when Scotland will exit lockdown. In her response to Nicola Sturgeon’s statement in the Scottish parliament, Davidson said the strategic framework update was not a routemap out of Covid, but just a “holding document”. The Scottish Conservatives have also tweeted this. Anna Rothery, the current lord mayor of Liverpool and one of the three candidates for mayor now sidelined (see 4.53pm), says she may go to court to challenge the party’s decision. And this is from Howard Beckett, the Unite assistant general secretary and member of Labour’s national executive committee. Beckett is one of the leading candidates hoping to replace Len McCluskey as the union’s general secretary when he retires. Labour accused of anti-left "stitch-up" after it reopens Liverpool mayoral selection contest Labour has reopened the contest to find a successor to the Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson, PA Media reports. PA says: Three female candidates, councillors Wendy Simon, Ann O’Byrne and Anna Rothery, had been in the running to stand for Labour in the city’s mayoral elections on 6 May. Anderson, who has been the elected mayor since the role was created in 2012, announced on New Year’s Eve he would not stand for re-election following his arrest as part of a Merseyside police fraud investigation. Today, with less than two months until nomination papers must be submitted to the council, Labour announced it was re-opening the selection for the post. PA understands the previous candidates will not be invited to apply. Labour has not said why the three candidates are no longer wanted. But a party spokesperson said: After careful consideration, Labour is reopening the selection for Liverpool mayor. We are committed to ensuring members are able to choose the right candidate to stand up against the Conservatives, lead Liverpool out of the coronavirus crisis and fight for the resources that the city desperately needs. Momentum, the Labour group set up to support Jeremy Corbyn when he was leader, says this looks like a “stitch-up to keep left candidates off the ballot”. John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor, has described this as a “fiasco”. UK records 8,489 new cases – lowest daily total for more than four months The latest UK Covid figures have been published on the government’s dashboard. Here are the key figures. The UK has recorded 8,489 further cases – the lowest daily total for more than four months. This is the lowest daily total for new cases by date recorded since early October, and it is only the third day this year the total has been below 10,000. Week on week, new cases are down 11.8%. The UK has recorded 548 further deaths. A week ago today the equivalent figure was 799. Week on week, deaths are down 28.4%. There were 1,323 Covid admissions to UK hospitals on Thursday last week, the most recent day for which figures are available on the dashboard. That is the lowest daily total since late November. Week on week, admissions are down 20.7%. 192,341 people in the UK received their first dose of a vaccine yesterday. This confirms a trend that has been apparent for several days; the rate at which first doses are being administered is falling. Rachel Clarke, the palliative care doctor and author, has described Matt Hancock’s claim this morning that there was never a national shortage of PPE last year (see 11.26am) as a “lie”. PA Media has also pointed out in its news report that there is ample evidence to show that what Hancock said was wrong. PA says: The PA news agency spoke to numerous doctors as the coronavirus crisis unfolded last year about their experience with PPE. These included: - An obstetrician at a London hospital who described how staff were “hiding” PPE out of sheer desperation. - An orderly at the same hospital made themselves a makeshift face covering out of an eye mask usually used for sleeping. - Another doctor compared the situation to sending a soldier to war without the necessary equipment. - A junior doctor who said it felt like it was “inevitable” that they would contract the virus due to a lack of PPE. - One GP told PA they had purchased face shields from the online retailer Amazon as they could not get them through the traditional supply chains. In March last year, the Royal College of Nursing said that some nurses were sent to treat patients on Covid wards with “no protection at all”. One desperate NHS procurement chief tweeted: “God help us all”. And the Health Care Supply Association (HCSA), which represents procurement and supply professionals within the healthcare sector in the UK, warned of “serious supply issues” in hospitals. Meanwhile, consultant urologist Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury died from Covid-19 five days after writing a Facebook post asking the prime minister, Boris Johnson, to urgently provide every NHS worker with personal protective equipment. From Newsnight’s Lewis Goodall, on the differences between the Scottish and UK governments’ approaches to lockdown easing Boris Johnson has described the threat climate change poses to global security as of “paramount importance”. Speaking at the start of a virtual United Nations security council session on climate change, he said: I’m very, very proud to be the first UK prime minister to be chairing the security council in three decades or more. The reason I’m proud to be doing this particularly today is because the issue before us, security and climate change, and the impact of climate change on global security, is now of absolutely paramount importance. Johnson also introduced a video message from Sir David Attenborough, a man he described as having “devoted much of his life to chronicling the threats to all forms of life on our fragile blue planet”. Public Health Wales said a total of 869,653 first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine had now been given, an increase of 7,405 from the previous day, PA Media reports. PA says: The agency said 49,729 second doses had also been given, an increase of 6,977. In total, 90.7% of over-80s in Wales have received their first dose, along with 92.7% of those aged 75-79 and 92.1% of those aged 70-74. For care homes, 84.9% of residents and 85.9% of staff have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Public Health Wales said 84.7% of people in the clinically extremely vulnerable category had received their first dose. The Scottish parliament is redacting one of Alex Salmond’s submissions about “malicious” attempts by former colleagues to banish him from public life after legal warnings from the Crown Office, my colleagues Severin Carrell and Libby Brooks report.