Afternoon summary Boris Johnson’s former top adviser Dominic Cummings has alleged there was a lockdown-breaking party in the Downing Street garden in May 2020 after an emailed invitation to “socially distanced drinks”. The NHS in England is experiencing the highest number of Covid absences since the vaccine rollout, with more than 40,000 staff unable to attend work on two days in the past week, prompting claims that hospitals are “simply not safe”. The UK has reported a further 178,250 Covid cases as the Omicron variant continues to fuel a wave of infections. Labour has challenged Lord Geidt, the PM’s independent adviser on ministerial standards, to explain why he thought it was acceptable for Boris Johnson to receive financial help from someone also lobbying him over policy. In an open letter to Geidt, Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader, said that even though Lord Brownlow may have had altruistic interests for trying to get the PM to back his “Great Exhibition” plan, there was still a conflict of interest. She wrote: Do you stand by your original conclusion that there could be “no reasonably perceived conflict” in the prime minister seeking the support of a donor who at the same time is lobbying him for government support of a project they are promoting? It is irrelevant in this regard whether Lord Brownlow’s motives are altruistic; the issue is that a reasonable person could surely perceive that his financial relationship with the prime minister has provided him with privileged access to government, and that relationship was undeclared at the time. This leads me to a more serious and general point. You appear to set the standard for a potential conflict of interest as being that in your personal judgement any third party was acting with altruistic motives. This is not the test that is set out by the ministerial code. It is also a far weaker one than is set, for example, by the House of Commons members’ code of conduct. This suggests that you will hold ministers to a lower standard of transparency than backbench MPs. The full text of Rayner’s letter is here. The attorney general has said she is “carefully considering” whether to refer the Colston statue case to the court of appeal after a jury cleared four protesters of criminal damage over the toppling of the monument. The Labour MP Jack Dromey died suddenly in his flat this morning, his family has said. That’s all from me for today. But our coronavirus coverage continues on our global live blog. It’s here. Covid deaths in Northern Ireland pass 4,000 The number of deaths in Northern Ireland linked to Covid-19 has now topped 4,000, PA Media reports. Another 18 fatalities were recorded in the week December 25-31, according to data compiled by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra). They take the total number of coronavirus-linked deaths recorded by Nisra during the pandemic to 4,024. NHS Grampian in Scotland has said it could declare a major incident next week as Covid case numbers continue to rise sharply. In a briefing to staff it said that due to “an exponential growth” of cases in the last fortnight, it could declare a “major incident” as early as next week. It said: Based on our modelling data, we anticipate a continued and significant growth in the levels of the disease placing even more significant pressure on care homes, primary care teams, community teams and hospitals. Our planned response will include a declaration of a major incident when a number of key trigger points are reached. Looking at our local data, these triggers could be met as early as the end of next week. A total of 18,454 people were in hospital in the UK with Covid-19 as of 6 January, PA Media reports. PA says: This is up 40% week on week and is the highest number since 18 February 2021. During the second wave of coronavirus, the number peaked at 39,254 on 18 January 2021. There were 2,434 Covid-19 hospital admissions on 3 January, the latest UK-wide figure available, up 26% week-on-week and slightly below the 2,590 admissions on 29 December. Admissions during the second wave peaked at 4,583 on 12 January 2021. Keir Starmer has issued this tribute to Jack Dromey. The proud son of Irish parents, Jack Dromey dedicated his life to standing up for working people through the Labour movement, becoming deputy general secretary of the UK’s largest trade union and then a Labour MP. From supporting the strike at the Grunwick film processing laboratory, when he met Harriet, through to being elected to represent Birmingham Erdington in 2010, Jack lived his commitment to social justice every day. Jack was recognised for his determination to stand up for his constituents and he was highly respected and warmly regarded across parliament. My thoughts and those of the whole Labour movement are with Harriet, their children and all those who knew and loved Jack. Labour MP Jack Dromey has died, family announce The Labour MP Jack Dromey died suddenly today in his flat in his Birmingham Erdington constituency, his family has announced. He was 73. Dromey was married to Harriet Harman, the party’s former deputy leader, and was shadow immigration minister. Before he became an MP in 2010 he was deputy general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union. In their statement Dromey’s family said: Jack Dromey MP died suddenly this morning aged 73 in his flat in Erdington. He had been a dedicated Member of Parliament for Birmingham Erdington since 2010. He was a much loved husband, father and grandfather, and he will be greatly missed. Opposition leaders have called for far more detailed data on the number of Scottish hospital patients with Omicron after criticising the size of a small sample involving two health boards published today by Public Health Scotland. (See 12.56pm.) Alex Cole-Hamilton, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said the PHS data covering only 126 Covid-positive patients in Grampian and Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC) hospitals, taken over periods lasting six days and two days respectively, was inadequate. He said: Opposition parties have been calling for clearer data on the impact of Omicron on hospital admissions for weeks. An analysis of two health boards doesn’t really satisfy that request. Furthermore, we know that Delta still accounts for 10% of Covid infections in Scotland, but there is no breakdown on acute admissions by variant type. That information is crucial to understanding the impact of Omicron on our lives. The first minister promised parliament that Friday would be the day we learned how many people were in hospital because of Omicron severity, but the data published today doesn’t answer that question. Jackie Baillie, deputy leader of Scottish Labour, said: The publication of this data is welcome as it allows us to understand how the Omicron variant is affecting the people of Scotland and the NHS. But the data remains incomplete for the whole of Scotland and only a wider study will provide the conclusive findings that we need. The UK Health Security Agency has published new figures for R, the reproduction number, and for the growth rate for coronavirus in England. These are the first estimates since 23 December. The growth rate is now estimated to be between +3% and +6%. That means new infections growing at a rate of between 3% and 6% per day. The previous estimate was between 0 and +3%. And R is estimated to be between 1.2 and 1.5. That means every 10 people will infect between 12 and 15 people. The previous estimate was between 1 and 1.2. But although these figures have just been published, because of the time it takes to assess how the virus is spreading by these measures, these figures are a guide to what was happening with transmission two or three weeks ago, UKHSA says. UK records 178,250 new cases and 229 further deaths The UK has recorded 178,250 new coronavirus cases, and 229 more deaths, according to the daily update to the government’s Covid dashboard. The total number of new cases over the past week is still up on the total for the previous week, by 19.8%. But yesterday the equivalent figure was up 29.3%, and for the third day in a row now the figure for reported cases has gone down. That explains the tiny kink downwards in the graph, which could be early evidence of cases starting to plateau. North Yorkshire council workers asked to cover for absent social care staff Council workers in North Yorkshire are being asked to volunteer for social care roles to cover for staff absent as a result of Omicron, PA Media reports. PA says: North Yorkshire county council is asking staff in “non-critical services” such as highways, planning, and other office roles to help keep vulnerable people safe. Volunteers will be asked to cook, clean, and help older people to eat, as well as assist them to speak to relatives on the phone or online. The council said training will be given and it will match new duties with workers’ normal working patterns. Richard Flinton, chair of the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, said: “These emergency plans will only be used if needed but will hopefully provide sufficient volunteers to get us through the Omicron wave, which may see as much as a 40% reduction in available care staff due to illness or self-isolation. “Staff would be deployed in such circumstances on a range of different duties supporting care delivery in our elderly persons’ homes and extra care settings to free up care colleagues to deliver direct care.” A report in the Times (paywall) says that Sajid Javid, the health secretary, strongly opposed the government decision to abandon pre-departure tests for people flying into the UK, and compulsory PCR tests two days after arrival. In his story Steven Swinford says: The Times can disclose that Javid, the health secretary, strongly opposed the move, telling the Covid-O committee of senior ministers that removing the requirement for PCR tests would limit the government’s ability to detect future mutant strains. He argued that it increased the risk that a more deadly and transmissible strain of coronavirus could circulate in the UK undetected. A government source said: “Sajid was very unhappy about the decision to remove the requirement for PCR tests. He argued they are instrumental in spotting new variants sooner. He said that by scrapping them you increase the risk of having to shut down the entire economy. But he lost the argument.” Javid did not really deny the story when he was asked about it on a visit to a hospital today. Asked if the report was true, he replied: I want to see travel open up. I want to see it be made as easy as it possibly can be. And it should always be a balanced and proportionate approach. I think that the approach that we’ve taken, where we require people still upon their return to take a lateral flow test, and if they are positive to take a confirmatory PCR test, I think this the right balanced and proportionate approach. A total of 231,856 booster and third doses of Covid-19 vaccine were reported across the UK on Thursday, PA Media reports. More than 35 million booster and third doses have now been delivered in the UK, with just over one million in the past seven days. Nearly 66% of all adults in the UK have now received a booster or third dose. The latest Scottish data continue to suggest the steep surge in Omicron-variant Covid cases has begun to level off, after the NHS reported 14,486 new cases and a test positivity rate of 21.7%. After a sharp rise in patients hospitalised with Covid over the Christmas and New Year holidays, when Covid-positive patient numbers doubled in a week, the numbers admitted each day has markedly reduced. There were 1,323 Covid-positive patients in Scottish hospitals today, a rise of 56 on yesterday. There are now 61 people now in intensive care with Covid, compared to 51 a week ago. The test positivity rate hit 35% earlier this month. A separate study released by Public Health Scotland on Friday shows only 1% of Covid-positive people are being hospitalised, compared to 12% in January 2021. Friday’s data bulletin also said the deaths of 15 more Covid-positive people in Scotland had been registered, taking the total under that measure to 9,905. However more than 3m Scots have now had their third or booster vaccination. PM has turned England into "global outlier" by not acting in response to Omicron threat, says Drakeford The Mark Drakeford press conference went on for more than an hour. Here are some of the other lines, following his warning at the start that Omicron cases may not peak in Wales for another fortnight. (See 12.34pm.) Drakeford, the Labour Welsh first minister, claimed that England was a “global outlier” in its handling of Covid policy. Referring to the UK government (which, for Covid health policy, is effectively the English government), he said it was out of step with other countries around the world. Asked why Wales was applying restrictions not in force in England, he replied: I would put the question in exactly the opposite way. The outlier here is not Wales. Wales is taking action, as is Scotland, as is Northern Ireland, and as are countries right across Europe and right across the globe. The one country that stands out as not taking action to protect its population is England. So the question is not why is Wales not following what is going on in England. The real question is why is England such a global outlier in the way in which governments elsewhere are attempting to protect their populations from coronavirus. Drakeford then proceeded to answer his own question. He said in England the government was “politically paralysed with a prime minister unable to secure an agreement through his cabinet to take the actions that his advisers have been telling him ought to have been taken”. Asked later in the press conference to justify calling England an outlier, Drakeford said other governments were imposing restrictions on gatherings, going beyond the rules in place in Wales. He went on: Right across the world governments have been taking action, not to simply deal with the consequences of an Omicron wave, but to try to mitigate that wave and to protect their populations against it. The prime minister has chosen – in my view, because he has no viable alternative available to him – to ride it out, as he says, and that really does make that government an outlier. Asked what evidence he had to show Wales had got it right, and England wrong, Drakeford said that the Sage advice was available to everyone and it showed action was necessary. Drakeford said he expected current restrictions in Wales to remain in place for at least a fortnight. He insisted Parkrun events were not banned in Wales. Parkrun has cancelled its runs in Wales, prompting Sajid Javid, the health secretary for England, to criticise the Welsh government restrictions that led to this. But, when asked about this, Drakeford said Parkrun runs were not banned. Up to 50 people could take part in a run under the rules, he said, and another 50 people could help with the organisation. He said no decision had yet been taken about whether the Six Nations rugby matches that Wales is meant to be hosting in February and March will be able to go ahead in the country. Currently large sporting events of that kind are banned in Wales. He said: It’s always been the case that the risks in major events are less at the event itself, particularly when those events are well run, as certainly the autumn internationals were. It is how people travel to the stadium, it is how people gather around the stadium, it is how people behave – not at the game but around the game. So there are further measures that could be adopted that would help to mitigate those risks. Of course, we would all far prefer to be in a position where the Six Nations could go ahead with people watching the game here in Wales. That is not a matter of dispute between any party. The issue that is under the microscope is whether we can do that safely. Drakeford also said he had no problem with the decision of the Welsh RFU to explore hosting the matches outside of the country. He said the latest figures showed more than 2,300 Covid cases per 100,000 people across Wales and that cases were highest among 20 to 40-year-olds. He said 994 people were being treated with coronavirus in Welsh hospitals – a rise of 43% compared with last week and the highest number since last March. He said the latest figures suggested staff absences from illness and isolation across the NHS were 8.3% in Wales, as high as 16.5% in some NHS organisations.