Inside Politics – Coronavirus special: Marcus Rashford wants more to change after PM’s U-turn

Manchester City are back in action tonight as the Premier League finally returns. City offered sincere congratulations to Manchester United star Marcus Rashford following his stunning victory for families in need of school meal vouchers over the summer. The nimble striker managed to leave Boris Johnson flat-footed on the issue, with the PM forced into a U-turn before it became an even bigger own goal. Johnson will be grateful he’s matched up against a mere politician at today’s lunchtime PMQs fixture. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing during the coronavirus crisis.

Our political commentator Andrew Grice on what to look out for today:

Boris Johnson gets irritated when Keir Starmer claims credit for government decisions by saying Labour previously called for them. But Starmer will be within his rights to say “told you so” at PMQs – a week ago Johnson rejected his call to maintain meal vouchers over the summer. Health secretary Matt Hancock will update MPs on the coronavirus response, and trade secretary Liz Truss will make a statement about the UK’s plans to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

EASY HOME WIN: About 1.3 million children will be able to get free food vouchers while at home during the summer break, thanks to a government U-turn inspired by Marcus Rashford. Boris Johnson claimed he had only became “aware” Rashford’s campaign earlier on Wednesday – despite the fact the star had been tweeting and talking about it since 10 June (and Keir Starmer raised the issue at last week’s PMQs). Anyway, Rashford isn’t done yet. He said more steps were needed to address food poverty. “People are struggling all year around, so we still need to learn more about the situation people are in and how we can help them best.” Is the PM in the mood for another U-turn? Johnson gave his strongest hint yet that the two-metre rule could be relaxed in time for the planned 4 July reopening of pubs and restaurants, telling businesses: “Watch this space, because we absolutely hear you.”

CHEAP AND CHEERFUL: The government has authorised the immediate use of the “extremely cheap” steroid Dexamethasone for Covid-19 patients, after it was shown to reduce the risk of death by up to one-third among the most severely ill. Johnson cheered the UK expertise behind what he described as the “biggest breakthrough yet” in treating the coronavirus. Professor Peter Horby of Oxford University told the Downing Street press briefing that the drug would, on average, save the live of one in every eight Covid patients in intensive care – for only £40. Sir Patrick Vallance noted that the drug does not prevent people catching the disease, or becoming seriously ill, so did not reduce the need for social distancing. The big announcement came as a further 233 deaths were recorded across the UK.

DAY OF THE DFID: Johnson, having one of his busy days, also announced that the Department for International Development (DfID) will be scrapped and merged with the Foreign Office. The PM argued it was a long-overdue efficiency measure. He also complained the UK has been treated as “some giant cashpoint in the sky that arrives without any reference to UK interests”. Former PMs Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron all expressed dismay over the move, while Starmer promised to re-establish the department if elected. Elsewhere, the British Medical Association has called on the government to act immediately on the recommendations in a report into the impact of coronavirus on black, Asian and minority ethnic people – including risk assessments and better access to services.

IN THE BAD BOOKS: The Trump administration has launched a legal bid to block the publication of John Bolton’s book. The suit asks a federal judge to stop sales of an upcoming tell-all memoir by the former national security adviser by arguing it is “rife with classified information”. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has signed an executive order offering federal grants to police departments willing to introduce reforms – while making clear he opposes the “radical and dangerous” campaign to defund departments. His order incentivises officials to review their policies on chokeholds – but does not actually require them to change any policy.

LOCK AROUND THE CLOCK: More than 60 per cent of commercial flights in and out of Beijing have been cancelled amid a new coronavirus outbreak. The Chinese capital recorded 31 new cases, bringing infections since Thursday to 137 – the worst resurgence of the disease in the city since early February. Some 27 neighbourhoods have now been designated as “medium-risk” areas, and residents are subjected to temperature checks and registration. Some areas have been fenced off with 24-hour security checkpoints in a bid to get on top of the outbreak.

TUNNEL VISION: Vladimir Putin is being protected from the coronavirus by a special tunnel that anyone visiting his residence must pass through, according to the RIA news agency. Demonstration footage of the tunnel at his official Novo-Ogaryovo dwelling outside Moscow showed masked people passing through it being sprayed with disinfectant from above and the sides. The Russian news agency described the disinfectant as a “fine cloud of liquid” covering people’s clothes and any exposed upper body parts. Russia has registered 7,284 coronavirus deaths and over 500,000 infections so far.

“The end of Dfid will mean less expertise, less voice for development at the top table and ultimately less respect for the UK overseas.”

David Cameron condemns the PM’s decision to scrap the overseas aid department.

“Look I really don’t want to say this, it cheapens political discourse and it’s highly defamatory, but it is at least theoretically possible that when Boris Johnson says he hadn’t heard about the Marcus Rashford campaign until today, he might not be telling the truth.”

The Independent’s Tom Peck doesn’t find the PM’s claim credible…

“Why is anyone surprised Boris Johnson knew nothing about Marcus Rashford’s campaign until this lunchtime? He didn’t know about the real threat from coronavirus until March.”

…but Piers Morgan finds it entirely credible.

James Moore, The Independent: It shouldn’t have taken a footballer to illustrate how serious food poverty is in this country

Andrew Feinberg, The Independent: What doctors told me about the real state of Trump’s health

Kate Andrews, The Spectator: Are Britain’s employment figures too good to be true?

Jeremy Cliffe, New Statesman: How the protests swept the world – Generation Z is restive