Boris Johnson news – live: Russia report on influence in UK politics could soon be released as Grayling nominated to chair security committee

HRMC boss tells Sunak benefits of £1,000 bonus scheme ‘highly uncertain’

The head of HM Revenue and Customs has written to Rishi Sunak to say he cannot certify his flagship £1,000 job retention scheme as value for money because of uncertainty about its cost and the number of jobs it will save.

In a letter to chancellor he requested a ministerial direction - a formal order to go ahead with a scheme despite the concerns.

Harra said while there was a “sound policy rationale” for the scheme which gives £1,000 to firms for each furloughed employee they bring back to work “the advice that we have both received highlights uncertainty around the value for money of this proposal”.

“It has proved difficult to establish a counterfactual for this scheme, which depends on the overall cost of the scheme and the number of extra jobs it would protect both of which are currently highly uncertain,” he said.

‘I’m a telecoms executive – I don’t have a view,’ says Huawei executive on Hong Kong

More now on the science and technology committee hearing on Huawei and 5G.

Huawei’s UK vice president Jeremy Thompson has insisted employees at the company are free to express their views – before claiming he did not have a view on China’s imposition of a new draconian security law for Hong Kong.

Asked by chair Greg Clark whether employees and directors at the company in the UK “free to express their views”, Thompson replied: “Yes, very much so. We have a management team in the UK like any other UK organisation and we are free to express our view, yes.”

Asked for his view of the new security law imposed on Hong Kong by the Chinese government, Thompson replied: “I’m a telecoms executive … I don’t have a view.”

Our correspondent Ashley Cowburn has been following the action:

MPs to approve members of Russia report committee next week

Boris Johnson had been told to appoint members to the Commons’ intelligence and security committee so the long-delayed report into alleged Russian meddling in the UK politics can finally be published.

The petitions committee urged Johnson to “expedite the establishment” of the group, which hasn’t met for almost seven months – on Wednesday after 100,000 people signed a petition on the issue.

It seems, at last, there is movement. MPs will be asked to approve membership committee on Monday.

Boots to cut more than 4,000 jobs

High street pharmacy chain Boots has said it plans to cut more than 4,000 jobs – 7 per cent of its workforce – as part of action to mitigate the “significant impact” of Covid-19.

It follows John Lewis’ announcement it is to permanently close eight UK stores, putting 1,300 jobs at risk. And the head of Burger King UK said that up to 1,600 jobs at its British outlets could be lost as a result of the pandemic.

BBC to end free TV licences for most over-75s

The BBC has said it will begin its scheme covering the over-75s licence fee concession on 1 August.

Beeb chairman Sir David Clementi said: “The decision to commence the new scheme in August has not been easy, but implementation of the new scheme will be Covid-19 safe. The BBC could not continue delaying the scheme without impacting on programmes and services.

“Around 1.5 million households could get free TV licences if someone is over 75 and receives Pension Credit, and 450,000 of them have already applied. And critically it is not the BBC making that judgment about poverty. It is the government who sets and controls that measure.”

‘When Liz Truss has to explain how Brexit is going wrong you may have reached the bottom’

Plenty of reaction from ant-Brexit voices to the leaked Liz Truss letter warning that the government’s border plan risk smuggling, international legal challenge and reputational damage.

Alastair Campbell described it as “the sort of mess you see outside the kebab shop on a Sunday morning before the street cleaners get busy”.

Jolyon Maugham QC tweeted: “The film La Haine begins with a guy who falls off a skyscraper and who, as he passes each floor, says to himself “so far so good”. That’s pretty much a description of this government’s policy on Brexit.”

Dave MacLadd added: “When it gets to Liz Truss having to explain how Brexit is going wrong you may have finally reached the bottom.”

Femi Oluwole said: “When the Brexit chaos starts up again in October into next year, many Leavers will be saying “Don’t just say I told you so. Give us solutions.” You don’t get to spend 4 years drenching our house in petrol, toss in a match, then complain that we can't blow it out like Superman.”

Mass testing for high-risk workers – including taxi drivers

Thousands of taxi drivers, cleaners and other high-risk workers are to be offered coronavirus tests as part of a new pilot scheme, the government has said.

The news comes as the latest data on England’s test and trace service showed the service was still unable to contact almost a quarter of people who tested positive for the virus.

The Department of Health said 4,347 people had their cases transferred to the system between 25 June and 1 July. There were 14,892 people identified as close contacts, and 70.8 per cent were reached and asked to self-isolate.

Data released on Thursday also shows more than 100,000 people are not receiving their test result within 24 hours, with the vast majority of these due to delays with home-testing kits.

“We are committed to continually improving NHS Test and Trace ... This week we have seen test turnaround times improve further,” said Dido Harding, executive chair of NHS Test and Trace.

Cummings must face questioning if he plays role in defence policy, top Tory MP says

Dominic Cummings must be subjected to questioning by parliament if he is to play a formal role in UK defence policy, a senior Tory MP has said.

The chair of the Commons defence committee Tobias Ellwood said that MPs must be granted the same powers to grill the No 10 aide as they do ministers and civil servants.

The PM is coming under pressure to explain Mr Cummings’ role in a review of the UK’s future defence and security needs, after it emerged he is planning a tour of the armed forces’ most classified bases.

“If … Dominic Cummings is formally involved in reviewing the UK’s defence and security architecture then he should be subject to the same parliamentary scrutiny as ministers, military personnel and the civil service,” said the defence committee chair.

Plans to reopen gyms in mid-July, Rees-Mogg says

Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg has said the government hopes to open gyms in mid-July with the reopening of beauty salons to follow “as soon as possible”.

In response to a request from Tory MP Martin Vickers for more information on when salons could reopen, Mr Rees-Mogg said: “Our hope is to reopen gyms and leisure facilities in mid-July.

“Other close-contact services, tattoo and nail parlours, will follow as soon as possible.”

He added: “The government has been clear that it wants to reopen the economy carefully and gradually and this is why some businesses which involve less sustained contact between people have opened before others.”

UK cannot afford ‘dead weigh’ £1,000 bonus scheme, says Starmer

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the government could not afford the “dead weight” of the Job Retention Bonus scheme – the £1,000 paid to firms for every employee kept on for three months when the furlough scheme ends.

Speaking during a visit to Harlow he said: “We are living through an unprecedented crisis so the government is right to act. Our concern is that the action they have taken isn’t focused on the right places.

“The Job Retention Bonus is a bonus for all jobs - many of those jobs, many of the people would have been brought back in any event.

“Some are really at risk of losing their jobs, so we say it should have been targeted in the areas that most need it, not across the piece.

“The chancellor has admitted there is a dead weight in his package - we can’t afford dead weight, we need the money to go where it is absolutely needed most and that’s those jobs that won't be retained if the government doesn’t support them.”