Brexit news – live: Tony Abbott given top trade job despite controversy as Sadiq Khan says Boris Johnson must ‘get a grip’ on Covid-19 crisis

Children in care need urgent tutoring, says Labour

Children in care urgently need extra tutoring to close an achievement gap, Scottish Labour has warned.

The party's education spokesman Iain Gray said inequalities could become a "yawning chasm".

Figures released earlier this week showed the proportion of pupils in care who achieved at least one National 5 qualification was 35 per cent, compared with 85 per cent for all pupils.

Mr Gray urged the Scottish government to implement a tutoring scheme for all children in the care system to help bridge the gap, in line with a recommendation from the Who Cares? Scotland charity.

He was told by children's minister Maree Todd that Holyrood  funding had allowed some local authorities to introduce a tutoring service for looked-after children.

Who Cares? Scotland has highlighted the UK government's National Tutoring Programme for the most disadvantaged pupils in England, saying there should be an equivalent scheme in Scotland.

Shapps says he'd check Abbott's past statements before going to the pub with him

The transport secretary has said he would have a drink with Tony Abbott only after he had “checked the record” over some of the former prime minister of Australia's controversial comments.

Grant Shapps said if he were to be invited to have a drink with Mr Abbott, he would “have to” check the former Australian leader’s history of controversial remarks, which includes his attitude towards women and homosexuality.

Speaking to Sky News’ Kay Burley, Mr Shapps discussed reports the government has been considering giving Mr Abbott a key role in forging post-Brexit trade deals for the UK.

Portugal decision goes against science

The UK government's decision to leave Portugal and some Greek islands off its quarantine list goes against its own official scientific advice, it has emerged.

The Welsh government and Scottish governments imposed travel restrictions on the two countries yesterday after experts at the Joint Biosecurity Centre gave them "clear advice" to do so.

But despite action from the devolved governments, the countries were not taken off the UK government's list covering travel back to England, despite ministers' repeated claims to be "following the science".

No10 insists PM follows social distancing rules but does not deny 'cheek by jowl' meeting report

Downing Street has insisted Boris Johnson follows social distancing rules, following reports he addressed a packed room of Conservative MPs on Thursday.

On Friday a spokesperson did not deny that Mr Johnson gave the address, raising concerns that coronavirus rules were breached.

The PM reportedly addressed at least 50 Conservatives in a parliament room marked with a 29-person limit, remarking that his colleagues were packed in "cheek by jowl".

Repeatedly pressed on whether the rules had been broken, or why Mr Johnson had not left the room if it was too full, a Downing Street spokesperson said: "I'm not privy to the detail, it's a political event."

Asked if Mr Johnson obeys his own social distancing rules, the spokesman replied: "Yes."

Here's the original story about the address:

'Offensive' to say home workers less productive, Khan claims

Sadiq Khan has said it is "really offensive" to suggest people working from home during the pandemic are not as productive as those in an office, and called on the government to "get a grip" of the crisis.

The mayor of London made the comments while with a group of 80 key workers invited to play tennis at Wimbledon as part of efforts to thank them for their work during the height of the pandemic.

Mr Khan criticised recent suggestions that employees should stop working from home and go back to their offices to be productive.

Mr Khan told the PA news agency: "Those Londoners who have been working from home have been working. I think it's really offensive to suggest those working from home haven't been working, they've somehow been lazy - it's not the case.

"They've been following the advice, which is to avoid the virus spreading, work from home where it's possible to do so, avoid public transport, particularly during the rush hour."

Downing Street has denied the existence of an official "back to work" campaign but said employers are to be reminded how to make workplaces Covid-safe in a bid to increase office numbers.

Ministers have been publicly pushing the idea of getting back to the office for some days now.

However, earlier this week they backed away from the plan, following accusations the prime minister was "bullying" workers.

'Without a definition of "meaningful" work we may might never find it'

When hapless education secretary Gavin Williamson narrowly defined the purpose of education as getting a good and "meaningful" job it sparked an understandable backlash and a long-overdue debate on a scarce commodity: job satisfaction, writes Sean Smith.

In a recent snapshot of the "old normal", an Investors in People survey captured the micromanaged misery of employees trapped in overly specialised, high frequency and high volume work.

Half of the 12,000 UK workers surveyed wanted to leave their jobs, citing stress, boredom, and the sense that their work was "inconsequential".

Londoners' transport use rising again

Transport for London has said that 630,000 passengers used the Tube network on Friday between the start of service and 10am.

This was 21.1 per cent higher than during the same period last week, but still 69.2 per cent lower than the same period last year.

There were 800,000 bus journeys, up 29.6 per cent on last week but down 50.8 per cent on 2019.

Separately, the Department for Transport has published figures showing transport usage in Britain on Wednesday compared with pre-pandemic levels.

Car use was at 87 per cent, down from 90 per cent on the same day last week.

Bus use outside London was at 44 per cent, equal to the same day last week.

Bus use in London was at 52 per cent, down from 58 per cent last week.

London Underground use was at 35 per cent, up from 36 per cent last week.

The latest confirmed figures for rail travel on a working day are for Tuesday, when it was at 31 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. This is down from 38 per cent last week. 

Johnson defends Tony Abbott

Boris Johnson has defended Tony Abbott as being a "guy who was elected by the people of the great liberal democratic nation of Australia".

Asked during a visit to Solihull about allegations the Australian former prime minister - who is in in the running for a UK trade role - is a sexist, homophobic, misogynist, climate change denier, Mr Johnson said: "There's going to be an announcement I think in due course about the composition of the Board of Trade.

"I don't, obviously don't agree with those sentiments at all, but then I don't agree with everyone who serves the government in an unpaid capacity on hundreds of boards across the country.

"And I can't be expected to do so.

"What I would say about Tony Abbott is this is a guy who was elected by the people of the great liberal democratic nation of Australia.

"It's an amazing country, it's a freedom-loving country, it's a liberal country. There you go, I think that speaks for itself."

Attempts to ready UK border for post-Brexit trade 'unmanageable'

Attempts to get the UK’s borders ready for trade after Brexit is completed on 1 January are “unmanageable”, according to a leaked government document.

The memo warns of “critical gaps” in new IT systems – and asks hauliers and other industry groups for help to avoid chaos when the Brexit transition period expires in just four months’ time.

Circulated by the Cabinet Office, it lists 13 key risks to be flagged to ministers, according to Bloomberg which obtained it, including a lack of back-up planning and inadequate time to prepare.

This story has been updated with Boris Johnson's response.

Johnson defends Abbott for trade role

Boris Johnson has defended his prospective trade envoy Tony Abbott after prominent LGBT+ campaigners signed an open letter urging the government not to hand him a role on the UK’s new Board of Trade.

Mr Johnson said the former Australian prime minister was a “guy who was elected by the people of the great liberal democratic nation of Australia”.