The NHS backlog will worsen before it gets better, the Health Secretary has warned as the publication of a recovery plan is delayed.
Sajid Javid claimed the omicron variant was behind the multi-billion-pound proposals being held up after it emerged they had been put on ice due to the Treasury refusing to sign off the plans.
"Because of Covid, the NHS rightly focused on Covid patients and it has meant, sadly, the waiting list has risen significantly," Mr Javid told Sky News.
"And I have to tell you I think the waiting list will continue to rise for a while before it starts to fall.
"We can’t be sure and the reason is because we estimate about eight to nine million people stayed away from the NHS because they were asked to, they did the right thing. But we want them to come back, I want them all to come back and know the NHS is there."
A "very ambitious" plan to restore pre-pandemic levels of elective care is to be published shortly and the Government is doing "everything it can", Mr Javid added.
？？Follow the latest below.
Liz Truss has branded Russia's denials of any plans to invade Ukraine as false after warnings from the US that Moscow's army had nearly reached its full strength at the border.
Ms Truss wrote in a tweet: "The depths of Russian attempts to subvert and threaten Ukraine are clear. Russia’s actions show their claims to have no plans to invade are false.
"We and our allies stand united in support for Ukraine and our resolve to raise the cost to Russia if they take further action."
Carrie Johnson has blamed "bitter ex-officials" for allegations she has too much influence over government policy, reports Tony Diver, our Political Correspondent.
Lord Ashcroft’s book claimed that she used her husband’s phone to direct his staff during his leadership campaign, with advisers believing the instructions had come from him, and had orchestrated the sacking of a member of staff she did not like.
On Sunday, Mrs Johnson’s spokesman dismissed the claims as a "brutal briefing campaign against her by enemies of her husband".
“This is just the latest attempt by bitter ex-officials to discredit her. She is a private individual who plays no role in Government."
Mrs Johnson is known to have fallen out with a number of Mr Johnson's advisers, including Dominic Cummings, his former chief aide.
？Read the full story here
While recent reports may have given extraordinary detail about No 10 staff making trips to the Co-op on the Strand to buy drinks, it looks like Tesco trips will take precedence over any suitcases of wine on Guto Harri's watch.
Asked about his immediate priorities on arrival at Downing Street this morning, Mr Harri said he would "give healthy snacks and mineral waters" to those working at No 10.
It's rather reminiscent of Premier League managers laying down the law when they arrive at a new club - one of Antonio Conte's first acts as Tottenham manager was to ban ketchup and mayonnaise, while Steven Gerrard also declared war on condiments.
Terrorists who refuse to cooperate with authorities could still face prosecution for atrocities committed during the Troubles under new legislation designed to protect British troops, The Telegraph understands.
A new Legacy Bill has faced fierce opposition over claims military veterans were being unfairly treated - despite a demand for legislation to protect them from criminal investigation.
Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland Secretary, had hoped to push through his Legacy Bill last autumn, but its progress has been stalled by objections from victims of terrorism as well as veterans’ groups.
Now Mr Lewis is considering strengthening powers in the Bill to force terror suspects to participate in hearings into hundreds of unsolved murders during the Troubles.
The Legacy Bill, promised in the Conservative manifesto, would impose a statute of limitations, ending all criminal prosecutions for offences committed during the Troubles up until the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
Robert Mendick, our Chief Reporter, has the full story
Boris Johnson was snapped leaving No 10 this morning at the start of a week that he hopes will allow him to reset his administration.
It has been a torrid few weeks for the Prime Minister as five of his top team quit, the Sue Gray update found "failings" of leadership and Downing Street was forced to apologise to Buckingham Palace for parties that took place on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral.
Mr Johnson and his closest allies this weekend told wavering MPs why Steve Barclay and Guto Harri will deliver the changes they have demanded in the wake of the “partygate” scandal.
One of the principal complaints has been a sense of drift in No 10, and Mr Johnson believes that placing one of the Cabinet’s safest pair of hands at the helm of his Downing Street operation will deliver the “command and control” that has been lacking in recent months.
Tony Diver and Edward Malnick take a closer look at the changes
Boris Johnson's new director of communications arrived at Downing Street this morning after his appointment was confirmed over the weekend.
Guto Harri, a former BBC journalist and GB News presenter who was Mr Johnson's director of external affairs between 2008 and 2012 while the PM was Mayor of London, said he was "delighted" to have started at No 10 - replacing Jack Doyle, who resigned on Thursday.
"I'm joining a formidable team to focus on the things that matter and deliver what he promised to the people," Mr Harri wrote, posting a photograph of him with Peter Capaldi - also known as The Thick Of It's brutal spin doctor Malcolm Tucker.
A television Q&A with the Education Secretary was cancelled this morning after he tested positive for coronavirus last week.
Nadhim Zahawi was set to appear on Sky News at around 9am to answer questions about advance notice of topics in this year's GCSE and A Level examinations.
"Sadly as you'll know he did test positive for Covid last week," Kay Burley told viewers
"He has been quite poorly so we couldn't get him to come into the studio... [but] we're hoping to do that very soon indeed."
A-level and GCSE students will be given more "generous” marks this summer, as unions call for pandemic "grade inflation" to last until at least 2024.
The Department for Education will publish information later today on which topics will appear on most exam papers, in an attempt to assist students and account for the disruption to education caused by the pandemic.
But Dr Jo Saxton, chief regulator of Ofqual, the exams watchdog, has announced that there will be additional contingency measures.
She said: "We are also ensuring there is a safety-net for students with a generous approach to grading."
Gabriella Swerling has the story
Tom Tugendhat has called for a return to the kind of Conservative Party that "people voted for in 2019" as he spoke out against April's increase in National Insurance.
Mr Tugendhat, the chairman of the foreign affairs select committee who is seen as being on the Left of the party, last month became the first Tory MP to say he would run to replace Boris Johnson in a leadership contest.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Nick Robinson, Mr Tugendhat said with regards to National Insurance: "My suggestion is to look at other ways. We're relying an awful lot on today's taxpayers to pay for today's social care needs."
"In one way it's fantastic that we should be focusing on that and I certainly praise the Government for doing that. What I'm concerned about is that there are an awful lot of parts of the country, in particular those where we talk about levelling up, which are likely to find themselves paying the tax but not getting the benefit.
"I'm very much hoping that what we're going to see is the kind of Conservative administration that people voted for in 2019 and that means positive, forward-looking, and interested in making sure that all parts of society contribute in a fair and balanced way."
Asked about his leadership ambitions, he added: "I'm not the only person in the country who hasn't been shy about saying that. The whole point of political parties is that they're ideas networks, and if they're not that then what the hell are they for?"
Sajid Javid launched a hearty defence of Boris Johnson as "delivering" for Britain, telling the Today programme the Prime Minister deserves the credit for preventing a Labour government at the 2019 election and honouring the 2016 EU referendum result.
"This is the Prime Minister that saved us from Corbynism, has delivered on Brexit, has set out very detailed plans - the most detailed ever - about levelling up across the country, helped to develop the most successful vaccine programme Europe has ever seen.
"At the same time the Prime Minister is making wider changes to the Downing Street and Cabinet Office operation, as was recommended by Sue Gray in her interim report."
Mr Javid wished Munira Mirza "the best" after her resignation from No 10 last week, but did not go as far as to say Mr Johnson should apologise for his comments about Sir Keir Starmer and Jimmy Savile - a call that was not heeded in No 10 when made by Ms Mirza.
Sajid Javid refused to say whether it would take three years for the current NHS treatment backlog to be cleared.
"I can't tell you and nor can the NHS tell you - or anyone - where the waiting list might get to," he told the Today programme. "What we are certain is it will rise over the six million it is today over the coming months, and it will do that because the people who stayed away will start coming forward.
"We will have some kinds of targets in the new elective recovery plan, I couldn't tell you exactly what they are today."
Mr Javid, who would not be drawn on whether there would be waits of more than one year by the time of the next general election, dismissed the idea that there was conflict within the Government or the NHS over the scale and scope of the planned reforms.
"There's been no argument, there's been a very active discussion within both the NHS and my department to collectively agree on an elective recovery plan."
The head of NHS Confederation labelled reported tensions between Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak "unhelpful" as both men seek to work to clear the coronavirus backlog.
"I think when any government is in political difficulties, it means that these kind of policy choices get politicised in ways that are unhelpful," Matthew Taylor said.
"There is a difficult decision to be made about precisely what sort of target you should apply with money going into the health service, and that needs to be made as far as possible on kind of rational, objective grounds."
Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the health service found itself in a "frustrating situation" amid delays to the recovery plan.
"We want to get on with this plan and it is important that we are accountable for money that is spent," Mr Taylor, a former political strategist who served under Tony Blair, told the Today programme.
"But the danger is that if you take on targets that are too unrealistic, you end up skewing clinical priorities in pursuit of those targets.
"Whilst we know we've got millions on the waiting list, we don't know how many people in the community ought to be on the waiting list because they didn't come forward during Covid. And with that being imponderable, I think we need to be a bit careful about targets."
While Mr Taylor said there was no question that targets needed to be set, these risked overlooking people who need "more urgent treatment" in favour of those who have been waiting for longer - and drew on the Labour years to warn against targets that are "so narrow they start to skew other priorities".
A row has been sparked over the appointment of Steve Barclay as chief of staff in No 10.
Boris Johnson faced a backlash from Tories and Whitehall insiders who warned that giving him the twin roles of chief of staff and minister in charge of the Cabinet Office as well as being an MP with constituents to help was an "impossible juggling act" and a "recipe for chaos".
Mr Barclay, who is also heading the cross-government review of the Channel migrant crisis, was appointed at the weekend (see 7.57am) as part of a "reset" of Mr Johnson’s premiership to satisfy backbench Tory demands for a shake-up of the error-prone Downing Street operation.
"It’s completely and utterly illogical to have a Cabinet minister as effectively chief of staff and being an MP. There’s no way it can work with all those other responsibilities," said one former minister.
Charles Hymas, our Home Affairs Editor, has this report
Criticism of Carrie Johnson is 'sexist, undignified and wrong', Sajid Javid said this morning.
Mrs Johnson's role in Downing Street has been brought back under the spotlight after the serialisation of a biography by Lord Ashcroft which contains claims that the Prime Minister's wife wants to "control everything".
Mr Javid, for whom Mrs Johnson once worked as a special adviser, took the view that the spouses of politicians should be "off-limits".
"It’s sexist.... Why would you go after the partners of politicians? By all means go after politicians, but why their husbands or their partners? This is about going after an individual. I actually do think there’s sexism involved in this, I really do.
"Doing this, going after Carrie Johnson is undignified, it’s unfair and it’s just wrong. Do you think Cherie Blair played a role in government?
"She has no formal role in government. She was my special adviser and she was an excellent special adviser, but she’s not in Government in any way... It wouldn’t be any different from anyone before her. I would just say that if you want to talk about No 10, these issues, by all means please do so, but focus on the Prime Minister."
Sajid Javid denied claims Downing Street has been "dysfunctional" during Boris Johnson's premiership, after Boris Johnson made changes to the No 10 top team over the weekend.
"If you look at what we’ve achieved as a government and obviously Downing Street at the heart of that, a lot has been achieved," Mr Javid told Sky. "We have protected this country from Corbynism, we’ve delivered Brexit.
"Was it dysfunctional? No, that’s not something I would have recognised, but my own work with Downing Street has been quite limited.
"But the changes that are now being made... he’d promised this in response to the update from Sue Gray, where Sue Gray herself had talked about the fragmented relationship between the Cabinet Office and Downing Street and the need to make changes, so I think they are the changes the Prime Minister has announced."
Mr Javid hailed the appointment of Steve Barclay, Mr Johnson's new Chief of Staff, as "a very strong individual and very capable", pointing to his strong links to both Downing Street and the Cabinet Office.
Some breaking news this morning as Sir Keir Starmer is cleared by police over an allegation he broke lockdown rules after being photographed drinking a beer in a constituency office.
The Labour leader was filmed drinking alcohol in the office, working in the run-up to the Hartlepool by-election, in April 2021, while Covid restrictions including a ban on indoor hospitality remained in place in England.
Sir Keir has always insisted that he did nothing wrong and the act was not comparable with that of the "partygate" allegations currently plaguing Downing Street. The Metropolitan Police is currently investigating 12 alleged events across No 10 and government.
？Poppie Platt has the full story
The NHS backlog will worsen before it gets better, Sajid Javid warned this morning as the publication of a recovery plan is delayed.
Here is the front page of your Daily Telegraph:
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.