The Standard

Evening Standard health editor Ross Lydall speaks to the Mayor of London who says “remarkable” progress with the vaccine roll-out has put London in prime position to reopen safely on July 1. Official NHS England figures suggest that, at current rates of 42,000 jabs a day, London could fall short of the Prime Minister’s national target by about 1.5m jabs. But Mr Khan’s insisting the official tally of 8.7m first and second jabs by the end of Tuesday was an under-estimate due to “data lag”. And he says London’s performance should be judged against cities such as New York, which have similar challenges in terms of vaccinating a younger, more diverse population. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Evening Standard’s revealed health workers and volunteers on the front line of the vaccine roll-out in London are being physically and verbally abused by anti-vaxxers.Council leaders and the capital’s top nurse shared details of a number of incidents in the wake of the attack on Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, at the weekend.Our health editor Ross Lydall says these range from vaccine buses being targeted by anti-jab protesters to online abuse and threatening calls to council call centres.He also says he’s heard claims of protesters pretending to be going for a vaccine, and then harassing staff inside centres.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Around 375,000 pupils in England were at home last week because someone in their school bubble had tested positive for coronavirus. From that number, the Department for Education says just 4% of those affected had the infection.Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School & College Leaders, tells the Leader podcast it’s time to re-consider how we manage coronavirus in classrooms. He explains how damaging the disruption to young people’s education the current system could be if it continues, and suggests what improvements could be made.He also talks about the appearance of Sir Kevan Collins before MPs on the Education Select Committee. The man who quit as the education recovery commissioner says the government’s response to helping pupils “catch up” on missed schooling has been “feeble”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Political editor Joe Murphy joins the show to look into the questions mounting following the resignation of Matt Hancock as health secretary.He tells us senior Conservative and Labour MPs are calling for answers over how often Mr Hancock used a private email account, and whether he used it to discuss NHS business with family members and a friend who went on to win public sector contracts.And he says the heat’s also turning on the Prime Minister, as MPs on all sides protest that Downing Street is failing to uphold high standards in public officer, or discipline senior ministers who fall short.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Health editor Ross Lydall says a huge effort’s underway this weekend to get more Londoners vaccinated, especially younger adults.About 1.8m first doses and 1.2m second doses have to be administered over the next three-and-a-half weeks to bring London in line with the Government’s targets to lift lockdown on July 19.Boris Johnson wants all people over 18 to have been offered a first jab and for two-thirds of adults to have been “double jabbed” to maximise safety. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Compulsory mask-wearing in England will be ditched within weeks but the Evening Standard’s deputy political editor, Nicholas Cecil, says you may want to hold onto one for a while yet.Environment Secretary George Eustice says the Government’s aiming to remove the legal requirement to wear a face-covering in many indoor public places on July 19.But he’s conceding that the Tube may be one area where people may need to continue wearing one, saying “a judgement will be made at the time”.Nicholas tells us the London mayor’s advocating a cautious approach.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re joined by the CEO of PinkNews, Benjamin Cohen, to talk about Alan Turing appearing on the Bank of England’s new £50 note.The scientist and wartime code-cracker is the first LGBT+ person to ever be given the honour, and he’s also being remembered at GCHQ with a giant artwork. It’s a huge turnaround for the reputation of a man who despite being a hero of the Second World War was prosecuted in the 1950s for his sexuality and died at the age of 41 with cyanide poisoning.But while supporting the symbolism of the move, Benjamin asks how powerful it can be with so few people using cash – and even fewer having £50 notes? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Travel consultant Paul Charles joins the podcast to discuss reports that the government’s considering giving double-vaccinated Britons the go-ahead for summer holidays in Mediterranean resorts without having to quarantine on their return.The Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, says he wants to relax the restrictions on foreign travel, with millions of people still eager to head abroad to “amber” list countries.But Paul says the travel industry is losing trust in Downing Street after a series of delays and decisions affecting people taking foreign trips. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our deputy political editor Nicholas Cecil tells us how health secretary Matt Hancock has raised the hopes of people who have had two doses of a Covid vaccine. He says wants to see a new system where the double-jabbed won't have to self-isolate if they've come into contact with a coronavirus carrier.  It comes amid suggestions that the government might bring so-called 'Freedom Day' forward, having postponed it until July 19th. It could help many struggling businesses, particularly in the hospitality sector, but Nicholas says it's unlikely to happen.  Meanwhile, a further 886 Covid cases were announced for the capital on Sunday, down on figures of more than 1,000 in recent days. Nine boroughs saw their seven-day Covid rate go above 100 new infections per 100,000 in the week to June 15. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Deputy political editor Nicholas Cecil explains why Uefa is threatening to take the Euro 2020 out of the UK.The British government’s in talks with football’s governing body which wants 2,500 delegates to be allowed to fly into the country for the showcase without having to quarantine.Nicholas says a move like that would likely annoy thousands of Brits who haven’t been able to go abroad for a holiday this year, and alarm some health experts who fear a coronavirus spike.We also talk about London’s vaccine ‘Super Saturday’ with thousands of young adults in the city being urged to get vaccinated.It follows figures showing the capital lags behind the rest in the country for people getting the jab.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.