Sir Keir Starmer says on 1 April India was recording 100,000 new infections and rising but the PM kept the country off the red list until 23 April.

He says in that time 20,000 people came into the UK from India.

He asks what is the PM's explanation as to why Britain has such high instances of the Delta variant.

Starmer says tragically we learn today we have the highest infection rate in Europe.

Borish Johnson says: "We took the most drastic steps possible by putting India on the red list on 23 April before the Delta variant was even identified."

He adds the UK has had the fastest vaccine rollout anywhere in Europe and it is due to that we can continue with our roadmap to freedom.

The first remarks on coronavirus at Prime Minister's Questions come from the Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer.

He asks the PM if his decision to keep our borders open contributed to the spread of the Delta variant in this country.

Boris Johnson told MPs: "Captain hindsight needs to adjust his retrospectocope" because India was added to the red list on 23 April and was not identified until 28 April.

He says it was only identified as a variant of concern on 7 May.

Starmer responds, however, that India was reporting more than 100,000 cases a day weeks before India was added to the red list.

Reality Check

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We've been reporting that coronavirus vaccinations will become compulsory for staff working in England's care homes for older people.

So what happened to care homes early in the pandemic?

On 19 March 2020, NHS guidance said, external that "unless required to be in hospital, patients must not remain in an NHS bed".

On 2 April, the rules on discharging to care homes, external were clarified, saying "negative [coronavirus] tests are not required prior to transfers/admissions into the care home".

From 15 April, the government said that all patients, external discharged from hospitals would be tested for coronavirus.

By this time, an estimated 25,000 patients had been discharged to care homes. In July, Panorama gathered data from 39 hospital trusts, which showed three-quarters of people discharged were untested.

Up to this point, more than 5,700 care home residents had died in England and Wales (either in homes or in hospital).

You can read more on this story here.

We are going to be turning our attention to Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons at midday.

We will bring you all the updates Boris Johnson gives on coronavirus.

And for a blow-by-blow account of everything that's said you can follow our politics live page here.

Image source, Getty Images

Every coronavirus case is now caused by a variant of the original and the challenge is to predict which new strain could be most dangerous, says Dr Susan Hopkins, strategic response director for Covid-19 at Public Health England.

She tells MPs on the Science and Technology Committee: "We're living in a world of variants now, so everything we see is a variation of the original.

"Actually every (variant) we see that's going to live and not become extinct very rapidly, is either going to have a transmissibility advantage or an immune evading advantage.

"And so the challenge always is trying to understand which one of these is going to do something as it emerges."

She says that at the moment 25 variants are "under monitoring" and eight are "under investigation".

"All of them have mutations that we're concerned about, but mutations alone is not enough to predict whether it's really going to impact on our journey through vaccines and impact on the public health risk of hospitalisation," she adds.

Here our health and science correspondent James Gallagher examines if there is a limit to how much worse variants can get

Keeping cases as low as possible in the weeks and months ahead is "very important", and social distancing may need to continue, a UK government adviser has told MPs.

The end of social distancing in England - originally planned for 21 June - has already been pushed back to July.

Speaking to the Commons Science and Technology Committee today, Prof Wendy Barclay - a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) - says: "Certainly there's an agreement in Nervtag, from a virus evolution point of view for example, that keeping the numbers of infections as low as possible during this coming period is a very important thing to do to prevent the concept that the virus might evolve further mutation.

"What Nervtag are agreed on is that keeping numbers low is very important, and that the social distancing measures are clearly important contributors to that."

Image source, Getty Images

Firms hit hard by the ongoing restrictions are facing unprecedented amounts of debt and need "practical support" to stop it spiraling, business lobby groups have told Radio 5 Live's Wake Up to Money.

Several important deadlines are approaching for businesses:

• On 30 June, the ban on commercial rent evictions ends
• On 1 July, employers must start contributing 10% towards furlough costs
• On 1 July, 100% business rates relief tapers off to 67%

There are loans to consider too. More than 1.6 million businesses have tapped into the government’s three main Covid loan schemes. The first repayments of bounce-back loans were due this month.

A survey from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) in March showed a quarter of its members took on more debt to get through the pandemic.

FSB National Chair Mike Cherry says: "Five whole quarters without revenues is unprecedented, so we believe that no business kept closed by the restrictions, and therefore unable to raise any revenue, should be pursued for their Bounce Back loan.”

And a British Chambers of Commerce spokesperson tells the BBC: "Practical solutions will be needed to prevent a large number of firms across the UK from falling into a spiral of unsustainable debt."

Lenders say they will treat customers fairly, while doing their best to avoid triggering government guarantees that could cost the taxpayer billions of pounds.

Image source, Getty Images

A bit more from the Commons Science and Technology Committee now, which is hearing evidence on the UK's Covid response.

A scientist who helped develop the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine says the public crisis will be "over" if the protection provided by vaccines against hospital admissions continues.

Prof Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Groups, says Public Health England data published this week is "incredibly reassuring".

The analysis suggests, external the Oxford-AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are both more than 90% effective at prevnting hospitalisation after two doses.

"That's the key bit that we have to look at with future variants, if that very high protection against hospitalisation continues, despite spread in the community, then the public health crisis is over," Prof Pollard tells MPs.

"And so far, up to Delta, we're in a very good position, as long as we've got people vaccinated," he adds, referring to the strain first identified in India.

But he warns that the World Health Organization is investigating variants up to Kappa, and "there are a lot more Greek alphabet letters still to go through".

Francis Scarr, BBC Monitoring, Moscow

Image source, EPA

Russian scientists say they are studying the Sputnik V vaccine efficacy against a mutated form of the Delta coronavirus variant discovered recently in Moscow.

"We are currently identifying a range of variants which are circulating in Moscow. And here there is far from just the Wuhan strain, there is also a mutated version of the Indian strain," Gamaleya Institute director Alexander Gintsburg tells the Interfax news agency.

"We are now studying Sputnik V's efficacy against these variants."

The development comes amid a sharp rise in the number of new recorded cases in Moscow and other parts of Russia.

Moscow's mayor says the Russian capital is experiencing an “explosive growth” in Covid-19 cases, with the number of patients seriously ill in hospital increasing by 70% in recent days.

And yesterday Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed concern at the sluggish pace of Russia’s vaccination campaign, saying it “left much to be desired”.

Around 12.8% of the population has received at least one jab, with 9.9% fully vaccinated, website Statistika-Vakcinacii.ru, which has been publishing daily updates based on figures collated from regional health authorities, says.

Employers are required to make sure at least 60% of staff in service industries such as retail, hospitality, and entertainment have been vaccinated.

Image source, EPA

Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, says the UK is "going to have to live with" Covid-19.

Speaking to the Commons Science and Technology Committee, Prof Pollard says "variants and their emergence" will "continue to happen".

"But in the end, we're going to have to come back to focusing on the really important public health issue, which is the hospitalisation and the death," he adds.

"If transmission is disconnected by vaccine immunity from the severe disease, to a large extent, then we'll need to monitor new variants, perhaps, if we need to find new vaccines and so on - but we are going to have to live with it being in in our communities and transmitting."

Kevin Peachey
Personal finance reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Consumers kept cash and cards in their pockets last year, as lockdowns cut the number of payments made for the first time in six years, banks say.

The total number of payments made by consumers last year fell by 13% compared to the previous year - to 31 billion - according to the UK Finance report.

More than eight out of 10 payments by consumers are typically spontaneous, but options were limited at the height of the Covid crisis, because of the closures of shops and restaurants.

And when people did spend money they were increasingly likely to use contactless payments - with the use of cash discouraged to reduce the risk of transmission.

Contactless payments accounted for 27% of last year's transactions. In contrast, payments made with notes and coins dropped by 35% - but cash still accounted for 17% of all payments, making it the second most-popular way to pay behind debit cards.

The report said it was "still too early to say if this is a permanent change to people's behaviour" - or a short term response to the pandemic.

The Delta variant of Covid-19, first identified in India, has changed how the virus is spreading, and the measures governments have to take to stop it.

It has also changed the symptoms with a headache, sore throat and runny nose now the most commonly reported.

Here's how to spot Delta symptom:

Image source, Getty Images

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced new restrictions, external as the country faces a third wave of Covid-19.

A nationwide curfew has been moved up to 22:00 local time, while alcohol sales have been limited to Mondays through to Thursdays.

Public gatherings have also been limited to 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors.

Ramaphosa is attempting to allay fears over the slow progress of the country’s vaccination programme, saying two million Johnson & Johnson vaccines are expected by the end of this month.

He adds that South Africa has the capacity to vaccinate at least 150,000 people daily and urges those aged over 60 years to register for inoculation.

South Africa has more than 80,000 active Covid-19 cases and has so far fully vaccinated at least 480,000 people.

The number of children and young people with an eating disorder has soared to "crisis" point during lockdown, a psychiatry body has warned.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland says referrals for under-18s have almost tripled from 217 in 2018/19 to 456 in 2019/20 and to 615 in 2020/21.

Erin, 23, says her bulimia returned over the pandemic and it helped her feel in control when so much else was out of her hands.

Rob Donaldson, from Dundee, says lockdown has had a huge negative impact on his 17-year-year-old daughter's anorexia.

"We were receiving outpatient care at home, and attending weekly family-based therapy sessions, but all of a sudden that stopped. Therapy took place on video calls, and it simply did not work for her.

"Within a few weeks of lockdown, she quickly deteriorated and was admitted to an inpatient unit for young people."

The Scottish government says it would announce steps to improve services and you can read more here.

Image source, PA Media

UK inflation jumped to 2.1% in the year to May, the highest for almost two years, as the easing of lockdown sparked a rise in consumer spending.

The Consumer Prices Index measure of inflation rose from 1.5% in April, according to the Office for National Statistics, external, driven by the rising cost of fuel and clothing.

The rate is now above the Bank of England's 2% target for inflation.

That will fuel the debate about whether it's time to raise interest rates.

Karen Ward, a chief market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management, tells the BBC's Today programme that the increase in inflation is due to consumers rushing back to the shops after coronavirus restrictions eased.

She says: "They have got all these savings they accumulated last year when they weren't allowed out but supply is really struggling to keep pace, and so what we are seeing therefore is pops of prices in various aspects of the consumer basket."

You can read more here.

While much of the world is waiting for their first Covid vaccination, for some groups, specifically organ recipients and those with suppressed immune systems, two doses is not enough to fully protect them against the virus.

According to a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, external, a third of organ recipients who had no antibodies after their second dose developed them after a third dose.

You can listen to a discussion with the author of the study, Dr William Werbel - an infectious diseases research fellow at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore - below.

Image source, AFP

India is reopening its famed Taj Mahal and thousands of other monuments, in the latest stage of Covid-19 restrictions being lifted.

Only 650 visitors will be allowed to visit the Taj Mahal at any one time, and people are also being asked not to touch the monument's walls, officials say.

The monument was closed in April when a deadly coronavirus wave swept the country.

Uttar Pradesh, where the Taj Mahal stands, has been one of India's worst-affected states.

On Tuesday, India reported 62,224 new Covid-19 infections over the past 24 hours, compared with around 400,000 per day in April and May.

Image source, EPA

MPs are to vote on extending emergency Covid laws in England for another four weeks later today.

On Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the final stage of easing lockdown restrictions in England would be delayed from 21 June to 19 July.

Mr Johnson said the four-week delay would give the NHS "a few more crucial weeks" to get people vaccinated, amid rising cases of the more transmissible Delta variant.

On Wednesday afternoon, MPs will get the chance to debate and then vote on extending coronavirus restrictions, with a number of Conservative MPs set to rebel against the government.

But the extension to restrictions is likely to be voted through - with Labour expected to back the measures.

Labour has accused ministers of letting the Delta variant in by not toughening rules on travel from India sooner.

Yesterday Labour's shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said extending coronavirus rules "is devastating but it was not inevitable" and blamed "lax Conservative border policy".

You can read more on this story here.

Laurence Cawley
BBC News

During the pandemic, waiting lists for an allotment have swelled. I went to the Lexden allotments in Colchester to find out what these small patches of land mean to those who cultivate them.

Image source, Laurence Cawley

Former soldier Lazarus Kaunda, 40, arrived in the UK from Malawi in 2003.

As a young boy, his mother tried desperately to instil a passion in him for horticulture by cultivating the fields near their home. She failed. And yet...

"At the time I didn't like it," he says. "But when I am here, alone, the only way I can express that I miss her is by having an allotment."

Image source, Laurence Cawley

Steve McClure, chairman of the Colchester Allotment Association, says: "I see more young families here on this site than I ever have done. I think that is a result of the lockdown, I think people have actually said they will do something about getting an allotment.

"They've managed and it has been such a joy seeing young kids running around and planting stuff and being encouraged by their parents."

Image source, Laurence Cawley

Allotment newcomer Sandra Culham got her plot last August.

She says having an allotment has helped her deal with the terminal illness and subsequent death of a very close friend.

"There's something about being up here. I honestly don't know how I would have dealt with it. It really has helped me enormously."

You can read more stories from the people I met here.

Image source, EPA

The government says "no decision" has been made on whether to vaccinate children over the age of 12.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson says the government will be "guided by our expert advisors".

"The government has asked the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) for its formal recommendation. We will update in due course," the DHSC spokesperson says.

It comes after cabinet minister Liz Truss said the JCVI was not recommending offering vaccinations to under-18s.

The International Trade Secretary told BBC Breakfast on Wednesday the government would "look very closely at the JCVI's recommendations".

She added: "It is my understanding that they are not recommending the vaccination of under-18s and we will be saying more in due course about that."