PMQs: Boris Johnson questioned on virus testing

... that's where we'll end our coverage of the Commons for today.

As this photo from trade minister Greg Hands shows, the Palace of Westminster remains much quieter than usual.

MPs have moved on from their debate about the workings of parliament during coronavirus.

The Minister for the Cabinet Office Michael Gove is now making a statement on the government's post-Brexit proposals for the Northern Ireland border.

You can read more about the plans - and what Mr Gove says about them - here.

Back to the debate on ending virtual sittings of parliament, Labour's Valerie Vaz also says the proposed return of MPs on 2 June is premature.

The shadow Commons leader says the resumption of physical working should be phased-in over a longer period.

She questions whether the government is contradicting its own advice, which currently states people should work from home where they can.

She says MPs living hundreds of miles away from Westminster will struggle to participate due to reduced train services and flights.

"This is not a battle of the government good and everyone else bad or shirkers versus workers as some ministers have said," she says.

"This about Parliament being a good model employer."

Boris Johnson is the kind of politician who feeds off a crowd, and after a bit of a pummelling from the Labour leader last week there were more Conservative MPs around to offer vocal support, during this week's PMQs.

Sir Keir Starmer focused his forensic questions on care homes and had plenty of supporting material from those who work in the sector.

He extracted another government target from the PM, this time on test and trace.

But significantly the emphasis now is on human contact tracers, rather than the app that ministers hoped would be at the centre of a new system.

In the early days of this epidemic, as politicians tried to grasp the enormity of what was happening, exchanges in the Commons were all about consensus.

Those days have gone.

This occasion was more fractious, with Mr Johnson taking on the Labour leader more aggressively.

He even urged him to be more positive, suggesting that’s what the public wanted.

AFP/ Getty ImagesCopyright: AFP/ Getty Images

Here is a round-up of what came up in this week's PMQs:

• Boris Johnson announced that 189 NHS workers and 131 social care workers' deaths have been reported as involving Covid-19
• Keir Starmer used his questions to ask about care homes - specifically why patients were discharged to care homes without being tested to make sure they were not infected
• He also criticised the lack of "effective" testing and tracing in the UK
• And he urged the PM to drop the surcharge for overseas health workers using the NHS
• The PM replied that the surcharge brought in £900m and that it is "very difficult" to find alternative ways of funding the health service
• On care homes, he said no one was discharged to a care home without approval from a clinician
• He also said 24,000 traces had been recruited and that he had "growing confidence" that a test, track and trace system would be in place by 1 June
• Like the Labour leader, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford also went on the surcharge, asking if the government was "embarrassed this is how his government chooses to treat NHS workers"
• The PM responded that he valued the health service and the government had made massive investments in the NHS

Mr Rees-Mogg has finished his brief statement and the opposition are now having their say.

Alistair Carmichael, the Lib Dem MP for Orkney and Shetland, suggests the government is acting in haste and is being irresponsible, given the fact that nearly 35,000 people are known to have died during the pandemic and the figure is likely to be much higher.

He says if there is a choice between the current somewhat artificial proceedings in Parliament and "putting the safety of MPs at risk...that is no choice at all".

The current ways of working should only end "when it is safe to do so" and when all MPs can safely be present "not just those who live within driving distance" of London.

Mr Rees-Mogg assures MPs that the Commons will not be returning to business as usual despite his call for the current temporary hybrid proceedings not to be renewed.

There will not be a return to the "crowded, bustling chamber of old", he says, given that social distancing measures will be in force.

When Parliament returns from its Whitsun recess in early June, he says the current limits on the number of MPs able to sit in the Chamber - which is currently capped at 50 - will largely stay in place.

He also talks about hygiene and other procedures to ensure the Palace of Westminster will be safe for MPs and their staff.

The Commons leader starts by praising the Speaker's efforts in setting up the current hybrid ways of working - in which much of the business is being done remotely - which he said allowed the House to keep going at the height of pandemic in late April and early May.

But Mr Rees-Mogg says the current ways of working have not allowed MPs to do their jobs properly, leading to "stilted, scripted" debates and a big reduction in the scrutiny of legislation.

PMQs has finished.

Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg is now making a statement on his proposal to ask MPs to return to largely physical proceedings in the Commons early next month.

Conservative MP Lucy Allan asks about youth unemployment and the impact of coronavirus on young people.

"Will he ensure the recovery strategy will focus on young people?" She asks.

Mr Johnson says they will be supporting young people with a "new national skills fund" worth £2.5bn.

Conservative Tom Randall asks if the government will establish a medal for NHS workers and "those who have gone above and beyond" in the fight against coronavirus.

"We are thinking about how to recognise health care staff," replies Boris Johnson.

Conservative MP Richard Drax asks about Huawei and 5G, in light of France's review of its defence supply chain.

Mr Johnson says he is "right to be concerned" about the buying up of UK technology by countries that may have "ulterior motives".

He says they are bringing forward measures to protect the UK's technological base and they will hear more on this over the next few weeks.

Here’s more on what is Huawei and what will its role be in the rollout of 5G in the UK.

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford also asks about the surcharge for overseas NHS workers and the government's immigration bill.

"Given their sacrifice is he not embarrassed this is how his government chooses to treat NHS workers," he asks.

The PM replies that he wants "an immigration system that will work for the people of this country".

Blackford accuses the PM of being "hell bent" on implementing a highly ideological immigration policy.

Boris Johnson says the SNP wants an "border at Berwick".