The week in parliament. Hello again and welcome to the week in parliament. Tighter covid rules for england but the Health Secretary aims for the skies. The so called operation moonshot to deploy mass testing will allow people to lead more normal lives and reduce the need for social distancing. A startling admission about Boris Johnsons brexit plan. I would say to my honourable friend that, yes, this does break International Law in a very specific and limited way. And a legendary composer warns that the curtain could fall on live theatre for good. There comes a point now where we really cant go on much more. We are bumping up against our banks and all these things. All that to come and more. But first. The Prime Minister says it is not another National Lockdown but from monday social gatherings of more than six people will be illegal in england. The strengthening of the rules with exemptions for schools and workplaces, weddings and funerals, follows a dramatic rise in the number of cases of coronavirus. Borisjohnson used a downing street News Conference to confirm the changes. In england, from monday, we are introducing the rule of six. The Scottish Government has introduced a similar rule. But as the Prime Minister talked of operation moonshot his hope of mass testing within months, mps warned their constituents cant get tested now. The Health Secretary was forced to make a second commons statement in three days. Mr speaker, these are not measures we take lightly. I understand that for many, it will mean changing long awaited plans or missing out on precious moments with loved ones. But this sacrifice is vital to control the virus for the long term and save lives. And i vow that we will not keep these rules in place for any longer than we have to. New technology offered new hope. We are developing new types of tests which are simple, quick and scalable. They use swabs or saliva, they can be turned around and 90 minutes or even 20 minutes. The so called operation monshot to deploy mass testing will allow people to lead more normal lives and reduce the need for social distancing. I have long been pushing him for a strategic mass testing regime from the start. The who told us to test, test, test. But we are all fed up of undelivered promises and world beating. Mass testing is too important to become another failed project. It is all well and good him talking about moonshot and the Prime Minister telling us we will be tested every morning, even better would be simply delivering the extra testing that is needed now, not just headline figures. Already, some experts have described this mass testing strategy as being fundamentally flawed. Does the secretary of state think the Prime Minister is gambling on something that experts feel cannot be delivered . Both the snp and the labour Party Opposite are making a huge mistake in opposing mass testing. It is an incredibly important tool in our arsenal. This is a urgent matter and needs a answer before the autumn bites, the bites. Will he commit by the end of the month to make sure that anybody that has symptoms of covid 19 can get a test at reasonable place close to their home . That is of course my goal. My goal is for that to happen immediately. Strict lockdown restrictions have been tightened further in bolton, said to have the highest rate in england. The lockdown in bolton will devastate the Hospitality Industry and the physical and Emotional Health of my constituents. Can i ask the secretary of state to ensure that my constituents can be tested in bolton as soon as require it . And as matt hancock reached for the moon on mass testing, a conservative mp brought him back down to earth. Now on tuesday evening, hundreds of cars from across the country, and i mean hundreds from across the country, descended on telford, on the testing sites as directed by the booking system. Tests quickly ran out, roads were blocked, people who had travelled from as far as way as cornwall and london were turned away and my constituents were no longer able to access test in the area and they in turn were sent elsewhere. I didnt know about this example in telford although i had heard of people telling me that theres been a lot of people directed to telford in this instance. The broad problem is something were absolutely looking at and i will go and take away the particular example and find out exactly what glitch caused it. At Prime Ministers questions, the labour leader, sir keir starmer, had his own examples of the difficulty of getting a test. Yesterday, i spoke to a mum who lives in london. She has a four year old daughter who had a very High Temperature yesterday morning. She phoned iii and was told to get a test. She tried to book it was told the nearest was romford at nine oclock in the morning. She was told that there were no tests there. She was then told hayward, halfway to brighton. On exploration, no tests were there either. By lunch time, the mum was told the nearest place was telford, or inverness. The Prime Minister said the uk had done more tests than any other country in europe, thanks to the efforts of nhs test and trace. This is an organisation that is working heroically to contain the spread of this disease. And it requires the public to trust this organisation and to participate. Yesterday, the right honourable gentleman said it was on the verge of collapse. I think those were ill chosen words. I think he now regrets those words and i think you should reflect and he should take them back. Mr speaker, hundreds of families are trying to get a test in the last week and they cant get one. I do acknowledge the number of tests overall but this is basic stuff. People who have covid symptoms are very anxious about themselves, their children and their family and what to do. They cannot go to work, they cannot send their children to school. It matters. If they cannot get a test, the Prime Minister needs to take responsibility. Dont talk about the future, address this problem now. Borisjohnson said the government would do more. And the world we want, we want to move to as fast as possible is a world where everybody can take an enabling test at the beginning of the day, an antigen test to identify whether or not we have the virus or not, like a pregnancy test, so that we know whether we are able to live our lives as normally as possible. That is the vision the Health Secretary and others have been sketching out over the last few days. That is where we intend to get to. We all want test, trace and isolate to succeed. Ive offered my support but the Prime Minister is ignoring a problem. If people are told to go hundreds of miles away, something is wrong. It has gotten worse. Everybody here knows it because they have constituents telling them. Theres been a massive increase in the number of people who need or want tests and particularly people who dont have symptoms. And we need to, i hope he agrees, we need to prioritise people such as nhs front line staff, our care workers who urgently need those tests. He accused the labour leader of undermining confidence in the system. Whats undermining confidence is families being told go hundreds of miles away and they cant get a test. That is undermining confidence. Ijust want him to fix it. Tell us what the solution is. We will all muck in and try to make it make sense to our constituents. But the Prime Minister said growing demand was a result of the success of test and trace. It is hard work. Its hard work. Its a big job. And theyre doing a fantasticjob. I really think what they would like to hear is some praise and encouragement and support from the honourable gentlemen. Mr speaker, why cant we just hear from the Prime Minister an honest answer . If he stood at the despatch box and said i know something has gone wrong in the last couple of weeks, weve been getting hundreds of examples of people being sent all over the place are being told there are no test. I have looked into it and worked out what the problem is, heres my plan, people might be reassured. But as ever, he pretends the problem isnt there. Borisjohnson said his government was working flat out and taking the tough decisions. The covid restrictions are being tightened in scotland too. As in england, the number of people allowed to meet up has been cut to six. The Scottish Government has also launched its own Contact Tracing app for mobile phones. The first minister told msps the pandemic was accelerating. It is worth stressing this position is not totally unexpected. In recent weeks we have reopened significant parts of our economy, though many will be operating below full capacity, approximately 96 of businesses in scotland are now trading again. Children have gone back to school. We have eased many social leisure and travel restrictions. People are going out more and travelling more. And all of that is positive. But as we release ourselves from lockdown we also release the virus and we give them more opportunities to spread and so it was always likely we would see a rise in cases. The sobering news here in scotland and across the rest of the uk over the next few days has been a reality check for anyone who thought the pandemic was on its way out. It is clear that while we can still hope for further progress to be made over the rest of this year, there will be no swift return to normality. When we started to come out of lockdown, we made clear our view that there must be the agility to pause to go back as well as to go forward in this process. And also that there must be transparency in the science to back this up. The science tells us that across much of scotland, the virus is on the rise again and that there is no room for complacency. So we support the first ministers cautionary approach today. Some unusually consensual exchanges at holyrood. Now we may have left the European Union but brexit is very much still with us as the clock ticks towards the end of the transition period on december 31. The resumption of trade talks in london was marked by a ratcheting up of the rhetoric with borisjohnson warning that the uk could walk away without a deal if there isnt an agreement by the middle of october. The Prime Ministers plan for trade within the uk after brexit involves re writing parts of the oven ready divorce deal on Northern Ireland and state aid a deal he agreed last year. A minister admitted this internal market bill breaks International Law and the governments top lawyer, sirjonathan jones, resigned. Borisjohnsons predecessor was among the critics. The United Kingdom government signed the Withdrawal Agreement with the Northern Ireland protocol. This parliament voted that Withdrawal Agreement into uk legislation. The government is now changing the operation of that agreement. Given that, how can the government reassure future International Partners that the uk can be trusted to abide by the legal obligations of the agreements it signs . I thank my right honourable friend for the question. We have worked with the eu in the spirit of good faith and i know we continue to ensure we do implement the arrangements which uphold the fundamental principles behind the protocol, and our focus continues to be to secure the protocal and the joint committee through trade agreements. But the Withdrawal Agreement pros and cons are not like any of the treaty. It was written on the assumption that subsequently agreements could be reached between us and the eu on the detail. That is the entire purpose of the specialised joint committee. And we continue to believe that its possible but as a responsible government we cannot allow businesses to not have certainty for january. The secretary of state has said that he is committed to the rule of law. Does he recognise that the adherence to the rule of law is not negotiable . Against that background, will he assure us that nothing proposed in this legislation does or potentially might breach International Legal obligations or International Legal arrangements that we have entered into . I would say to my honourable friend that, yes, this does break International Law in a very specific and limited way. We are taking the powers of this through eu supply contact of direct effect required by article four and a certain very tightly defined circumstances and there are clear precedents for the uk in a certain very tightly defined circumstances and there are clear precedents forthe uk and indeed other countries needing to consider their international obligations. And i would say to members here, many of whom who would have been in this house when we passed the finance act in 2013. An argument disputed by george osborne, who was chancellor at the time. Labour said Boris Johnson had agreed the Northern Ireland element of the divorce deal. The Prime Minister personally renegotiated it, campaigned on on it, legislative for it, and ratified an international treaty. With these latest moves some fear that the Prime Minister is once again using Northern Ireland as a political football to suit his wider political means. Northern irelands mps queued up to add their criticism. Meanwhile, the welsh and Scottish Governments say the bill is a power grab, allowing the uk government to make decisions that should be theirs to make. At Prime Ministers questions, the snp leader seized on brandon lewiss comments. This legislation breaks International Law but it also breaks domestic law. The Prime Minister and his friends are parcel of rogues, are creating a rogue state one with the rule of law does not apply. What is the Prime Minister think that he and his friends are above the law. On the contrary, this uk internet market bill is about protecting jobs, protecting growth, insuring the fluidity and safety of our uk internal markets and prosperity throughout the United Kingdom, and it should be welcomed, i believe, in scotland, in Northern Ireland, wales and throughout the whole country. A liberal democrat mp pursued the argument in a different way. The Prime Minister may be aware that there are some scottish nationalists who want scotland to follow the example of catalonia and to have a wildcard independence referendum. Now, i oppose that because i think it is illegal. If the Prime Minister thinks it is acceptable for his government to ignore International Law, on what basis would he oppose it . Myjob is to uphold the integrity of the uk, but also to protect the Northern IrishPeace Process and the good friday agreement. And to do that, we need a legal safety net to protect our country against extreme or irrational interpretations of the protocol which could lead to a border down the irish sea in a way that i believe and i think Members Around the house believe would be prejudicial to the interests of the good friday agreement and prejudicial to the interests of peace in our country, and that has to be our priority. But the European Commission has threatened the government with legal action. Deal or no deal, there will be changes when the transition period ends and the uk no longer has to follow eu trade rules. A customs expert told mps he fears lorries could be turned around at calais and sent back to the uk. Witnesses to a Commons Committee warned many businesses werent ready and there werent enough customs agents to process the paperwork. The biggest absolute fear is that a truck is sent to calais and they send it back. I mean, that is a genuine fear. Is that if the paperwork is validated whilst the vehicle is crossing the channel and that validation fails because the transit documents are not correctly authenticated or there arent any documents, or the entry is not lodged in france, it is coming back. And ijust think that the fear is that the daily mail headline of we sent our goods to europe and they send them back is a matter of time, really. The tools are kind of there to get it right. The car park in kent is because we have not got got it right. Its of our making, if youd like. If something arrives in kent it is not prepared, its because we have not prepared it. Its nothing to do with the eu, its this is our problem to solve and it has always been our problem to solve. Some of the fundamental things that need to change are simply not happening fast enough. If we go back to the primary which is about customs intermediaries and having that number of customs agents available to deal with the increased number of declarations, some 200 million additional decorations on top of the 50 million that are done and the rest of the world at th