MINISTERS are resisting demands for an emergency recall of Parliament to respond to urgent questions about the coronavirus outbreak

Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg has insisted MPs will return on April 21, the date agreed before the Easter recess.

MPs approved the Easter adjournment timings on March 25, minutes before the chamber rose, at a time when the increasing impact of Covid-19 was clear.

The motion was unopposed although several concerns were raised by opposition parties about their inability to scrutinise major decisions in this four-week period.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has demanded "urgent talks" with the Government to discuss how MPs can put questions to ministers given the rising death toll and concerns over personal protective equipment supplies to NHS staff, among other issues.

He added Parliament must be recalled "as soon as possible" when asked about the issue on Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday.