Sunak “to increase warm home discount and cut tax” “Rishi Sunak is drawing up plans to increase the warm home discount by hundreds of pounds before cutting taxes to help with the cost-of-living crisis. The chancellor will take a two-pronged approach: a package to help with energy bills in July followed by general tax cuts […]
Coronavirus 1) Exclusive: ‘UK vaccine passport plans to be scrapped’ “Plans to make Covid-19 passports a legal requirement for large events are set to be dropped, The Telegraph understands. Officials working on the review into Covid-19 status certification believe there is no chance the law will be changed to mandate their use within the UK. “It’s […]
Prime Minister marries Carrie Symonds in a “secret” ceremony at Westminster Cathedral “Boris Johnson married girlfriend Carrie Symonds in a secret ceremony yesterday morning, the Mail on Sunday can reveal. Mr Johnson, 56, exchanged vows with Ms Symonds, 33, in Catholic Westminster Cathedral in front of a handful of close friends and family – becoming […]
Plan to keep facemasks if infections go on rising “Facemasks and work from home guidance could remain in place after June 21 under government plans to “prioritise” the end of social distancing if the Indian variant continues to surge, The Times has been told. Ministers are increasingly concerned that the variant’s spread could undermine plans to […]
Covid-19 1) Hancock admits some patients with Covid were moved into care homes “The UK health secretary has admitted that some hospital patients with Covid-19 were discharged into England’s care homes last year because of a lack of testing capacity, as he faced claims that he lied over the policy. Matt Hancock is under pressure […]
Cummings 1) “Absolutely f*cked”. Cummings says Johnson is unfit to be Prime Minister and caused thousands of unnecessary Covid deaths. “Dominic Cummings has branded Boris Johnson unfit to be prime minister and accused him of being responsible for tens of thousands of needless deaths from coronavirus. The prime minister’s former senior adviser used a seven-hour […]
Coronavirus 1) Vaccines hit new high as all over-30s offered jabs “Britain is heading for two “big” weeks of vaccination, boosting hopes that immunisation can stay ahead of the Indian variant and allow restrictions to end next month. Vaccination rates are approaching all-time highs and the coming weeks will bring record-breaking numbers as jabs are […]
Don’t fly over Belarus after ‘hijacking’, Raab tells UK airlines “Dominic Raab ordered British airlines last night not to fly over Belarus as he condemned Minsk’s “outlandish” operation to arrest a dissident by forcing a Ryanair plane to land on the pretext of a bomb threat. The foreign secretary said that Britain was also revoking […]
BBC scandal 1) Dowden calls for changes… “The culture secretary today accuses the BBC of having a “we know best attitude” in the wake of the Martin Bashir scandal, and says that the corporation must change to represent all of Britain. Oliver Dowden says that the BBC is guilty of “groupthink” and needs to “project […]
BBC 1) Corporation “faces shake-up” after Bashir scandal “The BBC was facing a major shakeup on Friday night to ensure the Martin Bashir scandal can never be repeated. Ministers are considering an overhaul of the BBC’s editorial oversight in the wake of Lord Dyson’s damning report, which found Bashir had deployed “deceitful behaviour” to secure […]
BBC reform may be needed after Bashir inquiry revealed ‘damning failings’, warns minister “The “damning failings at the heart of the BBC” exposed by the landmark inquiry into Martin Bashir have called into question whether an overhaul at the top of the corporation is needed, the Culture Secretary has warned. On Thursday evening, Oliver Dowden […]
Hopes rise for end to lockdown next month “Boris Johnson is increasingly optimistic that coronavirus restrictions can end as planned on June 21 after early data suggested that the Indian variant was not spreading as fast as previously feared. Hospital admissions are “fairly flat” in variant hotspots while initial estimates suggest a smaller increase in transmissibility […]
Johnson ‘backs Truss and tariff-free deal with Australia’ “Boris Johnson is willing to provide Australia tariff-free access to UK food markets despite fears it could ‘decimate’ the rural economy. Farmers launched a furious backlash yesterday against the proposal to grant Australian produce privileged access, fearing it would mean British farmers with high welfare standards will […]
Johnson forced to rethink his plan to end social distancing “Boris Johnson has shelved a planned announcement of an end to social distancing rules as the faster-spreading Indian variant forces a rethink. The prime minister will no longer announce next week that fines for not wearing face masks will end next month, or that businesses will […]
Lockdown eased today for families, friends, hospitality and leisure… “People should ignore Monday’s easing of lockdown and avoid socialising indoors in pubs and restaurants to prevent the new Covid-19 variant first detected in India sparking a third wave of the disease, health experts say. A former government chief scientific adviser, a leading public health specialist […]