Ministers faced accusations of failing to protect the UK today as they prepare to ban flights from Brazil days after a new Covid super-strain emerged – and new rules requiring arrivals to have tested negative were delayed. Boris Johnson admitted yesterday that he is ‘concerned’ about the latest mutant – which the Government has known … Read more
England could escape tougher lockdown measures for now after science chief Patrick Vallance suggested the current measures are ‘enough’ to control the mutant Covid strain and Neil Ferguson pointed to a ‘plateau’ in hospital admissions. Boris Johnson is set to hold off tightening the rules despite soaring deaths and Nicola Sturgeon imposing extra curbs in … Read more
Britain is in for a ‘pretty grim period’ for Covid deaths which won’t fall for ‘some weeks’, the Government’s top scientist warned today – after the UK recorded its deadliest day yet with 1,564 confirmed fatalities. Department of Health figures show the daily laboratory-confirmed death toll has risen 50 per cent week-on-week, with data suggesting the … Read more
Catering firm Chartwells has announced it will start including breakfast in free school meal deliveries in response to the fierce criticism of its meagre parcels. The under-fire schools food provider has apologised and vowed to raise standards after parents railed against the paltry lunches it was sending their children. Boris Johnson branded the boxes of … Read more
Parents will be able to claim food vouchers from next week after an outcry over paltry free school meal parcels forced another Government U-turn. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson today announced he would be reintroducing the £15 vouchers from January 18. He told MPs he was ‘absolutely disgusted’ by images shared by angry parents laying bare … Read more
Tensions with China escalated again today as Tories warned the ‘Golden Age’ in relations is over – and Beijing accused the UK of ‘spreading lies’ about human rights abuses. A war of words is raging after Boris Johnson lashed out at ‘demented’ Chinese medicine for helping trigger the coronavirus pandemic, and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab … Read more
Boris Johnson is accused of trying to delay May’s local elections until the summer so he can benefit from a ‘vaccine bump’ after jab is rolled out Almost 40 million people are due to go to the polls on May 6 Fears have been raised for the safety of party activists and polling station staff … Read more
Boris Johnson today hailed ‘early’ signs that the brutal lockdown is bringing coronavirus under control as he clashed with Keir Starmer at PMQs – but refused to rule out tightening the rules further. The premier insisted the measures in England were being kept ‘under constant review’ as the Labour leader demanded to know why they … Read more
Jonathan Van-Tam today shot down calls for a three metre social distancing rule and making masks compulsory outdoors. England’s deputy chief medical officer argued extending the social distancing gap would make little difference to the spread of the highly-infectious Kent strain of the virus because there is no proof it can travel further in coughs … Read more
The gap between first and second doses of coronavirus vaccines could be stretched beyond the 12-week target, health chiefs said today. When the Pfizer Covid jab was approved it was on the condition that people would get a second dose three weeks after their first one, as was done in clinical trials. But UK regulators … Read more