PM set to unveil ‘lightning lockdowns’ and £3bn Covid cash for NHS July 17, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to give local councils the capacity to implement “lightning lockdowns” without first notifying the government when he gives a major speech today. The PM is also set to announce more than £3bn extra funding for the NHS to ensure it can cope with a second peal of coronavirus cases [...]
Coronavirus: Boris Johnson to announce £3bn for NHS in second peak preparation July 16, 2020 Boris Johnson will announce more than £3bn in extra winter NHS funding tomorrow to prepare hospitals for a potential second peak of coronavirus. The Prime Minister will make the announcement at a press conference tomorrow, along with the news that the government will publish another chapter of its “roadmap” to exiting the Covid-19 lockdown. He [...]
Leicester lockdown to be eased on 24 July July 16, 2020 Leicester’s local lockdown will be eased on 24 July, after a drop in its coronavirus infection rate. Schools, early years child care and some non-essential retail shops will be allowed to reopen next week, but restaurants and pubs will remain closed. Restrictions on travel and meeting more than six people will also remain in place. [...]
Sir Patrick Vallance: UK coronavirus response has not achieved a good outcome July 16, 2020 The UK’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has not achieved a good outcome, according to chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance. Vallance told a parliamentary committee today that he thinks about why the UK has had so many deaths “a lot”, but added that the reason could be down to many factors. Vallance also said [...]
Privacy Shield ban ‘hurts’ UK’s chances of post-Brexit data deal July 16, 2020 Industry figures have warned that a decision today to ban Privacy Shield, a data-sharing deal between the EU and the US, will compromise the UK’s hopes of securing its own data-sharing agreement at the end of the Brexit transition period. Judges at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) today banned the Privacy Shield data-sharing agreement [...]
Kremlin-backed Cozy Bear hackers target UK coronavirus vaccine secrets July 16, 2020 Kremlin-linked cyber criminals have been allegedly hacking universities and organisations developing coronavirus vaccines in an attempt to steal sensitive information, according to the UK’s cyber security body. The hacking group known as APT29 – also known as Cozy Bear and The Dukes – has allegedly been trying to steal information across the globe from vaccine [...]
Report into Russian interference in UK politics to be published next week July 16, 2020 A long-awaited report into Russian interference in British politics will be published by Westminster’s Intelligence and Security Committee within the next week. The committee announced this morning that the report would be released before the summer parliamentary recess, which begins next Thursday. It comes just a day after Julian Lewis prompted a mini-coup to win [...]
Julian Lewis calls Tory party sacking ‘strange’ after Grayling plot July 16, 2020 Sacked Conservative MP Julian Lewis has called his removal from the party “strange” and labelled Downing Street’s attempt to install its own candidate to the chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) as “improper”. Former transport secretary Chris Grayling had been handpicked by Boris Johnson to take the reins of the powerful committee, however [...]
Privacy Shield: Top court rejects US-EU data transfer tool July 16, 2020 The European Court of Justice has struck down a data sharing deal between the EU and the US over surveillance concerns, in a huge blow for thousands of companies that rely on it. Judges at Europe’s top court expressed concern that data shared between the bloc and US via the Privacy Shield agreement is “not [...]
Prime Minister suggests moving Parliament to York July 16, 2020 Boris Johnson has suggested that MPs could temporarily decamp to York while the Palace of Westminster undergoes renovation, in what could count as one of the most radical shake ups to to Parliament in decades. In a letter to David Goldstone, chief executive of the Palace of Westminster’s multibillion pound restoration, the Prime Minister said [...]