Apple says government had not told it about coronavirus app plans June 19, 2020 Apple has said that it was not aware that the UK was developing an NHS contact tracing app using technology the firm built with Google. Yesterday the government announced that it was dropping its own app in favour of using the Apple/Google technology, which is already in use in countries such as Germany. However, speaking [...]
We must not abandon the people of Hong Kong behind a new Great Wall June 19, 2020 Hong Kong is a city of refugees. When the People’s Republic of China was declared in 1949, refugees from the mainland flooded to the island territory to benefit from the city’s freedoms. And even before this, Hong Kong was seen as a safe haven for national figures such as Sun Yat-sen in the early twentieth century, wanted [...]
Spain to make UK air bridge decision ‘within hours’ June 19, 2020 Spain expects a decision ‘within hours’ on whether to establish a travel corridor with the UK, a Spanish foreign ministry source said today. Britain is currently in talks with Spain over whether to set up a bilateral travel agreement to facilitate tourism between the two countries and avoid a quarantine on travellers. “Spain is willing [...]
Boris Johnson says time for national lockdowns is over June 19, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that the time for using national lockdowns to control the coronavirus pandemic had passed, adding that local measures could now be used instead. “We are now moving into a different phase”, he said, “”rather than going back to the national lockdown”. However, he warned that the economic cost of [...]
UK to relax quarantine rules for some countries in July June 19, 2020 The government is planning on relaxing its quarantine rules for travellers coming to the UK from some countries in early July. The BBC reported that the government is hoping to make an announcement on 29 June that it has secured “travel corridors” with a number of countries. Discussions are currently still continuing between UK officials [...]
Labour has ‘a mountain to climb’ to get back into power, review finds June 19, 2020 A new review into the Labour party’s disastrous performance in the last election has said that the party has a “mountain to climb to get back into power in the next five years”. The review, which was carried out by organisation Labour Together, slammed the party’s showing in December, saying: “The strategy was inadequate, the [...]
UK coronavirus threat level set for downgrade as cases decline June 19, 2020 The UK’s chief medical officers have agreed to downgrade the coronavirus threat level to level three, as cases start to decline. The Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) has recommended the threat level be downgraded from level four – an epidemic is in general circulation and transmission is high or rising exponentially. The chief medical officers for [...]
Bank of England apologises for historic slave links June 19, 2020 The Bank of England has apologised for the involvement of past governors and directors in the slave trade and vowed to remove all statues and paintings of them from its City headquarters. New analysis of a University College London (UCL) database found that 25 previous governors and directors of the Bank of England benefited from [...]
No-deal Brexit can’t be ruled out but not in UK’s interest, says French minister June 19, 2020 A senior French official said that she could not rule out the UK’s post-Brexit trade talks with the EU ending without a deal, but said it would be in Britain’s interest to reach an agreement. “I am not ruling out anything,” junior european affairs minister Amelie de Montchalin said, when asked if she could rule [...]
Boris Johnson tells Emmanuel Macron that Brexit talks cannot stretch into autumn June 18, 2020 Boris Johnson has told French president Emmanuel Macron that it makes no sense to extend post-Brexit trade talks into the autumn. The two leaders met today in Downing Street to mark the 80th anniversary of French president Charles de Gaulle’s wartime BBC broadcast to Nazi-occupied France. After the commemoration, which included a flypast by the [...]