Amazon chief to oversee government website overhaul June 21, 2020 The government has reportedly recruited Amazon’s UK chief executive Doug Gurr to oversee upgrades to the gov.uk website, as millions flock online for support services during the coronavirus crisis. Gurr, who last week announced he is stepping down from Amazon after four years at the helm, will take a temporary role as an adviser to [...]
Sunak mulls VAT cut to boost economy after lockdown June 21, 2020 Rishi Sunak is reportedly considering cutting VAT rates to provide a much-needed boost to the economy after months of lockdown. The chancellor has ordered Treasury officials to draw up plans to reduce the sales tax, including a cut in the headline rate, the Sunday Times reported. Other proposals being considered include cutting employers’ national insurance, [...]
Government to roll out new measures to scrutinise foreign takeovers June 21, 2020 The government is set to introduce new measures to protect UK businesses critical to combating coronavirus from foreign takeovers. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) today set it will set out changes to the 2002 Enterprise Act tomorrow to allow the government to scrutinise foreign takeovers to ensure they do not threaten [...]
Gavin Williamson: All pupils will be back in school in September June 19, 2020 Education secretary Gavin Williamson today confirmed that all UK schoolchildren would return to the classroom in September. Speaking at today’s Downing Street press conference, Williamson said schools were vital to the UK’s plans to “rebuild and recover” after the coronavirus. He said: “We want to bring every child back, in every year group, in every [...]
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 [...]