Matt Hancock says government made no mistakes on coronavirus lockdown timing June 7, 2020 Health secretary Matt Hancock has defended the decision to not start the coronavirus lockdown earlier, after a government scientific adviser said the delay cost lives. Hancock said today that the government “took the right decisions at the right time” and that no people lost their lives by not locking down earlier. The UK went into [...]
Putting out the fire in America June 6, 2020 Following almost two weeks of nationwide riots in the US in response to the sickening murder of George Floyd by a brutal Minneapolis police officer, this week I could in good conscience write of nothing else. Now is the time for the bravery to alienate both “sides”. Now is the time for truth-telling if the [...]
WTO deputy director says crisis could lead to greater trade liberalisation June 5, 2020 One of the heads of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has said the coronavirus crisis could lead to greater unilateral trade liberalisation. WTO deputy director general Alan Wolff said he was hopeful the crisis could spur countries on to drop trade tariffs as has happened after several economic crashes over the past century. The coronavirus [...]
Face coverings mandatory for all England hospital visitors from 15 June June 5, 2020 It will be mandatory for all hospital visitors and outpatients in England to wear face coverings from 15 June, while all hospital staff will be required to wear surgical face masks. The change was announced today, after the government made face coverings mandatory on all English public transport networks yesterday. Health secretary Matt Hancock made [...]
UK coronavirus death toll passes 40,000 June 5, 2020 The official UK coronavirus death toll today rose past 40,000 after 357 more deaths were recorded. As of 5pm yesterday, 40,261 people have died from the disease, according to the Department of Health and Social Care. The figures showed that just over 5.2m tests have now been carried out, with 283,311 people testing positive for [...]
British Airways-owner mulls quarantine legal challenge June 5, 2020 The owner of British Airways is mulling a legal challenge against the government’s quarantine plan which will require passengers coming in from overseas to isolate for 14 days on landing in the UK. With planes grounded since March, airline bosses fear the quarantine rule which is set to be introduced from 8 June will sink [...]
‘No significant progress’ in latest round of UK-EU Brexit trade talks June 5, 2020 The latest round of UK-EU trade talks have shown no progress on major areas of contention, according to Brussels’ chief negotiator. The fourth round of talks concluded this morning, bringing both sides to a break in negotiations to assess progress. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will meet at [...]
Number of new coronavirus cases in the UK has halved June 5, 2020 The number of new coronavirus cases in the UK has halved, new data published today said. The survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), IQVIA, the University of Oxford and UK Biocentre tested individuals from 9,906 households for Covid-19 with swab tests between 17 May and 30 May. They study estimated that (0.1 per [...]
Sadiq Khan calls for compulsory face coverings in all stores June 5, 2020 Sadiq Khan has called for the government to make face coverings mandatory in all stores, after they were made compulsory on all English public transport networks yesterday. The mayor of London said he welcomed the “U-turn from the government” on making coverings compulsory on public transport, but said it should go further. Non-essential retail shops [...]
Hong Kong: Protests continue after thousands attend Tiananmen vigil June 5, 2020 Dozens of pro-democracy protesters marched through a Hong Kong shopping centre this morning after thousands had defied a police ban to attend a vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Protesters gathered in the heart of the financial hub for peaceful demonstrations against China’s new national security laws, which many fear will wipe out the [...]