Reluctance to seek medical care risks storing up another public health crisis September 3, 2020 Are people in Britain getting the healthcare they need? The sad answer, after six months of intense pandemic response, is that far too many are not. Some of that is down to the public’s own choice to avoid seeking medical advice. In May, a poll conducted by IPSOS for the Health Foundation showed almost half [...]
UK trials mass Covid-19 testing programme September 3, 2020 The UK is putting £500m into trials of rapid Covid-19 tests and into population-testing for the disease, the Department of Health said today. Health minister Matt Hancock has said he hopes mass testing using faster Covid-19 tests can be rolled out towards the end of the year, adding that they are key to restoring freedoms [...]
How dare the government turn on the self-employed now September 3, 2020 Twice this week, reports have emerged that the Treasury is considering drastic tax hikes on the self-employed: first, increases in corporation tax (hitting the UK’s 715,000 sole directors of limited companies), and second, the equalisation of self-employed and employee National Insurance Contributions. The justification? The support the self-employed got during coronavirus. Given how many people [...]
Rishi Sunak: UK will not be hit by a ‘horror show of tax rises’ September 2, 2020 The UK will not be a hit by a “horror show of tax rises” to pay off the government’s coronavirus spending, according to chancellor Rishi Sunak. Sunak was photographed holding a paper of notes for his address to a group of Tory backbench MPs today, with the speech appearing to suggest the Treasury will not [...]
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford accuses Number 10 of endangering his family September 2, 2020 The Scottish National Party’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford has accused Downing Street of “politically smearing” him and putting his family in danger, after it was claimed he leaked the location of Boris Johnson’s Scottish holiday. Blackford told MPs today that he was not the source of the leak – which forced Johnson, his partner and [...]
Downing Street looks at issuing UK digital ID cards September 2, 2020 Britons may soon be issued personalised ID cards that can be used to book GP appointments, verify ages and store data on immigration status. The push for the new cards is reportedly a brainchild of Boris Johnson’s top aide Dominic Cummings as he looks to change the way the government uses data. The Times reports [...]
Protest to call for London Stock Exchange to delist £1bn of Belarus bonds September 1, 2020 The London Stock Exchange has been hit by calls to delist almost £1bn of Belarus government bonds in the wake of alleged vote rigging by the country’s President Alexander Lukashenko. In June, the Belarusian government listed $1.25bn (£930bn) of bonds on the London Stock Exchange for the first time. A group of Belarus expats – [...]
Tony Abbott confirms he is in talks for top UK trade role September 1, 2020 Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said he is in talks with the UK government about taking up a role as one of Britain’s top trade advisers, confirming one of Westminster’s worst kept secrets. Abbott told Westminster’s Foreign Affairs Committee today he had “had some discussions with members of the British government” and was [...]
Extinction Rebellion: Arrests made as protesters target Parliament September 1, 2020 At least five people have been arrested today after environmental campaigners from protest group Extinction Rebellion blocked streets near parliament today to campaign for new legislation on climate change. Extinction Rebellion protesters were arrested today after they sat down in roads near to Parliament Square to stop traffic. The protesters are calling on MPs to [...]
Boris Johnson joins professional networking site Linkedin September 1, 2020 Boris Johnson has joined business social networking site Linkedin, Downing Street said today. A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said it was “particularly important” for Johnson to connect businesses through the post-coronavirus economic recovery. “You can expect to see on there a mixture of written and video content from the PM which will promote UK [...]