All England schools set to reopen in full in September July 2, 2020 Schools in England will reopen in September, with attendance to become mandatory for all students. Whole year groups will be forced to form bubbles at secondary schools and will not be able to interact with other year groups, but social distancing will not be mandatory within the bubbles. Primary school students will have to form [...]
Coronavirus: NHS test and trace system fails to reach a quarter of cases July 2, 2020 A quarter of people in England testing positive with coronavirus is still not being reached by the government’s test and trace system, according to new figures. Figures from the Department of Health and Social Services show that only 75 per cent of the 6,183 people who tested positive for Covid-19, between 18 and 25 June, [...]
Why is linking Israel to George Floyd’s murder an antisemitic conspiracy theory? July 2, 2020 Last week, shadow education secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey tweeted public support for a newspaper interview given by the actor Maxine Peake. The article, in which Peake said that anyone who couldn’t vote for Labour because of Jeremy Corbyn had “voted Tory”, included this line: “The tactics used by the police in America, kneeling on George Floyd’s [...]
Fresh calls for guarantees on digital taxation in future UK-US trade deal July 2, 2020 One of America’s largest internet advocacy groups has published a six-point wish list for a future UK-US trade deal, including calls for no unilateral digital taxes. The Internet Association’s new white paper calls for a future trade deal to include provisions to ensure the free flow of information between the two countries, a guarantee to [...]
Twitter removes image tweeted by Trump over copyright complaint July 2, 2020 Twitter took down an image in a tweet posted by US President Donald Trump, in the latest of a slew of content complaints against the president on the platform. Trump tweeted an image yesterday that featured a picture of himself, overlaid with the text: “In reality they’re not after me they’re after you I’m just [...]
The City View: Matthew Elliott on why the mood music points to a Brexit deal July 2, 2020 In this episode Christian is joined by Matthew Elliott, a veteran political campaigner, having been CEO of two successful referendum campaigns – NOtoAV in 2011 and Vote Leave in 2016. He also founded the TaxPayers’ Alliance, Big Brother Watch, Business for Britain and Brexit Central. He has been described by the New Statesman as “one of the [...]
Two-thirds of Brits think coronavirus bailouts should have strings attached July 2, 2020 Almost two-thirds of Brits think large companies should only receive public bailout money if they agree to conditions such as protecting jobs and reducing carbon emissions, according to polling published today that adds to pressure on the Bank of England. Financial campaign group Positive Money and pollster Yougov found that 63 per cent of the [...]
Government: Firm’s £108m PPE contract issued ‘in error’ July 1, 2020 The government has backtracked on official documents showing that it awarded a family-run firm £108m to procure personal protective equipment (PPE), saying it reported the sum “in error”, City A.M. can reveal. The Department for Health last month published documents that showed it secured a deal worth £108m in April with Crisp Websites Ltd — [...]
Downing Street still upbeat about gaining post-Brexit EU access for City of London July 1, 2020 Downing Street is still confident it can secure post-Brexit access to EU markets for the City of London as it blames Brussels for missing a key deadline in negotiations. The UK missed yesterday’s deadline to hand in 28 regulatory equivalency assessments to the EU relating to Britain’s financial services industry. Brussels must use these documents [...]
Don’t sacrifice Hong Kong for bankers’ bonuses, Raab tells HSBC July 1, 2020 Foreign secretary Dominic Raab today criticised HSBC and other British banks for supporting China’s controversial new security law in Hong Kong, saying the rights of its citizens should not be sacrificed for bankers’ bonuses. HSBC and fellow Asia-focused lender Standard Chartered have come under fire from politicians in the UK and US after the banks [...]