Boris Johnson doubles down on spending plans after coronavirus ‘disaster’ June 29, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will ramp up unprecedented government spending, as it seeks to mitigate the impact of coronavirus, which has been a “disaster” for the country. Johnson told Times Radio he wants to double down on his plans to increase public investment, and that a return to austerity would be a [...]
Lessons from the data: How can countries avoid a second Covid wave? June 29, 2020 The Economist Intelligence Unit recently launched an index to rank the quality of the policy response to coronavirus across 21 OECD countries. Countries are assessed against three “quality of response” criteria: number of above-average excess deaths, number of tests, and provision of non-Covid-19 healthcare. Three mitigating criteria adjust scores to take pre-existing risk factors into [...]
Let’s build back green, not grey June 29, 2020 Despite the tragedies of the last few months, we have not been short of the rays of hope and human courage that often come to define crises of these kinds. As cliched as it may now be to say, the weekly showering of applause for our keyworkers shows that even when facing the greatest adversities, [...]
Johnson is ‘asleep at the wheel’, says Labour’s Starmer June 29, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been too slow at making decisions during the coronavirus crisis, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said today. “I think the Prime Minister has been asleep at the wheel, he has been slow, the comms, the communications has been terrible,” Starmer told ITV. “It began to break down frankly when Dominic [...]
China has miscalculated — India will be the big winner of this new world order June 29, 2020 My friend, the Indian diplomat and politician Shashi Tharoor, once wisely said: “Everything in India is recycled, even dreams.” And now in our new era, India’s rightful pride in its fabulous history — and perennial fervent desire to return to the top table in global politics — is about to at last be realised. Delhi [...]
Sadiq Khan backs proposal for quicker 5G rollout in London June 29, 2020 Sadiq Khan has backed a new report that calls for a quicker rollout of 5G infrastructure in London and beyond. A new report out today by former Treasury economist Matthew Oakley, and commissioned by Vodafone, found that an upgrade from 4G to 5G infrastructure would have a £120bn benefit to the UK economy over 10 [...]
Brits struggle to pay household bills as coronavirus crisis deepens June 29, 2020 Arrears on UK household bills continued to swell last month amid abrupt falls in employment, earnings and incomes, as the coronavirus crisis batters the British economy. A report released today by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) showed that mortgage payments slumped 14 per cent last month, as people made use of temporary payment holidays [...]
Boris Johnson to launch £1bn schools building programme June 28, 2020 Boris Johnson will announce a new schools and further education building programme worth more than £1bn tomorrow. The Prime Minister will announce that the first 50 projects of a ten-year rebuilding programme will get under way in 2020-21. A further £560m and £200m has also been earmarked for repairs and upgrades this year for schools [...]
UK’s top civil servant Sir Mark Sedwill resigns June 28, 2020 The UK’s top civil servant Sir Mark Sedwill has resigned from his three-pronged role as cabinet secretary, national security adviser and head of the civil service. Sedwill announced his resignation today and will step down from his role in September, after 30 years in the civil service. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has nominated Sedwill for [...]
Sir Keir Starmer overtakes Boris Johnson as preferred PM June 28, 2020 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has overtaken Boris Johnson in polling as the UK’s preferred prime minister for the first time. An Opinium Poll out last night showed 37 per cent of people thought Starmer would do a better job as prime minister, compared to 35 per cent for Johnson. Starmer has a +27 per [...]