Coronavirus: Jury trials ‘Russian roulette’ says QC chief as she calls for their suspension March 17, 2020 The head of the barristers body for England and Wales today called for the government to halt jury trials which she said were a “game of Russian roulette with the participants’ health” during the current coronavirus crisis. The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is insisting that the business of the courts continue, despite the Prime Minister [...]
Coronavirus: All Trafalgar Square events cancelled March 17, 2020 All events set to take place at Trafalgar Square have been cancelled by City Hall until further notice. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan took the step today to shut down events at the public square, after further social distancing measures were advised by the government yesterday to combat the spread of Covid-19. This means the [...]
Coronavirus: Government advises against ‘all but essential’ international travel March 17, 2020 The Foreign Office has advised against “all but essential” international travel in a dramatic increase in measures to combat the spread of coronavirus. Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said today that the advice would be implemented with “immediate effect” and would be introduced for 30 days initially. Raab said the new measures were needed to prevent [...]
Sadiq Khan says schools could face coronavirus closure within two weeks March 17, 2020 Sadiq Khan has advised that schools could be closed within the next two weeks as a part of increasing isolation measures to combat the coronavirus. Boris Johnson announced a swathe of new recommendations yesterday, including for people to avoid “unnecessary travel” and to stop going to pubs, restaurants and theatres. Large public gatherings have also [...]
Coronavirus: Sadiq Khan urges government to extend business relief March 17, 2020 Sadiq Khan has asked Boris Johnson for vastly increased financial relief for London businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The mayor of London wrote to Johnson today to ask that “greater levels of assistance to businesses, large and small” is given through through tax breaks and cash handouts during the outbreak. Khan has specifically called [...]
Our obsession with George Orwell has robbed his name of all meaning March 17, 2020 The very first rule for writing set out in George Orwell’s 1949 essay “Politics and the English Language” is: “Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print”. It’s therefore amusing that “Orwellian” has become one of the most widely used figures of speech in English-language [...]
Transport department refuses to release Garden Bridge report March 16, 2020 The Department for Transport (DfT) has said it will not release a report into the failed £48m Garden Bridge so it can protect a trust that no longer operates. The Garden Bridge Trust was set up to manage the disastrous project, which was championed by Boris Johnson when he was mayor of London and former [...]
Sadiq Khan to attend coronavirus Cobra meeting March 16, 2020 Sadiq Khan will attend today’s coronavirus Cobra meeting at Downing Street, after being shut out of earlier talks. City Hall confirmed today that Khan will be at the meeting, which will see Boris Johnson and the UK’s health chiefs discuss stricter measures to combat the spread of Covid-19. The first ministers of Scotland, Wales and [...]
Coronavirus: Sunak to head new economic and business response committee March 16, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has asked his chancellor Rishi Sunak to head up a new committee specifically dealing with the economic fall-out of the coronavirus. The economic and business response committee will consider the impact of Covid-19 as it continues to spread throughout the world, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman confirmed this morning. Business secretary [...]
BBC delays licence fee changes for over-75s due to virus fears March 16, 2020 The BBC today said it will push back plans to end the blanket free licence fee scheme for over-75s amid concerns about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Pensioners were due to face changes to the licence fee from 1 June, but this will now be delayed until 1 August. Millions of over-75s will have [...]