Sunak set to tell employers to contribute to furlough scheme payments May 29, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to tell employers today that they will have to start contributing to the government’s massive furlough scheme which is paying the wages of millions of UK workers. Sunak will say companies must pay between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of the costs of the programme – the centrepiece [...]
More than 100 MPs call for extension to self-employed relief package May 29, 2020 A group of 113 MPs have signed a letter urging chancellor Rishi Sunak to extend the £6.8bn coronavirus relief package for self-employed workers. The letter, written by Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh, said people across the country would be “left without work and without support” if the scheme is not extended past its current June end [...]
Coronavirus: People in England can meet in groups of six outside from Monday May 28, 2020 People in England will be able to meet up to five friends or family members from outside their household from Monday. Boris Johnson announced today that meetings can happen either in public spaces or in backyards and other private outdoor spaces, but a two-metre distance must always be kept. “These changes mean that friends and [...]
UK, US, Australia and Canada hit out against new Hong Kong security legislation May 28, 2020 China’s new security legislation will “dramatically erode Hong Kong’s autonomy” and impinge on its citizens civil liberties, according to a joint statement from the UK, US, Australia and Canada. A letter signed by foreign ministers of the four nations said the new clampdown by China was a breach of “the legally-binding, UN-registered Sino-British Joint Declaration” [...]
Dominic Cummings ‘might’ have broken lockdown rules, say Durham Police May 28, 2020 Dominic Cummings “might have” broken lockdown rules when he made the 30-mile trip from Durham to Barnard Castle, according to the Durham Constabulary. In an official statement, the police force also said that Cummings’ initial trip from London to Durham was not in breach with the coronavirus lockdown laws. However, Durham police said the senior [...]
Shadow chancellor backs long-term UK coronavirus jobs programme May 28, 2020 Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds has pushed for the government to back a UK-wide post-coronavirus jobs programme to deal with expected high unemployment. In an interview with City A.M. Dodds said that the government needed to place a greater emphasis on “upskilling and redeployment” in its response to Covid-19 and should look to Gordon Brown’s Future [...]
‘I’ve never been in a faction’: Anneliese Dodds on her plan to unite Labour under a new economic platform May 28, 2020 Labour’s new shadow chancellor had been an MP for just two-and-a-half years, before being handed the second most important job in Her Majesty’s Opposition. Many would assume that an MP with that rapid a rise up the greasy pole of politics would have to be the consummate Westminster schemer – a modern day Harold Wilson [...]
More than 70 travel bosses sign letter calling for end to quarantine May 28, 2020 More than 70 bosses of travel companies have signed a letter calling on the government to scrap a planned 14-day quarantine for arrivals from overseas. From 8 June travellers arriving from abroad will be asked to quarantine for 14 days or risk paying a £1,000 fine to help stop the spread of coronavirus.. Holiday and [...]
Employers asked to pay staff wages while they self-isolate under test-and-trace plan May 28, 2020 Employers should pay the wages of any staff told to self-isolate under England’s new coronavirus test-and-trace system, Health secretary Matt Hancock said today. The programme is a key plank in the government’s strategy to lift lockdown and restart the economy. From today, contacts of people who test positive for coronavirus will be asked to quarantine [...]
Coronavirus: UK’s test and trace programme launches today May 28, 2020 The UK’s test-and-trace programme, which is intended to drive down the number of coronavirus cases, launches today. Britain abandoned tracing coronavirus cases in March as the virus took hold in the UK and community transmission became widespread. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to deliver a “world class” system of testing, tracking cases and tracing [...]