Number 10 calls for ‘restraint’ on MPs pay rise in face of planned £2,000 increase January 10, 2022 Downing Street has today called on parliament’s standards body to “show restraint” and not give MPs a large pay rise in April given the current cost of living crunch faced by families. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) is set to increase MPs’ pay by £2,000 on 1 April in line with public sector pay [...]
Government spending billions ‘with no idea about value’, says watchdog head January 10, 2022 Government ministers are not properly evaluating projects that cost billions of pounds, according to the chief of parliament’s spending watchdog. National Audit Office (NAO) boss Gareth Davies says that government often has too “little information” on “what difference is made by the billions of pounds being spent”. Davies wrote in The Times that he was concerned [...]
Johnson says lateral flow tests will be free ‘as long as they’re very important’ to stop Covid spread January 10, 2022 Lateral flow tests will remain free in the UK for “as long as they’re very important” to stop the spread of Covid-19, Boris Johnson has said. The Prime Minister said the tests are “one of our most important lines of defence” and that “we’ve got to make sure we see off Omicron” in response to [...]
Corbyn gears up to create his own political party following Starmer inertia January 10, 2022 Ex Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is gearing up to create his own political party, according to inside reports.
Gove doesn’t deny free lateral flow phase out plans January 10, 2022 Michael Gove has refused to deny that free lateral flow tests could be phased out in the coming weeks, after another minister asserted that the government would "absolutely not" charge for the kits.
Prepare to help us: NHS leans on private sector to ride the Omicron storm January 10, 2022 The NHS have announced this morning that it has struck a deal with private health companies to expand capacity should Omicron overwhelm the public service.
As London passes the peak and transport reopens, could it really be a happy new year? January 10, 2022 London may be emerging from the worst of the new Covid-19 peak, with the capital’s public health boss saying London appears to be past the peak of infections and vital transport infrastructure kicking back into gear today. Professor Kevin Fenton, London’s public health director, said the data suggests “we may have passed or are at [...]
Macron’s ‘piss off’ plan set to continue in 2022 January 9, 2022 French authorities yesterday indicated they would continue with a strategy of irritating the unjabbed, rather than enforcing a mandatory Covid-19 vaccination order as is the case elsewhere in Europe. Last week President Emmanuel Macron said he would “emmerder” those who had yet to be vaccinated –which, roughly translated, means “piss off.” A controversial ‘Pass Sanitaire’ [...]
HSBC holding shares in China firm linked to human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims January 9, 2022 HSBC holds more than £2m worth of shares in a subsidiary of a China paramilitary organisation that has been accused of human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims, it has been revealed. The British bank has £2.2 million of shares in Xinjiang Tianye, which is a chemicals and plastics company, for an anonymous client. The firm’s parent [...]
Senior Tory warns of backbench revolt if Johnson does not soon drop Covid restrictions January 9, 2022 A senior Tory MP has warned Boris Johnson that there will be a major backbench revolt against him if the current Covid restrictions are not dropped by the end of the month. Mark Harper, who is the chair of the lockdown sceptic Tory Covid Recovery Group, said Johnson should drop mandatory face masks in indoor [...]