What are the UK-EU ‘sausage wars’ in Northern Ireland and are they over? July 1, 2021 Yesterday’s confirmation that Brussels and London have agreed a truce to the so-called sausage wars has, at least momentarily, eased UK-EU tensions about the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol. The EU agreed to delay the ban on Great British sausages being sent to Northern Ireland until the end of September, after threats from Boris [...]
Home Office to allow late EU Settlement Scheme applications after website crashes July 1, 2021 Home Office to allow late EU Settlement Scheme applications after website crashes
Boris Johnson says ‘extra precautions’ for Covid may still be needed after 19 July July 1, 2021 Boris Johnson has today warned that “extra precautions” in England may be needed beyond 19 July when Covid restrictions are set to be eased. The Prime Minister said he will be “setting in the course of the next few days what step four will look like exactly”, but gave no indication about potential Covid rules [...]
Exclusive: Sadiq Khan ‘miles behind’ council housing target with just 1,600 completed since 2018 July 1, 2021 London Mayor Sadiq Khan is lagging behind on his 2018 promise to build more council houses in the capital, and has very little time left to meet his target. Numbers from City Hall showed just 1,632 council homes in London have been built since 2018, despite Khan promising to build more than 11,154 by 2022. [...]
D-Day for Keir Starmer: Voting underway in Batley and Spen by-election July 1, 2021 Voters in the West Yorkshire constituency of Batley and Spen are heading to the polls in a by-election touted as a potentially decisive day for Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership of the Labour Party. Ahead of today’s election, Sir Keir’s spokesman has insisted he will not resign if Labour loses but new polling this week suggested [...]
UK to EU exports rise to near pre-Brexit levels as trade deficit drops June 30, 2021 After a catastrophic start to the year, UK exports to the EU have risen to near 2019 levels, before the UK exited the European Union. In April 2021, EU exports were down around two per cent from the same time two years ago, according to ONS stats, marking a considerably better performance than in January, [...]
Health minister defends use of private email for government business June 29, 2021 Health minister Lord Bethell has rejected the idea that it is wrong for ministers to use a personal email address for government business, after it was revealed that he and former health secretary Matt Hancock used theirs “routinely”. The fresh allegations against the former health secretary and his junior minister were revealed in minutes from [...]
Whitty may be offered police protection after public harassment June 29, 2021 Police have launched an investigation to find two men caught on video harassing England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty. The video, caught on a mobile phone, shows Whitty being grabbed by men in a park in London as the chief medical officer (CMO) attempts to cross the road. Home Secretary Priti Patel branded the harassment [...]
Health secretary Javid says ‘no reason’ for restrictions to go beyond 19 July June 28, 2021 New health secretary Sajid Javid said he saw “no reason to go beyond July 19” with Covid restrictions, in a nod to a full reopening of society in three weeks. In his first statement as health secretary, Javid confirmed Step 4 of England’s roadmap out of lockdown would not be brought forward, but that he [...]
Boris Johnson says full easing of Covid restrictions on July 19 is ‘very likely’ June 28, 2021 Lockdown restrictions are “very likely” to be lifted as planned on July 19 according to the PM, as new health secretary Sajid Javid said the decision will be “irreversible”. Speaking on a campaign visit on Monday, the prime minister said that the government and its scientific advisers are “very likely be in a position on [...]