Test and Trace trials ‘groundbreaking’ new technology to detect Covid mutations March 22, 2021 NHS Test and Trace has begun trials of a “groundbreaking” new variant test that can hunt down Covid mutations and return results within 48 hours, the health secretary has announced. The tests could potentially halve the time it takes to identify whether a positive coronavirus sample contains a variant of concern, which usually take around five days [...]
MPs call for insurers Legal & General and Aviva to cut ties with HSBC over its Hong Kong stance March 22, 2021 A group of British parliamentarians have called for major British insurers Aviva and Legal & General to cut ties with HSBC over its support of Beijing’s democracy crackdown in Hong Kong. The group of 10 MPs and peers wrote to the pair of insurers to say that “investment in HSBC is in direct conflict with [...]
Boris Johnson to call EU leaders in bid to sop vaccine export ban March 22, 2021 Boris Johnson is preparing to speak to EU leaders this week as a row over coronavirus vaccine supplies rumbles on. The Prime Minister is expected to hold a meeting with his European counterparts to try and de-escalate tensions in the lead up to an EU’s leaders summit on Thursday. He will also speak to leaders [...]
Phase out: UK to have just one coal-burning plant as EDF eyes West Burton closure March 22, 2021 UK to have just one coal-burning plant as EDF eyes West Burton closure
MPs to decide today if David Cameron’s lobbying for Greensill bailout will be probed March 22, 2021 MPs to decide if David Cameron's lobbying for Greensill bailout will be probed
Trust in AstraZeneca vaccine plummets further across Europe March 22, 2021 Trust in the safety of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine in Europe has dropped even further, after 17 countries made a quickly overturned decision to ban the jab last week. A new YouGov survey showed 55 per cent of Germans, 61 per cent of the French, 52 per cent of Spanish people and 43 per cent [...]
Union boss Len McCluskey and Keir Starmer have not spoken in past year March 21, 2021 Powerful union boss Len McCluskey has today said he has not spoken to Sir Keir Starmer since he became party leader last April and that “that personal relationship broke down”. McCluskey, who is general secretary of Unite, called for Starmer to be more conciliatory toward the hard left of the party. The Labour leader has [...]
Boris Johnson may face defeat as MPs try to stop trade deals with genocidal regimes March 21, 2021 More Tory MPs have come out to support an amendment to a trade bill that would make it harder for the government to sign trade deals with countries that have committed genocide. Former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has now backed the amendment, which would force ministers to justify any trade deal that is signed with [...]
Tory MPs to rebel over plans to extend Covid powers until September March 21, 2021 The government has come under fire from Tory MPs for unveiling plans to extend emergency Covid enforcement powers in England for another six months. Legislation will be brought to the House of Commons by Boris Johnson on Thursday to extend police powers to ban protests, shut down ports and detain citizens for not following Covid [...]
European Commission calls for reciprocity on vaccine exports with the UK March 19, 2021 European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen has called for reciprocity on vaccine exports amid an ongoing row with the UK and US over jab deliveries. “I ask for greater openness as Europe is among the regions in the world that exports the most, but reciprocity is needed,” she told Italian newspaper la Repubblica. She [...]