All adults to be vaccinated ‘by June’ as jab programme accelerates March 13, 2021 Every adult in Britain will be offered their first dose of a Covid vaccine by early June, according to reports, as the nation’s largest ever vaccination programme continues to accelerate. All adults will be offered at least one jab by around 10 June, beating the government’s target of the end of July, according to estimates [...]
Farmers union slams free pass for EU imports as UK food exports face red-tape and higher costs March 12, 2021 Farmers union pleads for level playing field on EU imports as food exports face financial barriers
Italy to enter third national lockdown over Easter following spike in Covid cases March 12, 2021 Italy will enter its third nationwide lockdown over the Easter weekend as the country struggles to curb a fresh spike in coronavirus cases. Non-essential shops will be shuttered across the country between 3 April and 5 April, when Italians will only be allowed to leave their homes for work, health or emergency reasons. The decree, [...]
Rishi Sunak not interested in setting debt-GDP ratio target for UK March 11, 2021 Rishi Sunak has said today that his fiscal policy decisions will not be guided by a target debt-GDP ratio and that he would instead look to other indicators to measure the nation’s finances. The chancellor has spent more than £400bn during Covid-19, including a planned £65bn over the next year to stimulate the economy, pushing [...]
Brexit: UK postpones new checks on EU goods for six months March 11, 2021 The UK has today moved to postpone implementing post-Brexit checks on food coming from the EU for another six months. Boris Johnson’s UK-EU relations chief Lord David Frost said the decision was made to give traders time to focus on reopening as the Covid restrictions are eased instead of spending time on the extensive new [...]
One-in-five UK exporters turn away from EU post-Brexit, says IoD March 11, 2021 One-in-five UK exporters turn away from EU post-Brexit, says IoD
Norway and Denmark suspend Astrazeneca vaccine rollout as a ‘precaution’ March 11, 2021 Norway and Denmark have both halted the rollout of Astrazeneca’s Covid vaccine as a “cautionary decision”, after reports of one individual suffering severe side effects. Denmark this morning became the first country to impose a total ban on the Anglo-Swedish firm’s jab, after other countries halted the distribution of certain batch numbers. The country’s health [...]
EU extends vaccine exports checks by three months amid Astrazeneca row March 11, 2021 The European Commission has extended export controls on Covid vaccines until the end of June, amid an ongoing row with the UK over “vaccine nationalism”. The export authorisation scheme was introduced in January amidst a separate dispute over low supplies of the Astrazeneca jab within the EU. The scheme, which was originally intended to run [...]
UK says China ‘hollows out democratic debate in Hong Kong’ in latest spat March 11, 2021 Foreign secretary Dominic Raab has condemned Beijing parliament’s decision today to impose measures that will assess Hong Kong politician’s loyalty to Beijing. “This is the latest step by Beijing to hollow out the space for democratic debate in Hong Kong, contrary to the promises made by China itself,” Raab said in a statement. “This can [...]
HSBC concedes to investor pressure over climate change March 11, 2021 HSBC has given in to investor pressure by tabling plans to phase out its financing of coal power by 2040, staving off backlash over the bank not being aligned with its climate ‘ambitions’. The bankin giant said today it will retire from funding both coal-fired power and thermal coal mining across the EU by 2030, and [...]