Joe Biden planning to visit UK in first trip outside North America January 17, 2021 Joe Biden is reportedly planning on visiting the UK as his first trip outside North America as US president. Biden will come to Cornwall in June for the G7 summit, however he is also now planning on visiting Boris Johnson before this date to set the foundations for a renewed Transatlantic special relationship. There had [...]
All over 18s in the UK could have Covid vaccine by June January 17, 2021 Senior government figures are hoping for every adult in the UK to have received their first Covid vaccine jab by the end of June in what would be a significant acceleration of the country’s rollout. Downing Street is now reportedly working toward this target, with the aim of soon getting up to 5m people vaccinated [...]
UK arrivals face hotel quarantine to stop mutant variant spread January 17, 2021 Ministers have been asked to draw up plans to strengthen Britain’s borders, to stop new variants of coronavirus undermining the vaccination effort. Officials have been told to prepare for the creation of quarantine hotels for those arrived in Britain, and to use GPS and facial-recognition technology to check that people are staying in isolation, the [...]
Chancellor plots one-off Covid grant for benefit claimants January 16, 2021 The Chancellor is reportedly planning a one-off payment for benefit claimants instead of extending the temporary £20-per-week increase. Rishi Sunak met with the work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey on Friday to discuss the alternatives to the increase in universal credit payments, according to The Times. He increased universal credit and the basic working tax [...]
Prime Minister Boris Johnson scraps ALL travel corridors for UK arrivals January 15, 2021 All travel corridors with the UK will be suspended for the next four weeks, the Prime Minister has announced, as ministers scramble to prevent new mutations entering the country. Speaking at today’s Downing Street press conference, Boris Johnson said all countries will be removed from the quarantine-free travel list from 4am on Monday morning. Travellers [...]
Home Office: 150,000 fingerprint, DNA and arrest history records accidentally deleted January 15, 2021 Priti Patel is facing a backlash after the Home Office accidentally lost 150,000 fingerprint, DNA and arrest history records. The mistake on the Police National Computer (PNC) may mean that offenders could go free due to evidence not being flagged in connection to fingerprints or DNA, according to multiple reports. The PNC reportedly suffered an [...]
Major UK business body calls for furlough scheme extension to July January 15, 2021 One of the UK’s largest business lobbies is calling for the government to extend the furlough scheme to July and to give out a fresh round of business grants worth £25,000 each. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) also called for temporary VAT cuts and business rates relief to be extended, with the group saying [...]
Govt says it won’t lower employment rights in Brexit wake January 15, 2021 The government has rejected a report that it plans to tear up EU employment protections, which include the 48-hour working week. The deregulation is being put together by the business department with Downing Street’s blessing, the Financial Times reported, but has not yet been agreed by ministers. The main areas of focus were reportedly on [...]
Brexit: Michel Barnier says new UK-EU border friction here to stay January 14, 2021 Much of the post-Brexit trade disruption and regulatory issues in the past two weeks will not be fixable, according to the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. Barnier said today that many things “changed for good” when the UK left the EU’s single market and customs union on 31 December, adding that “there are mechanical, [...]
Post-Brexit delays are ‘teething problems’, says minister January 14, 2021 Environmental secretary George Eustice told the House of Commons earlier today that post-Brexit customs delays, currently heavily impacting Scottish fishing exports, are only “teething problems”. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called the backlog “shameful” on Twitter last night, in a push for compensation for Scottish fishermen. Eustice said that the government will ‘remain open’ to [...]