More than half of London businesses expect long-term Brexit disruption April 3, 2021 The majority of UK firms experienced some form of trade disruption following Brexit, and many expect there to be long-term disruption as a result of the new EU trading arrangements. Three-quarters (75%) of businesses have experienced some Brexit trade disruption and almost half (49%) say they expect some sort of disruption to continue in the [...]
Boris Johnson faces growing rebellion on Covid vaccine passports as 41 Tory MPs hit out April 2, 2021 A Tory revolt against Covid vaccine passports for pubs and restaurants has grown to 41 MPs, putting Boris Johnson at risk of an embarrassing parliamentary defeat. More than 70 MPs from across the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats have today signed up to a campaign, launched by civil liberties group Big Brother Watch, against the [...]
No more lockdowns: UK will treat Covid like seasonal flu, says Chris Whitty April 1, 2021 Lockdowns will likely become a thing of the past once England emerges from restrictions in June, Professor Chris Whitty has said, as he suggested Britain will treat coronavirus like the flu in the future. England’s chief medical officer said the UK would have to learn to live with the virus, noting that up to 25,000 [...]
Irish PM Micheál Martin calls for ‘reset’ of relations with the UK April 1, 2021 Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin has called for a “reset” of relations with the UK in a bid to cool tensions between the countries over Northern Ireland post-Brexit. Martin today said he and the EU were “concerned” about the UK’s tougher stance toward issues on Northern Ireland in the past few months, which has seen [...]
EU seeks 10m Astrazeneca vaccines from India to plug jab shortfall April 1, 2021 The EU has asked India to supply 10m doses of Astrazeneca’s Covid vaccine, as the bloc scrambles to plug a shortfall in jab supplies. EU officials have approached the Serum Institute of India — the world’s largest vaccine maker — to ship doses of the Covid jab, according to Reuters. It marks the latest signal that [...]
EU warns ‘zero’ Covid vaccines will be shipped to UK unless Astrazeneca meets targets April 1, 2021 Brussels has warned that “zero” Covid vaccines made in the bloc will be exported to the UK unless Astrazeneca meets its dose delivery commitments with the EU. Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal market commissioner, hinted at the bloc’s plans to use European-made vaccines as bargaining power with Astrazeneca in an ongoing dispute about vaccine shortages [...]
Media tycoon Jimmy Lai and six others found guilty of ‘unauthorised assembly’ April 1, 2021 Seven high profile democracy supporters, including media tycoon Jimmy Lai and barrister Martin Lee, have been found guilty today of unauthorised assembly charges by a Hong Kong court. The 73-year-old media tycoon was arrested in late February for his ‘unauthorised assembly’ at the former British colony’s 2019 pro-democracy protests and for allegedly intimidating a reporter, [...]
More than one in 10 mid-sized businesses found errors in their furlough claims April 1, 2021 Mid-sized businesses that have reviewed their initial furlough claim and found it to be incorrect have been urged to go to HMRC to address the problem and lessen any penalties faced. More than one in 10 (13%) mid-sized businesses that have reviewed their initial furlough claim found it to be incorrect, new research by Grant [...]
Government’s ethnic minority adviser quits after race report April 1, 2021 The Prime Minister’s most senior adviser on ethnic minorities is set to step down from his role at Number 10, it has emerged. Samuel Kasumu will leave his post as special adviser for civil society and communities and May, Politico first revealed. In February, Kasumu wrote to the Boris Johnson saying he was considering leaving [...]
Vaccine passports would go against ‘British instinct’, says Keir Starmer April 1, 2021 Vaccine passports for entry to pubs, bars and restaurants would go against the “British instinct”, Sir Keir Starmer has said. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, the Labour leader said he would only decide his party’s official stance on the scheme once he had studied detailed proposals. “I think this is really difficult and [...]