Sadiq Khan pleads with PM to save struggling West End August 13, 2020 Sadiq Khan has called on Boris Johnson to rescue London’s West End as central London businesses struggle to rebound from the coronavirus crisis. Khan wrote to the Prime Minister today, after lobby group The New West End Company predicted that there would be a £5bn drop in retail sales for the district this year. The West [...]
UK says US whisky tariff ‘in nobody’s interest’ in trade deal talks August 13, 2020 The UK has said it will step up demands for the US to drop tariffs on goods such as single malt Scotch whisky after the industry warned a decision by Washington to retain the levy was putting its future at risk. The US government yesterday vowed to maintain 15 per cent tariffs on Airbus aircraft [...]
Six per cent of people in England may have already contracted coronavirus August 13, 2020 Over 3.4m people in the UK may have already contracted coronavirus, a new study from Imperial College has shown. In the world’s largest home antibody testing programme, over 100,000 volunteers tested themselves at home using a finger prick test between 20 June and 13 July to check if they have antibodies against the virus. The [...]
Our university sector was broken long before Covid-19 August 13, 2020 UK higher education has reached a dead end. In the short term, the Covid-19 pandemic has created a huge hole in the current income of institutions, amounting to several billion pounds. In the longer term, Covid will probably result in a sustained decline in several sources of university income, above all fees from overseas students. [...]
More than 3m older people can’t downsize due to lack of suitable housing August 13, 2020 More than 3m people in the UK over the age of 65 want to downsize to a smaller home but can’t due to a lack of suitable housing and a competitive market. Ahead of the Autumn Budget, a report by Homes for Later Living called for ministers to set a goal of building 30,000 retirement [...]
With five months to prepare, the A-level results fiasco is a scandal of the government’s own making August 12, 2020 A-level results day is always fraught with drama. Whether its moral panic of grade inflation, handwringing about the relative value of a university degree, or outrage over news stories being illustrated by delighted blonde girls jumping into the air with joy, results day “scandal” it’s a staple of the August news calendar. This year is [...]
UK coronavirus death toll lowered after methodology change August 12, 2020 The official death toll from coronavirus in the UK was lowered by over 5,000 today after the government adopted a new way of counting fatalities. Concerns had been raised that the old method overstated the number of deaths, as it counted every death after someone had been diagnosed with coronavirus with no cut-off point. From [...]
Three dead after Scotland train incident August 12, 2020 Three people have died and one person is said to be missing, after a train in Scotland was derailed by a landslip this morning. The British Transport Police said three people had died at the scene, including the driver of the train. Six others were taken to hospital but their injuries were not thought to [...]
Major incident declared over Scotland train derailment August 12, 2020 A number of people were seriously injured in a passenger train derailment this morning in Scotland, first minister Nicola Sturgeon said, as she declared a major incident. A Scotrail train derailed near Stonehaven in Scotland, just south of Aberdeen, following heavy rain overnight. Twelve people — six passengers and six staff — were on board the four-carriage train. PA [...]
Parties lead Germany to biggest spike in coronavirus cases in three months August 12, 2020 Germany today reported its largest daily spike in new cases of coronavirus in more than three months, as authorities blamed people returning from holiday and boozy parties across the country. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany rose by 1,226 to 218,519 today, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) showed — marking the [...]