NHS Test and Trace missed almost 140,000 Covid contacts last week November 26, 2020 England’s beleaguered Test and Trace system failed to reach 40 per cent of people who came into contact with coronavirus last week, meaning almost 140,000 people required to self-isolate did not do so. Figures released today by the Department for Health and Social Care showed that NHS Test and Trace only managed to tell 60.3 [...]
London Tier 2: City leaders breathe ‘sigh of relief’ but push for return to the office November 26, 2020 City leaders have welcomed the announcement that London will be placed into Tier 2 when lockdown lifts, but warned that the capital will only fully recover when the government outlines a clear policy on returning to work. Health secretary Matt Hancock today said London will join regions such as Liverpool and Suffolk on “high” alert [...]
London in tier 2: You can attend a Premier League match again November 26, 2020 London’s Premier League clubs will be allowed to have up to 2,000 people attend matches from next month, after the capital was placed into Tier 2 Covid restrictions. The new restrictions mean that fans can enter through the turnstiles at their favourite grounds from 3 December. Arsenal’s Europa League fixture against Rapid Vienna next Thursday [...]
Tier 2 restrictions for London confirmed post-lockdown November 26, 2020 The capital will be placed in tier 2 restrictions when England’s national lockdown comes to an end next Wednesday. London will enter tier 2 along with most parts of England. Only a handful of areas will be placed in tier 1, and a significant number will be placed in tier 3, with the toughest restrictions. [...]
Labour hits out at £2bn ‘bombshell’ council tax rise November 26, 2020 Labour has hit out at Rishi Sunak for hiking council tax in yesterday’s spending review, claiming it was hidden in the text. The chancellor’s spending review yesterday gave all local authorities the power to increase council tax bills by two per cent without holding a referendum. Local authorities that manage social care institutions are able [...]
London to enter Tier 2 next Wednesday November 26, 2020 London will return to Tier 2 when England’s national lockdown lifts next Wednesday, the government has announced. Liverpool will join the capital on “high alert” on 2 December, while Manchester, Lancashire, Blackpool, Kent and Birmingham will enter Tier 3. Just three regions — the Isle of Wight, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly — will [...]
Covid crisis could slash wages by ‘£1,200 a year’ by 2025 November 26, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic will prolong Britain’s 15-year squeeze on household incomes and cut pay by £1,200 a year by 2025, according to a major think tank. In a stark report released today, the Resolution Foundation warned that despite politicians proclaiming an end to austerity, “its legacy will continue for many public services” throughout the course [...]
BoE boss says Rishi Sunak right to spend big on Covid November 26, 2020 Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey backed chancellor Rishi Sunak’s approach to the public finances, saying he is right to throw the might of the state behind the coronavirus suppression effort. “It is absolutely sensible that public resources, resources of the state, are being used to cushion the huge impact of this absolutely unprecedented shock,” [...]
Rishi Sunak admits current UK borrowing is “not sustainable” November 26, 2020 Rishi Sunak has conceded that the current projections for UK borrowing are “obviously not sustainable”, after the chancellor yesterday unveiled huge economic interventions as part of his winter Spending Review. Sunak yesterday lifted total government spending on the Covid response to £280bn, as he vouched his commitment to “jobs, businesses and public services”. The chancellor [...]
Charity begins at home — which makes foreign aid more important than ever November 26, 2020 No one can have envied Rishi Sunak yesterday, for it was the chancellor’s task to unveil the Spending Review to the House of Commons, facing (we were told by the Treasury) the worst economic landscape since the Great Frost of 1709. Sunak strove for sombre and minatory, but he has not yet gained enough political [...]