Exclusive: Government U-turns on claim that ’70 per cent’ of England’s PPE is made in the UK November 27, 2020 The government has made an apparent U-turn on claims that 70 per cent of England’s personal protective equipment (PPE) supply is made in the UK, following an admission that it does not hold any official figures on where PPE is manufactured, City A.M. can reveal. The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) in September [...]
Germany to double net borrowing for 2021 after suspending budget rule November 27, 2020 Germany will double its initially planned borrowing for 2021 to help finance businesses hit hard by the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, lawmakers said Friday morning. The parliamentary budget committee has agreed to a debt of €180bn (£160bn), almost twice the originally planned €96bn (£85bn). This is the second largest amount of net borrowing [...]
Don’t make us pay national insurance for furloughed staff, say struggling businesses November 27, 2020 Business groups representing hospitality, retail and leisure businesses have united to urge the government to provide sector specific support for fear of going bust due to higher tier restrictions. The groups, which have launched a ‘Bounce Back Better’ campaign to urge the government to provide them support, have asked for National Insurance payments to be [...]
Breaking: UK’s coronavirus R rate falls below 1 November 27, 2020 The UK’s rate of reproduction has fallen to between 0.9 and 1, according to new figures, suggesting the pandemic is beginning to lose its grip across the country. The latest statistics mark a significant drop from an estimate of 1 to 1.1 last week. It means that on average every 10 people infected with coronavirus [...]
Watch two LSO short films shot in the City during lockdown November 27, 2020 If you’ve been missing the Square Mile while you’ve been working from home these last few months, we have a treat for you. The London Symphony Orchestra has paired up with emerging videographers, dancers and composers to create two short films inspired by lockdown in the City of London. The films feature premieres of new [...]
First digital-only Black Friday set for bumper year as Covid-19 moves shoppers online November 27, 2020 England’s first ever digital-only Black Friday will not deter customers, with figures suggesting sales could be as much as 43 per cent higher than in 2019, with customers now familiar with the convenience of shopping online thanks to coronavirus. Figures from IMRG, the UK’s industry association for online retail, found this year’s Black Friday sales [...]
Tiers are here to stay until vaccine rollout, says minister November 27, 2020 England’s three-tier system is designed to stay in place until a vaccine becomes available to the general population, housing minister Robert Jenrick said this morning. “The point of the tiered approach is, can we get tiers that are sufficiently robust to steer the country through the last few months before we manage to get the [...]
Mirror publisher reports 14 per cent slump in revenue as print sales plummet November 27, 2020 Daily Mirror publisher Reach has reported a 14 per cent in revenue for the five months to November, after lockdowns across the UK hammered print sales. Reach, which owns 240 regional news titles, booked a 19.6 per cent decline in print revenue for the period. The group is now consulting on proposals to permanently close [...]
Tiered lockdowns spread gloom over UK services sector November 27, 2020 Firms in the UK services sector became much more gloomy in the third quarter of the year as the Covid “second wave crashed”, after optimism picked up in the summer when cases were falling, the latest CBI survey has shown. The consumer services sector was particularly downbeat, with the pandemic hitting business harder than in [...]
Government urges regulator to approve Astrazeneca-Oxford vaccine for emergency supply November 27, 2020 The government has formally asked the UK’s medicines regulator to authorise Astrazeneca and Oxford University’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency supply. If the vaccine is approved, it could speed up the rollout of the treatment across the UK. Regulators will begin to assess the vaccine when they receive full data from ongoing trials being carried out [...]