Chancellor Rishi Sunak extends sick pay amid coronavirus fears March 11, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak today announced that sick pay measures will be extended to anyone advised to self-isolate due to coronavirus. In his Budget speech this afternoon, Sunak said anyone in isolation will be able to get a sick note by calling 111, while payments will be made from day one rather than day four. The [...]
Tech giants summoned to Downing Street in coronavirus crackdown March 11, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has summoned major tech firms to Downing Street tonight as the government cracks down on misinformation about coronavirus. Executives from all big social media companies are set to attend the Tech CEO Round Table, where they will be asked to commit “data, assets and expertise” to the fight against the outbreak. [...]
Michael Gove: Coronavirus might derail Brexit trade talks with EU March 11, 2020 Michael Gove has admitted coronavirus could derail the next round of trade talks with the EU amid “specific public health concerns”. Asked what impact the outbreak of the disease, which has led to the whole of Italy being put into lockdown, would have on the Brexit talks, the Cabinet Office minister told MPs it was [...]
Budget: Chancellor says coronavirus will be ‘front and centre’ as PM wishes minister speedy recovery March 11, 2020 This morning’s Cabinet meeting was dominated by a debate around coronavirus, after it emerged overnight that a health minister had tested positive. Mid Bedfordshire MP Nadine Dorries, who is a health minister, revealed she had the disease but was “over the worst of it”. She raised concerns about her elderly mother who “began with the [...]
Coronavirus: City recruiter braced for Square Mile hiring ‘to fall off a cliff’ March 11, 2020 Top City recruiter Morgan McKinley yesterday said hiring in the Square Mile could grind to a halt if the coronavirus outbreak causes more businesses to close offices and make staff work from home. Already financial services recruiters are noticing an increase in requests to reschedule face-to-face interviews between clients and candidates to be over telephone [...]
UK coronavirus: Seventh Brit dies as European cases surge March 11, 2020 A 53-year-old woman has become the seventh Brit to die after contracting coronavirus, the Foreign Office confirmed this morning. The woman died in Bali, according to Indonesia’s health ministry, marking the first death in the country linked to coronavirus. A spokesperson for the Indonesian government said the patient was already “critically ill” when she was [...]
COVID-19: potential tax responses in the UK Budget? March 11, 2020 | City Talk The rapid development of cases of Covid-19 in the UK, and the disruption that this is causing in the UK and globally, may prompt the Chancellor to act in the Budget to help businesses or take powers to do so. So, what might the Chancellor do? Read more: UK interest rates slashed to battle coronavirus [...]
Coronavirus: Bank of England slashes UK interest rates to 0.25 per cent March 11, 2020 The Bank of England today slashed UK interest rates to just 0.25 per cent in a bid to tackle the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak on the economy. The 50 basis point (0.5 percentage point) cut takes interest rates lower than the 0.75 per cent they were already at, in a move designed to boost [...]
Health minister Nadine Dorries tests postive for coronavirus March 11, 2020 Health minister Nadine Dorries is in self isolation after testing positive for coronavirus. The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the UK has hit 382 and six people in the UK have died from the virus so far. It was confirmed yesterday that the latest person to die was a man in his 80s [...]
The coronavirus could cause flexible working to go viral March 11, 2020 With each day that passes, it becomes clearer that the world is facing a once-in-a-generation crisis of public health. With Italy now locked down and governments around the world scrambling to contain Covid-19, there is no doubt that the impact on daily life across the globe will exceed anything seen before in most of our [...]