Pfizer vaccine to be rolled out across 50 hospital hubs from next week December 2, 2020 Around 50 hospital hubs around England will start offering the Pfizer vaccine to patients and staff in care homes from next week, the chief executive of the NHS has announced. Speaking at this evening’s Downing Street press conference, Simon Stephens said the NHS would also start sending letters out next week inviting vulnerable members of [...]
What counts as a substantial meal under new Tier 2 rules for pubs? December 2, 2020 Scotch eggs were first mentioned in the House of Commons in 1979 by Labour MP George Cunningham, who said the proposed introduction of pub meals was little more than a decoy to sell more booze. Pub food would “likely result in the sale of liquor — and that is what we are talking about rather [...]
Topshop owner Arcadia collapses putting 13,000 jobs at risk December 1, 2020 Sir Philip Green’s retail empire Arcadia, the owner of Topshop and Dorothy Perkins, has collapsed into administration, putting more than 13,000 jobs at risk. The company, which has become the biggest retail casualty of the coronavirus crisis, announced this evening that it has appointed Deloitte as administrator. More than 13,000 jobs are at risk following [...]
Biden urged to take on Big Tech amid lobbying fears November 30, 2020 US president-elect Joe Biden has been urged to confront Big Tech amid concerns about the number of tech executives linked to the incoming administration. Thirty-two advocacy groups today penned a letter to Biden urging him to hold companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon to account, arguing that their business practices harmed American consumers and [...]
Investors in collapsed Woodford fund set for £100m payout November 30, 2020 Investors trapped in Neil Woodford’s collapsed flagship fund are set to share a payout of just under £100m by the end of the year. In a letter today fund administrator Link said it has raised a further £98m after selling off more parts of the portfolio’s assets. It said investors will be paid on or [...]
Tier system may cause increase in chronic illness, government review finds November 30, 2020 Tougher restrictions under the new three-tier system may have a knock-on effect that could see a spike in “morbidity and mortality of certain long-term conditions”, a government review has found. In its analysis of the health and economic effects of the tier system, the government found that a modest rise in unemployment may exacerbate chronic [...]
Mike Ashley offers Philip Green’s embattled Arcadia emergency funding November 30, 2020 Mike Ashley has offered emergency funding to fellow retail billionaire Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia empire, which is on the brink of bankruptcy. After speculation that a deal was in the offing over the weekend, Ashley’s Frasers Group today confirmed that it had offered the Topshop-owner £50m in loans. It added that should the company enter [...]
Antony Blinken and the tragedy of America’s foreign policy establishment November 30, 2020 I was recently speaking to an DC-insider friend of mine about the appointment of Antony Blinken as America’s next secretary of state. My old colleague — a veteran of my seminal struggles with the neo-conservatives around the time of the Iraq War, a passionate Republican Never-Trumper and card-carrying member of the Washington establishment — summed [...]
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 [...]