Anneliese Dodds named as Keir Starmer’s shadow chancellor April 5, 2020 Anneliese Dodds has been named shadow chancellor under new Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, less than three years after being elected to parliament. Leadership rival Lisa Nandy has been named shadow foreign secretary, former Oxford don Nick Thomas-Symonds has been named shadow home secretary and Jon Ashworth has retained the shadow health portfolio. Newly elected [...]
Coronavirus: Former F1 chief Ron Dennis donates £1m for NHS staff meals April 5, 2020 Former McLaren F1 boss Ron Dennis has launched a major initiative to serve 1m free meals to frontline NHS workers. The multimillionaire motor racing mogul has pledged more than £1m to provide meals for medical staff across the country as they battle the coronavirus pandemic. The food will be delivered to intensive care care staff, [...]
Bank of England’s Andrew Bailey rejects direct government financing amid coronavirus April 5, 2020 Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has defended the institution’s drastic response to the coronavirus slowdown, saying it is not directly financing government spending and is against such an idea. Threadneedle Street has ramped up quantitative easing (QE), under which it creates money and buy bonds to stimulate lending, to tackle the fallout from coronavirus. [...]
Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab urge world leaders to avoid protectionist trade policies April 5, 2020 Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab have warned world leaders not to implement protectionist policies during the coronavirus crisis after Donald Trump halted millions of face masks being exported to Germany. Raab wrote an article on behalf of himself, Johnson and international trade secretary Liz Truss to urge G7 and G20 leaders to “keep trade routes [...]
Cebr: UK output has plunged 30 per cent amid coronavirus April 5, 2020 UK economic output has fallen by roughly 30 per cent, according to new research, but some sectors such as manufacturing are much worse off than other areas like insurance and finance. As coronavirus containment measures cause businesses across the country to close and demand to slump, the UK economy has slowed dramatically. Economists have struggled [...]
Matt Hancock threatens complete outdoor exercise ban April 5, 2020 Health secretary Matt Hancock has threatened to ban exercise as a part of the government’s social distancing measures if people do not follow the rules. Pictures have emerged today of people picnicking or lounging in parks and beaches across the country as some continue to flout the government’s Covid-19 lockdown rules. Hancock told the BBC [...]
Playstations and yoga mats: Online shopping surges amid UK lockdown April 5, 2020 Online shopping has boomed in Britain since the country entered coronavirus lockdown, with households buying games consoles to pass the hours and yoga mats to keep fit and healthy while movement is restricted. Transactions at major online UK retailers are at 170 per cent of their seasonal average, according to internet advertising firm Criteo. Brits [...]
Treasury plots ‘bailout taskforce’ to rescue firms from coronavirus collapse April 5, 2020 The Treasury is said to be preparing to take emergency stakes in companies that are at risk of collapse due to the coronavirus outbreak. Whitehall officials have approached a top City figure to assemble a so-called bailout taskforce that would pump funds into potential casualties of the pandemic in exchange for equity stakes, the Sunday [...]
Arcadia and Debenhams eye drastic measures as coronavirus pummels retailers April 5, 2020 The UK’s retail sector is creaking under the weight of coronavirus, with a number of high-profile names such as Debenhams, Cath Kidston and Arcadia Group scrambling to stay viable. Topshop owner Arcadia could walk away from as many as 550 of its stores this week, serving notice to landlords weeks after it shut its physical [...]
Matt Hancock denies claims of Rishi Sunak feud April 5, 2020 Health secretary Matt Hancock has denied reports of a feud between himself and chancellor Rishi Sunak over the government’s coronavirus strategy. The Mail on Sunday reported today that the pair were engaged in a feud over when to lift the UK’s lockdown and get the economy back to normal. Sunak reportedly had made presentations to [...]
