Coronavirus: Travel industry in line for £4bn support package April 19, 2020 The government is set to underwrite cancellation refunds given out by the travel industry as a part of a £4bn relief package. Ministers are reportedly drawing up plans to guarantee refunds to customers of travel agents and holiday companies that have had their holidays cancelled by the Covid-19 crisis. Various stories have emerged of travel [...]
UK coronavirus death toll passes 16,000 April 19, 2020 The UK’s coronavirus death toll passed 16,000 today as another 596 people in hospital died from the virus. More than 120,000 have also tested positive for the virus out of a total of 482,063 tests. Education secretary Gavin Williamson announced the new figures today as he paid tribute to people working in the education sector. [...]
Insurers accused of not ‘sharing the pain’ with businesses during coronavirus pandemic April 19, 2020 Insurers have been accused of not “sharing the pain” of UK businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. Research by insurance consultancy Mactavish found at least five commercial insurers have recently removed cover from their policies because of Coronavirus. Mactavish chief executive Bruce Hepburn said: “We have customers getting less cover and paying more for this, whilst [...]
OECD boss: Coronavirus crash will not be as bad as Great Depression April 19, 2020 The coronavirus economic downturn will be “very bad”, but not as bad as the Great Depression despite fears to the contrary, according to the head of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the OECD, said today that the impending global economic crash will not last for four years like [...]
Easyjet chair attacks founder for piling pressure on management during coronavirus crisis April 19, 2020 The chairman of Easyjet has attacked founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou for piling pressure on the airline’s management team during the coronavirus crisis. Haji-Ioannou has repeatedly criticised Easyjet’s management for its order of 107 Airbus jets which was signed in 2013 at an estimated cost of £4.5bn. Last week he called for a vote to oust [...]
Coronavirus: Debenhams and Arcadia in talks with landlords over store closures April 19, 2020 Major high street retailers including Debenhams and Topshop owner Arcadia are negotiating with landlords over whether stores will reopen after the coronavirus lockdown ends. All non-essential retailers were ordered to close when the government implemented restrictions to slow the spread of coronavirus last month. However, some stores will not reopen when the lockdown is relaxed [...]
Coronavirus: Asda cancels clothing orders with suppliers April 19, 2020 Asda has cancelled around a quarter of clothing orders with suppliers due to plummeting demand during the coronavirus crisis. The supermarket has said it will pay 50 per cent for the completed cancelled orders, rising to 60 per cent for Bangladeshi suppliers. Asda said it will honour more than 75 per cent of its orders [...]
UK considers three-stage ‘traffic light’ plan to exit coronavirus lockdown April 19, 2020 Michael Gove has poured cold water on reports that schools and some shops could be re-opened by next month in an easing of the UK’s coronavirus lockdown restrictions. When asked about a government report first leaked to Buzzfeed about the UK’s three-stage lockdown exit plan, Gove said it was not correct that schools could be [...]
Michael Gove hits out at reports Boris Johnson skipped coronavirus meetings April 19, 2020 Senior minister Michael Gove has defended Boris Johnson’s efforts during the coronavirus crisis after an explosive report claimed the Prime Minister missed a series of coronavirus Cobra meetings. The Sunday Times reported today that Johnson missed five of the crisis meetings in late January and early February when the coronavirus first began to spread outside [...]
Read all about it: Newspapers feel the strain of Covid-19 April 18, 2020 Newspaper editors will have been no doubt heartened to see Oliver Dowden, the culture secretary, chivvying Brits to “buy a paper” this weekend. Dowden called newspapers the “fourth emergency service.” Like the others, they are under strain. For weeks on end British newspapers have reported on the coronavirus crisis, covering the spread of the pandemic, [...]
