France may be added to UK’s travel ‘red list’, warns Boris Johnson March 24, 2021 Tougher border restrictions with France including adding the country to the UK’s so-called travel red list may be needed “very soon”, the Prime Minister has said. Boris Johnson told MPs that the government “will have to look at” quarantine measures for hauliers coming into the UK from France “just because of the ambiguity about the [...]
EU to impose tougher controls on Covid vaccine exports to the UK March 24, 2021 The EU has updated its vaccine export restrictions to enforce tougher controls on shipments of jabs to the UK, as a bitter dispute over Covid vaccine supplies continues to escalate. The fresh restrictions, which are due to go before EU leaders tomorrow, stop short of a total ban on vaccine exports but are likely to [...]
Government opens call for evidence of social factors in UK pension schemes March 24, 2021 The government has launched a call for evidence to understand the extent to which social factors are integrated into pension schemes’ investment activities. The 12-week review will collect views on how pension scheme trustees are considering social factors as part of their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) policies. The government introduced its first ESG policies [...]
Government launches search for new UKGI chair March 23, 2021 The Treasury has launched a search to replace the outgoing chair of UK Government Investments (UKGI), the Whitehall agency responsible for taxpayer investments. Headhunting firm Odgers Berndtson has kicked off a search to find Robert Swannell’s successor, Sky News reported, with the current UKGI head set to step down after seven years at the helm. [...]
No injection: Pfizer begins human trials of Covid pill March 23, 2021 Pfizer has begun early-stage human trials of a pill to treat the first signs of Covid infection, the company announced today. The US pharmaceuticals giant said the oral treatment had “demonstrated potent” activity against Sars-Cov-2 in previous trials. If it succeeds in human trials, the pill could be prescribed to those recently infected with coronavirus [...]
Boris Johnson: ‘No doubt’ that third wave of Covid will reach the UK March 23, 2021 There is “no doubt” that a third wave of coronavirus sweeping across Europe will “wash onto our shores”, the Prime Minister has said, as he reflected on lives lost to Covid on the anniversary of England’s first national lockdown. Speaking at this evening’s Downing Street press conference, Boris Johnson said the UK “must be realistic” [...]
Spain to lift travel ban on UK arrivals from next week March 23, 2021 Spain is set to lift a ban on arrivals from Britain from 30 March, three months after suspending flights from the UK following concerns over the Kent Covid strain. A ban on all UK arrivals to Spain by air and sea has been in place since 22 December. Government spokeswoman Maria Jesus Montero told a [...]
Going Dutch: Downing Street refuses to rule out sharing Astrazeneca vaccines with EU March 23, 2021 Downing Street has refused to rule out sharing British supplies of the Astrazeneca vaccine made in the Netherlands with the EU to avert an exports ban from the bloc. Asked whether the UK would be willing to offer some of the Dutch-made jabs to Europe, the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said Boris Johnson has “set [...]
Wall Street opens in the red ahead of Fed chair testimony March 23, 2021 Wall Street ticked into the red this morning as energy and travel stocks slipped, while investors awaited remarks from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on the health of the US economy. Powell will join US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen to provide testimony to US politicians in Congress later today. He is expected to say that the [...]
Conservative MP slammed for ‘dangerous’ comments comparing marriage to ‘the regulation of baby-making’ March 23, 2021 A Conservative MP has been criticised for “dangerous” comments comparing marriage to the “regulation of baby-making” and claiming that discussions around marriage are “infected with or scared of” second-wave feminism. Danny Kruger, MP for Devizes in Wiltshire, made the comments in a blog post on the website of The New Social Covenant Unit (NSCU), a [...]
