Coronavirus: Sadiq Khan not invited to emergency Cobra meeting on second UK wave September 21, 2020 Sadiq Khan has not been invited to tomorrow’s emergency Cobra meeting, but will still speak to Boris Johnson before his key coronavirus address. Johnson is convening the crisis meeting tomorrow with the heads of devolved governments as speculation increases that the country will be put into a second lockdown. Cases are beginning to rise rapidly [...]
Anneliese Dodds pitches Labour as party of fiscal responsibility September 21, 2020 Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds has said Labour will be a party of fiscal responsibility under its new leadership, while setting out a three-point plan to protect UK businesses from the economic crisis. Dodds used her speech at the virtual Labour conference to call out the government for being “cavalier” with public money, adding that she [...]
UK on track for 200 Covid deaths a day based on current infection rate September 21, 2020 The UK could be on track to have 200 Covid deaths a day by November if current rates of infection continue, according to the UK’s top scientific official. Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said that coronavirus cases are currently doubling every seven days, while also revealing that only 8 per cent of Britons have [...]
London may be days away from new coronavirus restrictions September 20, 2020 Sadiq Khan is reportedly rallying the government to impose new lockdown restrictions on London in the coming days. City Hall sources are also indicating that the mayor may tell Londoners that they should start working from home from next week. Coronavirus cases jumped by 3,899 today, after cases jumped by 4,422 yesterday. Health secretary Matt [...]
Rishi Sunak considers slashing welfare and public sector pay September 20, 2020 Rishi Sunak is reportedly planning on freezng benefits and public sector pay as a part of a bid to offset the Treasury’s coronavirus spending. The government has spent around £190bn in emergency Covid-19 funding, which has put this year’s budget deficit at an estimated £350bn – 12-times higher than pre-crisis expectations. Media speculation has been [...]
Sir Keir Starmer: Labour must become more patriotic September 20, 2020 Labour must stop being “shy” about patriotism to win back its traditional working class voter base, according to Sir Keir Starmer. Starmer said today that his party had been “very shy about patriotism for too many years” and that “the Labour movement actually wants the very best for the country”. The party’s virtual 2020 conference [...]
Tory mayoral candidate calls for TfL to sell Tube station naming rights September 20, 2020 London’s Tube stations could be renamed through lucrative advertising deals if Tory mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey gets elected. Bailey’s proposal, which he says could bring in £100m a year, follows in the footsteps of the Dubai Metro which has allowed companies to bid for naming rights of underground stations. The mayoral candidate told the Sunday [...]
Matt Hancock threatens new coronavirus restrictions if people flout rules September 20, 2020 The government will introduce more stringent coronavirus restrictions if people do not follow the new set of rules, according to health secretary Matt Hancock. Hancock said that the UK was at a “tipping point”, as coronavirus cases rise across the conutry, and that people had become “more relaxed [about following Covid rules] over summer”. Hancock’s [...]
Demand for UK coronavirus tests up to four-times higher than supply September 17, 2020 Demand for coronavirus tests in the UK is up to three or four-times greater than current capacity, according to the NHS Test and Trace boss. Baroness Dido Harding told parliament’s science committee today that the UK’s capacity is now 242,817 coronavirus tests a day, however more than a quarter of people getting tested do not [...]
No London coronavirus restrictions planned, says Downing Street September 17, 2020 Downing Street has said it is not planning any new London-specific coronavirus restrictions, despite speculation to the contrary. The Prime Minister’s spokesman said today that “no restrictions are currently planned” for London, but that “we will always keep it under review”. Health secretary Matt Hancock imposed fresh restrictions in a string of areas in the [...]