Parents and students set for court battle over A-level results August 16, 2020 Angry parents and students are preparing to take legal action to appeal A-level results awarded under the emergency coronavirus marking system. Many students saw their expected results downgraded by the government’s system last week, particularly in lower socio-economic areas. For example, there have been many examples of students from poorer backgrounds having expected A* or [...]
Matt Hancock set to scrap Public Health England August 16, 2020 Public Health England (PHE) will be axed and replaced by a new body as early as next month. The new body – to be called the National Institute for Health Protection – will be responsible for protecting the UK against pandemics, and will be created through the merger of NHS Test and Trace and elements [...]
Irish PM: ‘Landing zone’ for a Brexit trade deal in sight August 13, 2020 The UK’s chief Brexit negotiator has today said an EU trade deal can be struck next month as the Irish Prime Minister also sees a potential “landing zone”. Boris Johnson’s chief negotiator – and close ally – David Frost said on Twitter today that “our assessment is that agreement can be reached in September”, with [...]
Business groups find little reason to celebrate US call to not raise UK tariffs August 13, 2020 Major UK business advocacy groups have said the US’ decision to not slap more tariffs on British goods is no cause to celebrate as businesses continue to feel the pinch from existing measures. The US made the decision today to not impose planned punitive tariffs on £5.75bn of British goods as a part of a [...]
Sadiq Khan says coronavirus app delay has ‘cost valuable time’ August 13, 2020 The government’s problems in setting up a coronavirus test and trace app have “cost valuable time”, according to Sadiq Khan. The government launched a trial of the new NHS Test and Trace App in the Isle of Wight today, after the first version was scrapped during testing. The app will log the time and distance [...]
New test and trace app will not alert one in three people after a positive test August 13, 2020 Almost one-third of people who should be alerted by someone else’s positive coronavirus test through the new NHS Test and Trace app will not receive a notification. The new app is being trialled in the Isle of Wight and Newham, East London, after the original one was scrapped during the testing phase. The app will [...]
Sadiq Khan pleads with PM to save struggling West End August 13, 2020 Sadiq Khan has called on Boris Johnson to rescue London’s West End as central London businesses struggle to rebound from the coronavirus crisis. Khan wrote to the Prime Minister today, after lobby group The New West End Company predicted that there would be a £5bn drop in retail sales for the district this year. The West [...]
Beauty’s in the eye of beholder, MP says of planning reforms August 12, 2020 The government’s proposed planning reforms may be difficult to implement proposed if “beauty” clauses are left in, according to the head of a parliamentary house builders group. Conservative MP – and chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for SME House builders – Andrew Lewer told City A.M. that it would be “difficult to square [...]
France on the verge of being added to UK quarantine list August 12, 2020 High-ranking members of the government will today discuss whether to add France to the UK’s travel quarantine list as soon as next week. France has seen increasing rates of coronavirus in recent weeks, prompting speculation that it could join Belgium and Spain on the quarantine list. Recently published figures show that France had 4,854 new [...]
Eurostar blames coronavirus for scrapping wi-fi on most seats August 11, 2020 Eurostar has blamed coronavirus for its decision to take away wi-fi from all seats, except for passengers in the premium section. The decision had caused some anger on social media, causing a Eurostar spokesperson to explain the situatoin. They said that Eurostar had to “review and amend some of the services we offer” and that [...]
