Coronavirus: Local lockdowns could be implemented in England May 27, 2020 English towns and cities could be placed back into full lockdown to suppress coronavirus “flare ups”, according to communities secretary Robert Jenrick. The local lockdowns would be implemented as a part of the government’s Covid-19 track and trace programme, which could be introduced as early as tomorrow. It will mean schools and non-essential retail businesses, [...]
Government to open England schools on 1 June as lockdown eases further May 24, 2020 Boris Johnson has announced that English primary schools will be instructed to open on 1 June children in reception, year one and year six as a further easing the coronavirus lockdown. Johnson said at today’s press briefing that there would be a phased re-opening of schools, with some secondary pupils to go back to school [...]
Boris Johnson backs Dominic Cummings over lockdown travel row May 24, 2020 Boris Johnson will not sack chief adviser Dominic Cummings for allegedly leaving London twice to travel to Durham during coronavirus lockdown. Speaking at today’s press briefing, the Prime Minister said Cummings acted “legally and reasonably” when he drove to Durham during the lockdown and that “his objective was to stop the spread of the virus”. [...]
Boris Johnson will lead daily press conference amidst Dominic Cummings saga May 24, 2020 Boris Johnson will lead today’s daily press briefing at 5pm as calls continue to grow for his chief adviser Dominic Cummings to resign. Johnson has so far stuck by Cummings despite mounting pressure from a group of Tory backbenchers for allegedly travelling from London to Durham twice during the coronavirus lockdown. A joint investigation by [...]
AstraZeneca chief ‘very confident’ Oxford coronavirus vaccine trial will work May 24, 2020 The head of pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has said he is “very confident” that Oxford University’s coronavirus vaccine trial will work. Pascal Soriot said he thought his company, which has been commissioned to distribute the vaccine if effective, can begin to distribute the vaccine in December. AstraZeneca has been commissioned to provide 100m doses of the [...]
Tory MPs call for Dominic Cummings to resign May 24, 2020 A growing group of Conservative MPs are calling for Dominic Cummings to resign after he allegedly broke lockdown to travel to Durham twice. Steve Baker, Simon Hoare, Damian Collins, Sir Roger Gale, Peter Bone, Caroline Nokes and Craig Whittaker have all called for Boris Johnson’s chief aide to resign this morning after new evidence came [...]
UK to get 10m coronavirus antibody tests in ‘coming months’ May 21, 2020 The government has ordered 10m coronavirus antibody tests as new figures show 17 per cent of Londoners have already caught Covid-19. The tests, from pharmaceutical companies Roche and Abbott’s, will first be administered to staff, residents and patients in healthcare or care home settings and will be available in the “coming months”. Announcing the order, [...]
Boris Johnson U-turns on NHS surcharge for migrant care and health workers May 21, 2020 Boris Johnson has told the health and home departments to remove the NHS immigrant surcharge for NHS and care workers, after defending the policy just 24 hours ago in parliament. The charge, which is £400 per year for adult migrants from non-European Economic Area countries, has been criticised for applying to frontline workers who have [...]
Boris Johnson will not face criminal investigation over Jennifer Arcuri relationship May 21, 2020 Boris Johnson will not face criminal charges over his relationship with US entrepreneur Jennifer Arcuri. A probe by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the police watchdog, found there were no grounds to criminally investigate the Prime Minister. It had been alleged that Johnson had used his position of power to allow Arcuri to [...]
Minister: ‘No definitive timeline’ for UK coronavirus test and trace app May 21, 2020 Home Office minister James Brokenshire has warned there is still no set date for the rollout of the UK’s coronavirus tracing app as NHS leaders warn that time is running out to get a track and trace system in place to stop a second peak. Brokenshire said this morning that there was “no definitive timeline” [...]
