Downing Street confirms ‘air bridges’ quarantine exemption is under review May 19, 2020 Downing Street has confirmed the government is considering “air bridges” between the UK and other countries to allow Britons to travel to some locations without quarantine. Transport secretary Grant Shapps floated the idea in the House of Commons yesterday, suggesting deals could be struck with some countries to exempt travellers from quarantining on arrival or [...]
UK’s new tariff regime creates path for EU trade deal, says trade experts May 19, 2020 The government’s newly announced tariff regime has helped lay the path for a UK-EU free trade deal, according to trade experts. The Department of International Trade announced its new “global tariff” today for when the UK leaves the post-Brexit transition period with the EU on 31 December. It includes scrapping £30bn of taxes on imports, [...]
UK coronavirus death toll up 160 to 34,796 May 18, 2020 A further 160 people in the UK died from coronavirus yesterday, bringing the total to 34,796. Yesterday’s amount of deaths was one of the lowest one-day total since the coronavirus lockdown began in March, however numbers on the weekend tend to be lower than on weekdays. The UK’s official Covid-19 death toll is the highest [...]
Coronavirus testing expanded to everyone over five with symptoms May 18, 2020 Everyone in the UK over the age of five with one of the three official coronavirus symptoms will be eligible for testing from today. Health secretary Matt Hancock made the announcement to the House of Commons this afternoon. It comes after loss of taste or smell, technically known as anosmia, was added to the official [...]
UK-US trade negotiations set for advanced talks in June May 18, 2020 Trade delegates from the UK and US governments will hold two virtual negotiating rounds next month, after the first formal round of talks between ended on Friday. The next round will see both sides start to introduce detailed proposals as they try to strike a “comprehensive trade deal…at an accelerated pace”, according to international trade [...]
More than £6bn paid out as part of self-employed relief package May 18, 2020 More than £6bn has been paid out to more than 2m of the UK’s self-employed workers under the government’s coronavirus support scheme. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the updated figure today and confirmed there would be no change to the scheme’s £50,000 cut-off. The scheme sees the government hand over a taxable grant worth 80 per [...]
Loss of smell officially added to UK’s list of coronavirus symptoms May 18, 2020 Loss of smell has been added to the UK’s official list of coronavirus symptoms by the government, with anyone experiencing this symptom now required to self-isolate. The government will advise today that anyone who experiences the symptom, which has the technical name of anosmia, will need to stay home for seven days, while people in [...]
Sadiq Khan calls for coronavirus inquiry into BAME deaths May 17, 2020 Sadiq Khan has called for a government inquiry into BAME deaths from coronavirus. Khan today called the higher rate of deaths among BAME ethnicities “shocking” and called for Boris Johnson to set up a public inquiry. Numbers published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this month revealed that black men and women were four-times [...]
Oxford University coronavirus vaccine trial strikes AstraZeneca distribution deal May 17, 2020 The government has given another £84m toward the UK’s two coronavirus vaccine trials as the Oxford University team has struck a licensing deal with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca. The Oxford trial will get another £65.5m, while the Imperial College London trial will get another £18.5m. Business secretary Alok Sharma also announced at today’s press briefing that the [...]
Public trust in UK government’s coronavirus response continues to fall May 17, 2020 The public’s trust in the UK government’s coronavirus strategy is in freefall, according to the latest polling. An Opinium/Obsever poll out today shows the government now has a net -3 rating for how it has handled the coronavirus, after having a +60 rating in mid-March. A YouGov/Sky News poll out today also showed a -2 [...]
