Matt Hancock denies claims of Rishi Sunak feud April 5, 2020 Health secretary Matt Hancock has denied reports of a feud between himself and chancellor Rishi Sunak over the government’s coronavirus strategy. The Mail on Sunday reported today that the pair were engaged in a feud over when to lift the UK’s lockdown and get the economy back to normal. Sunak reportedly had made presentations to [...]
Coronavirus: Keir Starmer says ‘serious mistakes made’ by government April 5, 2020 Newly crowned Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said “serious mistakes” have been made in the UK’s response to Covid-19 and has set out four targets for the government going forward. Starmer, who won the Labour leadership race yesterday, said the Covid-19 pandemic was not a time for “scoring political points or opposing for the [...]
Matt Hancock sets target of 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by end of April April 2, 2020 The government has struck a deal to work with the private sector and universities to reach a tenfold increase in daily coronavirus tests by the end of the month. Health secretary Matt Hancock unveiled a five-point plan at today’s daily press briefing to increase testing rates to 100,000 tests per day in just a few [...]
Business heavyweights sign on to Covid-19 business pact April 2, 2020 Some of the UK’s largest companies, including BP and RBS, have signed up to a pledge to provide extra support their employees and customers through the coronavirus. Former cabinet secretary Justine Greening created the initiative, called the C-19 Business Pledge, and involves companies promising to offer things like financial security advice and mental health help [...]
Coronavirus: Premier League clubs should face ‘windfall tax’ April 2, 2020 Premier League clubs that furlough non-playing staff during the Covid-19 crisis should be slapped with a windfall tax, according to the chair of Westminster’s sports select committee. Tottenham, Newcastle and Norwich City have taken steps to furlough non-playing staff so they can access the government’s wage subsidy scheme, while still paying players their full contracts. [...]
Coronavirus: Boris Johnson set to leave self-isolation on Friday – but he still has symptoms April 2, 2020 Boris Johnson will leave self-isolation tomorrow despite still showing symptoms of coronavirus. The Prime Minister said last Friday that he had tested positive for Covid-19. He self-isolated for seven days as per Public Health England’s (PHE) guidance. Johnson has continued to fulfill his prime ministerial duties during this period through conference calls and virtual meetings. [...]
Formula One’s 2020 outlook downgraded to negative by Moody’s April 2, 2020 The outlook for Formula One has been downgraded by Moody’s to negative in light of the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic to its 2020 race calendar. Formula One has cancelled its Australia and Monaco grand prix races and postponed six races scheduled between March and early June 2020. Moody’s said the disruption would lead [...]
Coronavirus: National Grid suffers ‘delays and disruptions’ to capital programme April 2, 2020 Shares in National Grid are down almost five per cent this morning, after it said it was experiencing delays and disruption to its capital works programme. The FTSE 100 company said today that it expected its 2019-20 results to be in line with pre-Covid-19 expectations and that the virus would not have a “material impact” [...]
UK urged to include private sector to ramp up coronavirus testing April 1, 2020 The UK must utilise the country’s private laboratories if it is going to reach its coronavirus testing targets, according to a report from a leading London think tank. The government is beginning to face scathing criticism as it fails to meet testing targets and as the UK falls further behind other OECD countries in testing [...]
Southend Hospital will ‘restrict services’ without more protective equipment April 1, 2020 Staff at Essex’s Southend Hospital have warned they may have to limit services if they do not receive more protective equipment to treat coronavirus patients. Frontline staff at the hospital wrote to management to say that if they did not get an increase in personal protective equipment (PPE) by the end of the day they [...]
