Teenage killings in London on track to be worst in decades, says Met June 17, 2021 London is “on track” to suffer the worst year for teenage killings in over a decade if current rates of youth violence continue, the Metropolitan Police has warned. So far, 17 teenagers have been killed in London this year. Knife and gun violence could lead to the highest number of homicides among young people since [...]
Covid-19 cases surge in England, driven by unvaccinated young June 17, 2021 The coronavirus pandemic grew “exponentially” at the beginning of the month, driven by younger age groups who had not yet received the vaccine, according to a study published today. Researchers for the Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission (REACT) study looked at data from the period 20 May to 7 June, which showed the prevalence of [...]
The vaccine rollout has been a success but it has still fallen prey to Whitehall inefficiency June 17, 2021 Dominic Cummings has yet again attempted a forced exorcism of Matt Hancock from the government. To the ex-special adviser, the Health Secretary represents everything wrong with Whitehall and its bureaucracy: a failure to innovate, to find creative solutions or to ensure pinch points of stasis in existing symptoms do not become endemic. In this, at [...]
‘Confident’ in vaccine supplies: Health department denies reports of Pfizer shortage June 16, 2021 The Department of Health has denied reports of supply shortages of the Pfizer vaccine as the Covid jab rollout extends to over-21s, after the government delayed “Freedom Day” by four weeks to vaccinate more people. “We are confident in our vaccine supplies as we rollout to younger age groups,” a spokesperson for the Department of [...]
Covid jab rollout slows due to Pfizer shortage, as reopening delayed to vaccinate more people June 16, 2021 Supply shortages of the Pfizer vaccine have forced the NHS to slow down its Covid jab rollout, despite the government delaying “Freedom Day” by four weeks in order to accelerate the vaccination programme. Just 1.2 million first doses were dispensed in the last week, compared with more than three million a week in March. The [...]
Pandemic pressures leave would-be first-time buyers further from homeownership June 16, 2021 The impact of the pandemic, both on the property market and on personal finances, has left a gulf between struggling would-be first-time buyers and those already on the ladder. More than four-in-10 first-time buyers delayed plans to buy a home in 2020, with the majority saying raising a deposit is the biggest barrier to homeownership, [...]
All adults in England will be able to book Covid-19 vaccine ‘by end of this week’ June 15, 2021 NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens has revealed that all over-18s should be able to book their Covid-19 jab “by the end of this week.” “I expect that by the end of this week, we’ll be able to open up the National Booking Service to all adults age 18 and above,” Stevens said, adding that [...]
Staff crisis in hospitality: Act now or risk being the next France June 15, 2021 The hospitality sector is in the midst of a staff crisis. We always knew that staffing would be a challenge with full reopening post-Covid, that not everybody would return to work after furlough. Many of our French and Italian staff went back home during lockdown and had decided not to return to the UK or [...]
UK unemployment rate falls to 4.7 per cent as lockdown easing spurs hiring June 15, 2021 Britain’s unemployment rate fell to 4.7 per cent between February and April, official figures showed this morning. The rate of employment in the UK increased for the sixth consecutive month in May, with the number of payrolled employees rising by 197,000 to 28.5m. It is however 553,000 below pre-pandemic levels, where the largest falls in [...]
The culture wars in numbers: we’re not as divided as we think we are June 12, 2021 “These days you get arrested and thrown in jail if you say you’re English, don’t you?” This opening gambit from a taxi driver in a Stewart Lee routine is an extreme example of the belief that speech is increasingly, and literally, policed “these days” – but it works because it reflects a real divide. The country is [...]