Boris Johnson paid £500K advance for memoirs – as public foot £222K bill for his partygate legal fees Crack open the champaign Boris Johnson has picked up an advance of more than £500,000 for his forthcoming memoir, as it emerged taxpayers face a bill of £222,000 for his legal fees to defend himself in the partygate inquiry. The former prime minister’s latest entry in the Register of Members’ Interests says that he “received £510,000 as an advance [...]
US-China tensions, tariff hikes and Russia sanctions force firms to look at ‘onshore’ supply chains Global trade Logistics executives increasingly believe top companies should look to bring their supply chains closer to home to avoid being impacted by trade wars, sanctions and other global shocks, a new survey has found. Supply chain managers increasingly see ‘onshoring’ and ‘near-shoring’ as a means of hedging against disruption to global trade caused by the Covid-19 [...]
Partygate: Boris Johnson joked staff were at ‘the most unsocially distanced’ gathering according to bombshell report Partygate Boris Johnson allegedly joked at a boozy No 10 leaving do during the coronavirus pandemic that staff were at “the most unsocially distanced party in the UK”. The claims will put the former prime minister under further pressure as he faces a parliamentary investigation into whether he misled MPs over the so-called partygate scandal. A spokesman for [...]
Clawback: How Barclays is chasing down Covid-19 business loan cash January 10, 2023 Barclays has teamed up with a specialist insolvency practitioner to recover money loaned to small businesses through the UK’s Covid support schemes. The British bank has joined forces with insolvency firm Manolete Partners to recover emergency loans paid through the UK government backed Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), the Financial Times first reported. The UK’s [...]
Data on firms that took UK Covid loans to remain secret, tribunal rules January 5, 2023 Information on thousands of small businesses that received taxpayer-backed loans during Covid-19 will remain confidential, a tribunal has ruled. The decision to keep the names of companies that took support during Covid a secret comes after a tribunal blocked an anti-corruption campaign group’s bid to obtain the data through a Freedom of Information (FoI) request. [...]
Djokovic likely to miss duo of US tennis competitions over Covid-19 rules January 4, 2023 Former world No1 tennis star Novak Djokovic is set to miss the Miami Open and Indian Wells in the United States this year due to changes in the country’s Covid-19 vaccination requirements. The United States have extended its requirement for visitors to prove they’re vaccinated against Covid-19 until 10 April and the Serbian has previously [...]
Airlines ‘extremely disappointed’ by wave of China-targeted Covid restrictions January 4, 2023 The global industry body for airlines has said it is “extremely disappointed” by countries’ decisions to introduce restrictions on travellers from China after Covid cases have skyrocketed in the country following Beijing’s decision to ditch its zero-Covid policy. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents around 300 airlines across the globe, described the wave [...]
Covid-hit China: What is Britain and the rest of the world doing on travel restrictions? January 4, 2023 Covid-19 cases have shot through the roof in China – but Beijing premier Xi Jingping is still dead set on removing the zero-Covid policy, including removing restrictions on travel. Countries across the world are being forced to once again grapple with what restrictions to put in place to reduce the spread of Covid-19 and any [...]
Transport secretary: Covid-positive China arrivals will not have to isolate January 3, 2023 Transport secretary Mark Harper has confirmed the UK will not require Covid-positive arrivals from China to quarantine despite mounting calls from the Health Security Agency to identify and test cases. The transport secretary told LBC today that travellers from China will not be forced to isolate and said the policy to test arrivals was put [...]
Australia welcome Novak Djokovic with open arms a year after deporting tennis star January 2, 2023 He may have been kicked out of the country 12 months ago but Australia gave Novak Djokovic a warm welcome on his return to tennis Down Under at the Adelaide International on Monday. The crowd chanted his name as he made his way out onto court and overwhelmingly supported him and doubles partner Vasek Pospisil [...]