Coronavirus

The EU has threatened legal action against the makers of the Oxford AstraZenca vaccine after supplies to the bloc were slowed down in an “unacceptable” move. The pharmaceutical company announced on Friday it could not meet the agreed supply targets due to an issue with the plant in Belgium. Reports suggest there could be a […]

The SNP has criticised health secretary Matt Hancock for using the Downing Street coronavirus press conference to make “overtly political statements” about the Union. Amid signs of rising support for Scottish independence, Hancock stressed the importance of collaboration between the nations in the fight against Covid-19 during the health briefing. He told the press conference […]

Fewer than 60% of people asked to self-isolate over coronavirus actually do so, the head of Test and Trace has revealed. Dido Harding said people tended not to follow the rules because of practical, financial and mental health concerns. But she stressed that all surveys on isolation data are “imperfect” because they rely on people […]

The UK government has dropped an advert which claimed that joggers are ‘highly likely to have Covid-19’. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received complaints after a thirty-second radio advert stated: “Someone jogging, walking their dog or working out in the park is highly likely to have Covid-19. This is a national health emergency.” The advert […]

Downing Street has attempted to clarify Boris Johnson’s remarks after he said the government will be “looking at the potential of relaxing some measures” before mid-February. Speaking to reporters on a visit to a vaccination site at Barnet Football Club in north London, Johnson said ministers were looking at infection rates and progress in vaccinating the […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he has been told to self-isolate after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus. Sir Keir wrote on Twitter: “This morning I was notified that I must self isolate after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19. “I have no […]

MEPs have voted to add British overseas territories such as the British Virgin Islands, Guernsey, and Jersey to its post-Brexit tax havens blacklist. The resolution passed through the European parliament with a majority of 537 and saw territories with 0% tax regimes automatically added to the list. Britain’s membership of the European Union had afforded […]

A government minister has shut down an interview after suggesting the British public’s weight and age was to blame for the coronavirus death toll in the UK. Appearing on Good Morning Britain, Thérèse Coffey denied suggestions from presenters Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid that the government was not prepared for the pandemic. “There’ll be a […]

Ministers are ‘psychologically incapable’ of owning their mistakes and are to blame for the UK’s death toll, James O’Brien has said in a swipe at No 10’s coronavirus record. O’Brien accused ministers of “doing the same thing again and hoping for a different result”. The comment comes as Oxford University research showed the UK has the worst […]

Boris Johnson faces the “mother of all arguments” next month when he comes under pressure to loosen the lockdown while the NHS remains seriously stretched, a government adviser has predicted. Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), warned that intensive care units will still be strained even as […]

Downing Street has said there are “no plans” to go ahead with a proposal to pay £500 to everyone who tests positive for coronavirus in order to increase the number of people abiding by quarantine rules. Ministers have considered a proposal to extend payments to anyone who tests positive for Covid-19 in England amid concerns […]

It has been tested like never before, but our sense of society has received a boost rather than a blow from Covid, says ZOE WILLIAMS. I had volunteered to help with corona testing admin at a local secondary school, and they wanted to do an interview first. Weird, I thought, as I already had a […]

Independent SAGE member Professor Christina Pagel has criticised Priti Patel’s decision to issue new £800 fines for Covid rule-breakers, calling on the minster to “stop blaming the public”. Prof Pagel told LBC radio she was “so angry” at the announcement and said ministers should instead focus on tightening Covid restrictions than fining people who break them.  “They’ve […]

GLEN O’HARA assesses the Labour leader’s performance since he took the reins, and his ultimate prospects. Sir Keir Starmer has spent nearly a year now presenting himself as a diligent, calm and intelligent leader – a kind of ‘Mister Competence’, in contradistinction not just to the prime minister, Boris Johnson, but also to his immediate predecessor, Jeremy […]

Sir John Bell is the most influential figure in British medicine and a man who strides determinedly between academia, business and politics. He also played a critical role in the development of the Oxford vaccine. He talks to MARK MARDELL about how what unfolded. Last November, Sir John Bell, a man of many hats and master of keeping them all […]

The UK and French governments must make a joint commitment to support struggling Eurostar, the chairman of the Transport Select Committee has said. Tory MP Huw Merriman said the cross-Channel train operator plays a vital role in enabling low-carbon international travel. Eurostar has been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis, with a 95% fall in […]

Prime minister Boris Johnson is keen to relax England’s lockdown in time for Easter, reports claim. Johnson is said to be making “top secret” plans for an Easter relaxation of rules, which could – at least – allow families to mix outside again. Lockdown regulations are currently set to end on March 31 – just […]

Priti Patel has shrugged off suggestions Downing Street is to blame for Britain’s high Covid death toll, saying now is not the time “to talk about mismanagement”. The home secretary said there were “a range of reasons” for the UK’s appalling death toll but said it was not right to draw attention to them at the moment. […]

Susanna Reid has taken on the home secretary over the government’s attempts to blame the public for a rise in cases of coronavirus over Christmas. The Good Morning Britain host saw red after hearing Priti Patel claimed the government had discouraged mixing over the festive period. Co-presenter Piers Morgan kicked off the debate by telling […]

Scotland’s cities fared better than others in the UK during the coronavirus pandemic, a new study suggests. According to the Good Growth for Cities report, compiled by PwC and think tank Demos, the economic decline felt in the Scottish city worst-affected by Covid-19 would still not exceed the UK-wide average. Following an analysis of gross […]

A right-wing commentator has been accused of using unconventional polling methods to whip up support to end lockdown. Martin Daubney, a former Brexit Party MEP turned right-wing commentator, claimed some 80% of respondents of a Twitter poll he ran among his followers would vote in favour of ending lockdown if a referendum were called today. In a […]

NHS Test and Trace boss Dido Harding has defended paying consultants £1,000 a day. Harding, a Tory peer, told the Commons Public Accounts Committee that she felt it was “appropriate” to seek help from the private sector in “extreme emergency circumstances” such as the Covid-19 pandemic. David Williams, the Second Permanent Secretary at the Department of […]

Piers Morgan has criticised a minister who said it was ‘too early’ for international comparisons of the UK’s Covid death rate – but not over its vaccination drive – as he demanded answers for why the numbers were so high. Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis said it was “just too early” to compare the UK’s […]

The secretary of state for Northern Ireland Brandon Lews has denied empty shop shelves in the country are because of Brexit. There have been calls from action from the government to resolve the trade chaos in the country following the end of the transition period which severed links between the EU and UK. But Lewis […]

These are the 356 Tory MPs who failed to vote against a £20-a-week cut in the Universal Credit for families during the coronavirus pandemic. Aaron BellAdam AfriyieAdam HollowayAlan MakAlberto CostaAlec ShelbrookeAlex BurghartAlex ChalkAlexander StaffordAlicia KearnsAlister JackAlok SharmaAlun CairnsAmanda MillingAmanda SollowayAndrea JenkynsAndrea LeadsomAndrew BowieAndrew BridgenAndrew GriffithAndrew JonesAndrew LewerAndrew MitchellAndrew MurrisonAndrew PercyAndrew RosindellAndrew SelousAndrew StephensonAndy CarterAngela RichardsonAnne-Marie […]

The UK’s Covid-19 death rate is now the highest in the world. New data revealed that the UK is averaging 935 daily deaths – the equivalent of more than 16 people in every million dying each day. The figures have been produced by the University of Oxford’s research platform Our World in Data, which shows that […]

A Cabinet minister has acknowledged issues in the vaccination rollout in her constituency, saying some individuals are receiving the “distressing and annoying” information that lower priority individuals are to receive jabs first. Work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey said she has been contacted with concerns in the Suffolk Coastal area that some over-80s, and even […]

The transport secretary has been criticised after claiming he was “not aware” the Brazilian strain of coronavirus was in the UK – despite scientists going public about two cases hours later. Shapps described a ban on travel from South America, which includes an exemption for British and Irish nationals, as a “precautionary” measure to ensure […]

Downing Street has insisted it “as quickly as possible” to prevent a Brazilian strain entering the UK, despite evidence it has already arrived. Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds accused the Conservatives of being “far too slow to protect our borders against Covid”. He said: “It is terrible news that evidence of the highly infectious Covid variant […]

Boris Johnson has been told by a senior Tory backbencher that his leadership will be “on the table” if the government does not ease Covid restrictions. Steve Baker of the lockdown-sceptic Covid Recovery Group has written to members urging them to put pressure on the Tory chief whip over the issue. Baker, who played a […]

Countries around the world are facing remarkably similar problems, yet several different approaches have emerged in how to tackle them. This year will a crucial one in the tussle between them. JOHN KAMPFNER reports. Was there a year as bad as 2020? Not in my lifetime, but I have not lived through a war. Perhaps […]

JASON WALSH reports on Europe’s varying fortunes on vaccination roll-outs. The European Union performs many roles for its citizens. The most important – if one of the least-discussed – is to keep them safe from harm. And that is the issue causing grave concern across the continent right now, as the EU and its member states try desperately […]