Coronavirus

A lobbyist who secretly advised a health minister for six months was given unfettered access to private coronavirus meetings and later leaked sensitive information to clients. George Pascoe-Watson, who chairs the PR firm Portland Communications, advised Lord Bethell on Test and Trace strategy while still a Westminster lobbyist, a Sunday Times investigation has revealed. Portland Communications represents pharmaceutical companies, weapons […]

A health minister has been criticised for telling people to “eat less” and “move more” to protect themselves from Covid-19. Nadine Dorries tweeted a Mail Online story from a former medical tsar who claims that the obesity crisis led to Britain having the highest death coronavirus toll in Europe. She wrote: “No doubt that there is a […]

Boris Johnson could miss Prime Minister’s Questions this week as he continues to self-isolate. Health secretary Matt Hancock said that he did not know what would happen for this week’s PMQs session. “I don’t know what will happen with PMQs and I know the parliamentary authorities are working on it,” he told Times Radio. “Actually […]

Boris Johnson is self-isolating after coming into contact with a Tory MP who tested positive for Covid-19, Downing Street has said. The prime minister is “well” and does not have any symptoms of the virus, according to a spokesman for Number 10. “The prime minister has today been notified by NHS Test and Trace that […]

Shadow justice secretary David Lammy has broken official Labour Party ranks to call for a Brexit extension on Question Time. Lammy urged Downing Street to seek an extension while it “works out” the economic mess caused by the coronavirus. Prime minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly vowed not to extend the transition period which is set to end on […]

A radio caller has said he thinks Dominic Cummings is leaving Downing Street because his plans to reform Westminster had been ‘ruined’ by the coronavirus. Dan from Warwick suggested Cummings had quit because of a lack of funding to support radical reforms to the way government and public services function. The prime minister most senior adviser confirmed on […]

Grant Shapps has fallen short of promising the public that Brexit would not affect the delivery of the coronavirus vaccine currently being developed in the EU. The transport secretary said he remained somewhat confident Britons would have access to the Pfizer vaccine being produced in Belgium. Earlier this week, the government announced coronavirus vaccine trials […]

Brexiteers claim that “Remainers” in government are pushing for a one-year extension to the Brexit transition period, as the clock runs down in talks to secure a deal. The European Union has placed a “seven-day deadline” on talks ahead of an EU summit, with both sides reportedly discussing a “grace period” for Northern Ireland businesses as […]

The business minister has failed to rule out that the supply of coronavirus vaccine could be affected by Brexit when the transition period ends on December 31. Cabinet minister Alok Sharma repeatedly did not appear to dispute warnings from Croda International, which supplies a crucial ingredient in the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine candidate, that there could be Brexit impact. […]

A British company who are supplying a crucial ingredient of the Covid-19 vaccine have warned that delays at the border after Brexit could prevent a “crucial step” in ensuring it is available to millions of people. Croda International, based in Yorkshire, have provided a key chemical element of the vaccine to Pfizer in the trial phase, […]

Boris Johnson is set to avoid the latest Downing Street press conference following reports of in-fighting at the heart of his administration. There had been planned to be an update on coronavirus on Thursday afternoon, but it will be left to business secretary Alok Sharma to update the nation. He will be joined by NHS England […]

Downing Street has dismissed claims that the in-fighting at the heart of government shows that Boris Johnson is distracted from tackling coronavirus. Responding to Labour leader Keir Starmer’s criticisms that he is not focusing “on the job in hand”, his official spokesperson said that he was “absolutely focused” on the pandemic.  The spokesman said: “The prime minister is […]

Nigel Farage has dismissed suggestions he is not taking Covid-19 seriously after launching an anti-lockdown outfit to fight against measures designed to protect people from the pandemic. The Brexit Party leader, who hopes to rebrand his organisation as Reform UK, has revealed his own family has tested positive with the illness. Appearing on Times Radio, […]

A minister has hit out at the “politicisation” around questions about contracts and public funding being handed to associates of the Tory party. Alex Chalk, a justice minister, was forced to defend the government over allegations of “cronyism” from a Labour shadow minister on Politics Live. Labour’s Jo Stevens explained: “It raises another issue… the amount of […]

There are fears that Brexit could hold up the coronavirus vaccine in the United Kingdom,  as the transition period comes to an end on December 31.  At present, there is an agreement with the European Union to keep the same rules in place until the end of the year, but the country needs a deal […]

A group of Conservative MPs have launched a group to resist calls for an extended national lockdown, in a bid to prevent Nigel Farage’s new party gaining influence. Some 32 Conservatives rebelled against the government when the Commons approved the second lockdown for England which lasts until December 2. The prime minister said he expects […]

Testing and trace on its own is not a “silver bullet” to tackling coronavirus, the person in charge of the scheme has claimed. Baroness Dido Harding, chair of Test and Trace, told a committee of MP that the evidence in the UK and across Europe was that it was just one of a range of […]

Boris Johnson ignored the advice of four former prime ministers over his coronavirus strategy, it has been revealed. Former Tory chancellor George Osborne revealed that Conservatives David Cameron and John Major joined forces with Labour politicians Tony Blair and Gordon Brown to write a private letter to Downing Street back in July. They urged Johnson […]

Collins Dictionary has named “lockdown” as its Word of the Year 2020 after a sharp increase in its usage amid the coronavirus pandemic. The dictionary said it added the term because it “encapsulates the shared experience of billions of people who have had to restrict their daily lives in order to contain the virus”. Collins’ […]

The MP husband of NHS Test and Trace chief Baroness Harding has been told to self-isolate over coronavirus, sparking concerns the chief could have to do so too. Tory MP John Penrose was alerted by the NHS Covid-19 app, part of the operation overseen by his wife. The Weston-super-Mare MP said on Twitter: “It never […]

Olga Löblová on why has the country seems to have suffered a particularly severe second wave The Czech Republic, which had been praised for its swift response to Covid-19 in the spring, is now topping global charts of new coronavirus infections and deaths per population. Authorities have failed to control new infections since cases started to […]

Under-fire vaccines tsar Kate Bingham is expected to leave her post at the end of the year after amassing a £670,000 bill over a contract for public relations support. Downing Street insisted Boris Johnson had full confidence in Bingham, a venture capitalist married to the Conservative minister Jesse Norman, and praised her work in securing […]

Boris Johnson is to hold a press conference at Downing Street this evening, following news on a successful coronavirus vaccine. Pharmaceutical company Pfizer has revealed its coronavirus vaccine is more than 90% effective in preventing the disease. But with Johnson looking to seize upon the news, it is likely that the prime minister will face […]

The rate of coronavirus infections across England and Wales appears to be slowing down, new data suggests. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said an estimated 618,700 people in England – one in 90 – had Covid-19 between October 25 and 31, up from 568,100 the week before. But while the infection rate has increased […]

A Tory minister has been ridiculed after getting the population size of Liverpool wrong during an interview on a new pilot testing programme for coronavirus. Business minister Nadhim Zahawi said 2,000 troops would deliver thousands of coronavirus tests to people living in Liverpool city as part of a pilot programme to map the spread of […]

Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon has been permanently banned from Twitter for suggesting the beheading of Anthony Fauci, America’s top public health adviser. Bannon said he wanted to “pike” Fauci and FBI director Christopher Wray’s heads as a “warning” to bureaucrats. Fauci, who Trump publicly slandered and suggested firing, has been assigned extra government […]

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab is isolating after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus. Raab will work remotely during 14 days of isolation after being told of a recent close contact’s positive test on Thursday, a spokesman for the cabinet minister said. It follows Brandon Lewis last week having to self-isolate […]

Robert Buckland has blamed the public for a second national lockdown after suggesting a lack of ‘compliance’ was the reason for harsher coronavirus measures. The justice secretary said a “tiny group of people” had been breaking Covid-19 regulations and that there was a “huge challenge” to get the public to follow the rules this time around. Speaking with the BBC, Buckland: “Sadly, it’s been […]

The prime minister will host a new coronavirus briefing as England entered a national lockdown for a second time. NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens will join the Downing Street event at 5pm on Thursday. It is unlikely that any new measures will be announced, but it follows chancellor Rishi Sunak revealing that furlough has […]

The Test and Trace system has reached the lowest ever proportion of contacts of people who tested positive for Covid-19 in England, a day after Boris Johnson said it had achieved a “remarkable feat”. Four in 10 close contacts of people who tested positive are still not being reached by the system, at the same […]

While all countries are grappling with coronavirus, France is also facing another profound crisis. JASON WALSH reports As France hunkers down for its latest coronavirus confinement, or lockdown – announced last week by Emmanuel Macron – the country knows it is heading into a period of unease, angst, economic devastation and death. And yet the […]

A handful of Tory MPs have defied public opinion and their own party to vote against Boris Johnson’s lockdown plans. The prime minister’s bill sailed through the Commons by 516 to 39 in a vote on Wednesday evening. Under the legislation, non-essential shops will be forced to close and social gatherings and non-essential travel banned from Thursday […]