Coronavirus

Downing Street has given a lengthy defence against allegations it ignored advice from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) on a “circuit-breaker” national lockdown. Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said the prime minister had taken a “considered analysis” of the economic impacts and the public health threat of the virus when he decided not to impose a second […]

Voters in America believe that Joe Biden is the best candidate to help the country recover from coronavirus, polling suggests. With three weeks to go until the November 3 election, analysis suggests Covid-19 remains “front and centre” for the American voting public. Ipsos USA, a public opinion specialist, interviewed thousands of Americans to understand the key […]

Wales’ first minister has threatened to close the Welsh border if Boris Johnson does not impose a travel ban on virus hotspots in England. Mark Drakeford told the prime minister he had “one final opportunity” to stop people crossing the border from England. Drakeford has pledged to write to the prime minister urging him to impose […]

A Tory minister has claimed that businesses have their “head in the sands” over the impact that Brexit will have on their companies. Cabinet Office minister Lord Agnet said “it’s their businesses at stake” if they fail to prepare for the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31. Agnew said that businesses had […]

A majority of Britons do not believe Boris Johnson has a clear plan for tackling the latest coronavirus outbreak, new polling has shown. A survey by YouGov asked just under 3,000 British adults if they felt assured the prime minister had a plan to contain the virus following his statement on new coronavirus measures on […]

Boris Johnson’s plan for tackling coronavirus will be voted on by MPs, despite warnings from his scientific advisers that it does not go far enough. Official papers showed the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) suggested introducing a national lockdown in September lasting between two and three weeks to halt the rapid spread of the […]

Microsoft said UK firms risk losing their competitiveness because of the impacts of the coronavirus and Brexit. The tech giant was “ringing the alarm bell” after it said almost half of companies are struggling to remain competitive. New research by Microsoft, alongside academics at Goldsmiths, University of London, showed that 46% of UK companies have seen […]

News that the pub chain Wetherspoons could be exempt from new lockdown restrictions in Merseyside has caused outrage online. Pubs that serve food will be allowed to remain open in Merseyside while so called “wet pubs” have been forced to close under new coronavirus restrictions, the Guardian‘s Josh Halliday has reported. Under Boris Johnson’s new three-tiered […]

A government minister has admitted local councils are “bound to be better” at contact tracing than Westminster. Robert Jenrick has admitted that after outsourcing the test and trace system to the private sector, and running it centrally, it would have been better to let local authorities run their own scheme. The communities secretary said councils […]

Wales’ first minister Mark Drakeford has described Boris Johnson’s proposals for travel restrictions for coronavirus hotspots in England as “inadequate”. It came as Wales’s health minister said there is now evidence that travel to and from areas of England with high rates of Covid-19 has contributed to the spread of the virus to other areas of […]

A group of MPs are launching legal action against the government after it failed to account for £3 billion in private coronavirus contracts since the start of the lockdown in April. Three cross-party MPs and the Good Law Project – a non-for-profit organisation – have filed a judicial review against the government for breaching the law and […]

Boris Johnson is to announce a new three-tier system of local lockdown measures for England in an effort to curb rising Covid-19 rates. – What is happening? Different parts of the country will be split up into “medium”, “high” or “very high” local coronavirus alert areas under the new system. It comes after the prime […]

Matt Hancock has dismissed claims he broke the drinking curfew after he was allegedly spotted consuming wine at a Common’s bar after 10pm. A senior Tory MP told the Mail on Sunday that Hancock had remained in the Smoking Room bar until at least 10.25pm last Monday despite the Commons speaker insisting all of parliament’s venues […]

A government minister has been grilled over the chancellor’s new furlough scheme which will see workers have to survive on £5.84 an hour. Culture secretary Oliver Dowden refused to say if he could live off the government’s new minimum wage for furloughed workers. During an interview on Sky News, Dowden discussed the impact new coronavirus restrictions are having […]

Margaret Ferrier has claimed she was “hung out to dry” by the SNP after posting a scripted statement in which she admitted breaching coronavirus rules. The Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP had the party whip withdrawn after travelling while awaiting the results of a Covid-19 test. In an interview with The Scottish Sun, she said […]

Wales’ first minister has hit back at Donald Trump after criticisms of his country over local lockdowns, saying he thinks Americans would be “delighted” to be more like Wales in tackling coronavirus. Fox News presenter Laura Ingraham tweeted “Your future under Biden: ‘Rolling lockdowns’ will become norm in Wales” along with a link to a BBC News article […]

Boris Johnson has been compared to a school teacher losing control of the class by members of his own party in the House of Lords. A ban on singing, mingling and dancing in groups of more than six in pubs and restaurants came under fire in the House of Lords during a debate on the limits […]

Good Morning Britain celebrity doctor Hilary Jones has sparred with a pro-Brexit journalist over her comments on herd immunity. The row erupted when former Times journalist Isabel Oakeshott locked horns with Dr Gabriel Scally, who sits on the independent board of SAGE, on the issue of herd immunity. Oakeshott argued that younger people should be exempt from […]

MPs have come under intense criticism after it emerged they would push ahead with recommendations to up their pay by more than £3,500. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) is facing calls to freeze a pay rise for politicians as the rest of the country deals with the economic impacts of coronavirus. IPSA has suggested […]

The effectiveness of England and Wales’s coronavirus app is under the spotlight once again after it was reported that only one alert about an outbreak in a venue has been delivered since the service launched a fortnight ago. People are able to scan codes on posters before entering venues such as pubs and restaurants using the […]

Tory backbencher and former party leader Iain Duncan Smith has questioned Boris Johnson’s claims that he and the public can “defeat the virus”. The Brexiteer said that he did not believe the prime minister could ever manage to do it, instead arguing that he must help Britons to live with the disease. Speaking to the […]

Brexit Party chairman Richard Tice has come out against Boris Johnson’s lockdown measures arguing that if the economy does not shut down for cancer then it should not for the coronavirus. Speaking on talkRADIO, Tice said England and Wales’ coronavirus death rate – which stands at more than 48,000 – needed to be “put into context”. […]

Many years ago now, I was on a panel at a sceptics’ conference with, among other luminaries, professor Richard Dawkins (it’s on YouTube if you look for it). Towards the end of the discussion we were asked if there could be a version of ‘God’ which we could find easier to believe in than those […]

A cabinet minister has refuted calls to provide the science behind the government’s 10pm curfew decision – insisting it was a “commonsensical view”. Robert Jenrick insisted the approach was similar to “well-run, sensible, rational governments” when he was asked to defend the measure. He told Sky News: “There is a commonsensical view that given that the virus thrives […]

There are now fewer than 30 days left until the USA goes to the polls to select its next president: Donald Trump or Joe Biden. That polling day will come just two weeks after Trump should stop self-isolating to protect those around him from catching the deadly illness his White House admitted he’d contracted late […]

A television presenter has criticised a government minister for appearing on BBC Breakfast to say “absolutely nothing”. Charlie Stayt was interviewing Robert Jenrick, the communities secretary, about newspaper headlines suggesting large-scale coronavirus restrictions are about to hit the north of England. But rather than explaining what the reports mean and defending the restrictions, Jenrick was […]

A Tory minister has defended Boris Johnson’s 10pm curfew amid calls the government release its scientific advice behind the decision. Prisons minister Lucy Frazer said there had been “opportunities” for ministers to hear the scientific advice. Appearing on BBC 2’s Politics Live, Frazer said it was important MPs get to scrutinise the new rules but that the government […]

Boris Johnson has been urged to consider a “circuit breaker” national lockdown sooner rather than later over fears that the current measures to stop coronavirus are not working. Professor Calum Semple, a member of the government’s scientific advisory panel who specialises in disease outbreaks, recommended a “circuit breaker” be considered on a national basis in […]

Boris Johnson’s approval rating among Tory voters continues to decline as many continue to disagree with his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Less than half (45%) of 2019 Tory voters think No 10 is doing a good job managing the virus while a further quarter (25%) do not think they are, a survey by pollsters Redfield & […]

Spectator editor Fraser Nelson debunked claims put forward by Liz Truss that No 10 has enjoyed several “successes” in its response to the coronavirus pandemic. Nelson, who now manages the magazine once edited by Boris Johnson, said polling has shown no citizens were more disappointed in their government’s response to the virus than Britons. The trade secretary and […]

Margaret Ferrier attended a church service and gave a reading to the congregation the day after she developed coronavirus symptoms, it has been reported. The Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP developed coronavirus symptoms and took a test on Saturday September 26. She breached rules by travelling to London the following Monday and taking a train […]

In his brilliant new book Who Enters Politics and Why?, academic James Weinberg provides possibly the most sophisticated analysis of why some people decide to stand for office and others don’t. His research discovers that when it comes to their basic human values, politicians really are “different”. Having spent the summer reading just about every […]