Author: Sumon Admin

    Officials in France have agreed to ease some restrictions on travellers entering the country from the UK following a surge in cases from a mutated form of the coronavirus. The conditions set out by French transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebarri will allow people to travel into the country providing they have a recent negative test result. However it remains unclear whether the decision will ease congestion around Kent caused by a backlog of hauliers some of who will tonight spend a third night sleeping in their cabs on UK motorways, parking lots and lay-bys as their path to the continent is blocked. French transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebarri said: Planes, boats and Eurostar trains will resume service as of tomorrow morning. French nationals, people living ...

    Emmanuel Macron has said that he wants to sort out the ban on traffic from the UK within the next few hours, Boris Johnson said after a phone call with the French president. Mr Johnson described his conversation with Mr Macron as “excellent”, but gave no details on what relaxation the French president might introduce to restrictions which have blocked freight and passenger transport over the Channel. The phone call came around seven hours after French transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djellaba said that a new health protocol would be agreed within hours to permit the resumption of movements from the UK. The delay suggested that expected progress had not been made. France’s block was announced late on Sunday in response to the UK’s announcement of the discovery of a ...

    The new strain of COVID-19 is out of control and people need to behave as if they already have the virus, especially in the new Tier 4 areas of England, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has warned. The five-day Christmas bubble period has been reduced to just Christmas Day for England, Wales and Scotland and scrapped completely for areas in England under new Tier 4 rules but remains in Northern Ireland. The fresh tough coronavirus measures which MPs will vote on in January affect those in London, most of the South East, and parts of eastern England. Mr Hancock said everybody was looking forward to Christmas, but the new infectious and rapid-spreading strain was out of control and the government had to act "quickly and decisively. He suggested the strengthened measure...

    Boris Johnson has issued a new “stay at home” order covering London and much of the south and east of England, and dramatically curtailed plans for Christmas mixing nationwide, in response to a new fast-spreading strain of coronavirus. Just days after reaffirming the festive “bubble” plan and claiming it would be “inhuman” to cancel Christmas, the prime minister announced the creation of a new, stricter “tier 4”. Only households living outside this area will now be allowed to mix for Christmas in England – and then only for a single day, 25 December, with long-distance travel discouraged. The Scottish and Welsh governments have been briefed on the situation and are expected to announce their own plans. The new tier 4 rules will come into effect at midnight, and wi...

    Labour’s leadership is seeking to head off a new party split over Brexit by arguing any EU-UK trade deal will present Britain with the opportunity to work with Brussels to implement higher standards on workers rights and the environment. Keir Starmer, Labour leader, wants to back a Brexit deal to try to win back Eurosceptic voters in “red wall” seats, which were lost to the Conservatives in last year’s general election. The alternative, he has repeatedly argued, would be to risk the economic damage of a no-deal Brexit. That position has prompted a backlash among many pro-EU party members, MPs and shadow ministers who believe the party should abstain on what they say is likely to be a “wafer-thin” free trade agreement. Some junior frontbenchers are privately threaten...

    Boris Johnson is ready to recall parliament over its Christmas break if a trade deal is agreed with the EU, Downing Street has said. Contrary to expectations in Westminster, the prime minister decided to send MPs home on Thursday, with the warning that they could be called back at any time in the next two weeks to rush through ratifying legislation. A No 10 source said talks were expected to continue in Brussels over the coming days and the recall could be as early as next week. Signals from Brussels suggested that the two sides are inching towards agreement, with little more than a fortnight to go before the 31 December deadline to avoid a no-deal Brexit. The departure of MPs and peers will intensify pressure for a swift agreement by adding potential delays into t...

    Christmas plans for millions of families were in the balance last night as ministers and devolved leaders held talks on curtailing freedoms over the festive period amid warnings that the NHS would be overwhelmed. At a crisis meeting with Michael Gove, leaders discussed cutting the number of days families can meet from five to three; reducing the number of households mixing from three to two; and introducing travel restrictions or a combination of measures. The four nations will meet again today to agree a joint approach. The decision described as “incredibly difficult” and heart-rending comes after many families have spent months unable to see or hug one another during the coronavirus pandemic, and just a week before the reunions are due to start. NHS Providers, wh...

    Hopes of normal family gatherings over Christmas have been thrown into doubt by health secretary Matt Hancock, who said he could not rule out further action after plunging millions of people in London and the southeast into the toughest tier 3 restrictions. Chief medical officer Chris Whitty appealed for families to have a minimalist Christmas, warning that even a modest relaxation of social distancing rules over the festive period will put upward pressure on the virus and increase pressure on the NHS as it enters the busy winter months. The warnings came as Mr Hancock revealed the discovery of a new variant of the Covid-19 virus, which he told MPs may be associated with the faster spread in the south-east of England where infections have spiked fast in recent days....

    Boris Johnson claimed a no-deal Brexit would be “wonderful” as the EU agreed it was now the most likely outcome and the bloc’s leaders refused to take the prime minister’s phone calls. With just two days left for a breakthrough, relations between the two sides instead appeared to be deteriorating as they remained far apart on the flashpoints of fair competition rules and fishing rights. In Brussels, the prime minister was strongly criticised for attempting to bypass the European Commission by offering to fly to Paris and Berlin for talks with Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel. It was revealed that both the French president and German chancellor had also snubbed him by refusing a three-way call on Monday – and Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, lashed out at the ...