Author: Sumon Admin

    The government will set out what coronavirus restrictions might be in place for Christmas over the next few days, a cabinet minister has told Sky News. England's second national lockdown is due to end on 2 December, with the government having promised another tiered system of rules depending on local infection rates to replace it. The UK government and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are also in talks over what COVID-19 measures should be in place over Christmas. Recent reports have suggested there could be a special easing of restrictions over the festive period in order to allow families to get together. Asked by Sky News' Kay Burley how many family members would be allowed to gather around a Christmas dinner table, Defence S...

    Boris Johnson today showed no remorse for handing out billions in crony coronavirus contracts and refused to even pledge he’ll stop doing it. The Prime Minister insisted he was very proud of his record after a damning report found £10.5bn of contracts were given out without competition. The National Audit Office revealed officials set up a high-priority lane to deal with PPE leads from people including MPs, ministers and peers. Requests in the high-priority lane were 10 times more likely to turn into government contracts. Hitting out at PMQs, Keir Starmer said suppliers with political connections were more likely to win lucrative deals. Labour ’s leader added: We’re eight months into this crisis and the government is still making the same mistakes. Can the Prime M...

    Up to 15 MPs including the Prime Minister could be required to self-isolate after coming into contact with a person who tested positive for coronavirus, The Telegraph understands. Lee Anderson, the MP for Ashfield, tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday after noticing symptoms last Friday morning. He attended a meeting in Downing Street with other Northern Tory MPs and Boris Johnson on Thursday, and sat in the chamber for a debate on Wednesday during a period when he is thought to have been infectious. Nine MPs, including Mr Anderson and Mr Johnson, have already announced that they will self-isolate, but several more are thought to have been contacted by NHS Test and Trace. Jacob Young, Maria Miller, Lia Nici, Brendan Clarke-Smith, Andy Carter, Katherine Fletcher ...

    Tensions have ratcheted up following comments by senior figures in both governments ahead of another crucial week for negotiations. Ireland's foreign minister Simon Coveney told Sky News that should Boris Johnson persist with trying to override parts of the EU divorce deal, then a new treaty on the future relationship will be off the table. This is move week, he said. We've got to make big progress. But a senior minister in the UK confirmed that Mr Johnson will stick to his plan and keep the controversial parts of the draft legislation in place. Peers have removed the offending bits of the Internal Market Bill, which included giving ministers the power to disapply parts of the with withdrawal agreement relating to goods moving between Northern Ireland and Great Bri...

    Dominic Cummings left Downing Street after his relationship with the prime minister fell off a cliff, a former cabinet minister has said. Cummings left his role on Friday after a power struggle that has rocked the administration. The former Brexit secretary David Davis said Cummings relationship with the prime minister fell off a cliff and his departure was a chance to reset the government. It came as a senior Tory backbencher who supported Cummings over his coronavirus lockdown breaches said he was wrong to do so. Conservative MP Crispin Blunt said he should not have supported him after his controversial trips to Durham and Barnard Castle at the height of England’s first lockdown were exposed by the Guardian and the Daily Mirror. Blunt said his lockdown journeys s...

    The UK economy grew by 15.5% between July and September, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Thursday, showing a partial recovery before the second wave of COVID-19 hit. The ONS said on Thursday its initial estimate of GDP growth in the third quarter was 15.5%. Economists had expected third quarter GDP to grow by 15.8%. An initial estimate of third quarter GDP showed the UK made progress in reversing the historic economic slump caused by COVID-19 before the second wave struck. The UK economy shrank by a fifth in the second quarter of 2020. A strict lockdown in place for most of the period led to collapsing economic activity across the country. Restrictions were largely lifted by the end of the second quarter and the government encouraged people back t...

    British businesses are facing disruption to as much as £80bn of global trade because of Boris Johnson’s failure to roll over 15 EU trade deals with other countries in time. While the UK’s talks with over a deal Brussels garner most of the attention, the government also has just 50 days left to sign free-trade agreements with countries such as Mexico, Singapore and Canada to replace the ones it will otherwise lose access to on 31 December. Adding to the atmosphere of crisis, the shadow international trade secretary, Emily Thornberry wrote to trade secretary Liz Truss on Tuesday to point out that unless these deals are concluded and published by 11 November, there will be insufficient Parliamentary time under the law for MPs to ratify them. An analysis by The Indepen...

    Health workers could start vaccinating Britons against Covid-19 as early as next month, the Health Secretary has confirmed. Matt Hancock said he had asked the NHS to be ready to roll out doses of a new coronavirus vaccine from the start of December. Speaking to Sky News after early trials showed the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to be 90 per cent effective, he said it was absolutely reasonable for people to see this as a step forward in the fight against the virus. However, he warned, that it is one step amongst many that we collectively need to take. Mr Hancock stressed that there were still many hurdles to overcome until the Government could be sure the jab is safe enough to innoculate the public. He said: We haven’t seen the full safety data, and obviously that is c...

    A vaccine could be available in the UK by Christmas, deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam has said as Boris Johnson urges caution over the new immunisation. The UK government has said it will order 10 million more Pfizer coronavirus vaccines, after news of its 90 per cent effectiveness broke this morning. Pfizer and BioNTech revealed their vaccine was nearing 100 per cent efficacy after the two pharmaceutical firms confirmed early interim data for their experimental candidate. The companies have so far found no serious safety concerns and expect to seek US emergency use authorisation later this month. Today is a great day for science and humanity, Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. The announcement was celebrated ar...