UK and EU at odds over role of European court of justice in settling disputes
Boris Johnson is facing a major Brexit test with the future of Eurotunnel operations at stake, it has emerged.
The EU wants the UK to drop its opposition to a role for the European court of justice in British affairs to ensure trains keep running between France and the UK after Brexit is implemented on 1 January.
Continue reading...Grant Shapps returned to the UK on Wednesday after curtailing his holiday in Spain to deal with the fallout from the government's decision to impose quarantine restrictions on travellers arriving from the country. The transport secretary said he felt sorry for people whose holidays had been affected, but defended the government's decision, saying Spain's rate of new infections was now as high as it had been at the peak of the crisis
Continue reading...Britain takes its stockpile to 250m doses after most recent agreement
Four potential Covid-19 vaccines have been secured so far by the UK, which aims to buy up to 12 to ensure that the country has one or more that work as soon as possible. They are:
Continue reading...Chief executive of NHS Confederation tells MPs staff are ‘exhausted’; Oliver Dowden tells people to book holidays but be prepared to quarantine
Here are the main points from Nicola Sturgeon’s press briefing earlier.
I want to give people hope. I think there’s a lot right now that should give all of us hope. It’s been painful, it’s been hard, but we’ve got this virus to really low levels.
But I don’t do my job, I don’t discharge my responsibilities and ultimately I don’t do anybody any favours if I give false hope, or if I get so desperate, as I am to get everybody back to normal, that I forget about the risks that we face, and then I’m standing here in a few weeks and we’re going backwards.
My biggest concern right now is that there are things that all of us can do to keep this under control that we’re all maybe getting a bit lax at doing.
Sometimes one person’s political issue is another person’s very legitimate issue, part and parcel of dealing with Covid. And the fiscal flexibility of the government to deal with the overall consequences of Covid [an issue raised by the reporter] I would put into the latter category.
The all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus, which is chaired by the Lib Dem MP Layla Moran, is holding its own inquiry into the lessons to be learnt from coronavirus, and today it has holding its first oral evidence session. Niall Dickson, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents NHS leaders, told the group that NHS managers were very worried about a second wave. He said:
I would say in relation to the second spike issue or something coming, the levels of concern among our members - the people who are leading NHS trusts, who are leading in primary care and all levels in the systems - is very high.
I mean, of course, there’s real concern about winter and the compounding factors there, but also about an earlier spike.
Continue reading...Both sides seeking deal to secure continuous trade once Brexit implemented on 1 January
The UK is close to sealing a “continuity” trade deal with Japan that will mirror that of the EU pact that Britain will no longer be part of next January.
But in order to strike an agreement in time for it to be ratified by the Japanese parliament, the international trade secretary, Liz Truss, has had to drop her ambitions for preferential treatment for British food exports.
Continue reading...Duchess of Sussex suing owner of Mail on Sunday and Mail Online in privacy battle
Lawyers for the Duchess of Sussex have claimed five female friends who spoke anonymously to a US magazine to defend her against British tabloid bullying are entitled to a “super-charged right of confidentiality” as she fought to protect their identities in her privacy battle against the Mail on Sunday.
Forcing her to make public their names was an “unacceptable price to pay” for pursuing her legal action over publication of extracts from a private letter she wrote to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, 75, the high court in London heard.
Continue reading...The death of George Floyd in the US sparked the UK’s biggest anti-racism protests in centuries. We spoke to 50 young people at the heart of these rallies
Continue reading...Oliver Dowden has dismissed the idea that coronavirus testing at airports could avoid the need for travel restrictions such as the two-week quarantine placed on people returning to the UK from Spain. 'It's not the case that you can simply test somebody and be sure they don't have the disease,' the culture secretary told BBC Breakfast. 'At this stage, it's just not the case that we can simply test at the border and give people that assurance.'
Continue reading...Around the world, whether seated in bubbles or next to teddy bears, customers are coming to terms with the new norms of eating out
Continue reading...Plans mooted to pool strategic resources and lessen west’s dependency on China
The Five Eyes intelligence alliance could be expanded to include Japan and broadened into a strategic economic relationship that pools key strategic reserves such as critical minerals and medical supplies, according to centre-right MPs working internationally to decouple the west from China.
The coronavirus crisis has revealed the west’s key strategic dependencies on China, and plans will be announced shortly under Five Eyes auspices for a major increase in production of rare and semi-rare metals from Australia, Canada, and America in order to reduce dependency on Chinese stocks.
Continue reading...Trump blames US case surge on protestors; WHO warns pandemic is “one big wave”, not seasonal; Air travel not expected to recover until 2024. Follow the latest updates
Florida reported another record one-day rise in coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, and cases in Texas passed the 400,000 mark, fueling fear that the United States is still not taking control of the outbreak and adding pressure on Congress to pass another massive economic aid package.
Public health experts are becoming concerned about the levels of infection in states such as Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee and Kentucky, while the surge in Florida along with Texas, Arizona and California this month has strained many hospitals.
Related: Covid-19: Florida reports record one-day deaths as concerns grow for other states
US officials say Russian intelligence services are using a trio of English-language websites to spread disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, seeking to exploit a crisis that America is struggling to contain ahead of the presidential election in November.
Two Russians who have held senior roles in Moscow’s military intelligence service known as the GRU have been identified as responsible for a disinformation effort reaching American and western audiences, US government officials said on Tuesday. They spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Related: Russia used English-language sites to spread Covid-19 disinformation, US officials say
Continue reading...Hong Kong outbreak ‘overwhelming’ medical system; pilgrims quarantined in Mecca as hajj begins; WHO warns pandemic is ‘one big wave’
The US attorney general William Barr will be tested for Covid-19, after coming in close contact with Texas Republican congressman Louie Gohmert on Tuesday when Barr testified before the House Judiciary Committee, a Justice Department spokeswoman confirmed to Reuters.
Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec added that Barr already faces routine testing for Covid-19 at the White House.
Berlin’s Tegel airport began large-scale coronavirus testing on Wednesday, as airports across Germany prepared for the advent of free, compulsory testing for many passengers from next week.
Two rooms were set aside for tests, but an airport spokeswoman said a larger space was being prepared, indicating that authorities are preparing for testing to remain a fixture for a long time to come.
Continue reading...Henry Dimbleby’s national food strategy starts with review of ‘slow-motion disaster’ diet, poverty, and post-Brexit laws
It is a year since Michael Gove asked the businessman Henry Dimbleby to produce a national food strategy. In that time the coronavirus pandemic has brutally exposed the cracks in the British food system so the launch of part one of his review this Wednesday comes in a new and urgent context.
After only a few weeks of lockdown three million people in Britain were in households where someone was forced to skip meals and go hungry.
Continue reading...Romantic seascapes – with political message in washed up life jackets – raise funds for Bethlehem hospital
A Banksy triptych, which aims to make a powerful political statement on the global migrant crisis, sold for £2.2m at an auction in London that also featured works by Rembrandt, Picasso, and Bridget Riley.
The three paintings were offered by Banksy to raise money for a hospital in Bethlehem.
Continue reading...High court hears closing remarks in three-week libel case exposing couple’s relationship
Amber Heard has spoken of her trauma at reliving the breakup of her marriage, saying she is “placing her faith in British justice” as Johnny Depp’s lawyer branded her a “compulsive liar” and the “abuser” in the couple’s relationship.
As the libel action brought by Depp against the publishers of the Sun newspaper ended on Tuesday, Heard was booed and heckled by Depp fans who have gathered daily outside the high court in London for the proceedings over allegations that the Pirates of the Caribbean star had been violent towards her.
Continue reading...Spain has criticised the UK’s restrictions on the grounds parts of Spain have low infection rates. What do the figures say?
Sudden changes to travel guidelines between the UK and Spain have provoked criticism from the Spanish government and upended travel plans between the two countries for thousands of travellers. Here are some of the key figures that indicate how Covid-19 is being managed in the UK and Spain.
Continue reading...Dr Rudresh Pathak’s fatal stroke highlights brain complications and blood clots associated with severe cases
When Rudresh Pathak finally left intensive care after 81 days, staff at Pilgrim hospital in Boston, Lincolnshire – where he had worked as a consultant psychiatrist for nearly three decades – lined the corridors to applaud.
Though visibly weak, the 65-year-old, who is thought to be one of a few patients in the UK to have remained on a ventilator with Covid-19 for so long, clapped along.
Continue reading...German officials had recently identified 43-year-old man as suspect in 2007 disappearance
German police are searching an allotment plot on the outskirts of the northern city of Hanover in connection with their investigation of a suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
A small excavator is being used to clear the plot and police officers are combing the ground with rakes and shovels, according to footage shown on German media.
Continue reading...Decision based on Covid-19 risk but also on lessons of past slow decision-making
The abrupt closure of the Spain-UK air bridge came from nowhere for thousands of British tourists and an industry trying to get back on its feet.
Whitehall sources insist the swift and blanket nature of the decision – to advise against non-essential travel to Spain and impose quarantine measures on travellers arriving from the country - came because government scientists had been concerned by the coronavirus infection figures from Spain.
Continue reading...Both Brussels and London have moved in talks, and both grasp the political advantages of even a minimal free trade agreement
• Charles Grant is the director of the Centre for European Reform
After six rounds of talks, the UK and the EU are far from reaching an accord on their future relationship. Both sides are warning that failure – meaning that Britain would leave after the transition period on 31 December without a deal – is a real prospect. Those working for Michel Barnier, the EU negotiator, complain that the British have wasted July by refusing to offer meaningful compromises.
Failure is certainly possible. But a deal this year is more likely, for several reasons. First, there has been more progress than one might suppose from the public comments of Barnier and David Frost, the UK negotiator. The EU has hinted at a softer line on fisheries and state aid, and agreed that an arbitration mechanism rather than the European court of justice should adjudicate on disputes.
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