Alok Sharma, the business secretary, has been tested for coronavirus after feeling unwell while delivering a statement in the Commons. Sharma appeared ill and to be sweating while he spoke about a bill. The parliamentary authorities are understood to have given the area a deep clean and MPs were at the time sitting at least two metres apart. 'This was done as a precaution,' a House of Commons source said
Continue reading...Category Archives: UK news
Britons applying for German citizenship up 2,300% last year
Since Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016, 31,600 Britons have acquired German citizenship
The number of Britons applying for a German citizenship last year was up by approximately 2,300% compared to the year before the Brexit referendum, driving up the number of naturalisations in the country to a 16-year high.
According to data released by the Federal Statistical office on Wednesday, the total number of citizenship applications granted in 2019 increased by 15% year on year to 128,900, with 14,600 granted applications from British citizens accounting for almost half the increase.
Continue reading...George Floyd killing: reports over 10,000 arrested; ex-defense secretary denounces Trump – live
James Mattis accuses Trump of dividing US and ordering military to violate constitutional rights of Americans
- James Mattis accuses Trump of dividing US
- Meghan, Duchess of Sussex speaks out over George Floyd killing
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Associated Press are reporting that more than 10,000 people have now been arrested in protests against racism and police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death. It’s not an official figure, but comes from their own tally of arrest reports.
The AP figures show that Los Angeles has had more than a quarter of the national arrests, followed by New York, Dallas and Philadelphia. Many of the arrests have been for low-level offences such as curfew violations and failure to disperse. Hundreds were arrested on burglary and looting charges.
If you’ve been following the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag on social media you may have been surprised this morning by a sudden flood of Korean characters and the repeated phrase: “We stand against racial discrimination. We condemn violence. You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together.”
The source of this is the world’s biggest K-Pop band, BTS, who posted on social media this morning:
우리는 인종차별에 반대합니다.
우리는 폭력에 반대합니다.
나, 당신, 우리 모두는 존중받을 권리가 있습니다. 함께 하겠습니다.
We stand against racial discrimination.
We condemn violence.
You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together.#BlackLivesMatter
Met feared ‘serious disorder’ if lockdown rules were enforced at racism protest
Scotland Yard chief Cressida Dick also calls for justice and accountability following death of George Floyd
Britain’s top officer has said police feared there would be violence if they tried to intervene with protesters in London angered by the brutal death of George Floyd at the hands of an American officer.
Demonstrators at protests in London on Sunday and Tuesday flouted coronavirus lockdown rules on how many people can gather together.
Continue reading...China accuses UK of gross interference over Hong Kong citizenship offer
‘Serious representations’ made after worries offer could trigger brain drain from region
China’s foreign ministry has accused Britain of “gross interference” in the country’s affairs after Boris Johnson said he would offer millions of Hong Kong residents a path to UK citizenship if Beijing pushed ahead with a controversial security law for the city.
The ministry’s spokesman Zhao Lijian told Britain to “step back … otherwise there will be consequences” and said China had made “serious representations” to London over its offer to holders of British national (overseas) passports.
Continue reading...Theresa May attacks Boris Johnson over Brexit and Covid quarantine plans
Former PM warns of security implications of no deal and threat to trade from travel restrictions
Theresa May has launched a double attack on Boris Johnson’s government, speaking in the Commons to first warn about the security implications of a final no-deal Brexit, and then against the coronavirus quarantine plans.
May, who has largely kept a low profile since returning to the backbenches, used prime minister’s questions to express worry at a lack of possible lack of intelligence and data sharing if the Brexit transition period ends without a formal agreement.
Continue reading...Cabinet Office ignored warning EU voters could miss out in 2019 elections
Documents show ministers were urged to make preparations before EU parliament elections
The Cabinet Office ignored warnings that EU citizens living in the UK would be disenfranchised in the May 2019 European parliamentary elections if preparations were not made long before polling day, according to internal documents released during legal action against the government.
Details of efforts made by officials to persuade ministers to prepare in advance of voting have been revealed in submissions to the high court in a case launched last year by the3million, a group campaigning on behalf of resident EU citizens.
Continue reading...‘We were packed like sardines’: evidence grows of mass-event dangers early in pandemic
Research appears to back up stories of people who believe they got coronavirus at events UK government allowed to go ahead
The last major football match played in England before all sport was suspended because of the coronavirus crisis was the European Champions League showpiece between Liverpool and Atletico Madrid. It was a thrilling contest that transfixed 54,000 people under the floodlights of Anfield.
But now that match, along with many other mass events that the government allowed to go ahead as the pandemic spread in March, is coming under renewed scrutiny as evidence grows of the lethal danger to which people were exposed. They include rugby matches, horse races, musical concerts and dog shows attended, in total, by hundreds of thousands of Britons.
Continue reading...Governments and WHO changed Covid-19 policy based on suspect data from tiny US company
Surgisphere, whose employees appear to include a sci-fi writer and adult content model, provided database behind Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine hydroxychloroquine studies
The World Health Organization and a number of national governments have changed their Covid-19 policies and treatments on the basis of flawed data from a little-known US healthcare analytics company, also calling into question the integrity of key studies published in some of the world’s most prestigious medical journals.
A Guardian investigation can reveal the US-based company Surgisphere, whose handful of employees appear to include a science fiction writer and an adult-content model, has provided data for multiple studies on Covid-19 co-authored by its chief executive, but has so far failed to adequately explain its data or methodology.
Continue reading...Unhappy hour: London’s West End during lockdown – in pictures
British theatre teeters on the brink of total collapse and restaurants, pubs and cinemas are yet to reopen. Photographer Martin Godwin takes a stroll through an eery West End
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: India evacuates Covid-19 patients ahead of cyclone as Brazil deaths pass 30,000
Yemen aid funding falls short by US$1bn; Zoom profits double; global cases pass 6.3m. Follow the latest updates
- India evacuates 100,000 from homes, virus hospital ahead of cyclone
- Brazil deaths pass 30,000 after record daily rise
- China withheld data on coronavirus from WHO, recordings reveal
- Global report: Germany eases travel ban and cafe culture returns to Paris
- Coronavirus latest: at a glance
China reported one new coronavirus case and four new asymptomatic Covid-19 cases in the mainland on 2 June, the country’s health commission said.
The National Health Commission said the one confirmed case was imported involving a traveller from overseas. Mainland China had five confirmed cases, all of which were imported, and 10 asymptomatic cases for 1 June.
China does not count asymptomatic patients, those who are infected with the coronavirus but not exhibiting symptoms, as confirmed cases.
Total number of infections to date in the mainland stands at 83,021. The death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.
Dan Collyns brings you this action-packed update from Bolivia:
“Thanos is beating us” warned a Bolivian government minister in a live televised press conference on Monday as he called for his compatriots to comply with sanitary measures and lockdown restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Mientras tanto, en bolivia pic.twitter.com/5VPR4sDoX3
Continue reading...Brazil poised to overtake Italy as country with third-highest death toll – as it happened
Sweden death rate now higher than France; Pakistan records largest single day rise in new infections; global deaths pass 380,000. This blog is now closed
We’ve launched a new blog at the link below:
Related: Coronavirus live news: Germany reveals major stimulus plan as global cases grow by 100,000 a day
At least three people were reported dead as coronavirus-hit Mumbai appeared to escape the worst of Cyclone Nisarga Wednesday, the first severe storm to threaten India’s financial capital in more than 70 years, AFP reports.
The city and its surrounds are usually sheltered from cyclones - the last deadly storm to hit the city was in 1948. Authorities had evacuated at least 100,000 people, including coronavirus patients, from flood-prone areas in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat ahead of Nisarga’s arrival.
Continue reading...George Floyd protest: halt UK riot gear sales to US police, says Labour
Tory government must act as exports are prohibited if used for internal repression, says Emily Thornberry
Labour has called on the UK to suspend the sale of riot control equipment to the United States and review whether any British-made teargas or crowd control guns were being used against demonstrators across the United States.
Emily Thornberry, the shadow international trade secretary, has written to her opposite number, Liz Truss, arguing it would “be a disgrace” if the UK supplied material that was used by US police or national guard during crisis sparked by the death in police hands of George Floyd.
In her letter the Labour MP said: “If this were any other leader, in any other country in the world, the suspension of any such exports is the least we could expect from the British government in response to their actions, and our historic alliance with the United States is no reason to shirk that responsibility now.”
Boris Johnson lays out visa offer to nearly 3m Hong Kong citizens
UK prime minister says all eligible for BNO passport can apply if China cuts freedoms
Boris Johnson has opened the path to what he called one of the “biggest changes” ever to the British visa system, stating he was ready to offer a right to live and work in the UK to any of the nearly 3 million Hong Kong citizens eligible for a British National Overseas passport.
Ministers have been ambivalent since last Thursday on whether the government’s offer of an extendable 12-month visa would be available only to the 350,000 current BNO passport holders in Hong Kong, or would also include the more than 2.5 million eligible to apply for the passport.
Continue reading...Keir Starmer warns PM: get a grip or risk second wave of coronavirus
Labour leader accuses Boris Johnson of ‘winging it’ in stinging attack
- Keir Starmer: ‘Boris Johnson has to get a grip and restore public confidence’
- Coronavirus – latest updates
- See all our coronavirus coverage
Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of causing a collapse in public confidence over the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, saying No 10 will be directly responsible if the infection rate starts to rise again.
In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the Labour leader launched a stinging attack on the the prime minister, accusing him of “winging it” over the easing of the lockdown and making an already “difficult situation 10 times worse”.
Continue reading...MPs join 90-minute-long queue to vote to end virtual voting
Critics say move to physically-distant voting puts vulnerable and BAME politicians at risk
MPs are to return to parliament after a government motion was passed to prevent the resumption of virtual voting, despite what one MP called “absurd” scenes of a kilometre-long conga line of politicians trying to vote.
The 527 MPs snaked through Westminster halls and courtyards for an hour and 23 minutes to vote on the proposal by the Commons leader, Jacob Rees-Mogg, which was carried by 261 votes to 163. It incited a furious reaction from many MPs, including those who are shielding and black and ethnic minority (BAME) politicians.
Continue reading...Key findings from Public Health England’s report on Covid-19 deaths
Report identifies major inequalities, with mortality risk higher among BAME people
The inquiry into disparities in the risk and outcomes of Covid-19 commissioned by the Department of Health identifies major inequalities, confirming that – contrary to the popular refrain – we are not all in this together.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: cases in Africa pass 150,000; Germany lifts travel warning for Europe
Wuhan doctor who worked with whistlebower dies; Abu Dhabi closes borders; Dr Fauci says he hasn’t spoken to Trump in two weeks
- Germany lifts travel warning for Europe
- China withheld data on coronavirus from WHO, recordings reveal
- ‘We can’t relax’: Europeans face up to life after lockdown
- UK coronavirus updates – live
- Coronavirus latest: at a glance
In England, an official study has found that black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people are up to 50% more likely to die after being infected with Covid-19.
The report, published today by Public Health England (PHE), reveals that people of Bangladeshi ethnicity had around twice the risk of death than people of white British ethnicity.
It’s Simon Murphy here covering the global live blog while my colleague, Damien Gayle, takes a break.
Continue reading...All UK chief medical officers rejected lower virus threat level, source says
Guardian told all four CMOs discussed and refused No 10 proposal, not just Chris Whitty
All four of the UK’s chief medical officers rejected suggestions from No 10 that the coronavirus threat level could be reduced because it contradicted evidence that showed the virus was still widespread, the Guardian has been told.
A senior source in one devolved government said the chief medical officers of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland discussed and refused Boris Johnson’s proposal.
Continue reading...Electric cars gain market share in Europe despite Covid-19 crisis
Data suggests that carmakers are making progress towards meeting emissions reductions targets
Electric and hybrid cars gained traction among European buyers in April despite coronavirus lockdowns stalling the market, suggesting carmakers are likely to avoid potential fines potentially worth billions of euros if they fail to reduce average emissions.
Battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid cars accounted for 17% of sales across all European markets, including the UK, in April, according to data collated by industry analysts Jato Dynamics. That was more than double the 7% market share achieved in April 2019.
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