Category Archives: UK news

Raab says PM and staff’s garden gathering was within lockdown rules

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Minister says other offices would have been doing the same, in defence that appears to differ from No 10’s line

A photograph of Boris Johnson, his wife and up to 17 staff in the Downing Street garden during the first lockdown shows people “having a drink after a busy set of work meetings” and acting entirely within the rules of the time, Dominic Raab has said.

Other workplaces would have done the same during this period and this would not have breached any rules, the justice secretary argued.

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Women stage global fast to pressure UK over Nazanin Zagari-Ratcliffe

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Participants in women’s fasting relay will demand Boris Johnson repay £400m to Iran for 1970s arms deal

Women around the world will take turns to fast for 24 hours in an attempt to put pressure on the UK government to secure the freedom of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe from detention in Iran.

The campaign by FiLiA, a female-led volunteer organisation working for the liberation of women, follows the 21-day hunger strike Nazanin’s husband, Richard Ratcliffe, mounted outside the Foreign Office in London until mid-November.

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Christmas curbs could be brought in within days, says Sajid Javid

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Health secretary expected to announce whether social mixing will be curtailed over festive period

Sajid Javid has made clear that fresh Covid restrictions could be imposed before Christmas to slow the spread of the Omicron variant, with ministers set to make a decision in days.

Government insiders expect an announcement to be made early next week about whether social mixing will be curtailed before the festive period – potentially including a cap on the number of families that can meet, or even hospitality closures.

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Boris Johnson and staff pictured with wine in Downing Street garden in May 2020

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Exclusive: photograph raises fresh questions for No 10 after denial of a social event at time of Covid restrictions

Boris Johnson has been pictured with wine and cheese alongside his wife and up to 17 staff in the Downing Street garden during lockdown, raising questions over No 10’s insistence it constituted a “work meeting”.

The photograph was shared with the Guardian following No 10’s denial last week that there was a social event on Friday 15 May 2020 including wine, spirits and pizza inside and outside the building. Johnson’s spokesman said Downing Street staff were working in the garden in the afternoon and evening.

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Liz Truss to take on Brexit brief after David Frost resignation

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The foreign secretary is assuming responsibility for the UK’s relationship with the EU, says Downing Street

The foreign secretary, Liz Truss, is to take over responsibility for the UK’s relationship with the EU after the Brexit minister Lord Frost’s resignation, Downing Street has said.

She will be adding ministerial responsibility to her foreign portfolio with immediate effect.

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Met police officer due in court on charge of sexual communication with a child

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PC Will Scott-Barrett was charged after an investigation by the force’s online child sexual abuse command

A Metropolitan police officer is due to appear in court on Monday charged with sexual communication with a child.

PC Will Scott-Barrett, who is based in the Met’s intelligence command, was charged in November after an investigation by the force’s online child sexual abuse and exploitation command.

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Sajid Javid: ‘no guarantees’ over further Covid curbs before Christmas – video

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The UK health secretary refused to rule out imposing tougher Covid restrictions in England before Christmas, after warnings that hospitalisations could peak at up to 10,000 a day without further action. 

Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Javid acknowledged that the data on Omicron remained incomplete - but suggested it might be necessary to make decisions before a full picture is available

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London hospital staff speak out: ‘We’re not here to judge, but please get your Covid vaccines’

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Health workers at King’s College hospital fear a surge in admissions as the Omicron wave gathers force, but are cautiously optimistic

On the third floor of one of the country’s biggest hospital trusts, a team of intensive care specialists in masks and visors huddle around a screened bay where a critically ill patient lies unconscious surrounded by cables and tubes.

The elderly man’s breathing is supported by a ventilator and he is connected to an arterial line to measure blood pressure. He is fed by a gastric tube, and a nearby stack of six monitors provide updates on his condition, from oxygen levels to heart rate.

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‘All bets are off now’: a torrid week when Johnson’s balloon was burst

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Last week’s byelection result laid bare the growing anger felt towards the PM – both from outside and within his own party

Shortly after Owen Paterson resigned as the Tory MP for North Shropshire in early November, Helen Morgan, who had been trounced when she stood as Liberal Democrat candidate at the last general election, rang her party’s HQ in London with a message that took senior officials by surprise.

“She told us that we really had a chance in the byelection, that we had to throw everything at it. Initially there was a lot of scepticism,” said a party official. “Nobody really believed it.”

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Richard Rogers: Pompidou and Millennium Dome architect dies aged 88

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The British architect changed the London skyline with creations such as the Millennium Dome and the Cheesegrater

British architect Richard Rogers, known for designing some of the world’s most famous buildings including Paris’ Pompidou Centre, has died aged 88.

Rogers, who changed the London skyline with distinctive creations such as the Millennium Dome and the ‘Cheesegrater’, “passed away quietly” Saturday night, Freud communications agency’s Matthew Freud told the Press Association.

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Netherlands to enter lockdown as nations across Europe tighten curbs to slow Omicron spread

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Dutch lockdown puts limits on Christmas celebrations, while France and other countries toughen restrictions as Covid cases climb

Nations across Europe moved to reimpose tougher measures to stem a new wave of Covid infections spurred by the highly transmissible Omicron variant, with the Netherlands leading the way by imposing a nationwide lockdown.

All non-essential stores, bars and restaurants in the Netherlands will be closed until 14 January starting Sunday, caretaker prime minister Mark Rutte said at a hastily arranged press conference Saturday night. Schools and universities will shut until 9 January, he said.

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Brexit minister’s shock resignation leaves Boris Johnson reeling

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Lord Frost’s frustrated exit is yet another blow for PM struggling for control of his government

Boris Johnson was dealt another major blow to his leadership on Saturday night as it emerged that the man overseeing Brexit was resigning from the cabinet.

With Tory MPs already warning the prime minister that he would have to regain control of the government to survive as leader until the next election, it emerged that Lord Frost is to leave the government after frustrations over Brexit negotiations and broader concerns over the government’s Covid policies and tax increases.

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Is there any good news at all on Omicron? Yes, there are small signs of hope

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Analysis: scientists are only starting to understand new Covid mutation but there is encouraging news from the laboratory, South Africa and on antiviral drugs

It’s hard to find much good news among the waves of grim statistics that have washed over the nation since the emergence of Omicron.

Once again, the NHS is threatened and again, the prospect of a new year lockdown looms. We seem to have gained nothing in the battle against Covid-19 during the past 12 months.

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It’s beginning to look a lot like last Christmas: why the UK has Covid deja vu

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Omicron cases are soaring, experts want curbs and Boris Johnson is dithering. Sound familiar?

That old adage of Marx insists that historical events occur first as tragedy, then as farce. The government’s handling of the pandemic in the UK long ago undermined that progression: tragedy and farce have, since the very beginning of the crisis, always been a double act.

The clashing tone of current events feels like a dispiriting festive repeat of all-too-familiar dramas. A week that began with the exposed scandal of Downing Street lockdown parties, and ended with chief civil servant Simon Case stepping down as investigator of those scandals, because of a party in his own office, was also yet another week in which the alarming progress of the virus outpaced government rhetoric and claimed another thousand lives.

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Sadiq Khan declares ‘major incident’ over Covid surge in London – video

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The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, has declared a ‘major incident’ to help the capital’s hospitals cope with a surge in Covid-19 cases caused by the fast-spreading Omicron variant.

Khan said the step would allow for closer coordination between different public agencies, after the UK reported the largest 24-hour rise in new cases since the pandemic began

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Boris Johnson’s zeal to return Parthenon marbles revealed in 1986 article

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Unearthed Oxford Union article by prime minister made passionate case for sculptures’ repatriation to Athens

The extent of Boris Johnson’s U-turn on the Parthenon marbles has been laid bare in a 1986 article unearthed in an Oxford library in which the then classics student argued passionately for their return to Athens.

Deploying language that would make campaigners proud, Johnson not only believed the fifth century BC antiquities should be displayed “where they belong”, but deplored how they had been “sawed and hacked” from the magisterial edifice they once adorned.

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Need a warped, tortured or evil character for a Hollywood film? Cast a British actor

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UK stars Olivia Colman, Idris Elba and Benedict Cumberbatch are all in demand with US directors. We look at why

A sensitive, geeky youth, stuck on a lonely cattle ranch, might understandably yearn for a kindly uncle figure; someone to confide in, or be mentored by. But the companionship actor Benedict Cumberbatch offers his brother’s stepson, Peter, in the widely Oscar-tipped western Power of the Dog is a very long, precarious horse ride away from anything avuncular.

In fact, Cumberbatch’s portrayal of the emotionally thwarted Phil Burbank is a study in twisted misery. In one early scene, Burbank notices some fragile paper flowers the teenager has made to decorate a dinner table at his mother’s canteen. But, instead of praising them, “Uncle Phil” is driven to publicly sneer.

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Passenger rush to beat French entry deadline causes long freight queues

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Lengthy tailbacks on M20 heading to Dover and at entrance to Channel tunnel follow change of rules on Friday night

A rush of passengers travelling to France to beat the country’s ban on UK tourists has led to a knock-on effect on freight traffic, resulting in long queues of lorries.

There were lengthy tailbacks on the M20 motorway in Kent heading to Dover and at the entrance to the Channel tunnel on Saturday.

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Furious response from DUP over Northern Ireland protocol

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Lord Dodds says UK ‘falling into line’ with EU and retreating from commitment to trigger article 16

The government’s retreat from its hardline position in negotiations with the EU over Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland has elicited a furious response from the most senior unionist in the House of Lords.

Lord Dodds, the former deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist party, has issued a veiled threat of “action” unless it restores the option of pulling the plug on the Northern Ireland protocol by using the article 16 process.

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Festive shrinkflation: tricks chocolate makers use to make us pay more

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At this time of year, manufacturers have a few new tactics to get us to buy less for more money

Getting value for money might not be your prime goal when buying Christmas presents but if you are planning to snap up chocolates or sweets for the ones you love, it pays to check what you are going to get for your cash. That fancy box or tub may come at a cost (financial and environmental) – and, contrary to appearances, it might mean fewer treats for the recipient, not more.

We’ve all heard about “shrinkflation”, where companies sneak through price rises by shrinking pack sizes, but when it comes to festive confectionery, it’s important to be wise to the other packaging tricks that manufacturers and retailers maybe hope we won’t notice.

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