Category Archives: UK news

UK Covid live: Met police will not investigate No 10 Christmas party allegations

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Latest updates: Scotland Yard cites ‘absence of evidence’, as PM triggers plan B Covid restrictions

Downing Street sources are saying this morning that “no decisions have been made” on a move to plan B. But, frankly, an FT story carries more credibility in the Westminster media village.

Ben Riley-Smith, the Telegraph political editor, thinks the timing of such a move would be suspicious.

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Met police say they will not investigate Downing Street Christmas party

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Force cites policy of not investigating past alleged breaches of Covid rules and lack of evidence

The Metropolitan police has said it will not investigate the Downing Street Christmas party widely reported to have been held last year.

In a much awaited statement, the force said it had a policy of not retrospectively investigating alleged breaches of coronavirus laws.

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Allegra Stratton resigns after No 10 Christmas party video

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Boris Johnson ‘sorry to lose’ spokesperson for climate summit who was seen in footage joking about party during lockdown

Allegra Stratton has stepped down as the government’s spokesperson for the Cop26 climate summit after footage emerged of her joking about a party at Downing Street during the peak of lockdown rules in December last year.

Boris Johnson told a coronavirus press briefing on Wednesday that Stratton had been an “outstanding spokeswoman … I am very sorry to lose her”. But he added: “I take responsibility for everything that happens in this government and I have throughout the pandemic.”

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Cornish town with 1,440 residents seeks to become UK’s smallest city

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Marazion, opposite St Michael’s Mount, faces stiff opposition from larger areas in contest for city status

It may not boast a cathedral, a university or a major sports team – the sort of features often associated with a typical British metropolis. But the town of Marazion (population 1,440), perched prettily on the south coast of Cornwall, has nevertheless launched a bold campaign for city status.

Marazion, which does have a couple of churches, a primary school and rowing and sailing clubs, would become the smallest and most southerly city if its proposal is accepted.

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Poll shows Anglo-French antipathy on rise amid post-Brexit bickering

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Exclusive: political tensions prompt increase in numbers of French with negative view of Brits and vice versa

A year of post-Brexit bickering has left the French and the British feeling significantly less well disposed towards each other, a poll shows.

After ill-tempered exchanges over everything from fishing to submarines and Covid travel rules to the Northern Ireland protocol, the YouGov poll found that favourable opinions of the British had slid in France and other EU countries.

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Why is there a row in the UK about Boris Johnson and Christmas parties?

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Controversy centres on alleged get-togethers at Downing Street last year when London was under strict lockdown

On Tuesday last week, the British tabloid newspaper, the Mirror, published a story that claimed parties had been held at Johnson’s Downing Street residence in the run-up to Christmas last year.

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‘It’s hypocrisy, pure and simple’: growing public anger over No 10 party

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A grieving daughter and a publican prosecuted for breaching rules are among those furious at apparent flouting of rules

On 23 December last year, the day after Downing Street aides were recorded laughing about how they could pretend that a party at No 10 was a “cheese and wine” gathering, a large contingent of police officers arrived at the London Tavern pub in Hackney, east London. James Kearns, the owner, was hosting Christmas drinks for workers at a scaffolding company he also runs.

“There were 15 of us,” he said on Wednesday. “About 20 of the police showed up, absolutely hammering on the doors. We all hid in the toilets, but they found us.” This week, the case went before a magistrate. “And we’ve all been fined £100 each.”

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Covid news: UK reports 51,342 new infections; vaccines protect against new variant – as it happened

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Latest figures come amid concern over spread of Omicron variant; Pfizer says third jab increased antibodies by factor of 25

Germany reported 69,601 cases of Covid-19 and 527 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to the Robert Koch Institute, taking the total cases in the country to 6,291,621. There have been 104,047 deaths.

South Korean authorities are urging people to get vaccinated as case rise in the east Asian nation generally regarded as having dealth with the pandemic well.

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PM accused of lying after No 10 officials caught joking about Christmas party

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Exchange between Ed Oldfield and Allegra Stratton took place last December days after alleged party took place

Boris Johnson is facing accusations of lying after senior No 10 officials were filmed joking about a lockdown Christmas party that Downing Street insists did not take place.

Johnson and his aides have repeatedly denied that the event, reportedly held for staff at No 10 in December last year, broke Covid rules or took place at all.

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PM ‘fingers all over’ decision to evacuate pets from Kabul, says MP – video

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The head of the Foreign Office has been accused of covering up the prime minister’s involvement in the decision to evacuate pets from Kabul at a select committee hearing.

Labour MP Chris Bryant made the accusation to Sir Philip Barton and read out a leaked letter from Boris Johnson’s parliamentary private secretary which he said implied Johnson’s 'fingers' were 'all over' the controversial decision.

Barton did not accept the charge and, in a separate interview, Johnson dismissed the accusation that he was involved as 'complete nonsense'

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Top civil servant regrets holiday while Afghanistan fell to Taliban

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Sir Philip Barton refused to say precisely when Raab had been on holiday in August

The head of the diplomatic service has admitted failing to show leadership after he began a three-week holiday two days before the Foreign Office internally accepted Kabul was about to fall to the Taliban.

Sir Philip Barton stayed on holiday until 28 August and during bruising evidence to the foreign affairs select committee, he admitted this was a mistake.

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Star Hobson: lawyer concedes murder accused was ‘terrible mother’ to toddler

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Frankie Smith, 20, has admitted child cruelty but accuses her partner, Savannah Brockhill, of killing 16-month-old girl

A 20-year-old woman was “a terrible mother” who was cruel to her toddler daughter but did not kill her, a court has heard.

Sixteen-month-old Star Hobson died on 22 September 2020 after being beaten to death in the flat she shared with her mother, Frankie Smith, in Keighley, West Yorkshire.

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Scientists find ‘stealth’ version of Omicron not identifiable with PCR test

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Researchers fear new Covid variant could spread unnoticed because rough means of flagging up cases does not work

Scientists have identified a “stealth” version of the Omicron variant which cannot be detected with the routine tests that public health officials are using to track its spread around the world.

The stealth variant has many mutations in common with standard Omicron, but it lacks a particular genetic change that allows lab-based PCR tests to be used as a rough and ready means of flagging up probable cases.

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As many as 6 million eligible Britons may not have had a Covid jab. Who are they?

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The Omicron variant has refocused attention on vaccination rates as data shows disparities in uptake across age, region and ethnicity

Hundreds of cases of the new Omicron Covid-19 variant have now been confirmed in the UK and experts have called for a renewed focus on vaccination rates.

As of 4 December, just over eight in 10 people aged 12 or older UK-wide had received two doses of a coronavirus vaccine, according to data from the UK Health Security Agency, while 89% had received a first dose. This means about 6 million eligible people may still be unvaccinated, based on ONS population figures as opposed to counts of GP records. So who are they?

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Covid live: early signs Omicron more transmissible, UK PM says; Scottish firms urged to let staff work from home

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Early indications Omicron more transmissible than Delta, says Boris Johnson; Nicola Sturgeon says staff should work from home until mid-January

All international arrivals to the UK are now required to take a pre-departure Covid-19 test to tackle the new Omicron variant.

The tightened requirements have just come into force from 4am (GMT) on Tuesday 7 December.

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How an Afghan reporter was left to the Taliban by the Foreign Office

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‘Fahim’ was cleared to leave Kabul. Then the phone went dead. Now he moves house every two days to evade capture

Fahim, a journalist who had worked with British media organisations, was one of thousands of Afghans who approached the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for help to escape Afghanistan after the Taliban’s conquest this summer.

Told he was cleared to travel with his family to the UK, he was also one of the many left behind as the promised help from the FCDO failed to materialise.

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UK travel firms call for state help after Omicron hits turnover

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Industry body warns that some operators won’t last the winter after return of strict Covid travel rules

Travel firms have called on the government to provide urgent financial help as fresh Covid-19 restrictions come in to force on Tuesday, hitting holiday travel just before the peak booking period.

Turnover has been at just 22% of normal levels for tour operators, according to figures from the travel association Abta.

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Whistleblower condemns Foreign Office over Kabul evacuation

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Ex-diplomat claims string of failings within department led to ‘people being left to die at the hands of the Taliban’

Tens of thousands of Afghans were unable to access UK help following the fall of Kabul because of turmoil and confusion in the Foreign Office, according a devastating account by a whistleblower.

A former diplomat has claimed bureaucratic chaos, ministerial intervention, lack of planning and a short-hours culture in the department led to “people being left to die at the hands of the Taliban”.

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Moderna or Novavax after AstraZeneca jab confers high Covid immunity, study finds

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Finding is good news for lower-income countries that have not yet completed their primary vaccination campaigns

Combining a first dose of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine with a second dose of either the Moderna or the Novavax jabs results in far higher levels of neutralising antibodies and T-cells compared with two doses of the AstraZeneca jab, a study has found.

The finding has important implications for lower-income countries that have not yet completed their primary vaccination campaigns, as it suggests you do not need access to mRNA vaccines – and therefore ultra-cold storage facilities – to trigger an extremely potent Covid-19 vaccine response.

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