Category Archives: UK news

Gordon Brown calls for G7 to act on Covid vaccine ‘apartheid’

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Former prime minister says group should commit to global vaccine drive and slams UK’s foreign aid cut

Preventing poor countries suffering from vaccine “apartheid” will require the G7 group of rich nations to commit $30bn (£22bn) a year to a global immunisation drive, Gordon Brown has said.

The former Labour prime minister said the UK should use June’s G7 summit in Cornwall to rekindle the moral purpose of the Make Poverty History campaign of 2005, paying for its share of the new fund by reversing the government’s “misguided” cut to the foreign aid budget.

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PM will allow second referendum if SNP wins, says Sturgeon

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Scottish first minister tells Guardian fresh poll impossible to resist should her party land majority next month

Boris Johnson will not oppose a second independence referendum if the Scottish National party wins a majority in the election next month, Nicola Sturgeon has said, with some UK government ministers reportedly conceding it is an inevitability.

In an interview with the Guardian, Scotland’s first minister said: “If people in Scotland vote for a party saying, ‘when the time is right, there should be an independence referendum’, you cannot stand in the way of that – and I don’t think that is what will happen.”

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Covid-status certificates could lead to deliberate infections, scientists warn

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Immunity certification could foster ‘an erroneous sense of no risk’ in people’s behaviour, according to analysts

Covid-status certificates – to allow those who have been vaccinated, recovered from the virus or have tested negative to attend an event or holiday abroad – could do harm as well as good, UK government science advisers have warned.

While they could encourage some people to get vaccinated, the scientists say others may deliberately go out to get infected, in order to test positive for antibodies and get a certificate enabling them to mix more freely.

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Prince Philip: respect and restraint required after duke’s death | Letters

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Martin Buckley, Carl Gardner, Margaret Vandecasteele and Pete Bibby on the death of the Duke of Edinburgh and media coverage of it

“Inevitably he will be remembered for the gaffes,” BBC TV told me on Friday. I interviewed the Duke of Edinburgh for the BBC over 20 years ago for a documentary presented by George Monbiot. The duke (whom we were talking to as president of the WWF) was informal and funny, and his intelligence shone through; he had a manifest love of nature and a terrifically detailed grasp of his environmental brief. The gaffes are a tired trope, endlessly headlined by our alternately sycophantic and feral media. Yes, the duke was impatient with the constraints he was permanently under, and yes, he occasional showed archaic attitudes. But at this time, it would be nice to acknowledge his positive qualities.
Martin Buckley
Farringdon, Hampshire

• I and many of your readers, I’m sure, would like to complain about the 13 pages on Prince Philip in Saturday’s Guardian (10 April). I would be interested to know what percentage of your readers read any of it. After all, by Saturday morning we all knew everything we wanted to know about him, and more, due to almost a full day’s blanket coverage on radio and TV. I expected better than a repeat performance across your pages.
Carl Gardner
London

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‘Rainbow, leopard print or pink’: Prince Philip’s Land Rover shows rise in alternative hearses

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Transportation to one’s own funeral is becoming more personalised, as more seek ‘something different’

The send-off for Prince Philip will be a royal funeral like no other, not least because his coffin will be carried in a bespoke Land Rover hearse he helped to design himself.

It’s a break from royal tradition – but his choice is not uncommon. Alternative hearses have become increasingly popular in recent years as people opt for more personalised funerals.

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Queen says Prince Philip’s death has left ‘a huge void’

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Duke of Edinburgh’s family say his death was ‘peaceful and gentle’ as they prepare for funeral on Saturday

The Queen has described the death of the Duke of Edinburgh as leaving “a huge void” in her life, Prince Andrew has revealed, saying it had brought home to him the loss suffered by so many during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Duke of York said the Queen had “described his passing as a miracle”, thought to refer to the fact Prince Philip died peacefully at home with her and not alone in hospital amid Covid regulations.

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‘She made a pact with God’: why the Queen is not likely to abdicate

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Analysis: though she will probably find it hard without Prince Philip, the Queen is unlikely to step down

The Queen, newly widowed, will find it “difficult” without the support she has leant on over 73 years of marriage to the Duke of Edinburgh, but royal observers have dismissed any speculation that she might consider stepping down.

The former prime minister Sir John Major acknowledged that her position as monarch was “a very lonely position”. He told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show: “There are a limited number of people to whom she can really open her heart, to whom she can really speak with total frankness, to whom she can say things that would be reported by other people and thought to be indelicate.”

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Long Covid: many will need specialist therapies, says expert

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Intensive care consultant says doctors are hoping to create a uniform structure for follow-up clinics

A “significant” number of people will require long-term aftercare such as the physiotherapy and speech therapy being received by Derek Draper after a year in intensive care following Covid, a leading doctor has said.

On Friday, it was revealed that Draper, the former political adviser and the husband of ITV presenter Kate Garraway, has been taken off support machines and returned home after a year in intensive care – but will receive 24-hour care at the couple’s newly adapted north London home.

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Virus hotspots could lead to third Covid wave in UK, scientists warn

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Boris Johnson accused of dropping pledge to ‘follow data not dates’ and urged to wait for more vaccinations before easing restrictions

Leading scientists warned last night that the government was risking a third wave of Covid-19 by easing the lockdown at a time when official data still shows virus hotspots across many parts of the country.

With the UK poised to lift many Covid restrictions on Monday, the scientists accuse ministers of abandoning their promises to “follow the data, not dates” in a rush to reopen society and the economy.

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Prince Charles remembers ‘dear papa’ as details of funeral emerge

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Service to be held at Windsor on 17 April and include Duke of Edinburgh’s request that his coffin be borne on a Land Rover

Prince Charles has paid tribute to his “dear papa” as details of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral plans emerged, including Prince Philip’s special request that his coffin be borne on a Land Rover.

Speaking at Highgrove, the Prince of Wales said: “My dear papa was a very special person who I think above all else would have been amazed by the reaction and the touching things that have been said about him.”

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Former Big Brother contestant Nikki Grahame dies aged 38

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Reality TV star had written about her experience of anorexia and had been receiving treatment for an eating disorder

Nikki Grahame, the reality TV star who gained fame as a Big Brother contestant, has died aged 38.

Grahame, from Northwood in London, had recently been receiving treatment for an eating disorder at a specialist clinic after a fundraising campaign organised by friends and fans.

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Coronavirus live news: India’s cases surging as deadly second wave spreads, Iran imposes 10-day lockdown

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India records 145,384 new Covid-19 cases and 794 deaths, the highest number of fatalities in more than five months; lockdown ordered in Iran

The British Retail Consortium estimated that lockdowns in 2020 cost non-essential retail £22bn in lost sales. So with non-essential shops allowed to open again on Monday after nearly four months, retailers have concocted plans to make real-life shopping trips a pastime once again.

Lauren Cochrane looks at how different shops are adapting:

Related: Lockdowns have cost £22bn in lost sales, say British retailers

According to a tally compiled by AFP, at least 2,917,316 people have died from Covid-19 worldwide since the virus first emerged in December 2019.

The US is the worst-affected country with 561,074 deaths, followed by Brazil at 348,718, Mexico with 207,020, India with 168,436 and Britain with 127,040.

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Prince Philip: gun salutes held across UK in tribute to Duke of Edinburgh – latest updates

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Salutes held across the UK as well as in Gibraltar after Queen’s Elizabeth’s husband died aged 99 on Friday

Prince William has withdrawn from this weekend’s Bafta awards ceremony, the organisation said in a statement.

“In light of the Duke of Edinburgh’s passing, the Duke of Cambridge will no longer be part of Bafta programming this weekend

The King of Saudi Arabia, one of the many Middle East autocrats with whom the British royal family has longstanding ties, has sent his condolences to the Queen.

King Salman’s telegram, sent late on Friday evening according to the official Saudi Press Agency, said:

We received with utmost sorrow the news of the death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and as we express to Your Majesty, the Royal Family and the friendly people of the United Kingdom, the warmest condolences and sincere consolation, we supplicate that you may never see any harm or mischief.

I have received with utmost sorrow the news of the death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. I express to Your Majesty, the Royal Family and the friendly people of the United Kingdom, the warmest condolences and sincere consolation, wishing you permanent good health, and that you may never see any harm.

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Taoiseach says Northern Ireland must not ‘spiral back to dark place’

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On 23rd anniversary of Good Friday agreement, Martin says onus on political leaders ‘to step forward’

The Irish taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that political leaders must not allow Northern Ireland to “spiral back to that dark place of sectarian murders and political discord” after the region was marred by another night of disorder.

On the anniversary of the Good Friday agreement 23 years ago, the taoiseach said there was “a particular onus on those of us who currently hold the responsibility of political leadership to step forward and play our part and ensure that this cannot happen”.

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‘Kill the bill’ and trans visibility: human rights this fortnight in pictures

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A round-up of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Mexico to China

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Murder of Kremlin critic in London ‘was made to look like suicide’

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Nikolai Glushkov was strangled by assailant who then wrapped dog lead around his neck, inquest told

The prominent Kremlin critic Nikolai Glushkov was strangled at his home in south-west London by an unknown assailant who wrapped a dog lead around his neck in a crude attempt to “simulate” the appearance of suicide, an inquest heard.

Glushkov’s body was discovered on 12 March 2018 at his suburban home in New Malden. His daughter Natalia Glushkova told the hearing that she and Glushkov’s partner, Denis Trushin, had called round that evening after growing concerned.

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Belfast police use water cannon on Northern Ireland rioters – video

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Rioters have been blasted with water cannon by police on the streets of Belfast, Northern Ireland, as unrest continued into a seventh day.

Stones and fireworks were thrown at police by gangs of youths gathered on the nationalist Springfield Road, close to where riots took place on Wednesday night

After calls for calm this week, there was a heavy security presence, with water cannon and riot officers at the scene as police charged the youths with dogs 

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Publish figures on long Covid to show ‘untold suffering’, MPs urge

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Cross-party group urge PM to give greater priority to potential harm posed by post-viral condition

The number of people suffering with long Covid should be published routinely, as happens with those infected with or hospitalised with coronavirus, MPs and peers are urging Boris Johnson.

The cross-party group of parliamentarians want the prime minister to ensure that the “untold human suffering” that the condition involves helps shape future government policy towards the pandemic.

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UK recognition of EU’s vaccine effort would not go amiss, says Brussels

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Europe could have fully vaccinated 70% of adults before UK reaches its target, says head of EU taskforce

The UK will be reliant on the EU to complete its vaccine rollout and a little recognition of that would not go amiss, the European commissioner leading Brussels’ vaccine taskforce has said – adding that Europe could have fully vaccinated 70% of adults before the UK reaches its own target of one dose for all over-18s by the end of July.

Thierry Breton also said AstraZeneca had agreed that almost all the Covid vaccine doses made in the Netherlands over which the UK has made a claim will stay in the EU.

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