Category Archives: UK news

Brexit: trade survey finds 74% of British firms hit by delays with EU markets

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Brexit red tape and disruption to global trade from pandemic leaves businesses ‘severely strained’

Three-quarters of British manufacturers are struggling to cope with delays in moving goods in and out of the EU amid continuing disruption caused by Brexit and the Covid pandemic, industry figures said.

Two months after the UK left the EU on trade terms agreed by Boris Johnson’s government, research from the manufacturing trade group Make UK has shown that 74% of firms in a survey of more than 200 leading industrial companies are facing delays with EU imports and exports.

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Rolls-Royce reports £4bn loss as Covid crisis shakes jet-engine maker

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Air travel restrictions forced firm to burn through £4.2bn in cash to keep afloat as revenues collapsed

Rolls-Royce has reported a loss of £4bn for 2020 as the jet-engine manufacturer’s business was shaken by the coronavirus pandemic.

The FTSE 100 manufacturer revealed it burned through £4.2bn in cash during the year as revenues from servicing passenger aircraft collapsed. It expects to burn through a further £2bn this year.

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GMB staff complained about Piers Morgan’s Meghan comments

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The Guardian learned dozens of staff made complaints to show’s management about presenter’s outburst

Multiple staff on Good Morning Britain made complaints to senior managers about Piers Morgan’s comments on the Duchess of Sussex before he quit the show, the Guardian understands.

Morgan’s departure from the programme followed the announcement of 41,000 complaints to the regulator Ofcom over remarks on Monday which cast doubt on Meghan’s statement that she had been denied help with mental health issues.

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Majority think Covid has increased UK social inequality, survey shows

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Social Mobility Commission says results show need for urgent action to stop gap growing even wider

Over half of the public believes the coronavirus outbreak has driven greater social inequality in the UK over the past few months, according to a study by the government’s independent advisers.

The Social Mobility Commission said its annual survey of public attitudes revealed 56% of adults believed social inequality had increased during the pandemic. A quarter said Covid had made no difference to inequality and 16% were unsure.

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PM demands Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s return in call to Iran president

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Boris Johnson tells Hassan Rouhani the British-Iranian dual national must be allowed home immediately

Boris Johnson has told Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, in a phone call that the British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe must be allowed to return home to be with her family.

“The prime minister raised the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other British-Iranian dual nationals detained in Iran and demanded their immediate release,” a statement from Johnson’s office said on Wednesday.

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Women tell men how to make them feel safe after Sarah Everard disappearance

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Social media deluged about how women feel unsafe in public in the wake of missing 33-year-old

Social media has been flooded with women sharing their experiences of having felt unsafe in public, as well as advice for men on how to help prevent this, in the wake of Sarah Everard’s disappearance.

The 33-year-old marketing executive vanished after leaving a friend’s house in Clapham, south London, at about 9pm last Wednesday. A serving Metropolitan police officer has been arrested on suspicion of her murder, with a woman arrested at the same location on suspicion of assisting an offender.

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Vaccine row: EU has exported 34m doses – including 9m to the UK

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Internal figures leaked amid tit-for-tat with Boris Johnson over claims UK had export ban in place

A total of 34m doses of coronavirus vaccine have been exported from the EU despite shortages for people living in the bloc, including 9m sent to the UK and 1m to the US, which has a ban on sales abroad.

The internal figures were leaked as the EU was embroiled in a tit-for-tat with Boris Johnson over claims that the UK had an export ban in place.

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Governments failing to fulfil talk of green Covid recovery, UN warns

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Prospect of green focus for rescuing economies in danger unless swift action is taken, environment chief says

Governments around the world are failing to match their green rhetoric with action in rescuing their economies from the Covid-19 pandemic, the UN has warned, with prospects for a “green recovery” in danger unless swift action is taken.

Countries are spending an unprecedented $14.6tn (£10.5tn) on trying to prevent economic collapse, seeking to protect jobs and save businesses on the brink of ruin. However, a UN-backed analysis of 50 leading economies has found only $368bn, or about 18%, of the rescue spending so far can be regarded as green.

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US-based Sinn Féin support group places ads for vote on Irish unification

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Adverts in New York Times, Washington Post and other US papers seek to rally Irish-American support

A US-based Sinn Féin support group has placed half-page advertisements in the New York Times, Washington Post and other US newspapers calling for a referendum on Irish unification.

Friends of Sinn Féin placed the ads on Wednesday to rally Irish-American support behind the party’s push for a referendum in Northern Ireland.

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Queen missed chance to condemn racism, say equality campaigners

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Monarch criticised for treating claims by Meghan and Harry as private family matter

The Queen missed a crucial opportunity to publicly acknowledge and condemn racism in her response to the allegations made by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, equality campaigners have said.

Casting the issue as a “private” family matter meant there was “no public accountability” from a public institution and the head of state and Commonwealth, they said.

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Meghan and Harry racism row ‘may deepen schisms in Commonwealth’

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Analysis: revelations may be used in member state debates about becoming republics, say experts

In the 1980s, it was the question of apartheid-era South Africa that threatened to drive a wedge through the Commonwealth.

But while some credit the Queen then with a heroic role behind the scenes – dramatised with more than a dollop of artistic licence in season four of The Crown – in 2021 the threat comes from a row over alleged racism within the royal family itself.

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‘Recollections may vary’: how the papers covered Queen’s response to Meghan interview

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Some papers focus on the mild challenge to the Sussexes in palace statement, while others look at the privacy line, or claim support to strip couple of titles

The newspaper front pages have feasted on the royal crisis for a second day with several splashes focusing on the Queen’s “recollections may vary” reaction to the Duke and Duchess of Sussexes’ suggestions of palace racism.

The Telegraph goes with “Issue of race concerning, but recollections may vary, says Queen”, while the Times splash handles the crisis carefully, with a headline reading: “Queen says racism claim will be handled in private”.

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China summons UK ambassador over ‘arrogant’ article on media freedom

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Caroline Wilson incurs wrath of Beijing for WeChat post described as full of ‘lecturer arrogance and ideological prejudice’

Britain’s ambassador to China has been summoned for a dressing down by the authorities in Beijing over an “inappropriate” article she wrote defending recent international media coverage on the country, the foreign ministry said.

Caroline Wilson’s article in Chinese was posted on the official WeChat account of the British embassy in Beijing last week, amid already tense relations between Britain and China over issues including Hong Kong, Xinjiang and the media.

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Buckingham Palace breaks silence on Meghan and Harry Oprah claims

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Queen says ‘issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning’ but adds they will be dealt with privately

The Queen has sought to draw a line under damaging racism claims made by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, saying that issues will be dealt with “privately” by the royal family.

The monarch expressed her “concern” over allegations of racism and her sadness on learning exactly how challenging the couple had found life as working royals, though she said some recollections of events differed.

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The UN food systems summit will consider all stakeholders’ interests | Letter

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Dr Agnes Kalibata responds to a report on the 2021 summit that she is leading as a special envoy for the UN secretary general

As you note in your article (Farmers and rights groups boycott food summit over big business links, 4 March), farmers have for too long been on the fringes of global discussions about hunger, poverty and climate change, despite being the frontline of our food systems and the custodians of our natural resources.

The UN food systems summit marks a momentous opportunity for farmers, producers and many others who support them to be at the heart of the year-long consultative process that has been launched to improve our shared food system.

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Vitamin D supplements may offer no Covid benefits, data suggests

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Two studies fail to find evidence to support claims supplements protect against coronavirus

The idea that vitamin D supplements can reduce susceptibility to, and the severity of, Covid-19 is seductive – it offers a simple, elegant solution to a very complex and lethal problem. But analyses encompassing large European datasets suggest the enthusiasm for the sunshine vitamin may be misplaced.

Two still to be peer-reviewed papers looked at the link between vitamin D levels and Covid-19 and both reached the same conclusion: evidence for a direct link between vitamin D deficiency and Covid outcomes is lacking.

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Nicola Sturgeon relaxes Covid rules on outdoor mixing – video

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Scotland’s first minister has announced that some of the country’s regulations on outdoor mixing are to be eased, but she said ‘we cannot afford to take our foot off the brake too soon’ if people were to enjoy a ‘much more normal summer’. In her weekly update, Sturgeon said that from Friday, as many as four adults from up to two households will be able to meet outdoors and for 12 to 17-year-olds four friends from four different families

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No 10 stays silent after Zac Goldsmith says Prince Harry is ‘blowing up’ royal family

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Downing Street refuses to be drawn into judgment on Meghan’s claims of racism or state of mental health

Downing Street has refused to distance itself from a minister’s claim that Prince Harry is “blowing up his family” – but declined to comment after confirming the prime minister had watched the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Boris Johnson’s spokesman said he had watched the two-hour interview but said he had no further comment to make.

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Whitty: revising plan to ease England lockdown would ‘risk surge in virus’ – video

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England’s chief medical officer has warned MPs that revising the government’s roadmap to emerge from lockdown sooner than planned would risk a more serious third wave of Covid infections.

Whitty told MPs on the Commons science and technology committee: "All the modelling suggests there is going to be a further surge that will find people either that have not been vaccinated, or where the vaccine has not worked."

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