Category Archives: UK news

Other countries need Covid vaccine before British teenagers, ministers told

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Teaching leaders call for rollout of vaccination programme for pupils but joint committee says issue needs further debate

The government’s official advisers on vaccines will not be rushed into launching an immunisation programme for teenagers despite demands from teaching leaders to prioritise secondary school pupils.

It is understood that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) regards the ethical issues involved in vaccinating children to be delicately balanced and will require a complicated series of judgments about how to proceed in coming weeks.

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UK beachgoers bask in sunshine but good weather may not last

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Temperatures reach 23C but Met Office warns of risk of showers on Sunday

Crowds have flocked to the beaches to soak up the sunshine as temperatures hit almost 23C across parts of England amid warnings the warm weather is not going to last.

Photographs show hundreds of people packed on to Bournemouth beach in Dorset on Saturday, while in the north kayakers took to Derwentwater in the Lake District.

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Doubts over England’s 21 June lockdown easing as delay plans drawn up

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Lifting of Covid measures reportedly could be put back to 5 July, as adviser says reopening this month ‘foolish’

The planned scrapping of remaining restrictions in England on 21 June has been thrown into doubt with reports that the government is looking at contingency plans including a two-week delay to allow more adults to be fully vaccinated.

The Telegraph and the Financial Times reported on Saturday that civil servants were drawing up contingency plans to delay the easing lockdown restrictions by two weeks, possibly to 5 July.

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‘Historic agreement’: Rishi Sunak announces G7 deal on tax reform – video

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Finance ministers from the world’s richest economies have agreed a deal to tackle tax abuses by some of the world’s biggest multinationals and establish a minimum global corporation tax for the first time. Announcing the deal, the UK chancellor, Rishi Sunak, said it would create ‘a fairer tax system fit for the 21st century’

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Rishi Sunak announces ‘historic agreement’ by G7 on tax reform

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Finance ministers agree deal to force multinationals to pay tax in all countries where they operate

The G7 group of wealthy nations have signed a landmark deal to tackle tax abuses by some of the world’s biggest multinationals and establish a minimum global corporation tax for the first time.

Finance ministers from the group agreed the plan on Saturday as part of talks held in London, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, said.

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‘We have to participate’: what Europe’s Gen Z want from their post-Covid lives – video

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Covid-19 policies risk leaving psychological and socioeconomic scars on millions of young people across Europe, with far-reaching consequences for them and society, a wide-ranging Guardian project has revealed.

Taking a snapshot, the Guardian asked five members of Europe’s Generation Z how the worst global pandemic in a century has affected their lives, what they have learned and how they see their future after the pandemic

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100 richest UK families urged to commit £1bn to tackle climate crisis

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As UK prepares for environment push at G7 summit, letter asks richest to make climate charitable focus

The UK’s 100 richest families are being urged to commit £1bn over the next five years to tackle the climate emergency and halt the destruction of the natural world, as the world prepares for a big push on environmental issues at the G7 summit.

Each of the 100 richest families in the UK, and the 100 biggest charitable foundations, will receive a letter on Saturday asking them to make the climate and biodiversity crises a focus of their philanthropic efforts, in order to stave off pending disasters that would imperil all their other charitable efforts.

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G7 aims to reach historic deal on corporate tax abuse this weekend

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Talks hosted by Rishi Sunak believed to be very close to agreement in principle on global reforms

The G7 group of wealthy nations is close to a historic agreement to radically reshape international tax rules by using a global minimum rate of corporation tax to prevent abuse of the system by multinationals.

Finance ministers from the world’s biggest western economies were negotiating details late on Friday with the aim of reaching a landmark deal early on Saturday as part of talks being held in London.

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Hancock says UK is the ‘vaccine priority’ – video

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Vaccinating children in the UK  against Covid-19 will take priority over donating doses to other countries around the world, Britain's health secretary, Matt Hancock, said on Friday 4 June.

Hancock was speaking after health ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) rich countries met at the University of Oxford, where AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine was invented, and which comes before a leaders' meeting next week

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Police ‘flabbergasted’ London Bridge terrorist survived first few shots, inquest hears

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Usman Khan was shot at 20 times by firearms officers after killing Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones in 2019

Police have told an inquest they were “flabbergasted” when the convicted terrorist Usman Khan, who was shot to death on London Bridge in 2019, survived the first few shots.

Khan killed 25-year-old Jack Merritt and 23-year-old Saskia Jones at a rehabilitation conference in Fishmongers’ Hall on 29 November 2019. He was chased on to London Bridge and shot at 20 times in two spells, eight minutes apart.

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Holidays abroad: many Britons plan to press on despite government advice

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Tui says half of its passengers booked to visit Portugal in June are still planning to travel

As recriminations continue over the UK government’s decision to remove Portugal from the travel green list, many Britons have decided to press ahead with overseas holiday plans, even if that means going against official advice.

At 4.45pm on Sunday 6 June, Pont-Aven, one of Brittany Ferries’ flagship cruise liners, will leave Plymouth for Santander in Spain – the company’s first sailing on that route for eight months. The UK government says people should not travel to amber list locations such as Spain and advises against all but essential travel to the country – but that has not stopped the company, or the more than 800 people making the trip.

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UK strikes trade deal with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein

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Digital documents to be used to cut post-Brexit paperwork under agreement hailed by Liz Truss as ‘massive boost’

A trade deal struck with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein with provisions for digital paperwork to cut down the time and costs of post-Brexit border bureaucracy has been championed by the international trade secretary, Liz Truss, as a “major boost”.

After months of difficult talks, the comprehensive trade deal was hailed by both the UK and Norwegian governments as being pioneering in its scope and measures, with tariff-free trade in industrial goods secured.

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John Major joins push to overturn cut to UK overseas aid budget

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Intervention means all five living former prime ministers have voiced their opposition to the move

John Major has thrown his weight behind efforts to overturn government cuts to the UK’s overseas aid.

Ahead of a possible Commons vote on the issue next week, the former prime minister said the UK needed to remain “a nation that keeps its word”.

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Covid outbreak at my children’s school makes me fear we’re complacent

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Talk of ‘freedom day’ and foreign holidays may be premature when so many pupils are testing positive, writes Guardian science correspondent Linda Geddes

On the Thursday night before half-term, our eight-year-old son complained of a pain in his chest and felt hot to touch, although our digital thermometer said he was normal. Covid? It seemed highly unlikely: in Bristol, where we live, less than two in every 10,000 people were infected – below the national average and well below where we were just a few months ago. It is probably a cold, I thought.

The next morning he appeared by our bedside at 7am complaining that his eyeballs hurt. “Maybe we should keep you off school,” I said. But he wanted to go and had already put on his school jumper and karate trousers; they were allowed to wear what they wanted as part of their end-of-term “class treat”. “Why don’t you have some breakfast, and we’ll see,” I suggested.

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European finance ministers say deal to stop global tax abuse is ‘within reach’

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France, Germany, Italy and Spain increase pressure for an end to loopholes that enable multinationals to pay minimal tax

The EU’s four biggest economies have raised the pressure for a landmark agreement to curb tax abuse by multinational companies to be reached at G7 meetings in London on Friday.

Sending a united message in a letter in the Guardian, the finance ministers of France, Germany, Italy and Spain said a critical moment had been reached to strike a blow against tax avoidance as governments around the world attempt to rebuild from the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Ancient tsunami could have wiped out Scottish cities today, study finds

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Research maps the extent of the catastrophic Storegga tsunami 8,200 years ago for the first time

Towns and cities across Scotland would be devastated if the country’s coastline was hit by a tsunami of the kind that happened 8,200 years ago, according to an academics’ study.

While about 370 miles of Scotland’s northern and eastern coastline were affected when the Storegga tsunami struck, the study suggests a modern-day disaster of the same magnitude would have worse consequences.

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Wales to allow outdoor gatherings of up to 30 people from Monday

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Up to three households can now mingle, and review ahead of 21 June will determine whether indoor activities can restart

Up to 30 people will be able to meet outdoors and large outdoor activities can resume in Wales from Monday, the first minister, Mark Drakeford, has announced.

The size of extended households can be increased to up to three households and a further household with a single adult or single adult with caring responsibilities will also be able to join.

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UK tightens borders and travel rules as variants spark new alarm

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PHE data indicates dominant variant ‘more likely to cause serious illness’ as Grant Shapps warns of threat to reopening on 21 June

Ministers have moved to tighten Britain’s borders as new data suggests the Delta coronavirus variant is much more likely to cause serious illness and is circulating more rapidly within schools.

With England’s reopening on 21 June hanging in the balance, the government removed Portugal from the green list of countries and added seven more countries to the red list – moves that provoked fury within the travel industry and left many holidaymakers in limbo.

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Tour groups and airlines shed more than £2bn after Portugal downgrade

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EasyJet boss Johan Lundgren accuses government of tearing up ‘its own rulebook’ as tourism industry feels pain

Tour operators and airlines lost more than £2bn in value after the government removed Portugal from the “green list” of countries exempt from significant travel restrictions, prompting dismay and anger within the hard-hit tourism industry.

Less than a month after Portugal became the first big destination to be granted green list status, prompting a much-needed boom in holiday sales, the government reversed the decision.

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Man charged with murder of Dea-John Reid, 14, in Birmingham

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Michael Shields, 35, from Castle Bromwich, is due to appear at Birmingham crown court

A man has been charged with the murder of Dea-John Reid after the 14-year-old was stabbed to death in Birmingham on Monday evening.

Michael Shields, 35, from Castle Bromwich, was remanded in custody after appearing at Birmingham magistrates court this morning. He will appear before Birmingham crown court on Friday.

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