Category Archives: UK news

Matt Hancock fires coded warning at MPs calling for lockdown easing

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Health secretary says it is too early to draw timeline for restrictions, because of pressure on NHS

The health secretary, Matt Hancock, has fired a coded warning at MPs seeking a roadmap out of Covid restrictions, saying the pressure on the NHS is too great, with hospital admissions still almost double the April peak.

The deputy chief medical officer, Jenny Harries, said people “need to keep these figures in proportion”, adding that there was a serious risk to health services, especially in winter. “We are not out of this by a very long way,” she said.

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Brussels warns Britain against downgrading EU ambassador’s status

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Denying mission full privileges under the Vienna convention risks poisoning diplomatic ties, No 10 told

Downing Street has been warned by Brussels that downgrading the status of the EU’s ambassador to the UK will poison diplomatic relations for years to come.

The UK has so far declined to grant the bloc’s representative, João Vale de Almeida, and his 25-strong mission the privileges and immunities afforded to diplomats under the Vienna convention.

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Adil Ray, Moeen Ali and Meera Syal among BAME celebrities to lambast vaccine misinformation – video

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A group of celebrities have released a video addressing vaccine misinformation in BAME communities.

The group, including actors Adil Ray and Meera Syal, as well as cricketeer Moeen Ali and presenter Konnie Huq, appealed to black, Asian and ethnic minority communities in the UK to help address hesitancy around the Covid-19 vaccine.

Coronavirus has disproportionately impacted minority ethnic communities, but these communities have also been subject to misleading information around the vaccine.

‘Unfortunately we are now fighting another pandemic: misinformation,’ Ray, who helped organise the video, explained. ‘We all must do what we can and come together to fight this deadly virus. We hope this video can help dispel some of the myths and offer some encouragement for everyone to take the vaccine’

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Someone you loved: how British pop could fade out in Europe

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Brexit rule changes that make it tricky to tour the EU will hold back UK artists from a fast-growing market

Limiting UK artists from working and touring in the EU post-Brexit will destroy the development of British music, say European industry experts, amid thriving competition from German rap, Spanish pop and more.

British artists now face the need for visas, work permits and equipment carnets when working in the EU, with emerging acts most likely to feel the impact of this costly and time-consuming admin. Over the last month, the UK and the EU have blamed each other for the inability to strike a deal to help the creative industries.

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Uncertainty over 12-week Covid jab interval intensifies as UK rollout expands

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More vaccination centres open as experts call for monitoring of effect of lengthy gap between jabs

Experts have called for greater clarity about the monitoring in place to assess the 12-week dosing interval for Covid vaccines, as the UK’s vaccination programme ramps up.

According to government data released on Sunday, a total of 6,353,321 people in the UK have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine. A further slew of vaccination centres are due to open on Monday to speed up delivery of the jabs.

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WhatsApp loses millions of users after terms update

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Poorly-executed change to terms of service sends messaging app’s subscribers flocking to competitors

A poorly explained update to its terms of service has pushed WhatsApp users to adopt alternative services such as Signal and Telegram in their millions.

The exodus was so large that WhatsApp has been forced to delay the implementation of the new terms, which had been slated for 8 February, and run a damage limitation campaign to explain to users the changes they were making.

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Coronavirus live: UK lockdown ‘long way’ from lifting, says Hancock; Israel still seeing cases after first Pfizer jab administered

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Health secretary says case rate too high to ease restrictions; first Pfizer dose does not immediately prevent infection, says Israeli health minister

Egypt has launched a Covid vaccination campaign, with the first shots of the Sinopharm’s vaccine given to healthcare workers in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia.

Italy will take legal action against Pfizer and AstraZeneca over delays in deliveries of Covid vaccines, with the aim of securing the doses rather than seeking damages, the foreign minister, Luigi Di Maio, said on Sunday.

Di Maio said on RAI state television:

We are working so our vaccine plan programme does not change. We are activating all channels so the EU commission does all it can to make these gentlemen respect their contracts.

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Burns Night goes virtual: ‘It might be even bigger this year’

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Thousands join events in Scotland and far afield, and post-a-haggis service is in high demand

It’s the night when Scots emerge from mid-winter hibernation, says the Burns scholar Pauline Mackay. On the poet’s birthday, 25 January, or thereabouts, thousands of societies, clubs and groups of friends across Scotland and around the world gather to celebrate the life and work of the national bard Robert Burns.

The ritual elements of a Burns supper – addressing those gathered with his poem To a Haggis, completing several rounds of toasts and reading from the funny, sexy, radical diversity of his work – have remained constant since the first event was held by nine friends in 1801, five years after his death.

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Welsh language centre partners with Duolingo in million speaker goal

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Online course being used to help reach government target was created after letter to the Guardian

An online language course created five years ago following a letter published in the Guardian is to be used to help reach a government target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050.

Duolingo launched its Welsh language course in January 2016 and so far more than 1.5 million people around the world have been taught through it.

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Sturgeon: SNP will hold Scottish independence vote if it wins in May

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First minister says she will hold advisory referendum, whether Westminster consents or not

Nicola Sturgeon says she will hold an advisory referendum on independence if the Scottish National party wins a majority in May’s Holyrood elections, regardless of whether Westminster consents to the move.

Her party is setting out an 11-point roadmap for taking forward another vote, which will be presented to members of the SNP’s national assembly on Sunday.

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UK vaccine adviser says delay of Covid second dose will save lives

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JCVI deputy chair defends extended gap between jabs as Hancock warns end of restrictions ‘long way off’

A representative of the UK’s vaccine advisory committee has defended its decision to delay giving people a second dose, saying it will “save many lives”, as the health secretary, Matt Hancock, warned lifting restrictions was “a long, long way off”.

Prof Anthony Harnden, of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said the evidence was still in favour of delaying the dose, after a small Israeli study on people over the age of 60 suggested a first dose gave just 33% protection from coronavirus.

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I’ve had my first vaccine jab. It gives me hope of liberation… but not yet

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Exactly a year after his first story about coronavirus, our science editor received the Pfizer injection last week. Here he reflects on a remarkable scientific achievement

I marked a grim anniversary in an unexpected manner last week. On 18 January last year, I wrote my first story about a mysterious disease that had struck Wuhan, in China, and which was now spreading around the world. More than two million individuals have since died of Covid-19, almost 100,000 of them in the UK.

Remarkably, 12 months to the day that the Observer published my story, I was given my first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, allowing me to follow nearly six million other newly immunised UK residents who are set to gain protection against a disease that has brought the planet to a standstill. It was a rare, comforting experience after a year of unremitting sadness and gloom.

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Three men arrested amid inquiry into £6m Covid loan fraud

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National Crime Agency says it suspects ‘specialist knowledge’ was used to scam bounceback scheme

Three men have been arrested as part of an investigation into fraudulent coronavirus bounceback loans totalling £6m. The National Crime Agency (NCA) said all three men worked for the same London financial institution and are suspected of using their “specialist knowledge” to carry out the scam.

Two of the suspects, aged 30 and 31, were arrested at their office by members of the NCA’s Complex Financial Crime team, while the third, aged 30, was arrested at an address in Camden.

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Move to EU to avoid Brexit costs, firms told

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Exporters advised by Department for International Trade officials to form EU-based companies to circumvent border issues

British businesses that export to the continent are being encouraged by government trade advisers to set up separate companies inside the EU in order to get around extra charges, paperwork and taxes resulting from Brexit, the Observer can reveal.

In an extraordinary twist to the Brexit saga, UK small businesses are being told by advisers working for the Department for International Trade (DIT) that the best way to circumvent border issues and VAT problems that have been piling up since 1 January is to register new firms within the EU single market, from where they can distribute their goods far more freely.

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‘A Brexit nightmare’: the British businesses being pushed to breaking point

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Less than a month after leaving the EU, trade is flowing so badly that small firms are moving operations abroad to survive

Christophe Fricke lectures in German at the University of Bristol and adores living in England. He was born in Germany but his anglophilia became so strong after moving here that he wrote a book called 111 Gründe, England zu lieben (“111 Reasons to Love England”) in 2018. He selected the gardens of Cornwall, the National Portrait Gallery, the way the English use collective nouns for groups of animals (herds, packs, and so on) and their fascination with murder cases in his varied list of reasons for loving this country.

But since 1 January, Fricke has been reminded that there are also worrying things about life in England – and being outside the EU is now chief among them.

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Doctors call for shorter gap between Pfizer Covid vaccine doses in UK

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British Medical Association warns current 12-week wait could reduce effectiveness of the jab

The gap between the first and second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine must be reduced to ensure the vaccine is effective, senior doctors have warned.

Currently patients wait about three months to get their second dose. Prof Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, said this was a “public health decision” to get the first jab to more people across the country.

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How creating wildlife crossings can help reindeer, bears – and even crabs

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Sweden’s announcement this week that it is to build a series of animal bridges is the latest in global efforts to help wildlife navigate busy roads

Every April, Sweden’s main highway comes to a periodic standstill. Hundreds of reindeer overseen by indigenous Sami herders shuffle across the asphalt on the E4 as they begin their journey west to the mountains after a winter gorging on the lichen near the city of Umeå. As Sweden’s main arterial road has become busier, the crossings have become increasingly fractious, especially if authorities do not arrive in time to close the road. Sometimes drivers try to overtake the reindeer as they cross – spooking the animals and causing long traffic jams as their Sami owners battle to regain control.

“During difficult climate conditions, these lichen lands can be extra important for the reindeer,” says Per Sandström, a landscape ecologist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences who works as an intermediary between the Sami and authorities to improve the crossings.

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Summer holidays cancelled? UK faces big decision on border

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Stricter controls appear likely, with government’s approach in stark contrast to that during first Covid wave

Slumped on the sofa after another day of home schooling, many families will have longingly eyed adverts for getaways: sun, sandy beaches and glittering pools, a much-needed reward after a year in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic.

But ministers are becoming increasingly concerned they may have to ask the British public to sacrifice their hopes of a break abroad this summer. On Thursday, Priti Patel became the latest cabinet minister to say it was too soon to book an overseas break; Matt Hancock has already announced he is going to Cornwall.

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Prince Harry says social media misinformation is threat to democracies

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Duke of Sussex calls for more accountability and accuses platforms of shunning responsibility

Prince Harry has said that “time is running out” for social media companies to address misinformation which he believes is a threat to democracies.

He has called for more accountability for platforms, accusing them of shunning responsibility, and highlighted both the role that they played in the US Capitol riots earlier this month and the treatment of the Rohingya population in Myanmar.

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