Sir Patrick Vallance said there was ‘room for improvement’ with test and trace in the UK as only about two-thirds of the close contacts reached are done so within 48 hours of the case entering the system, according to performance figures released on Thursday.
Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak presented a new package of government support grants during a televised briefing and also discussed vaccines and local restrictions
Continue reading...Sector calls for compromise to ensure UK researchers stay in Horizon Europe
The UK’s post-Brexit collaboration with European scientists hangs in the balance after it emerged that the EU offer of staying in the Horizon research programme could leave London with a £3bn deficit.
“The financial negotiations are not in a good position and the offer that the [European] commission has made to the UK is not appealing,” Vivienne Stern, the director of Universities UK International, told a Lords Brexit committee on Thursday.
Continue reading...Arrested Lawyers Initiative says hundreds punished on trumped-up charges and hundreds more await trial
Campaigners are seeking to use the UK’s Magnitsky-style human rights sanctions against Turkish prosecutors and officials responsible for arresting and imprisoning thousands of lawyers.
Organisers of the Arrested Lawyers Initiative (ALI) are gathering evidence about the alleged torture and mistreatment of judges and legal representatives detained in Turkish jails.
Continue reading...The assistant chief constable Owen Weatherill said during a home affairs committee meeting that England’s three-tier system of coronavirus regulations was confusing and, as a result, difficult for police to implement.
In response, the minister for crime and policing, Kit Malthouse, has said it is important that people inform themselves about restrictions in their areas
Continue reading...Covid means large family gatherings are out as country awaits unveiling of five-tier system
The idea of a normal Christmas this year with large family gatherings is “fiction” and people should be “digital-Christmas ready”, Nicola Sturgeon’s public health adviser has said.
Jason Leitch, the Scottish government’s national clinical director, who regularly flanks Sturgeon in her daily coronavirus briefings, told BBC Radio Scotland it was too early to say what the situation would be in late December. But Christmas would “absolutely” not be normal.
Continue reading...Policy is ‘huge step backwards’ that will prevent vulnerable people from seeking help, charities say
Foreign rough sleepers face being deported from Britain under draconian immigration laws to be introduced when the Brexit transition period ends.
Under the immigration rules to be laid before parliament and due to come into force on 1 January, rough sleeping will become grounds for refusal of, or cancellation of, permission to be in the UK.
Continue reading...EU’s chief negotiator meets Downing Street’s threshold for resumption of troubled talks
The Brexit talks will resume on Thursday, with negotiators tasked with working through weekends in pursuit of a deal in the remaining few weeks, after Michel Barnier met the prime minister’s demands for re-engagement.
The impasse was broken after the EU’s chief negotiator made public his intention to “seek the necessary compromises on both sides”, telling the European parliament that he believed an agreement was “within reach” and that he was willing to work “day and night”.
Continue reading...Latest updates: South Yorkshire third region in England to get strictest measures after local leaders agreed a deal with government
This is from Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, this morning.
Our aim in this negotiation was simple: to agree a deal based on what people will actually need to get through this rather than the arbitrary sum being forced on us all one by one.
We hoped to set a template for others to use. Presumably that’s why the Government walked away. https://t.co/DirwF8dvua
Here are some more lines from Robert Jenrick’s interview with the Today programme this morning.
The mayor of Greater Manchester was never willing to draw this to a conclusion. The public health situation was deteriorating. It would have frankly been irresponsible of the government to allow this to continue for many more days without bringing it to a conclusion.
In a meeting with the prime minister, the prime minister offered £55m, Andy Burnham asked for £65m. The prime minister said: ‘Look, let’s just compromise, and get this done for the sake of people in Greater Manchester.’
The money is still there. It’s got Greater Manchester’s name on it.
Continue reading...Greater Manchester mayor dismisses claims by local MPs that he rejected a good deal
Andy Burnham has lambasted Conservative MPs trying to encourage the government to pick off Greater Manchester councils one by one after the region failed to collectively reach a coronavirus deal with ministers.
The government said the £60m business support offer unanimously rejected by Burnham and Greater Manchester’s 10 leaders was “still on the table”, as it was announced the Sheffield city region would be the latest in England to be put into the tightest tier 3 restrictions.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson refuses to specify how much support region will get
Greater Manchester will be moved into the highest tier of coronavirus restrictions from midnight on Thursday, Boris Johnson has confirmed as he refused to say whether a £60m offer of support for the region remains on the table following failed negotiations.
Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, the prime minister did not specify how much support the region would get. Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, had sought £90m in support for businesses and staff affected by the measures, dropping the request to £65m, but ministers offered £60m and ended the talks without a deal.
Continue reading...I’ve interviewed those seeking safe passage to the UK: their plight was obvious, their stories shocking
Last night the government voted against attempts to protect the right of unaccompanied child asylum seekers to join family in the UK. Only six Conservative MPs rebelled to support the amendment, put forward by former child refugee Lord Dubs, that would have enshrined the legal right to family reunion for child refugees after the UK leaves the EU at the end of the year.
It’s hard to emphasise the immeasurable loss that this vote will impose on thousands of families in the years to come. Over the past few years I’ve interviewed young people trying to reach their relatives in the UK and families here desperate to get children and young people to safety. The suffering was always enormous, consuming every minute of their day.
Continue reading...Government says it will impose tier 3 restrictions on the region if no agreement reached
The strictest Covid restrictions will be imposed on nearly 3 million people across Greater Manchester if no deal is reached by midday on Tuesday, the government has said in a dramatic ultimatum.
The communities secretary, Robert Jenrick, warned northern leaders late on Monday night that if they fail to agree to pub closures and a ban on household mixing, the tier 3 measures will be brought in unilaterally.
Continue reading...Foreign secretary condemns ‘cynical and reckless’ bid to disrupt Games, before they were postponed
Russian military intelligence services were planning a cyber-attack on the Japanese-hosted Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo this summer in an attempt to disrupt the world’s premier sporting event, the UK National Cyber Security Centre has revealed, disclosing a joint operation with the US intelligence agencies.
The Russian cyber-reconnaissance work covered the Games organisers, logistics services and sponsors and was under way before the Olympics was postponed due to coronavirus.
Continue reading...No 10 unmoved even after Barnier’s offer prompts Gove to make U-turn at dispatch box
Downing Street has refused to restart Brexit deal negotiations despite Michael Gove performing a U-turn at the dispatch box in which he praised a “constructive move” by the EU minutes after declaring the talks “effectively ended”.
The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, seemingly agreed to all the government’s demands for the resumption of Brexit talks in pursuit of a deal – sending a tweet just as Gove was making a statement in the Commons castigating the bloc.
Continue reading...Michael Gove confirms British government’s door to re-engagement with Brussels is ‘ajar’
Brussels expects the Brexit negotiations to resume within days, as Michael Gove confirmed that despite Downing Street’s tough rhetoric the door remained “ajar” on re-engagement.
The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, will hold a video conference call with his British counterpart, David Frost, on Monday afternoon to discuss the structure of future talks.
Continue reading...NHS document shows no spare beds for patients in Salford, Stockport and Bolton
Greater Manchester is set to run out of beds to treat people left seriously ill by Covid-19, and some of the region’s 12 hospitals are already full, a leaked NHS document has revealed.
It showed that by last Friday the resurgence of the disease had left hospitals in Salford, Stockport and Bolton at maximum capacity, with no spare beds to help with the growing influx. The picture it paints ratchets up the pressure on ministers to reach a deal with local leaders over the region’s planned move to the top level of coronavirus restrictions.
Continue reading...The dispute between the UK government and Greater Manchester continued on Sunday after the Cabinet Office minister, Michael Gove, said its mayor, Andy Burnham, was risking lives by opting for 'press conferences and posturing' rather than agreeing to new coronavirus rules. Burnham has accused Boris Johnson of exaggerating the severity of the Covid-19 situation in Greater Manchester
Continue reading...New data reveals significant number of young vulnerable people put at risk of deportation by the Home Office
Kobe was in his final year at primary school when a drug gang recruited him. By then he’d been passed around seven different foster placements and met so many social workers he’d lost track of their names. Aged 17, Kobe was identified by the UK government as a child victim of trafficking.
When Theresa May became prime minister she attempted to make tackling modern slavery a legacy of her premiership. The current government has also been keen to flag its credentials. Earlier this year, the Home Office minister Victoria Atkins stated she was committed to “safeguarding victims of this horrific crime”.
Continue reading...Stretford and Urmston MP urges government to strike deal with local leaders over tier 3 financial aid
Downing Street must urgently strike a deal with Greater Manchester leaders to introduce tougher Covid restrictions before hospitals are overwhelmed, the shadow education secretary, Kate Green, has said.
Deputy mayors and other civic leaders in the metropolitan region said in a joint statement on Friday they were “ready to meet at any time” with the prime minister to agree a way forward over the introduction of a tier 3 lockdown. They say the government’s initial proposals did not provide adequate financial support.
Continue reading...Reports suggest timeframe between recovery and reinfection ‘relatively short’ for those who contracted virus twice
Government science advisers have warned that reinfections with Covid-19 are “to be expected” as the virus spreads, based on what is known about people’s immunity to other coronaviruses that cause the common cold.
Researchers on the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium said it was unclear at what point people who had recovered from the virus became vulnerable to reinfection, but cited emerging reports of second infections that suggested the timeframe was “relatively short”.
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