Category Archives: Politics

Test and trace failures risk exponential case growth in England, official warns

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Blackburn with Darwen’s public health director says only half those at risk in north-west being contacted

Failures of the government’s test-and-trace system are risking an exponential growth of coronavirus in hotspots across England, a director of public health has warned.

Dominic Harrison, the director of public health in Blackburn with Darwen, said the national tracing system was only managing to reach half of those who had been in close contact with a coronavirus patient in towns with high infection rates in the north-west.

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UK urges EU countries to ensure Britons living abroad can stay after Brexit

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Government launches multimillion pound campaign to reach 1m British citizens in EU

The UK government is launching a multimillion pound communications campaign to reach the estimated 1 million British citizens living in the EU to ensure they know what steps to take if they wish to remain in their host countries after Brexit.

And it is urging all EU member states to accelerate the process to enable British nationals to secure their rights amid concern among campaigners that some countries have not yet even opened schemes for UK citizens.

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Pressure from Trump led to 5G ban, Britain tells Huawei

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‘Geopolitical’ factors were behind the move, the company was told, with hints that the decision could be reversed in future

The British government privately told the Chinese technology giant Huawei that it was being banned from Britain’s 5G telecoms network partly for “geopolitical” reasons following huge pressure from President Donald Trump, the Observer has learned.

In the days leading up to the controversial announcement on Tuesday last week, intensive discussions were held and confidential communications exchanged between the government and Whitehall officials on one side and Huawei executives on the other.

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Ministers ignore pleas to honour vow and bring ‘innocents’ back from Syria

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After last week’s Shamima Begum ruling, Home Office stays silent on rescue of minors from camps in the north-west of the country

The Home Office has been accused of “alarming inaction” after making no apparent attempt to bring back any British children from Syria for the past eight months despite pledges of help from ministers.

The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, announced last October that “unaccompanied minors or orphans” in Syria could be returned to Britain. After three orphans returned in November, he hailed the move as “the right thing to do”. He added: “These innocent, orphaned children should never have been subjected to the horrors of war.”

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Daily updates on English Covid-19 deaths paused amid accuracy concerns

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Government confirms PHE set no cut-off between time of testing and date of death

Daily updates on the coronavirus death toll in England have been paused amid growing concern that the numbers could have been exaggerated.

A message on the government’s website on Saturday said: “Currently the daily deaths measure counts all people who have tested positive for coronavirus and since died, with no cut-off between time of testing and date of death.

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How prepared is Boris Johnson for a winter resurgence of coronavirus?

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The prime minister says he is hoping for the best but planning for the worst. We look at key areas of concern

Boris Johnson’s approach to a winter wave of Covid-19 is to hope for the best but plan for the worst, he said on Friday. The worst-case scenario was spelled out earlier in the week by the Academy of Medical Sciences: as many as 120,000 hospital patients dead. Avoiding that will depend on the state of preparations in many areas.

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BA begins to carry out its ‘fire and rehire’ threat to jobs

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As airline moves to cut 12,000 jobs, senior crew told they will get 80% of current basic pay

British Airways has started carrying out its threat to fire and rehire thousands of workers – days after unions joined talks with a plan to save jobs.

Long-serving cabin crew were served notice this week to either accept an enhanced redundancy package within three weeks, or risk losing it by reapplying for a similar job at much lower pay.

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Face mask fashion: politicians step out in statement masks

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From Nicola Sturgeon’s tartan to Michael Gove’s fog, politicians find masks to match their personality

Nicola Sturgeon set the template for face mask diplomacy almost three weeks ago with a £10 tartan mask, which raised money for Shelter Scotland. Her endorsement sparked staggering sales and promoted Scottish culture, charity and business in one photo op, while making a clear message about public health. In other words, she played a blinder.

Sturgeon also sparkled a trend of sorts, with Jackson Carlaw, the leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party, wearing an even toastier-looking tartan face mask to pour himself a patriotic pint a few weeks later.

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DfiD merger will ‘severely impact’ UK’s status, concludes cross-party inquiry

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Commons committee chair warns of ‘damage beyond repair’ over abolition of overseas aid department

A cross-party committee of MPs has said Boris Johnson’s “rushed and impulsive” merger of the Foreign Office and Department for International Development will “severely impact the UK’s superpower status”.

Attacking the prime minister’s decision as “coming out of the blue”, a report published on Thursday from the Commons international development committee (IDC) said it was likely it would be disruptive and “incredibly costly”.

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Russia targeted Covid-19 researchers and interfered in 2019 UK election, says Raab – video

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Foreign secretary accuses Russia of seeking to interfere in last year’s general election by amplifying an illegally acquired NHS dossier that was seized upon by Labour during the campaign. Raab also confirms reports that Russian state-sponsored hackers are targeting UK, US and Canadian organisations involved in developing a coronavirus vaccine, describing it as ‘completely unacceptable’.

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UK says Russia sought to interfere in 2019 election by spreading documents online

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British foreign secretary says Russia amplified an illicitly acquired NHS dossier on social media

Russian actors “sought to interfere” in last winter’s general election by amplifying an illicitly acquired NHS dossier that was seized upon by Labour during the campaign, the foreign secretary has said.

Related: Russian state-sponsored hackers target Covid-19 vaccine researchers

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UK government orders halt to Randox Covid-19 tests over safety issues

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Care homes and members of public told to immediately stop using kits produced by firm

Care homes and members of the public have been instructed by the government to immediately stop using coronavirus testing kits produced by a healthcare firm after safety problems were discovered.

Randox was awarded a £133m contract in March to produce the testing kits for England, Wales and Northern Ireland without any other firms being given the opportunity to bid for the work.

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Shamima Begum: how the case developed

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Twenty-year-old has won right to return to UK from Syria to challenge citizenship decision

The case of Shamima Begum, the now 20-year-old woman who fled to Syria to join Islamic State as a child, has sparked fierce debate over how the UK should deal with “foreign fighters”.

Opponents of her return say she is a threat to the country’s security and must live with the consequences of her actions, while critics of her exile say greater human rights principles are at play, and the UK must not shirk its responsibility to administer justice for any alleged crimes she may have committed.

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Boris Johnson confirms plans for ‘government hub’ in York

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PM says city should be in frame if Commons or Lords have to move during restoration work

Boris Johnson has confirmed that Downing Street is thinking of setting up a “government hub” in York, telling officials drawing up restoration plans for the Palace of Westminster that they should consider the city if the Commons or Lords have to be moved.

Restoration of the parliamentary estate, which is crumbling in many places and viewed as a significant fire risk, could cost an estimated £6bn, and the plans are still being debated.

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MP who beat Chris Grayling to intelligence chair role loses Tory whip

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Julian Lewis kicked out of parliamentary party after beating Boris Johnson’s pick

Boris Johnson was humiliated tonight after Chris Grayling, his pick to lead parliament’s powerful intelligence and security committee, was unexpectedly rejected in an ambush by MPs.

The former cabinet minister was defeated by fellow Conservative Julian Lewis – prompting an embarrassed Downing Street to kick the victor, who was accused of duplicitous behaviour, out of the parliamentary party.

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Labour set to apologise to antisemitism whistleblowers

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Exclusive: party prompts anger from Corbyn allies as it attempts to draw line under allegations

Labour is poised to make a formal apology to antisemitism whistleblowers as part of a settlement designed to draw a line under allegations made during the Jeremy Corbyn era, the Guardian has learned.

The whistleblowers sued the party for defamation in the wake of a BBC Panorama investigation last year. No final settlement has been reached but sources said an agreement was imminent, prompting anger from Corbyn allies who accused the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, of capitulating.

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UK looking at help for young Hongkongers who want to flee

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Priti Patel says she is looking at giving people aged 18-23 a new right to come to Britain

The UK home secretary, Priti Patel, has said she is looking at giving young Hongkongers a new right to come to the UK.

Britain has made an offer of citizenship to 2.9 million people in Hong Kong eligible for a British national overseas (BNO) passport, but this excludes anyone born after 1997.

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Boris Johnson indicates at PMQs he has not read winter coronavirus report

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Keir Starmer presses PM over scientists’ call for preparations for possible second wave

Boris Johnson has indicated he has not read a government-commissioned report setting out urgent measures needed to prepare for a possible second wave of coronavirus, telling the Commons only that he was “aware” of it.

Johnson was questioned at length by Keir Starmer at prime minister’s questions about the study by 37 senior doctors and scientists, published this week, and the need for an effective test-and-trace system to mitigate any new outbreak.

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Huawei: China state media calls for ‘painful retaliation’ over UK ban

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Global Times mouthpiece says Beijing must respond or be seen as ‘easy to bully’

Chinese state media has foreshadowed “public and painful” retaliation against the UK over its ban of Huawei from the country’s 5G networks.

Following Britain’s announcement that Huawei would be stripped out of the country’s phone networks by 2027, the state-run Global Times said in an editorial that China could not “remain passive”.

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How many Hongkongers will want to come to Britain is unclear

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There are 3 million eligible for citizenship, but many factors will determine if it is taken up

The Foreign Office claim that 200,000 Hong Kong citizens will want to come to the UK over the next five years to take up Britain’s offer of citizenship is a very broad estimate and not a forecast, diplomats have said.

The figure suggests less than 10% of the 3 million Hongkongers eligible for a British National Overseas passport will be attracted to a new life in Britain.

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