Were Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock practising what they have been preaching?
Prof Neil Ferguson was the first to sound the alarm – and perhaps provide a clue as to how the prime minister, the health secretary and the chief medical officer all became victims of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ferguson is the scientist whose research at London’s Imperial College led to the government’s dramatic pivot in its handling of the outbreak.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson said he was shaking hands with coronavirus patients just weeks before he tested positive for Covid-19. The prime minister confirmed he had entered self-isolation on Friday 27 March. Early this month, he insisted that people would be 'pleased to know' that the virus would not stop him greeting hospital patients with a handshake
Boris Johnson has thanked the 405,000 people who have responded to the government's call for volunteers to help the NHS support vulnerable people during the coronavirus crisis. On Tuesday, health secretary Matt Hancock asked for 250,000 volunteers
Jeremy Corbyn pushed Boris Johnson for clarity on government guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic in his last PMQs as the leader of the opposition.
The prime minister said he agreed with Corbyn that people are having to make a sacrifice, but they are doing so gladly
Continue reading...Deaths jump in Spain; France tightens lockdown; Afghanistan appeals for help amid new cases; South Africa prepares for lockdown. Follow the latest updates
Thailand’s leader said on Tuesday he would invoke sweeping emergency powers in the face of surging coronavirus infections, Reuters reports.
In a sign of toughening official action a man was arrested over allegations of creating panic on social media.
Thailand and neighbouring Cambodia were among Southeast Asian countries accused by New York-based Human Rights Watch of using the pandemic to crack down on criticism. Both countries reject the accusations and say their measures are needed to keep order and combat disinformation.
The UK’s supreme court has adapted to physical distancing by holding its first remote, live hearing on Tuesday morning, reports my colleague Owen Bowcott.
The building in Westminster is closed but the case is being conducted via video links and can be watched online. The judges are determined that justice should be transparent even in times of pandemic.
The first appeal using the technology is the case of Fowler v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, dealing with the intricacies of the UK-South Africa Double Taxation Treaty.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson has threatened to introduce stricter measures if people do not follow the government's advice on social distancing, saying that if people do not follow the rules then 'we will have to bring forward further measures'. The prime minister reiterated that people must stick to the two-metre social distancing rule, but added: 'It is very important for people's mental and physical wellbeing that they should be able to get out and exercise'
Continue reading...The prime minister has announced that all bars, restaurants, pubs, gyms and leisure centres will have to close on 20 March as the Covid-19 pandemic continues. Johnson urged people not to go out on Friday night before every venue has had a chance to close.
Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, has announced that the government will offer a job subsidy scheme that will provide employers with 80% of a worker’s wage up to a limit of £2,500 a month.
It’s too early to say whether the country is united but the cracks are beginning to show
Has the national life of this country ever been transformed so completely and at such a speed? In the course of a week, the British landscape has changed and changed utterly. Once crowded streets are deserted. Schools are closed, summer exams cancelled. Football grounds are shuttered and padlocked. Theatres are dark, cinemas silent. They’ve even stopped changing the guard at Buckingham Palace – and from Friday night the pubs are shut.
The economy has juddered into reverse, set to shrink by 15% according to some estimates – a collapse more catastrophic than the Great Depression. Each day has brought news that, in normal times, would constitute an epochal, ground-shaking development but which, in the current climate, has struggled for airtime. The Bank of England cut interest rates to their lowest level since the Bank was founded in 1694, and announced an infusion of £200bn. The pound slid to its lowest level against the dollar since the mid-1980s. Meanwhile, a Conservative government has torn up 40 years of small-state, free market doctrine, first promising to spend a staggering £330bn, and then on Friday evening committing to pay 80% of the wages of workers who have had to down tools, with “no limit” on the funds available. The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, did not exaggerate when he said nothing like this had ever been done before. Even hardcore socialism usually stopped short of calling for the government to take on the payroll of private sector employers. Now it’s Tory party policy.
Continue reading...The prime minister has said the UK can 'turn the tide' in the fight against coronavirus in three months. Speaking at his daily press briefing on the pandemic, he said that after that period, science would be able to help treat and contain the virus
Continue reading...The prime minster has said the government will bring forward emergency legislation to protect private renters from eviction amid the coronavirus pandemic. His comments came after the Labour leader said private tenants were ‘worried sick’ they might not be able to pay their rents if they fell ill
Continue reading...Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak delivered a coronavirus update to the UK on Tuesday where the chancellor announced that £330bn of guaranteed loans would be made available for businesses, among a number of other loans for smaller businesses. Johnson meanwhile said that ‘we must act like a wartime government’
PM tells Britons to avoid pubs, restaurants and non-essential travel but school stay open for now as chief medical officer says ‘next few months are going to be extraordinarily difficult for NHS’
Johnson is wrapping up now.
He says he does not remember government announcing a change like this in his lifetime. He does not think there has been one since wartime, he says.
Q: Are you saying elderly MPs and peers must stay away from parliament?
Johnson says this is a universal announcement, intended for everybody. There are no exceptions, he says.
This is not two weeks and we’re done. This is a significant period of time.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson has announced new measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak in Britain. The measures include whole household isolation and avoiding mass gatherings
Envoy says Britain is taking a new approach to the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe without acknowledging any link to the debt
The Iranian ambassador to the UK says the British government is taking a new approach to the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, adding bilateral talks were taking place over the payment of an outstanding £400m debt owed by the UK to Iran.
Hamid Baeidinejad said the two sides were looking at novel ways for the debt to be paid.
Continue reading...Narrow victory is warning shot for No 10 which still has to legislate over Huawei’s 5G role
Thirty-eight Tory MPs have rebelled against the government in an unsuccessful attempt to force Boris Johnson to set out a timetable for excluding Huawei from future 5G phone networks.
The government’s majority was cut to 24 as the rebels were defeated by 306 to 282 on an amendment put down by former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, amid concerns over the presence of a Chinese supplier at the heart of Britain’s digital infrastructure.
Continue reading...Prime minister says UK still in containment phase of coronavirus and not yet preparing to move to delay stage
Here are the main points from the press conference held by Boris Johnson. He was joined by Prof Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical adviser, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser.
We are now very close to the time, probably within the next 10 to 14 days, when the modelling would imply we should move to a situation where everybody with even minor respiratory tract infections or a fever should be self-isolating for a period of seven days.
It is absolutely critical in managing the spread of this virus that we take the right decisions at the right time based on the latest and the best evidence, so we mustn’t do things which have no or limited medical benefit, nor things which could turn out actually to be counter-productive.
We were all given an instruction not to shake hands and there’s a good reason for not shaking hands, which is that the behavioural psychologists say that if you don’t shake somebody’s hand then that sends an important message to them about the importance of washing your hands.
So there’s a subliminal cue there to everybody to wash your hands, which is, I think I’m right in saying ... far more important.
What you can’t do is suppress this thing completely, and what you shouldn’t do is suppress it completely because all that happens then is it pops up again later in the year when the NHS is at a more vulnerable stage in the winter and you end up with another problem.
This is what Boris Johnson said at the start of his press conference.
I want to stress the following things. First, we are doing everything we can to combat this outbreak based on the latest scientific and medical advice.
Second, we have a truly brilliant NHS where staff have responded with all the determination, compassion and skill that makes their service so revered across the world and they will continue to have this government’s full support, my support, in tackling this virus on the front line.
Continue reading...PM backs home secretary amid bullying claims, saying she is doing an ‘outstanding job’
Boris Johnson has given the government’s strongest backing yet for Priti Patel in the wake of fresh bullying allegations, insisting the home secretary was doing an “outstanding job”, as Jeremy Corbyn demanded an independent inquiry into whether she had broken the ministerial code.
Patel was alongside Johnson on the frontbench during prime minister’s questions as he told the Commons she was keeping the country safe by increasing the number of police officers on the streets and bringing in a system to “tackle our migration crisis”.
Continue reading...The prime minister has said it is likely that coronavirus will spread in the UK after the number of cases in the country rose to 40 on Monday. Boris Johnson said the government was well prepared to deal with the disease and added that people ‘should go about business as usual’
Continue reading...PM maintains that NHS is not on the table and animal welfare standards won’t drop
Boris Johnson has said he will drive a hard bargain as the UK outlined its negotiating objectives for the forthcoming trade talks with the US.
Despite fears that disagreements between London and Washington could obstruct the launch of the negotiations, a government press release claimed the prime minister wanted to open up opportunities for British businesses and investors while also ensuring the NHS was not for sale via the desired free trade agreement.
Continue reading...Chris Riddell on Boris Johnson asking the EU for a Canada-style trade deal
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