Coronavirus

A tweet by Downing Street seeking questions from the public ahead of Boris Johnson’s press conference has backfired spectacularly. The prime minister’s Twitter account asked if anyone had questions about coronavirus that they would like to ask the government. The request did not go down well. One user asked: “Where is Dido Harding and can she […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will use a speech to lay out how Britain can rise up after the pandemic, using the creation of the NHS after the Second World War as inspiration. He will tell the Britons that they “can build a country worthy of the sacrifices” made during the pandemic in the same […]

England’s chief medical officer professor Chris Whitty has suggested that measures could be needed until “some time in the spring” to stem the spread of the virus. “We’ve got to make this sustainable because we got to be able to maintain this for several more weeks now,” he told BBC Breakfast. “We’re really going to […]

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi has admitted that existing current lockdown restrictions may not be sufficent. Zahawi has raised concerns about people not sticking to the rules in supermarkets or when exercising outside. Pressed on whether the current restrictions are enough, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We don’t want to use tougher measures, the lockdown […]

Coronavirus might have put it in the shade but, as Chloe Brimicombe reports, the globe also suffered from an extraordinary catalogue of extreme weather events in 2020. The year 2020 will no doubt go down in history for other reasons, but it is also on target to be one of the warmest on record. And as the climate […]

Britpop, I imagine most of you are old enough to remember, was a loosely applied umbrella tern referring to the movement of varyingly retro British guitar bands which rose to dominate the UK pop charts in the mid 1990s. I was in my mid 20s at the time – pretty much the same age as […]

Education secretary Gavin Williamson turned down a BT offer of cheap broadband for children, it has been revealed. The broadband giant offered to supply families basic connections to allow access to online learning with schools closed for months during the Coronavirus pandemic. The firm’s chief executive also revealed they had given free wifi vouchers to the […]

One of the most alarming aspects of the pandemic is the sight of the mainstream right degenerating into attacks on public health policy. This week, as the virus spiralled completely out of control, they were still spewing out gibberish from the studios and newsrooms of respected British media outlets. “Lockdowns don’t work,” Talk Radio host Julia Hartley-Brewer […]

The UK’s pandemic plight might seem hopeless. But there are some measures which could help alter its course. One of the most frequent complaints levelled at newspaper columnists is that we snipe from the sidelines. Usually, it’s a bit of an unfair one: sniping from the sidelines is, in fact, what columnists are paid to […]

MPs have overwhelmingly backed the latest lockdown measures as the UK Covid death rate reached levels not seen since the spring peak. With Labour supporting the lockdown, the vote in the recalled House of Commons passed comfortably by 524 votes to 16, giving the government a majority of 508. Boris Johnson, however, did face rebellion […]

A high-profile doctor has said patients turned down the chance to have the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, saying they would “wait for the English one”. Paul Williams, former Labour MP for Stockton South, said it shows nationalism has consequences, given they were delaying having a jab at the height of the pandemic. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was […]

Scotland would not have received a single dose of the coronavirus vaccine if Nicola Sturgeon had been in charge of distributing it, Boris Johnson has claimed. Johnson told Tory MPs that Scots would have missed out on doses of the new jab had Sturgeon’s party been responsible for its distribution, the Guardian understands. Johnson apparently made the remark during […]

Jacob Rees-Mogg has caused outrage after crossing coronavirus tiers to attend a Latin mass in Somerset. The Commons leader – a devout Catholic – was seen leaving his West Harptree house in a Tier 3 area to attend church 15 minutes away in Glastonbury, which was under Tier 4 restrictions. Although people in Tier 4 can […]

A right-wing commentator who said Covid-19 had “disappeared” has admitted he was wrong during an on-air grilling on the BBC. Lockdown Sceptics editor Toby Young claimed in June that coronavirus “had all but disappeared” and questioned the need for social distancing. Young was confronted over claims during a debate on free speech on BBC 2’s Newsnight. […]

Home secretary Priti Patel has been accused of leaving the “nation’s doors unlocked” to alarming new coronavirus variants amid calls to strengthen border protections. Ministers were considering introducing a requirement for international arrivals to have a negative coronavirus test before travelling to Britain in order to tackle surging cases. But Labour joined some senior Tory MPs […]

Nicola Sturgeon has told Donald Trump that the travel ban on people entering Scotland also applies to him. Scotland’s first minister made the remark amid rumours the US president could skip Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony by flying to Scotland. Addressing the press during a coronavirus update, Sturgeon said she hoped Trump’s immediate travel plan was […]

Boris Johnson has been accused of following Nicola Sturgeon’s lead on coronavirus lockdowns after he put England under one hours after his Scottish counterpart did. England entered its third national lockdown on Monday evening which saw schools shut and the toughest restrictions imposed since March following a recent, steep rise in coronavirus cases. Johnson ordered people […]

A TV presenter has blasted Downing Street after it emerged Boris Johnson would be holding another coronavirus press conference on Tuesday afternoon. Phillip Schofield did not hold back when he found out that No 10 announced another Covid conference for 5pm this afternoon. The news comes less than 24 hours after the prime minister announced […]

“Teething problems” with Brexit as well as the continuing pandemic have posed issues for Britons trying to enter EU countries. Travellers heading for Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden have been held up at borders following the UK’s departure from the single market. A number of passengers were stopped at Heathrow Airport as they tried to […]

Former chancellor Sajid Javid is likely to return to Boris Johnson’s cabinet to lead the coronavirus recovery, reports claim. The Daily Mail reports that Johnson is set to reshuffle his top team with business secretary Alok Sharma set to become full-time president of the Cop26 climate change summit. In his place is expected to be […]

Politicians are to be recalled to parliament as Boris Johnson plans tougher Covid-19 restrictions for England. The prime minister’s televised address is expected to take place at 8pm on Monday, with reports that Johnson could put every part of the country into Tier 4, with schools moving to online learning. 78% of England’s population is […]

Millions of voters will this year get their first chance to have a say on how politicians have handled Covid-19 and Brexit. A bumper set of elections are to be held across Great Britain on “Super Thursday” – May 6 – including a number of contests postponed from 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Voters […]

MARTYN SLOMAN reflects on a year in politics – and looks forward to life beyond the pandemic. Even if the imposition of Tier 4 in Norfolk had not made it impossible, I was not in the mood to celebrate on New Year’s Eve. 2020 was a disaster year.  Together with many readers of The New European […]

Health secretary Matt Hancock is “confident” that life will bring normality “by 2022”. As he announced millions more people in England will be placed into lockdown from Boxing Day, Hancock warned that the virus was spreading again at a “dangerous rate”. Commenting on the new Tier 4 restrictions, he warned: “This Christmas and the start […]

Millions more people in England will be placed into lockdown from Boxing Day as ministers acknowledged mounting concern about the spread of coronavirus. Health secretary Matt Hancock said the variant coronavirus was spreading at a “dangerous rate” as he announced the fresh Tier 4 restrictions. He also said cases of another new mutant coronavirus linked […]

Companies faces further chaos at Britain’s border after Brexit after a fund set up to help them process customs paperwork ran out of cash. HMRC said almost all the money from the Customs Grant Scheme – an £84million-pound programme to train staff and set up new IT systems – has run dry, leaving businesses at the risk of continued […]

Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick has claimed there was “no reason” why the scenes in Kent this week would be repeated if there was a no-deal Brexit. It comes as Jenrick warned it may take a “few days” to clear the backlog of around 4,000 lorries waiting to cross the Channel sparked by a French travel […]

Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick insisted there will be no further changes to the Christmas plans despite speculation that more areas of England could be moved into a Tier 4 lockdown. The communities secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the Covid operations committee will examine “what more we know now about the new variant” […]

A former Conservative politician has said he will not apologise after replying to a union email about school meals with the phrase “if you can’t feed, don’t breed”. Roger Taylor, an independent councillor on Calderdale Council in West Yorkshire, sent the reply to a newsletter from the public services union Unison, which contained a request […]

Boris Johnson has been warned his future as prime minister will rest on the Oxford vaccine. Katy Balls, the deputy editor of the Spectator, has claimed that with Tories “fuming” over new coronavirus restrictions and no parliamentary scrutiny, they want to see a clear “exit strategy”. Number 10 has previously hinted at a return to normal by […]

Labour leader Keir Starmer has rejected supporting calls for a Brexit extension during the coronavirus crisis – saying that he wants Boris Johnson to deliver his deal. Asked if he would support an extension, he said he wants Boris Johnson to prove he can ‘get Brexit done’ with his ‘oven-ready deal’. He explained: “I don’t want an […]

A Brexiteer MP has come under heavy criticism for suggesting France was “holding the UK to ransom” after it closed its borders into Britain to contain a new strain of the coronavirus. ERG member Andrew Bridgen said France has been acting like “dictators” after it decided to close the Eurotunnel and ban flights from the UK […]