Coronavirus

Testing and trace on its own is not a “silver bullet” to tackling coronavirus, the person in charge of the scheme has claimed. Baroness Dido Harding, chair of Test and Trace, told a committee of MP that the evidence in the UK and across Europe was that it was just one of a range of […]

Boris Johnson ignored the advice of four former prime ministers over his coronavirus strategy, it has been revealed. Former Tory chancellor George Osborne revealed that Conservatives David Cameron and John Major joined forces with Labour politicians Tony Blair and Gordon Brown to write a private letter to Downing Street back in July. They urged Johnson […]

Collins Dictionary has named “lockdown” as its Word of the Year 2020 after a sharp increase in its usage amid the coronavirus pandemic. The dictionary said it added the term because it “encapsulates the shared experience of billions of people who have had to restrict their daily lives in order to contain the virus”. Collins’ […]

The MP husband of NHS Test and Trace chief Baroness Harding has been told to self-isolate over coronavirus, sparking concerns the chief could have to do so too. Tory MP John Penrose was alerted by the NHS Covid-19 app, part of the operation overseen by his wife. The Weston-super-Mare MP said on Twitter: “It never […]

Olga Löblová on why has the country seems to have suffered a particularly severe second wave The Czech Republic, which had been praised for its swift response to Covid-19 in the spring, is now topping global charts of new coronavirus infections and deaths per population. Authorities have failed to control new infections since cases started to […]

Under-fire vaccines tsar Kate Bingham is expected to leave her post at the end of the year after amassing a £670,000 bill over a contract for public relations support. Downing Street insisted Boris Johnson had full confidence in Bingham, a venture capitalist married to the Conservative minister Jesse Norman, and praised her work in securing […]

Boris Johnson is to hold a press conference at Downing Street this evening, following news on a successful coronavirus vaccine. Pharmaceutical company Pfizer has revealed its coronavirus vaccine is more than 90% effective in preventing the disease. But with Johnson looking to seize upon the news, it is likely that the prime minister will face […]

The rate of coronavirus infections across England and Wales appears to be slowing down, new data suggests. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said an estimated 618,700 people in England – one in 90 – had Covid-19 between October 25 and 31, up from 568,100 the week before. But while the infection rate has increased […]

A Tory minister has been ridiculed after getting the population size of Liverpool wrong during an interview on a new pilot testing programme for coronavirus. Business minister Nadhim Zahawi said 2,000 troops would deliver thousands of coronavirus tests to people living in Liverpool city as part of a pilot programme to map the spread of […]

Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon has been permanently banned from Twitter for suggesting the beheading of Anthony Fauci, America’s top public health adviser. Bannon said he wanted to “pike” Fauci and FBI director Christopher Wray’s heads as a “warning” to bureaucrats. Fauci, who Trump publicly slandered and suggested firing, has been assigned extra government […]

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab is isolating after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus. Raab will work remotely during 14 days of isolation after being told of a recent close contact’s positive test on Thursday, a spokesman for the cabinet minister said. It follows Brandon Lewis last week having to self-isolate […]

Robert Buckland has blamed the public for a second national lockdown after suggesting a lack of ‘compliance’ was the reason for harsher coronavirus measures. The justice secretary said a “tiny group of people” had been breaking Covid-19 regulations and that there was a “huge challenge” to get the public to follow the rules this time around. Speaking with the BBC, Buckland: “Sadly, it’s been […]

The prime minister will host a new coronavirus briefing as England entered a national lockdown for a second time. NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens will join the Downing Street event at 5pm on Thursday. It is unlikely that any new measures will be announced, but it follows chancellor Rishi Sunak revealing that furlough has […]

The Test and Trace system has reached the lowest ever proportion of contacts of people who tested positive for Covid-19 in England, a day after Boris Johnson said it had achieved a “remarkable feat”. Four in 10 close contacts of people who tested positive are still not being reached by the system, at the same […]

While all countries are grappling with coronavirus, France is also facing another profound crisis. JASON WALSH reports As France hunkers down for its latest coronavirus confinement, or lockdown – announced last week by Emmanuel Macron – the country knows it is heading into a period of unease, angst, economic devastation and death. And yet the […]

A handful of Tory MPs have defied public opinion and their own party to vote against Boris Johnson’s lockdown plans. The prime minister’s bill sailed through the Commons by 516 to 39 in a vote on Wednesday evening. Under the legislation, non-essential shops will be forced to close and social gatherings and non-essential travel banned from Thursday […]

MICHAEL WHITE on the growing twin nightmares of authoritarianism and incompetence in the week arch-opportunist Nigel Farage returns to frontline politics. Whatever the final outcome it was clear within hours of the polls closing that the result of the US election has not been the decisive repudiation of the Trump Era for which progressive opinion […]

One of Boris Johnson’s ministers was left red-faced after he failed to say how many people had received a coronavirus test on Wednesday during an appearance on BBC Breakfast. Buckland, the minister for justice, suggested over quarter of a million people had been tested on Wednesday but had to quickly retract that statement when he […]

LIZ GERARD is second to no one in her criticisms of Boris Johnson. Yet for all his manifest failings, she cannot help feel some sympathy for his current predicament. But when anger starts turning to pity, how long can a prime minister last? At what point does anger turn to pity? Do we rediscover our essential […]

A Brexiteer has been met with criticism for saying he will be voting against a second lockdown in the House of Commons. Peter Bone said that the government’s scientific and medical advisers had provided “dubious modelling”. There are lies, damned lies & then there are the likes of @PeterBoneUK, whose formal education clearly did not […]

Boris Johnson has accused Labour of playing “party politics” over a second lockdown, despite the fact the prime minister used the idea to beat Keir Starmer when he proposed national action.  The Labour leader used his time at the despatch box at Prime Minister’s Questions to ask if the PM understands the “human cost” of the […]

There are fresh hopes for a coronavirus vaccine at the end of England’s national lockdown after an NHS chief said GPs are gearing up to start delivering potential remedies before Christmas. Sir Simon Stevens said family doctors will be ready to start by Christmas “if the vaccine becomes available”, putting it in line with the […]

A legal challenge over the decision not to investigate Dominic Cummings for alleged breaches of coronavirus lockdown rules has been rejected by the High Court. London resident Martin Redston sought permission to take legal action against the director of public prosecutions (DPP), Max Hill QC, over the alleged failure to investigate whether Cummings breached lockdown […]

Business secretary Alok Sharma travelled to South Korea on government business only days after coming into contact with staff who later tested positive for Covid-19, it is understood. The cabinet minister last month came into close proximity with at least one member of his private office at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy […]

A radio caller has said the government’s biggest mistake tackling the coronavirus occurred days after the country exited lockdown. Caller Harry suggested that a decision by Downing Street to rapidly re-open the economy after the first lockdown may have had detrimental consequences on Covid infection rates. He explained to LBC radio that “schools and universities came back, there […]

A poll of those living in the north of England has found a majority think the government is treating the south of England better with its coronavirus response. A YouGov survey commissioned by BBC North West after the city was placed into Tier 3 showed that 67% of people asked thought that the South was […]

SIMON USHERWOOD on the new defining issue in British politics. In the autumn of 1991, a meeting was held in London. Convened by a lecturer at the London School of Economics, it resulted in a commitment by a cross-party group of individuals to stand in elections to protest at the big expansion of powers of […]

Robert Jenrick has admitted he “doesn’t know” how many tests will be needed for the government’s mass coronavirus testing programme in Liverpool. The government announced that Liverpool will become the first city to offer its citizens coronavirus tests in a new mass testing pilot programme from Friday. Anyone living or working in the city will be available […]

Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock are being sued over the appointment of Tory peer Dido Harding to run the government’s Test and Trace system. Runnymede Trust and the Good Law Project have brought forward legal proceedings against the two over alleged cronyism. The NGOs claim top-ranking affiliates of the Conservative Party were given key public sector […]

Robert Jenrick has joined fellow cabinet ministers in creating confusion about the rules which will apply when England’s second national lockdown begins on Thursday. Communities Secretary Jenrick suggested that an entire household could meet up with a friend, before then contradicting himself. The official guidance states that people in England can exercise or visit outdoor public […]

A legal challenge over the decision not to investigate Dominic Cummings for alleged breaches of coronavirus lockdown rules will be heard by the High Court on Tuesday. The prime minister’s chief adviser caused controversy by making a 260-mile drive from London to Durham in March with his wife, journalist Mary Wakefield, and their four-year-old son to […]

Sir Keir Starmer has attacked the chancellor’s decision to block a “circuit breaker” lockdown and claimed the delay would have far-reaching consequences. The leader of opposition said the chancellor’s name was “all over” the decision to delay a nationwide lockdown during an appearance at the Confederation of British Industry conference in London. Sir Keir said Sunak’s decision […]