Coronavirus

Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin has said vaccine passports would be “the last straw” for struggling pubs and force bar staff into a “bitter civil liberties war” with customers. Conservative backbenchers, publicans and some scientists have raised concerns over the possible introduction of coronavirus health certificates as England’s lockdown is eased. Ministers are studying their potential […]

Infection rates are on the rise in Germany – but the big debate in the country right now is about Easter holidays. I have a confession: I’m writing this column on a plane from Palma de Mallorca back to Germany, ready to join the country’s heated debate about… Mallorca. The island’s tourist industry is ready to […]

The government is seeking a “lessons learnt analyst” to help Test and Trace learnt from mistakes made during coronavirus pandemic.  The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has posted a vacancy a the year-long “senior executive officer” role, which will be based in the Joint Biosecurity Centre and be paid £45,000. The job advert for the post, […]

Boris Johnson has revealed he has already booked a visit to the pub for when restrictions ease but suggested he might wait for a haircut, despite saying he “badly” needed one. The prime minister echoed the thoughts of the nation as he admitted a trip to the hairdressers was overdue, with salons and barbers forced […]

Making the battle against Covid tribal will have tragic consequences. If relations between Britain and the EU before Brexit was finalised were frosty and since then have been distant, then in recent weeks they have become downright ugly. The cause, of course, has been the ongoing row over the AstraZeneca vaccine, developed and deployed here – and derided and […]

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has called for firms to reopen their offices as he declared the traditional workplace superior to remote working. Companies across the UK are looking at how to tackle the issue of remote versus office working once lockdown ends, with many backing a hybrid model. But Sunak has touted the benefits of the […]

Consultants Deloitte is being paid to help ministers draft parliamentary answers to defend the Test and Trace programme. The responsibility forms part of many under the £323million worth of work Deloitte was drafted to do for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the National Testing Programme. Four different contracts show that Test […]

The European Commission president has warned AstraZeneca that it must “honour” its vaccine contract with the bloc before exporting doses elsewhere in the world. Ursula von der Leyen urged “transparency” from other countries, but did not confirm if the EU would bring in tougher export restrictions on coronavirus jabs, amid a row over supplies with […]

Welcome to the 2021 Maskies! Yes folks, commemorating 12 months of lockdown, it’s the first – and oh please dear God ONLY – annual Maskies Awards, in which we celebrate those who’ve made the job of being a satirist just that little bit easier over the course of this last plague-ridden year.  THE ‘SNAP YOURSELF […]

The European Union should step back from waging a “stupid vaccine war” with the UK, former European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has said. He warned that threatening export bans could cause “major reputational damage” to the bloc as EU leaders held discussions on tightening restrictions to supplies of coronavirus jabs. The commission has set out […]

The UK’s lobbying watchdog has launched an investigation into whether David Cameron persuaded government figures to grant loans to a financial firm he worked for. Cameron reportedly sent a number of texts to the chancellor’s private number requesting financial support for Greensill Capital through the government’s Covid business relief scheme. He is also alleged to have […]

MPs have called for an investigation into whether Boris Johnson broke the ministerial code in remarks he made about the procurement of Covid contracts. Labour’s Debbie Abrahams, Greens MP Caroline Lucas and Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran have written to the cabinet secretary Simon Case demanding an investigation into the prime minister’s comments. Johnson falsely […]

Vaccine campaigners have accused Boris Johnson of a “warped” understanding of the crisis after he joked that “greed” and capitalism had contributed to the success of the jabs. The prime minister made the comments at a private meeting of Tory MPs, but then hastily sought to backtrack as he praised AstraZeneca for supplying the Oxford vaccine at […]

Sir Keir Starmer renewed calls for a public inquiry into the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic as the nation marked the anniversary of the first national lockdown. The Labour leader said on Tuesday that NHS staff and bereaved families are owed answers about what went wrong in the last year so the mistakes never […]

People will be allowed to leave the UK to prepare a second home for rent or sale under new Covid travel rules coming into force on March 29. The latest restrictions will include a list of specific “reasonable excuses to travel” outside the UK, including what Labour has dubbed the “Stanley Johnson clause”. The prime […]

Boris Johnson has said coronavirus restrictions are being eased “once and for all” as the UK marks the anniversary of the first national lockdown. The prime minister offered his “sincere condolences to those who have lost loved ones” and praised the “great spirit” displayed ahead of the nation pausing in remembrance on Tuesday. With the […]

Britain must brace for another wave of coronavirus infections being imported from Europe as cases rise on the continent, Boris Johnson has warned. The prime minister said he expected the third wave of Covid-19 infections, seen in countries such as France and Italy, to “wash up on our shores as well”. But Johnson said he […]

Policing minister Kit Malthouse has sparked chaos in the Home Office after going to work while waiting for the results of a Covid test. Home Office staff in London were forced to self-isolate and a deep-clean was arranged and air vents changed after Malthouse’s test came back positive, the Sunday Times reported. Government guidance says workers […]

Much of the country is back in lockdown but the traumas of the pandemic look to have improved attitudes to the EU and blunted the appeal of populists. “It is our darkest hour: but we will make it.” In March 2020, the (now former) prime minister of Italy, Giuseppe Conte, echoed the words of Winston […]

The UK could have saved the European Union from vaccine disaster.

The prime minister is due to receive his first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a host of European countries announced they would return to using the jab following fresh safety assurances. A slew of countries, including Germany and France, reversed their decision to temporarily pause its use over blood clot concerns after the European […]

Conspiracy theories abound, but what does explain the EU’s seemingly baffling attitude to the AstraZeneca jab? The precautionary principle has longstanding European roots and modern international credibility. It is a scientific idea that grew out of an older German concept. Properly applied, it is difficult to argue against it. An international academic conference in 1998 defined […]

More than 25 million people in the UK have received a first dose of coronavirus vaccine but the country faces a looming squeeze on supply and a possible block on doses from the European Union. The milestone was passed in the first 100 days of the vaccination campaign, but the NHS warned there would be […]

Ireland’s prime minister is to hold talks with US president Joe Biden as the traditional St Patrick’s Day engagement goes online. The Taoiseach traditionally travels to Washington DC for St Patrick’s week to hold a series of high-level meetings with the most powerful political figures in the US. But the pandemic has prevented Micheal Martin […]

Downing Street has not denied reports that Boris Johnson thought the best approach in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic was to “ignore it”. The prime minister’s official spokesman pointed to the government’s approach of doing “everything we can” to reduce transmission of the virus, protect the NHS and save lives. The BBC reported […]

Downing Street had mulled over the possibility of “chickenpox parties” as a way to build immunity at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, a BBC report has revealed. More than 20 senior politicians and officials who were present when pivotal decisions about Covid-19 were made spoke with the BBC, sharing what was a litany of mistakes […]

UK leaders and medical experts have defended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine despite multiple European countries pausing its use due to concerns over possible adverse side effects. Boris Johnson said there was “no reason at all” to stop the vaccine’s rollout and Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would accept her jab “without […]

Bonnie Greer on how American’s obsession with personal freedom makes Joe Biden’s fight against coronavirus even tougher “Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, I’m begging of you please don’t hesitate. Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, ’cause once you’re dead then that’s a bit too late.” And to the tune of her great song Jolene, Dolly Parton got herself […]

Turkey expects to welcome British holidaymakers this summer without requiring proof of a coronavirus vaccine or negative test. Tourism minister Mehmet Ersoy said the country is “looking forward to welcoming British tourists with open arms”. British nationals made more than 2.5 million visits to Turkey in 2019, according to government figures. Ersoy said: “We have […]

An MP is cross-referencing constituents’ complaints about Dominic Cummings’ trip to Durham with those who complained about the Clapham Commons vigil. According to Guido Fawkes reporter Tom Harwood, an MP is sifting through his emails from people who complained about both in a bid to “point out the hypocrisy of their positions”. He tweeted: “One MP tells […]

Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party has suffered a historic defeat in state elections – with one senior member describing it as a “wake-up call”. Final results streaming in early Monday confirmed the centre-right CDU lost out in two elections to popular incumbent state governors – the Greens’ Winfried Kretschmann in Baden-Wuerttemberg and the centre-left […]

AstraZeneca has insisted its coronavirus vaccine is safe, after concern around blood clots prompted Ireland to become the latest European country to suspend use of the jabs. A review of available safety data in more than 17 million people who have been vaccinated across the UK and EU has shown no evidence of increased risk, […]