Coronavirus

Matt Hancock has said a former neighbour who was awarded millions of pounds worth of Covid contracts after texting him went through “the normal channels”. Hancock deflected criticism that he was personally involved in handing government contracts to Alex Bourne whose company was given work to supply test tubes two weeks after contacting the minister by […]

England is set for a strengthened tiered system of coronavirus restrictions after MPs backed the measures, despite Boris Johnson suffering the largest Tory rebellion of this parliament. Their support means 99% of England will enter the toughest Tier 2 and 3 restrictions, preventing them from mixing indoors with other households when the second national lockdown […]

A group of Tory peers have lashed out at the current series of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! over the use of “non-native” insects in certain challenges. The group has said the use of non-native bugs in Wales, where this season’s show is being filmed, was “irresponsible” and “stupid”. The popular TV show was forced to relocate from […]

Piers Morgan has slammed the government’s coronavirus response, pointing out that the “disastrous” death toll was higher than the number of civilians who died in the Second World War. Morgan criticised the handling of the pandemic as he interviewed minister Michael Gove, as the MP denied that it had been a bad response. The Good […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said the party would be abstaining in Tuesday’s Commons vote on the coronavirus restrictions, prompting accusations from the government the opposition is “playing politics”. Starmer said: “Coronavirus remains a serious threat to the public’s health and that’s why Labour accept the need for continued restrictions. We will always act […]

Boris Johnson is bracing himself for a damaging Tory rebellion as MPs vote on a new toughened system of tiered coronavirus controls for England. The government is expected to win Tuesday’s Commons vote on the new rules – which are due to come into effect the following day – after Labour said it would abstain. Sir […]

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has said he is confident another lockdown in England could be avoided, but that the government could not rule one out. Appearing on Kay Burley at Breakfast, he said: “I am as confident as confident can be that we won’t need one because the tiers that we have now are […]

A radio presenter has said Tory MPs opposing Boris Johnson’s latest lockdown plans are doing so because they “don’t like being told what to do”. The LBC’s James O’Brien has said the 100-strong group of Tories resisting the prime minister’s regulations were jeopardising the public’s safety. The band of MPs, known as the Covid Recovery Group (CRG), […]

Environment secretary George Eustice has been ridiculed after claiming that a Scotch egg “probably would” class as a substantial meal in a pub to allow people to have a drink. The minister was ridiculed for entering the debate over what is classed as a “substantial” meal to go with alcohol in pubs in tier two […]

Boris Johnson is set to publish economic impact papers related to the coronavirus lockdown in a bid to attempt to assure Tory MPs. The prime minister will publish an impact assessment of the restrictions ahead of a crunch Commons vote on Tuesday in an attempt to win over would-be rebels. Scores of Tory MPs have […]

Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan has pulled apart Laurence Fox’s tweet which suggested he had broken lockdown to meet with close friends – in defiance of policies designed to protect the NHS during the coronavirus pandemic. Reading out the tweet live on breakfast television, Morgan said: “Just had a large group over to lunch and we […]

Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin, who boasted of donating £50,000 to the Tory party ahead of the 2019 general election, has now blasted the “reckless” government for their decisions over the coronavirus pandemic. The pro-Brexit chairman has written to MPs criticising the second lockdown for their policies, which he says is hurting pubs. He wrote: “It is […]

Laurence Fox has been slammed for boasting that he had a “lovely” lunch with a “large group” of friends in a breach of lockdown rules, before criticising the NHS response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The actor said he had “hugged” the friends, before claiming that the NHS was not “fit for purpose” if it cannot […]

Boris Johnson has appointed Nadhim Zahawi as a health minister responsible for the deployment of coronavirus vaccines. Downing Street announced that the Stratford-on-Avon MP, who already serves as a business minister, would take on the role until at least next summer. Under the interim arrangement, he will serve as a joint minister between Department for […]

Boris Johnson has warned there will be “disastrous consequences” for the NHS if the new tiered system proposed by government does not win the support of MPs and the country. The prime minister, who is facing a rebellion from his own MPs over the measures, urged the nation to “work together” with tiering, testing and […]

Downing Street has attempted to have vials of the Oxford University Covid vaccine labelled with the Union flag. No. 10 asked a taskforce set up to fight calls for Scottish independence to work on having injections kits covered with the flag, the HuffPost UK has revealed. It also asked the unit focusing on developing the […]

UK aviation officials are scrambling to secure a travel corridor between New York and London following fears Joe Biden could scrap it in favour of one with Dublin when takes office as US president next year. Plans to establish a corridor between Heathrow and JFK airport – known as Project Nylon – before Biden moves into the […]

Robert Jenrick has admitted the government’s Christmas lockdown measures could “drive” a rise in Covid infection rates across England. The minister for communities and housing said he expected to see coronavirus rates increase after the Christmas break. Downing Street announced that “bubbles” of three households could meet indoors over a five-day period during Christmas in […]

When (if?) we finally have a public inquiry into the government’s response to the pandemic I think we will find that the combination of ‘Boosterism’ (entering lockdown late, coming out early, eat out to help out etc.) and ‘Chumocracy’ (purchase of PPE, Test and Trace etc.) has not served the country well, with both a […]

Boris Johnson faces a large-scale backlash from Conservative backbenchers after placing 99% of England into tier two or three lockdown measures. Tory MP Steve Baker described the measures as “authoritarian”, while others demanded the publication of a cost-benefit analysis of the restrictions. The government placed more than 23 million people into tier three restrictions on Thursday, […]

It’s clear Boris Johnson’s brazen approach will cost us all warns Michael White. The mighty Oxford English Dictionary has just celebrated the extraordinary nature of 2020 by issuing an unprecedented number of ‘words of the year’ – starting obviously with coronavirus and lockdown. Me, I was less ambitious in looking for words of the week. […]

A transport boss has called the government’s handling of Brexit border proceedings a “complete shambles”. The chief executive of the Road Haulage Association (RHA) Richard Burnett said the software needed to facilitate the transport of goods to and from the EU was not ready, Sky News has reported. In a letter seen by the outlet, Burnett […]

House of Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has delivered a blistering attack on the government after it bypassed the chamber to publish information on England’s new tiered-lockdown system. Sir Lindsay was facilitating a round of questions on this week’s business statement when allowed Labour’s Valerie Vaz to interrupt with an urgent point of order. She said: “This is a […]

The company of a former neighbour of Matt Hancock’s has won a multi-million-pound contract to supply medical equipment to Covid testing centres despite having no previous experience. Alex Bourne, who ran a pub close to Hancock’s former constituency in Suffolk, said he offered his company’s services to the health secretary in a WhatsApp message. Hinpack, Bourne’s company, was […]

Former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell has criticised Rishi Sunak’s cut in Britain’s foreign aid budget, arguing the move makes the UK “less safe and less prosperous”. Mitchell, who served in David Cameron’s cabinet between 2010 and 2012, said the chancellor’s decision to cut foreign aid was a “shameful mistake” that would hurt Britain’s world […]

Brexiteer Iain Duncan Smith (IDS) has been criticised for suggesting it was “far better” for politicians to be “straight and honest” with the public. The former work and pensions secretary said it was right for Rishi Sunak to be “honest” with the public about spending cuts brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. Appearing of Good Morning […]

A public spending watchdog has found that the government spent £10 billion extra in inflated prices for pandemic-battling personal protective equipment (PPE) due to an “inadequate” stockpile and a surge in global demand. Procurement chiefs at the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) faced inflated prices for safety kit, paying 1,300% more for some items […]

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has warned that a no-deal Brexit would cause more economic harm to the UK than the effects of Covid-19. Bailey said a failure to agree to a Brexit deal before the end of the transition period would wreak havoc on cross-border trade and damage the chances of a future economic partnership […]