The government’s Christmas Eve announcement that it will relax immigration rules for care workers – to bolster a sector double hit by the pandemic and Brexit and left struggling to keep and attract staff – has been denounced as “a sneaky admission of failure” by the Labour party. High vacancy rates and staff turnover is […]
Continue Reading
Boris Johnson faces a rebellion from up to 60 of his backbench MPs on Tuesday (December 14) over new Covid restrictions amid warnings the Conservative party is “drifting into authoritarianism”. The prime minister addressed the nation on Sunday (December 12) night and laid out the risks to the NHS of the Omicron variant as he […]
Continue Reading
The London FTSE 100 index has fallen further following concerns raised about the effectiveness of Covid vaccines against the new Omicron variant. The CEO of pharmaceutical giant Moderna has predicted a “material drop” in the efficacy of current vaccines and warned that “all the scientists I’ve talked to [about the new variant] … are like, […]
Continue Reading
Care homes across England could be forced to close because of staff shortages that have been worsened with today’s (November 11) introduction of mandatory vaccinations for all care home staff. The latest figures show 32,000 care home workers remained unvaccinated against Covid-19 and leaders of the sector have warned the “inevitable” loss of thousands of […]
Continue Reading
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced almost £26 billion of public spending commitments ahead of Wednesday’s (October 27) budget and spending review. Strong investment in public services, business support and help for working families will be at the heart of Sunak’s third budget with big spending planned for infrastructure projects, innovation and skills training. Digitalising the […]
Continue Reading
Health secretary Sajid Javid has come under fire for telling people not to “cower” from the virus in a tweet announcing his “full recovery from Covid a week after testing positive.” Javid said his symptoms were “very mild, thanks to amazing vaccines”, before adding: “Please – if you haven’t yet – get your jab, as […]
Continue Reading
Britain’s biggest step out of lockdown has arrived with a massive dash of déjà-vu as hugs, holidays and indoor pints and meals returned with the reopening of hospitality amid warnings the country might be loosening restrictions too soon. Social distancing measures and restrictions remained in place on ‘Freedom Day’ as Britain’s big reopening was overshadowed […]
Continue Reading
The UK government and European commission have moved to avert a trade war over vaccines by pledging to “create a win-win situation and expand vaccine supply for all”. A joint statement released this evening states: “We are all facing the same pandemic and the third wave makes cooperation between the EU and UK even more […]
Continue Reading
Thousands of anti-lockdown protestors defied the government and Covid restrictions to take to London’s streets today, with at least 33 arrested by the Metropolitan Police after “ugly clashes”. Huge protests in Manchester passed without any arrests reported though the city centre was brought to a standstill by demonstrators against the new policing bill, violence against […]
Continue Reading
Nicola Sturgeon has come out fighting against calls for her resignation, declaring she stands by “every word” of evidence given to the Alex Salmond committee. Scottish Conservatives have escalated their demands for the first minister to resign after new leaks from the highly critical report emerged on Friday (March 19). The committee’s report is not […]
Continue Reading