Wales has announced a ban on alcohol sales in bars, restaurants and cafes starting on Friday (December 4), while shops in England will get the go ahead to trade 24-hours-a-day in the run up to Christmas and beyond.
Wales’ first minister Mark Drakeford said the rising rate of coronavirus infection in Wales requires new rules, including a 6pm curfew on...
UK’s R-rate is below 1 for first time since August while...
The UK’s R-rate for coronavirus infection has fallen to below 1 for the first time since August - three weeks into England’s second national lockdown.
Government scientists have announced the R-number for the UK has dropped to between 0.9 and...
Westminster
Tory MPs condemn England’s new tiers as ‘authoritarianism at work’
A cabal of Conservative MPs have condemned their government’s new tier-system for post-lockdown England as “authoritarianism at work”. Unveiling the tiers that come into force when lockdown ends on December...
Westminster
Sunak’s historic spending review will cause ‘100,000 preventable deaths’, claims former minister
The chancellor’s plan to combat the UK’s worst recession for 300 years has been attacked for its cuts to international aid spending that one former Tory minister claims will...
Westminster
‘Tis the season to be jolly careful,’ warns PM announcing England’s new Covid tiers
England will return to a tighter three-tier system of Covid restrictions next week when the current lockdown ends on December 2. Boris Johnson set out his Winter Covid Plan to...
UK’s four nations back a ‘four-families-bubbling’ Christmas plan
The four nations of the UK have agreed a unified plan to allow families to “bubble” together at Christmas with Covid restrictions to be suspended for a short period over the festivities.
Ministers in London,...
NAO report on government’s £18bn Covid contracts; Starmer v Corbyn; and the PM’s green...
The highly critical National Audit Office report into the government’s awarding of £18 billion in procurement deals has been overshadowed by infighting in the Labour party and the prime minister’s green plan for the...
Sunak U-turns on furlough – 3 million workers still excluded; Bank of England’s (extra)...
Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled his fourth winter economic plan in six weeks by announcing the extension of the furlough scheme until March.
It means the government will pay 80% of workers’ wages with companies paying...
Priti Patel’s ban on ‘two-or-more’ people protesting will ‘cause a lot of trouble’
Priti Patel wants to ban protests of more than two people during the second lockdown and has briefed senior police officers to enforce coronavirus law banning marches and demonstrations.
Chief constables are concerned the home...
PM warns deaths will be ‘twice as bad’ as spring while Farage rebrands as...
The prime minister will warn MPs that Covid-19 deaths could be “twice as bad” this winter compared to the first wave of the virus in spring.
Boris Johnson’s Commons statement today (Monday, 3.30pm) will see...