Quarantine-free travel to amber list countries for people who have been fully vaccinated is “absolutely something” the government is “working on”, the health secretary has told Sky News. “This hasn’t been clinically advised yet, we’re working on it,” Matt Hancock said. “When I’m in a position to be able to say something then we will
Politics
The prime minister has said it is “looking good” for 19 July to be the “terminus point” for England’s coronavirus restrictions – but did not rule out the prospect of further lockdowns in the winter. “You can never exclude that there will be some new disease, some new horror that we simply haven’t budgeted for
Matt Hancock did not withhold key COVID data ahead of the decision to postpone the easing of restrictions in England, the justice secretary has told Sky News. Robert Buckland defended the health secretary and said he has the “full support” of the government, denying reports that Mr Hancock held back data on the effectiveness of
Former Conservative MP and Commons Speaker John Bercow has said his switching of allegiance to join the Labour Party is “not personal against Boris Johnson”. Mr Bercow told Sky News his decision to defect away from the Conservative Party is not to do with the PM, but added that Mr Johnson has “only a nodding
Former Conservative MP and Commons Speaker John Bercow has said he has switched allegiances to join the Labour Party. Mr Bercow, who stepped down as Speaker in 2019, said he regards the Tories under Boris Johnson as “reactionary, populist, nationalistic and sometimes even xenophobic”. “I am motivated by support for equality, social justice and internationalism.
Sir Keir Starmer’s top spin doctor has quit after Labour suffered another poor by-election result in which the party lost its deposit. Ben Nunn announced he was stepping down as the opposition leader’s director of communications, after the party trailed in fourth behind the Green Party in the Chesham and Amersham poll. The departure of
It’s an unwritten rule of politics that every electoral action can have an opposite – if not quite equal – reaction. The question being asked by many Tories this morning will be whether the party’s recent relentless focus on winning new supporters in traditionally Labour-held areas in the north is starting to cost them in
Boris Johnson has denied his Conservative Party are neglecting southern parts of England in favour of its new northern seats as he blamed “particular circumstances” for a surprise by-election loss. The Tories have been dealt a humiliating defeat after the Liberal Democrats won Thursday’s Chesham and Amersham by-election. The Buckinghamshire constituency had been a Conservative
Boris Johnson’s Tories have suffered a humiliating by-election defeat as the Liberal Democrats secured a historic win in Chesham and Amersham. Lib Dem Sarah Green is the country’s newest MP after winning the seat, which has been a Conservative stronghold since its creation in 1974. The contest was triggered by the death of former Cabinet
DUP leader Edwin Poots has formally nominated Lagan Valley MLA Paul Givan as Northern Ireland’s new First Minister at a special sitting of the Stormont Assembly. The nomination comes after the DUP and Sinn Fein agreed that the British government will legislate on the contentious issues around Irish language use. Arguments over the promised legislation
Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser has published a 7,000-word blogpost including a series of claims about the prime minister and Health Secretary Matt Hancock. Here’s a round-up of Dominic Cummings’s most explosive allegations: PM branded Hancock ‘totally f****** hopeless’ The most eye-catching part of Mr Cummings’s blogpost was his inclusion of screenshots of WhatsApp messages
Boris Johnson’s former chief aide has shared a WhatsApp message in which the prime minister appears to call Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s efforts “totally f****** hopeless”. Dominic Cummings, who has been engaged in a weeks-long feud with Downing Street, published a lengthy blogpost that he claimed showed details of how “Number10/Hancock have repeatedly lied about
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted that care in the UK is “not properly funded, lacks transparency and urgently needs reform”, according to a government select committee. The public accounts committee, which encourages transparency and accountability within government, is calling for an end to rhetoric and the implementation of long talked about reforms. One of its
19 July is the “terminus date” for England’s remaining coronavirus restrictions and it would take an “unprecedented and remarkable” change in circumstances to derail that, Michael Gove has told Sky News. The Cabinet Office minister was speaking after Boris Johnson announced a delay to step four in England’s roadmap out of COVID-19 measures, pushing back
The public must “see true freedom again”, a former Conservative minister has said, as the government delayed lockdown easing in England for four weeks until 19 July. Steve Baker, MP for Wycombe, called on Health Secretary Matt Hancock to explain under what conditions the country will move to step four of the government’s roadmap, noting
It is “possible” that putting India on the red list earlier might have prevented the widely anticipated delay to easing England’s coronavirus lockdown that is set to be announced later, a minister has said. Boris Johnson is preparing to announce a delay of four weeks to step four of the country’s roadmap out of COVID-19