Boris Johnson is facing the wrath of religious leaders of all faiths over his decision to ban church services and other forms of worship during the national lockdown. In an angry and emotional letter to the prime minister and all MPs, nearly 1,200 church ministers of all Christian denominations say they are “baffled”, “dismayed” and
Threat levels are designed to give a broad indication of the likelihood of a terrorist attack. There are five different threat levels, with the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) responsible for deciding at which level the UK should sit. Image: JTAC is based at MI5’s headquarters in London The five terror threat levels are: Low
The UK’s terror threat level has been raised from “substantial” to “severe”, meaning an attack is now judged to be “highly likely”. The move follows Monday night’s attack in Austrian capital Vienna, in which four people were killed. Last week, three people died after a knife attack in Nice, France, while teacher Samuel Paty was
The foreign secretary has told Sky News the UK’s relationship with the United States will go from “strength to strength” whatever the outcome of the election. Dominic Raab said the election is still “too close to call” but that he is totally confident the American system “will give us a definitive result”. US election 2020
Boris Johnson will today urge MPs to approve England’s new lockdown – but the prime minister is continuing to face a backlash from his own Conservative MPs over the fresh shutdown. Following a 90-minute debate on the new national measures, the House of Commons will on Wednesday afternoon vote on whether to give a second
Boris Johnson has warned of deaths “on a grievous scale” without further action to stem the spread of coronavirus infections. As he opened a House of Commons debate on England’s new lockdown, the prime minister urged MPs to vote in favour of a second national shutdown later on Wednesday. Mr Johnson said he was “not
Primark’s inability to trade online during coronavirus lockdowns has prompted a 40% slump in its parent firm’s annual profits. Associated British Foods (ABF) said enforced closures of the discount fashion retailer’s stores lost it an estimated £2bn in revenue and outweighed increases to its bottom line from its sugar, grocery, agriculture and ingredients divisions in
China has pulled the plug on plans for a record-breaking $34.5bn stock market float by online finance giant Ant Group just two days before it was due to take place. It came after the company’s bosses – including billionaire founder Jack Ma – were summoned to a meeting with regulators. The Shanghai stock exchange cited
The one thing financial markets want from the US presidential election is a clear result. The worst possible outcome would be a contested result, as in 2000, when it took 38 days for the US Supreme Court to confirm George W Bush’s victory over Al Gore. Donald Trump’s frequent hints during the election campaign that
A leading private equity investor is close to clinching a takeover of Hovis that will return the bread-maker to British ownership. Sky News has learnt that Endless is in advanced talks to buy Hovis after a bidding war against Newlat Food, an Italian food producer. Sources said that a deal could be confirmed as soon
The first arrests have been made over alleged fraud linked to the Eat Out to Help Out discount scheme, as well as coronavirus bounceback loans. Officers from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) arrested three men in London on suspicion of cheating the public revenue and fraud by false representation. The men are aged 43, 48
Marks & Spencer has recorded a financial loss for the first time in its 94 years as a public company after the coronavirus pandemic forced it to shutter stores. Half-year results to the 26 September showed clothing and home sales were hammered by the closure of non-essential retail during the first COVID-19 lockdown that began
Global stock markets are retreating from recent rallies – with the result of the US election too close to call. Futures had showed New York’s Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices all set to climb sharply at Wednesday’s open – building on gains seen on both Monday and Tuesday – but the gains started
Lloyds Banking Group is to cut 1,070 jobs under a plan to simplify structures in some back office operations. The bank said that the shake-up – the latest in a string of announcements – would affect its group transformation and retail bank teams and result in 730 net jobs lost. That was because the plans
The John Lewis Partnership (JLP) is cutting a further 1,500 jobs through a shake-up of its head office functions to save cash as the coronavirus crisis continues to take a toll on sales. The employee-owned retailer had already shed 1,390 roles in the wake of pandemic disruption this year that saw eight underperforming John Lewis
Global stock markets have rallied sharply as Americans head to the polls – with the likely impact of any result on economic stimulus preoccupying investors. London’s FTSE 100 was 2% higher in early afternoon trading with European markets also ahead, picking up after gains from Wall Street and in Asian trading overnight. There were further