Something strange seems to be going on in the Conservative government. Recent weeks have seen ministers announce mandatory vaccination to enter nightclubs, speak supportively of businesses that demand workers are jabbed and moot the idea of barring students from university who’ve not been inoculated. Novel developments for members of the self-professed “freedom-loving” party. Please use
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie are expecting their second baby, she has announced. In an Instagram post Carrie Johnson also said she had a miscarriage earlier this year. She wrote: “Hoping for our rainbow baby this Christmas. “At the beginning of the year, I had a miscarriage which left me heartbroken. I
The Conservatives could be in danger of losing more than a dozen seats in their so-called “blue wall” heartlands, a new poll suggests. YouGov found that voting intention in 53 such constituencies in the south and east of England currently held by the party stood at 44% for the Conservatives, 24% for Labour, 18% for
The UK is “closing in on” striking an agreement in principle with New Zealand, the international trade secretary has said. Liz Truss said “great progress” had been made in the sixth round of discussions between the two sides, which took place from 19 to 30 July. “We’re closing in on an agreement in principle, with
Grant Shapps has defended France’s position on the UK’s ‘amber plus’ travel list, saying the decision was made due to cases of the Beta coronavirus variant in the north of the country. On Wednesday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the move was made because of the “prevalence of the so-called Beta variant, in particular in
A number of Conservative MPs have told Sky News they do not think the government will follow through and actually introduce domestic vaccine passports. The prospect of people having to prove their COVID-19 status to access a range of venues has been raised in recent weeks. Boris Johnson has already said that individuals will need
Health Secretary Sajid Javid has said “no one really knows” how many COVID-19 cases there might be during the rest of the summer as he failed to stick to his previous prediction of 100,000 daily infections. According to government figures, there were more than 54,000 COVID cases reported on 17 July – the current highest
Fully vaccinated travellers from the EU and the US will be able to avoid quarantining when they arrive in England from next Monday, the government has confirmed. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has also announced the resumption of international cruises. The change regarding US and EU arrivals come into force from 4am on 2 August. Live
The UK will give Kenya 817,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, the government has announced. Ministers said the offer would help the nation – which has a population of around 52 million – to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, with the first 400,000 doses due to be sent this week. It comes as Foreign Secretary
A senior minister has dropped the strongest hint yet that vaccine passports will be introduced for football matches by the government later this year. Michael Gove said it was his view that “some form of certification is the right way to go” and that “selfish” individuals who refuse to get a COVID-19 jab face being
Boris Johnson has pledged to ensure “less crime, fewer victims and a safer society” as the country recovers from the pandemic. The government will unveil its new Beating Crime Plan on Tuesday which will see the creation of league tables for 101 and 999 call answering times so the public can see how quickly their
A Labour MP was right to call Boris Johnson a liar in the Commons, party leader Sir Keir Starmer has said. Sir Keir backed Dawn Butler, who was kicked out of the chamber last week for refusing to withdraw her claim that the prime minister has “lied to the House and the country over and
University students could need to be fully vaccinated against coronavirus to attend lectures and stay in halls this coming academic year. “We aren’t ruling it out,” a senior government source told Sky News about the prospect of mandating COVID-19 vaccination passports for universities. Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world Please use
The health secretary has apologised for saying people should no longer “cower from” coronavirus. Sajid Javid said he had deleted the tweet, which he posted on Saturday to say he had made a “full recovery” a week after testing positive for COVID-19. Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world I’ve deleted a
Sajid Javid has been criticised for saying people should no longer “cower from” coronavirus. The health secretary made the comment on Saturday while tweeting that he had made a “full recovery” a week after testing positive for the virus on 17 July. Mr Javid has had both doses of a coronavirus vaccine and praised the
Throughout his life and political career, Boris Johnson has believed the rules don’t apply to him. And as he marks his second anniversary as prime minister this weekend, it seems nothing’s changed. It was a claim first made by one of his masters at Eton. And the view was reinforced as recently as last Sunday