Politics

The public will likely have to wait longer for details of the government’s review of social distancing rules and its proposals for COVID certification due to the growth in cases of the Indian variant. Downing Street signalled Boris Johnson would wait longer to unveil the plans, despite the prime minister having previously promised to provide

Campaigners in favour of legalising assisted dying have welcomed a cross-party attempt to change the law due to begin this week. A private member’s bill will have its first reading in the House of Lords on Wednesday. It proposes legalising assisted dying in England and Wales for adults who are terminally ill, mentally competent and

The sister of murdered MP Jo Cox is to be Labour’s candidate in the Batley and Spen by-election, a poll that could determine whether Sir Keir Starmer survives as party leader. Kim Leadbeater, 44, who only joined the Labour Party recently, will defend the seat once held by Ms Cox. Until recently it was held

The UK’s border will become “fully digital” so the government is able to measure immigration levels, the home secretary will announce on Monday. Priti Patel is set to announce what the government is calling “sweeping changes” to the UK’s immigration policy to “streamline” the way in which people come into the country. The changes include

The director-general of the BBC has written to staff saying lessons must be learnt following the damning report into the circumstances surrounding the Panorama interview with Princess Diana. In an internal email, Tim Davie said people across the BBC felt “deeply let down” by the contents of Lord Dyson’s 127-page report, which found the corporation

A cabinet minister has told Sky News it would make “sense” for many people to carry on wearing masks even after lockdown rules are lifted. Justice Secretary Robert Buckland suggested continuing the practice would help curb the spread of the common cold. He also said “caution has been the watchword” when it came to lifting

The Met Police says it will assess the contents of the inquiry into the BBC’s Martin Bashir interview with Princess Diana to ensure there is no “significant new evidence” to support a criminal investigation. In March this year, the force said it was “not appropriate” to launch a criminal investigation into “unlawful activity” in connection

The prime minister has declared that the world “must never be caught unawares” by another pandemic, as he backed a new global surveillance network to detect emerging diseases. A “global pandemic radar” is being developed by the World Health Organisation to monitor and track new infections and variants in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Downing Street has said there was a short delay in England’s test-and-trace system asking some people who tested positive to provide details of individuals they had been in contact with. It comes after a BBC report claimed failures in test-and-trace were partly responsible for a surge in the Indian variant in one of the worst

The health secretary has defended the government’s messaging on international travel, insisting the advice on holidays has been “crystal clear”. Since the ban on foreign holidays was lifted on Monday as part of the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, people have been able to enjoy quarantine-free travel to a dozen destinations on the green list. Live

There are now almost 3,000 cases of the Indian variant in the UK, the health secretary has told MPs. Matt Hancock said 2,967 cases of the COVID-19 variant have now been recorded, having stood at more than 2,300 on Monday. Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world As a result, surge testing

Boris Johnson is being warned by scientists that a surge in vaccinations in COVID hotspots may not be enough to halt the spread of the Indian variant – and that he should not have relaxed lockdown rules this week.  The prime minister has said he is keeping the variant under close watch, adding “we’ll know

Dominic Cummings is threatening to exert revenge on Boris Johnson by revealing a Downing Street document on the prime minister’s COVID lockdown strategy. Unleashing a blizzard of often erratic messages on Twitter, the maverick former No 10 aide claimed he has “the only copy of a crucial historic document from COVID decision-making”. And as the

The spread of the Indian variant has thrown the timings of key coronavirus announcements into doubt. Boris Johnson said last week that the government would be “saying more later this month about exactly what the world will look like” on 21 June and “what role there could be – if any – for certification [having

The business secretary says it is necessary to be “measured and cautious” because of the Indian COVID-19 variant but it is “very likely” all restrictions will be scrapped by 21 June. Kwasi Kwarteng defended the decision to ease the lockdown amid fears the variant, also called B.1.617, could derail England’s final roadmap step. His comments

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has not ruled out imposing local lockdown restrictions in places worst affected by the Indian variant of coronavirus. With a higher transmissibility than the Kent variant – which drove the UK’s deadly second wave – there are fears the Indian variant could derail England’s final roadmap step of lifting all restrictions