Boris Johnson is heading for a COVID showdown with rebel Tory MPs, despite being assured of victory in a Commons vote after Sir Keir Starmer said Labour will abstain. Around 50 Conservative MPs are predicted to come out against the government in a vote to approve the tier system of COVID curbs in England, in
Politics
The health secretary has said that England’s lockdown means “we’ve got this virus back under control” – but warned continued vigilance is needed. Speaking at a Downing Street news conference, Matt Hancock acknowledged that the second national shutdown has been tough. Live updates on coronavirus from UK and around world Please use Chrome browser for
Boris Johnson is due to publish an impact assessment of coronavirus restrictions as he continues to try to convince Tory MPs to back his plan for a new tier system in England when the national lockdown ends on Wednesday. The prime minister is expected to share analysis of the health, economic and social ramifications of the measures taken
The EU and UK are entering “the last week or so” of “substantive” post-Brexit trade negotiations, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has told Sky News. With the Brexit transition period set to end in little more than a month’s time, Mr Raab suggested talks might soon be reaching a conclusion. However, he called on the EU
Boris Johnson has said the new coronavirus tiers “have a sunset of 3 February” as he tries to fight off a backlash from Tory MPs. The prime minister has angered some of his party with a plan to impose stringent restrictions across much of England when the national lockdown ends on Wednesday. In a letter
Boris Johnson has appointed a minister to take charge of the coronavirus vaccine rollout, as his government seeks to quell a backbench rebellion over the new tier system. Downing Street said that Nadhim Zahawi – who is among Tory MPs critical of the new restrictions – had been made a health minister responsible for the
COVID-19 restrictions are likely to be in force until Easter, Sky News has learned, as Boris Johnson heads for a Commons showdown with rebel Tory MPs over the new tiers. Senior sources have revealed that even if large numbers of COVID-19 vaccinations begin at the end of January it will be Easter – on 4
Boris Johnson has sought to fight off a growing backlash among Conservative MPs about the new coronavirus tiers, declaring that the “vast majority” of the British public support the measures. “I totally understand why people feel frustrated, I get that,” the prime minister said about the COVID-19 restrictions. Search your area on this map to
Boris Johnson has raised the prospect of a New Year lockdown if Britons ease off in the fight against coronavirus – as his chief medic warned people not to hug elderly relatives at Christmas. England is due to exit its second national lockdown next Wednesday and the prime minister, speaking at a Downing Street news
Boris Johnson has warned against “taking our foot off the throat of the beast” of coronavirus as he raised the prospect of a New Year lockdown. England is due to exit its second national lockdown next Wednesday and, speaking at a Downing Street news conference on Thursday, the prime minister said the action had “prevented
Millions of people are facing tough new COVID restrictions as the government brings in a tier system in England that for large parts of the country could be as strict as the national lockdown. Boris Johnson is facing a potentially damaging rebellion by dozens of Conservative MPs who are bitterly opposed to their constituencies being
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has told MPs that the UK economy is forecast to have suffered the largest fall in output for more than 300 years as a result of the coronavirus crisis. As he set out his one-year spending review to the House of Commons, Mr Sunak declared the “economic emergency” from the pandemic “has
Rishi Sunak has for months been handing out billions and billions of public money. Be it via the furlough scheme, track and trace, VAT cuts or business support, No 11 has borrowed more during this Covid-19 crisis than anytime since the Second World War to just to keep the economy on ice. On Wednesday, for
The UK spent an extra £10bn on PPE at inflated prices at the start of the pandemic because it had an “inadequate” stockpile, a report has found. Reserves of personal protective equipment for frontline workers were intended for a flu-style pandemic and did not include some items necessary to protect against COVID-19, meaning ministers had
Boris Johnson has suggested the “vast majority” of people most vulnerable to coronavirus could be vaccinated against the disease by Easter. The prime minister, speaking at a Downing Street news conference, said this “would make a very substantial change” to how the UK is able to manage COVID-19. With Oxford University’s vaccine shown to be
Boris Johnson does not think MPs should get a pay rise, Downing Street has said. “MPs’ salaries are obviously decided by an independent body but given the circumstances, the PM doesn’t believe MPs should be receiving a pay rise,” the prime minister’s spokesman told reporters. The intervention comes as Britons continue to feel the effects