UK

Rishi Sunak has announced an additional £1bn in financial support for the hospitality and leisure sectors, with every business able to claim a one-off cash grant of £6,000. The Treasury is also providing a £30m top-up to the Cultural Recovery Fund – which supports institutions such as museums and theatres – and reintroducing the Statutory

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has not announced further restrictions today – but said he is following the data “hour by hour” and warned the rules could still be tightened in the days to come. The PM said the data is “under constant review”, with the situation “extremely difficult” and the “arguments either way are very,

Dominic Raab says he cannot make “hard, fast guarantees” that more restrictions won’t be imposed in the run-up to Christmas. However the deputy prime minister said he believes Britons will have a “much better Christmas than last year”. Mr Raab told Kay Burley: “I think we will have a much better Christmas than last year

Number 10 has defended a photo which appears to show Boris Johnson and staff relaxing and drinking in the Downing Street garden at a time of tough social restrictions in May 2020. The picture, published by The Guardian, shows the prime minister, his wife Carrie, and colleagues with wine and cheese. Nineteen people were present

Sajid Javid has not ruled out plans for a two-week circuit breaker after Christmas, as he accused those unwilling to have the vaccine of having a “damaging impact” on society. When pushed on reports that ministers are drawing up plans to introduce more restrictions after Christmas, the health secretary told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips on

Extra restrictions are needed within days to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed by Omicron, according to senior government scientists. Sky News understands experts who produce advice for ministers believe there are now “hundreds of thousands” of infections every day, many more than the number of official cases recorded on the daily dashboard. Even if transmission

Officials are drawing up plans for a two-week circuit breaker lockdown after Christmas which would include a ban on indoor mixing, according to reports. Draft regulations are being prepared which would ban meeting others indoors except for work purposes, and that pubs and restaurants would be limited to outdoor service only, according to The Times.

The UK has reported 93,045 cases of coronavirus in the latest 24-hour period – a record high for daily infections as the Omicron variant surges across the country. It comes after the UK recorded another 3,201 new cases of Omicron. It takes the total number of confirmed cases of the strain to 14,909 as it

Boris Johnson has said he takes “personal responsibility” after his Conservative Party lost the North Shropshire by-election in a shock result that has dealt another significant blow to his premiership. Lib Dem candidate Helen Morgan overturned a huge Tory majority to triumph in the contest, which was sparked by the resignation of Owen Paterson amid

Four children who are believed to be related have died in a house fire in south London. The London Fire Brigade (LFB) said eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters were sent to Collingwood Road, Sutton, just before 7pm on Thursday. Crews faced an “intense blaze” throughout the whole of the ground floor of the

Every person infected with the Omicron COVID variant is believed to be passing it on to between three and five others on average, a senior government scientist has said. Dr Susan Hopkins, the UK Health Security Agency’s chief medical adviser, told MPs on the Commons health committee that for Omicron, the R value in the

Large numbers of COVID patients ending up in hospital is a “nailed on prospect” as the Omicron variant spreads at an “absolutely phenomenal pace” across the country, England’s chief medical officer has warned. Professor Chris Whitty, speaking at a Downing Street news conference, warned the UK was facing “a really serious threat” from the new

The rapid spread of the Omicron variant will lead to a “staggering” number of COVID cases over the next few days, Dr Jenny Harries has said. While delivering a series of dire warnings about the strain to MPs on Wednesday, the chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it was probably too

Boris Johnson has suffered the biggest Conservative rebellion since the 2019 general election as almost 100 Tory MPs opposed the introduction of COVID certificates for nightclubs and large events in England. In a House of Commons vote that immediately raised further questions over the prime minister’s leadership, more than a quarter of Tory MPs opposed

A critical part of Antarctica’s “Doomsday glacier”, so called for the threat its melting would pose, is expected to change dramatically in the next 10 years, scientists have warned. Thwaites Glacier is a river of ice the size of Great Britain. The speed at which it flows has doubled in the last 30 years as

The health secretary has said the Omicron variant now represents more than 20% of COVID cases in England. Sajid Javid said the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) estimates that the current number of daily infections is around 200,000. He also said Omicron, which is thought to be much more transmissible than previous variants, represents more