Britain will become Europe’s greatest naval power again after a £16.5billion boost to defence spending, Boris Johnson vowed yesterday. The Prime Minister said he would ‘restore Britain’s position’ as the ruler of the waves rather than allow the UK to ‘curl up in our island and leave the task to our friends’. Billions of pounds of … Read more
Brexit talks are in chaos again as Michel Barnier goes into isolation as one of his negotiating team tests positive for Covid-19 EU’s chief negotiator will isolate for at least a week in line with Belgian rules Despite the setback, Downing Street insisted that talks would restart remotely EU ambassadors will be briefed on Friday … Read more
Millions of public sector workers face a pay squeeze to help pay for the pandemic. Rishi Sunak will use next week’s spending review to unveil a new era of ‘pay restraint’ to plug the black hole in the public finances. The Chancellor believes it would be ‘unfair’ for more than five million public sector workers … Read more
Boris Johnson is still ‘set on relaxing Covid rules for Christmas’ as growing number of Government advisers and scientists line up to warn that focus on ‘near-normal’ festive gatherings will ‘throw fuel on the fire’ of the pandemic Pressure mounts on Boris Johnson over whether to open up Britain for Christmas Royal College of Emergency … Read more
Brexit trade talks were plunged into disarray this afternoon after a member of Michel Barnier’s team tested positive for coronavirus and top-level negotiations had to be put on hold. Mr Barnier, the EU‘s chief negotiator, said he and his UK counterpart Lord Frost had ‘decided to suspend the negotiations at our level for a short … Read more
Britain’s coronavirus Christmas drama descended into a row today after top scientists warned relaxing measures to enjoy five days of festive celebrations would inevitably lead to more deaths — but other academics fought back and insisted the nation needs to accept ‘some level of risk’. Boris Johnson is facing mounting pressure to unveil what restrictions … Read more
No10’s scientific advisers relied on unverified data from Wikipedia to help steer Britain through the coronavirus crisis in spring, an explosive new documentary has claimed. Members of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) admitted early virus modelling was based on figures from the online encyclopedia, which can be edited and managed by members … Read more
Most people’s stress levels are pretty high at the moment. Some are worried about catching Covid-19. Others fear for their jobs. The uncertainties of Brexit are hovering over us. We don’t even know for sure whether we will be able to celebrate Christmas this year, though last night there were indications that households may be … Read more
Boris Johnson‘s ten-point ‘green industrial revolution’ will take decades to deliver, cost £48billion in wind farms alone and every home will need double glazing to make hydrogen heating work, it was suggested today. The Prime Minister launched a £12billion plan for the environment on Wednesday, saying it could create 250,000 jobs and significantly slash the country’s carbon … Read more
Boris Johnson is facing a growing Tory revolt over coronavirus rules as senior Conservative backbenchers today demanded he set out a strategy to avoid a cycle of national lockdowns. Tory MPs in the so-called Covid Recovery Group (CRG) cautiously welcomed the prospect of the Government loosening restrictions over the Christmas period. But they warned that … Read more