A group of Conservative MPs has accused the government of wanting “total social control” as the Commons overwhelmingly backed extending emergency coronavirus powers. A total of 76 MPs – including 35 rebel Tory backbenchers – voted against the extension but 483 MPs, including 176 from Labour, voted for the legislation to remain for another six […]
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Rishi Sunak delivered his second Budget as chancellor with a further £65 billion boost for businesses and workers hit by the pandemic, but the focus has been on the biggest tax rises for half a century. The Financial Times labels the budget a “spend now, tax later Budget” while the Conservative supporting Telegraph headlines their […]
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Health secretary Mat Hancock has hailed the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines which reduces the risk of illness and hospitalisation in older adults by up to 80%. Data released by the government has shown that a single dose of the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccine significantly cuts the likelihood of people aged over 70 becoming seriously ill. […]
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Furious campaigners have launched a petition to try and stop a US private health insurance company taking over 49 NHS GP surgeries in London. The government is being accused of “privatisation by stealth” of the NHS and is facing calls for an investigation after it emerged one of the UK’s biggest GP practice operators is […]
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Health secretary Matt Hancock acted unlawfully by failing to publish details of multibillion-pound coronavirus contracts awarded by the government, a High Court judge has ruled. Mr Justice Chamberlain said Hancock had “breached his legal obligation” by failing to publish details of the contracts within 30 days, adding the public has a right to know where […]
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Matt Hancock’s blueprint to reform the NHS, better integrate social care and “do away with irksome bureaucracy” will also hand greater power over the NHS to ministers. Conservatives have broadly welcomed Hancock’s shakeup to the health service, laid out today, while Labour has been questioning the health secretary’s priorities and timing given the UK is […]
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Travellers who arrive in the UK and fail to follow new rules to contain the coronavirus will face £10,000 fines and 10 years in prison, the health secretary has told the Commons. Matt Hancock said people arriving from 33 countries on the government’s “red list” will have to pay £1,750 to quarantine for 10 days […]
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The coronavirus rate of infection in the UK is back below 1, figures released today reveal, confirming the epidemic is finally shrinking, a month into England’s third lockdown. Boris Johnson is set to publish the government’s roadmap for lifting the lockdown restrictions in England on February 22, as data confirmed a decrease in positive coronavirus […]
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Matt Hancock has said the UK must “come down hard” on the South African coronavirus variant after community cases were found in eight areas across England. “Surge testing” will be carried out in the eight postcodes where a total of 105 cases of the SA variant – called 501Y.V2 – have been identified. Worryingly, 11 […]
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A cabal of Conservative MPs are pressing the prime minister to set out an exit strategy from lockdown as the UK records it highest daily death toll from the virus to date. Another 1,610 people have died within 28 days of a positive test for Covid-19 – a new record high that takes the total […]
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