The ex-head of the civil service has today said there is a ‘genuine question’ about whether the UK could have been ‘better prepared’ for the coronavirus pandemic. Lord Sedwill, who stepped down from his role as Cabinet secretary last month, has revealed the government did ‘not have the exact measures in place’ to deal with … Read more
British students may be forced to attend university seminars without revealing their identities to protect their foreign peers from freedom of speech laws in their home nations. Guidance from Universities UK (UUK) also suggests that students may submit coursework anonymously to prevent people from being targeted by countries which apply laws beyond their borders. Extraterritorial … Read more
A coronavirus advisor has shared a comic strip criticising the Government amid an extraordinary spat between scientists and ministers. It comes as Number 10 was blasted for not ‘following the science’ after bombshell documents showed ministers shunned a number of recommendations by their expert advisers before unveiling the latest suite of lockdown measures. Professor Catherine … Read more
In his big speech to last week’s Conservative party conference, Boris Johnson promised a ‘green industrial revolution’ to drive Britain’s economic recovery. In pledging £160 million towards wind power, the prime minister made it clear he sees a big future for renewable energy in Britain. And it isn’t just Boris who’s backing wind farms. Across … Read more
The Government’s goal to cut 20 per cent of sugar from cakes, biscuits and other foods by the end of the year is set to fail because firms have only managed a three per cent reduction so far. Public Health England asked the food and drinks industry to voluntarily slash a fifth of sugar from … Read more
Hard-hit workers in Britain’s creative industries have flocked to the Government’s online ‘skills assessment’ quiz for new career recommendations after Rishi Sunak suggested people should retrain if they lose jobs to Covid. Several creatives – including actors, authors and theatre directors – took to Twitter to share the outcomes of their 15-minute questionnaire. Some had … Read more
A part-time primary school teacher and entrepreneur from Essex has shared how the spirit of her local community and getting on Instagram helped get her business back on track. Heather Syrett, 28 and from Leigh-on-Sea, runs Leigh Calligraphy which specialises in calligraphy design and workshops. Her passion for the craft started in 2017, when she wanted … Read more
Government’s struggling test and trace system ‘could be outsourced to a tech giant like Amazon’ Ministers are said to be planning to hand over the running of the testing service to a logistics firm as the system struggles to cope with increased demand An invitation to bid for a contract covering the management of the … Read more
The controversial Internal Markets bill has passed its first two House of Commons hurdles this evening as the Labour bid to get it thrown out failed – despite fears over it breaking international law and tearing up parts of the Brexit deal. The ayes in favour of the Opposition’s amendment amounted to 213 votes, compared … Read more
The Government’s supposedly ‘world-beating’ Covid-19 testing system is said to be ‘in chaos,’ with a backlog of 185,000 swabs as it desperately sends tests to Germany and Italy in a bid to catch up. The system is claimed to have capacity for 375,000 tests a day, but the number being tested dropped to 437,000 a … Read more