The first rule of world-beating vaccine club is you don’t talk about world-beating vaccine club. A weird one, especially when the first rule of world-beating coronavirus test and trace club seemed to be that you talk about little else. Even when the reality is clearly not living up to the description. So what’s going on?
Politics
The government will not be setting an “arbitrary target” for when lockdown can be lifted despite pressure from some MPs to scrap all restrictions by the end of April, the foreign secretary has told Sky News. Dominic Raab said the plan was to “ease the lockdown” with the return of schools, which Prime Minister Boris
Boris Johnson is to urge world leaders to unite and work together to defeat the “common foe” of the COVID-19 pandemic. His comments come as he hosts his first meeting of the G7, a virtual one, with the UK occupying the organisation’s rotating presidency this year ahead of a major summit scheduled to be held
Boris Johnson has said he is “optimistic” ahead of his “roadmap” for easing England’s lockdown – and hinted at which industries will reopen first. The prime minister said his plan, which will be unveiled on 22 February, will prioritise the reopening of schools from 8 March. He added that non-essential retail will follow, then hospitality
Over-65s will begin receiving letters inviting them to get COVID vaccines from early next week as part of the next phase of the UK’s vaccination programme, Sky News understands. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously set a deadline of Monday 15 February for offering a first dose of a vaccine to 15 million people in
A senior Conservative MP has warned the government against “backsliding” on the reopening of all schools in England on 8 March and suggested some younger children should return to classrooms this month. Robert Halfon, the chair of the House of Commons education committee, told Sky News of his concerns of an “epidemic of educational poverty”
A lack of planning could affect the next phase of the coronavirus vaccine rollout, MPs have warned. The Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) praised the “world-beating” effort to get the jab to the most vulnerable, but said there is “much to be done” if the UK government is to hit its next target. Ministers are
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has told Sky News the government is “doing everything we can” to allow Britons to enjoy a holiday this year – amid confusion about whether people should be booking summer breaks. Following the introduction of tougher border measures for UK nationals returning from abroad and the continuing lockdown restrictions, the government
The government will provide a further £3.5bn to “end the cladding scandal in a way that is fair and generous to leaseholders” in the wake of Grenfell Tower fire, the housing secretary has announced. Robert Jenrick told MPs on Wednesday that ministers aimed to “finish the job we’ve started” on removing and replacing unsafe cladding
The prime minister has raised the prospect of people getting a coronavirus vaccine “booster” jab in the autumn. Boris Johnson said the move would likely be required as the UK battles the emergence of new variants of COVID-19. Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world “I think we’re going to have to
From next week, new UK border measures will come into force as ministers act to prevent the possible import of COVID variants. The UK government has been taking advice from officials in Australia over the fresh restrictions – a country that has been widely praised for its response to the coronavirus pandemic. The new action
UK and Irish residents returning from 33 “red list” countries will have to pay £1,750 to quarantine in hotels for 10 days, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has told MPs. As part of a new quarantine system due to come into force from Monday next week, the government has booked 4,600 rooms across 16 hotels for
All travellers arriving in the UK are to face mandatory coronavirus tests from next week, Health Secretary Matt Hancock is poised to announce to MPs. In a Commons statement, he will say that from next Monday, 15 February, all passengers arriving in the UK will be required take a test on days two and eight
Labour has told the government to “crack down on the cronyism” as it claims almost £2bn in COVID contracts have gone to “friends and donors” of the Conservative Party. The Labour Party’s analysis of government procurement data during the coronavirus crisis found that more than £1.9bn in government contracts has been directly awarded to companies
Amazon and other major internet retailers could be hit with a new online sales tax to help the UK pay its debts after extensive borrowing during the pandemic. Treasury sources confirmed Chancellor Rishi Sunak is considering targeting companies that have done well out of the pandemic to help pay back UK government debts built up
The vaccines minister has told Sky News he is “confident” the UK will hit its “tough target” of offering everybody over 50 a coronavirus jab by May. Speaking to Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Nadhim Zahawi said that at one point on Saturday, the UK was administering COVID-19 jabs at a rate of almost 1,000 per
Details of a huge overhaul of how the NHS is run have been revealed in a leaked government document. The reforms would reverse controversial changes brought in by David Cameron’s coalition government in 2012 and slim down the role of private providers in the health service. The policy document, leaked to the website Health Policy
Business leaders have welcomed changes to lockdown loans but say more support is needed to keep firms afloat over the coming months. On Friday night, Rishi Sunak announced that small businesses would be given more time to repay bounce-back loans under a “pay-as-you-grow” initiative. The chancellor said he was determined to give firms the “breathing
The government has revealed it wants all over-50s to be reached in the coronavirus vaccine rollout by May. It is a significant target and the first time a firm date has been put on when all those in the top nine categories on the priority list for a COVID-19 jab will be offered one by.
A minister has blamed hotel quarantine not coming into force for another 10 days in England on needing more “time to prepare”, after Labour branded the delay “beyond comprehension”. James Cleverly told Sky News that “hindsight is a wonderful thing”, as he faced questions about why the policy was announced on 27 January but will