Vaccinating the population against Covid-19 will cost up to £12bn, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has disclosed, amid details of tensions between health bodies over the rollout. The National Audit Office said the government would spend up to £11.7bn on purchasing and manufacturing Covid-19
Dominic Cummings’s lockdown trip to Barnard Castle was “deeply unfortunate”, and undermined the government’s public health messages, one of Boris Johnson’s senior ministers has admitted. Justice secretary Robert Buckland was asked on the BBC if he thought the prime minister’s former chief adviser had broken the coronavirus
Ursula von der Leyen has dismissed Boris Johnson’s likening EU demands in Brexit trade talks to being forced to buy a new handbag on threat of “punishment”. The prime minister said on Thursday night that the bloc’s proposed “level playing field” for regulations amounted
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said her government will propose the timescale and question for a second referendum on Scottish independence by next spring. Ms Sturgeon claimed challenges of the coronavirus pandemic will act as an accelerant rather than as a brake on the
The government’s test-and-trace programme to combat Covid-19 in England has repeatedly failed to meet targets for delivering test results and contacting infected people despite costs escalating to £22bn, a damning official report has revealed. The National Audit Office (NAO) has found that the centralised
The SNP has been determined in the last four years to secure a second referendum on independence as Nicola Sturgeon aims to take Scotland back into the EU. Over 60 percent of Scots voted to remain in the 2016 referendum on the UK’s EU membership, and Brexit has therefore
Pressure has been applied on the Labour leader in a letter sent this weekend by 39 Conservative MPs after leftwing lawyers intervened to prevent all but 13 of 36 dangerous criminals being returned to Jamaica. The ones who were allowed by the
A no-deal Brexit at the end of 2020 would deliver a “serious” short-term hit to the UK economy and produce a “strongly negative” effect on trade, productivity and jobs in the long term, the OECD has warned. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said that disruption from failure to
Michael Gove has issued further clarification on what does, and does not, count as a substantial meal in pubs and bars – stating that he believes a “a couple of Scotch Eggs… with pickle on the side” would constitute a starter. Ministers have been
Nadhim Zahawi, the minister in charge of the coronavirus vaccine rollout, hinted that many venues would only accept customers who have a certificate of vaccination. The suggestion brings into question whether immunity passes will be issued to those who decide to take the jab. Speaking to
