This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A video obtained by ITV shows senior No 10 staff joking about holding a Christmas party – a party the government had denied ever happened. The PM’s then press secretary Allegra Stratton is asked by colleagues about
Month: December 2021
MOD via PA Media The UK Foreign Office’s handling of the Afghan evacuation after the Taliban seized Kabul was “dysfunctional” and “chaotic”, a whistleblower has said. Raphael Marshall said the process of choosing who could get a flight out was “arbitrary” and thousands of emails with pleas for help went unread. The then Foreign Secretary
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. There is community transmission of the Omicron coronavirus variant in multiple regions of England, Health Secretary Sajid Javid has confirmed. He told MPs the variant was continuing to spread “here and around the world” and there were
Getty Images Future pandemics could be more lethal than the current Covid crisis, one of the creators of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has warned. Prof Dame Sarah Gilbert, delivering the 44th Richard Dimbleby Lecture, said there needed to be more funding for pandemic preparedness to prevent the advances made from being lost. She also warned vaccines
Family handout The killing of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes will be the subject of a national review to protect other children from such evil crimes, the government says. The six-year-old was tortured and killed by his father and stepmother after social workers found “no safeguarding concerns”. Emma Tustin was jailed for 29 years for murder and child
Reuters The return of pre-departure tests for travellers heading to the UK has been described by the travel industry as a “hammer blow” to the sector. From 04:00 GMT on Tuesday everyone aged 12 and over will have to take a test a maximum of 48 hours before leaving. The government said the tightening of
Getty Images Travellers heading to the UK will now have to take a Covid test before their departure in an effort to limit spread of the virus, the government has said. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the tightened requirements would come into force from 04:00 GMT on Tuesday. People will need to submit evidence of
Getty Images GPs in England can defer some of the services they provide to patients to allow them to deliver Covid booster jabs instead, NHS chiefs have said. Practices can postpone minor surgery and routine health checks for over-75s and new patients until 31 March. It comes after the PM said all adults in England
West Midlands Police A man has been jailed for 21 years and his partner for a minimum of 29 years over the torture and killing of his six-year-old son, Arthur Labinjo-Hughes. Emma Tustin, 32, murdered the boy with a fatal head injury at her home in Solihull last year. She photographed him lying on the
Getty Images The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines being used in the UK as boosters give the best overall boost response, according to a UK trial of seven different jabs. The trial is the first study of how well Covid booster jabs work and justifies the UK’s early decision to use these two vaccines for boosters.
AFP Germany’s national and regional leaders have agreed to bar unvaccinated people from much of public life in a bid to fend off a fourth wave of Covid-19. Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel described the far-reaching measures as an act of “national solidarity”. Only those who have been vaccinated or recently recovered from Covid will be
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. People will be likely to need to have annual Covid vaccinations for many years to come, the head of Pfizer has told the BBC Dr Albert Bourla said he thought this would be needed to maintain a
EPA It is time for European Union countries to think about mandatory vaccination to combat Covid and the Omicron variant, the head of its Commission has said. The new Omicron variant has now been reported in 24 countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). But the WHO said early signs were that most cases
Getty Images NHS England is to issue detailed guidance to hospitals, pharmacists and GPs about the major expansion of the Covid booster vaccine programme. Hospital hubs will be asked to offer jabs to the public as well as NHS staff and more pharmacies will be used. The government aims to offer all adults in England