As we enter the third year of the pandemic, we need to grit our teeth and learn to live with it December 28, 2021 It seemed, for a while, as if this year might be better than the last, with the pandemic on the wane, retail and hospitality beginning to reopen and a hint of normality being felt in the public square. The onset of the omicron variant over the past few weeks has been a blow: although it [...]
Budget: Brits face flat recovery for household living standards, Sunak warned October 28, 2021 The average household could see their tax rise by thousands of pounds during Boris Johnson’s premiership, a think tank has warned, as Rishi Sunak’s Budget has the country set for a flat recovery for living standards. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the Budget would leave the overall tax burden at its highest since [...]
Minister does not rule out Covid vaccine passports December 7, 2020 A government minister has refused to rule out a Covid vaccine passport to allow people access to places such as pubs and restaurants once the jab has become available. Junior foreign office minister James Cleverly told Sky News: “Having confidence is important and that’s what the [vaccine] rollout plan is all about.” The NHS has [...]
Quarter of UK pubs feared closing for good even before new lockdown December 16, 2020 More than a quarter of UK pub and bar-owners said they feared their business would fail even before the latest lockdowns in London and the south east. Figures from the UK’s statistics body showed that 27.9 per cent of pub and bar businesses said they had low or no confidence in surviving the next three [...]
Boris Johnson warns more people will die of Covid as England eases lockdown April 13, 2021 Boris Johnson has today warned that more people will die of Covid-19 as England unlocks, while adding that it has been the lockdown and not the UK’s vaccine rollout that has driven down rates of infection. The Prime Minister urged people in England to be cautious and to still follow social distancing rules, after pubs, [...]
Vaccines minister confirms self-isolation won’t end on 21 June for fully vaccinated May 25, 2021 Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi has confirmed that fully vaccinated people will likely still need to self-isolate if they come into contact with someone with Covid once all restrictions are removed on 21 June. Zahawi told MPs today that “even if you have had two doses of either vaccine – and I have had this in my own [...]
Johnson urges nation to ‘behave responsibly’ as lockdown eases April 12, 2021 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged the public to “behave responsibly” as England’s lockdown measures ease today. From today pub gardens, indoor gyms, hairdressers and non-essential retail are among businesses that can now reopen in England, most for the first time in 2021. The change marks the next major step in the easing of the [...]
UK to see ’employment boom’ as lockdown restrictions ease June 8, 2021 Employers plan a huge recruitment drive, fuelled by the easing of lockdown restrictions, according to a new report out this morning.
Wanted: A minister for hospitality December 22, 2020 The hospitality industry — which provided work to more than 3.2m people before the pandemic struck — has been hit harder than virtually any other sector by Covid-19. But while the latest ONS figures show that a staggering 78 per cent of businesses in the accommodation and food services industry have been impacted, there is [...]
Tier two diners must leave pubs when meals are finished November 27, 2020 People living in areas under tier two restrictions will have to leave pubs once they have finished eating, Number 10 confirmed today. The Prime Minister’s spokesman today said that pubgoers would not be able to linger for more drinks once they have finished their meals. He said: “We’ve been clear that, in Tier 2 I [...]