British firms draw up ‘no jab no job’ contracts ahead of lockdown easing February 18, 2021 British companies are beginning to draw up “no jab, no job” contracts after the government yesterday admitted it was “up to businesses” to decide how to enforce vaccination requirements. Barchester Healthcare, which runs more than 200 care homes across the country, said it will not hire new staff who refuse the Covid-19 vaccine on non-medical [...]
UK unemployment: Covid impact on young people ‘could last a lifetime’ March 23, 2021 The disproportionate impact of the pandemic on young people’s job prospects “could last a lifetime”, according to analysts. Unemployment data released this morning by the Office for National Statistics showed that under-25s make up two thirds of the 700,000 job losses since the start of the pandemic. Lorna Carter-Blake, managing director at DA Training and [...]
Boris Johnson’s interventionist obesity strategy will fail. We need more choice, not less to slim down May 25, 2021 Obesity is on the rise like never before. More than one in four people in the UK are now obese, one of the driving forces behind the mortality rate from Covid. In the year leading up to the pandemic, more than a million people were admitted to hospital for obesity-related treatment in England. Record hospitalisations [...]
Priti Patel: Street harassment such as wolf-whistling could become a crime July 21, 2021 Street harassment such as wolf-whistling could become a specific crime, as a Government survey suggested that nearly three-quarters of the UK population have experienced sexual harassment in their lifetime, Home Secretary Priti Patel indicated earlier today. Some 72 per cent of the UK population have experienced at least once form of sexual harassment – 43 [...]
Test and Trace to receive extra £15bn, bringing total funding to £37bn March 4, 2021 The Test and Trace scheme is set to receive an extra £15bn, bringing its total funding over two years to £37bn. The contact tracing scheme, which has been awarded £22bn so far, will receive a further £15bn over the next financial year. The new figures were first revealed by the Huffington Post. It also revealed [...]
Boris Johnson promises businesses new lockdown will end on 2 December November 4, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson reassured British businesses that the new lockdown in England will end on 2 December during a speech to the CBI today, but later said it would “depend on us all doing our bit”. Johnson announced a new month-long lockdown at the weekend. It will come into place tomorrow and will see [...]
‘Vaccines are working’ against new Covid variants, says Jonathan Van-Tam February 24, 2021 “Vaccines are working” against the Kent Covid variant and will likely reduce the risk of severe disease from new mutations, the deputy chief medical officer has said. Jonathan Van-Tam said the B117 strain of coronavirus first identified in Kent now accounts for around 95 per cent of all Covid cases in the UK. Speaking to [...]
Hospitality circuit breaker lockdown could wipe £1bn off UK GDP, research shows October 6, 2020 A two-week circuit breaker lockdown to reduce the spread of coronavirus could cost the UK economy around £1bn and result in more hospitality job losses, the latest research showed. Ministers have reportedly mulled closing pubs and restaurants and ordering Britons to reduce social contacts for at least two weeks in a bid to halt a [...]
Refusing the Covid vaccine: Govt voices frustration over anti-vaxxers May 17, 2021 Health Secretary Matt Hancock has voiced his frustration that some people are still not getting the coronavirus vaccine, amid fears of the spread of the new Indian variant. Hancock said the majority of people admitted to hospital in Bolton, which has seen the biggest outbreak of B1.617.2 variant, had been eligible for the jab but [...]
Why a second lockdown could turn the lights out on the UK economy October 5, 2020 We have reached a crucial flexion point in the fight against Covid-19, and with this comes new, tighter rules to curb a possible second wave. There is now rising concern that a second wave may result in a second national lockdown, and businesses are urgently seeking reassurance from the government that they will be able [...]