Boris Johnson announces £70m fund to tackle obesity crisis March 4, 2021 The Prime Minister has announced councils in England will receive an extra £70m to help overweight and obese people to slim down, including plans to offer financial rewards for those who manage to lose weight. Around 700,000 people across the country will benefit from weight loss courses from providers such as Weight Watchers or Slimming [...]
Ranked: Monzo tops list of best UK banks as digital services thrive February 15, 2021 Digital fintechs Monzo and First Direct provide better service to customers than traditional banks, according to a recent survey. Ipsos MORI conducted a review of around 1,000 customers from each of the 19 biggest personal current account providers in the UK to rank the best and worst banks. The findings are designed to compare the [...]
Sadiq Khan on course for historic landslide in mayor of London election, new poll shows March 22, 2021 Sadiq Khan is on track for the biggest landslide in mayor of London election history, with new polling showing him with a 25-point lead. The Opinium/Evening Standard poll has the mayor on 53 per cent of the primary vote, which would see Khan win the election in the first round of voting – a feat [...]
Test and Trace trials ‘groundbreaking’ new technology to detect Covid mutations March 22, 2021 NHS Test and Trace has begun trials of a “groundbreaking” new variant test that can hunt down Covid mutations and return results within 48 hours, the health secretary has announced. The tests could potentially halve the time it takes to identify whether a positive coronavirus sample contains a variant of concern, which usually take around five days [...]
Under-40s in Britain to be offered alternative to Astrazeneca vaccine May 7, 2021 People under the age of 40 in Britain will be offered an alternative to the Astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine following concerns of rare blood clots. In a press conference this morning, the government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended that adults in the UK aged between 30 and 39 should seek an alternative vaccine. Professor [...]
Retail footfall decline slows as fewer Brits stay home in lockdown January 18, 2021 Retail footfall levels during the current national lockdown have not plummeted to the record lows seen in March, the latest analysis showed. Footfall across all UK retail destinations dropped 10.9 per cent last week compared to the previous seven days. The decline was less than half the 27.1 per cent drop recorded the week before. [...]
Existing Covid jabs may protect against Brazilian coronavirus mutation, study finds March 18, 2021 Existing coronavirus vaccines may prove effective against the Brazilian Covid variant that scientists previously feared would be resistant to antibodies, a University of Oxford study has found. Researchers studied the impact of natural and vaccine-induced antibodies on different strains of coronavirus. They specifically tested the Astrazeneca and Pfizer/Biontech vaccines on different mutations. They determined that [...]
EU considers turning to Russia’s Sputnik vaccine as Astrazeneca scepticism swells March 15, 2021 The EU is in discussions to place an order of Russia’s Sputnik vaccine, according to reports, as scepticism about the efficacy and possible side effects of Astrazeneca’s Covid jab considers to spread across the continent. The bloc is now turning to Moscow’s Sputnik V vaccine as it attempts to speed up its sluggish immunisation programme, [...]
Virgin Atlantic set to raise £160m amid ongoing travel restrictions March 13, 2021 Virgin Atlantic is in discussions to raise £160m from shareholders and creditors as the airline seeks to shore up its finances ahead of the planned reopening of travel in the coming months. Billionaire businessman Sir Richard Branson is set to provide the bulk of the funding through Virgin Group, which is expected to inject around [...]
2035 zero emission car target a ‘mountain to climb’ for government, MPs say May 19, 2021 The government is facing a “mountain to climb” to deliver on its ambition to make all cars sold in the UK zero-emissions by 2035, MPs have said today. Ministers must address the twin challenges of up-front prices for electric cars, which remain notably higher than petrol and diesel cars, and providing enough charging infrastructure to [...]