Government scraps three-year spending review amid Covid-19 chaos October 21, 2020 The Treasury today confirmed that a comprehensive three-year review of government spending had been ditched in favour of a one-year review because of the economic disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. “While the government would have liked to outline plans for the rest of this parliament, the right thing today is to focus entirely on [...]
Ready to order? Business lunches may be exempt from new Tier 2 restrictions October 21, 2020 City restaurants are preparing to allow business lunches to resume after legal advice suggested work meetings are allowed at hospitality venues under an exemption to Tier 2 restrictions. The rules, which came into effect last weekend, mean people cannot mix with another household in pubs or restaurants. The hospitality sector has already warned that a [...]
London jobs market shows signs of recovery after 50 per cent hike in listings October 21, 2020 London has begun to recover from a swathe of redundancies handed out during the pandemic, with job listings in the capital hiking more than 50 per cent over the last three months, according to new research. Adverts for jobs based in London jumped 52 per cent between July and September, data from independent job board [...]
DEBATE: Is there any point trying to find love in lockdown? October 21, 2020 Is there any point trying to find love in lockdown? JOIN THE DEBATE. Emma Sayle, founder and chief executive of social network Killing Kittens, says YES. When lockdown started, traffic to the Killing Kittens website went up 300 per cent. We had 150 per cent more photo uploads and 425 per cent more messages — [...]
Sadiq Khan urges ministers to build more London council houses to ease post-pandemic inequality October 21, 2020 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has urged ministers to significantly increase the number of council houses in London, in a bid to offset increasing wealth disparities caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Khan today launched a major new report calling on the government to “stop blocking the aspiration of London’s councils to build” and urging ministers [...]
South Yorkshire to enter Tier 3 from Friday night October 21, 2020 South Yorkshire is set to move from Tier 2 to Tier 3 from midnight on Friday, in a move that will see Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield join Greater Manchester on the highest alert level. The new restrictions will see the closure of pubs, restaurants, casinos and soft play centres, with the government pledging £30m [...]
United Airlines tests digital Covid pass on UK-US flight in effort to reopen borders October 21, 2020 United Airlines will today test a digital coronavirus pass as part of a global pilot programme to establish a common international standard for Covid-19 test results. The nonprofit programme, called CommonPass, has been developed in the hopes it will speed up the reopening of borders, as the future of the airline industry remains precarious while [...]
End the war on pubs — hospitality isn’t to blame for the Covid crisis October 21, 2020 2020 should have been a year of cheering on our teams in the European football finals and Olympics from pubs and bars across the land, bolstered by meals out in beer gardens throughout a typically blistering British summer. Instead, thanks to Covid-19, this year will be remembered for social distancing, job losses, and uncertainty. After [...]
Majority of Londoners plan to stay in capital despite pandemic fallout October 21, 2020 Londoners have remained loyal to their city throughout the coronavirus crisis, with the bulk of people in the capital pledging not to leave the city despite fresh Tier 2 restrictions and work from home orders, according to new research. Just seven per cent of Londoners plan to pack up and flee the capital in the [...]
Greater Manchester to move into Tier 3 from Friday October 20, 2020 Greater Manchester will move into Tier 3 restrictions from midnight on Thursday night, Boris Johnson has announced. The city will receive an extra £22m of financial support after talks between central and local government fell apart. Mayor Andy Burnham described the offer as “brutal”. “This is no way to run the country in a national [...]