England dishes out 300,000 daily doses amid hope that NHS CAN hit key target

Hopes that Britain’s great Covid vaccine rollout is still on track were raised today as official data revealed England dished out more than 300,000 doses yesterday.  Boris Johnson insisted the UK is still on schedule to hit the target of vaccinating the 14million most vulnerable people by mid-February, despite alarm over the daily rate having … Read more

Seagrass ‘Neptune balls’ may be key to clearing oceans of plastic

Every year, an estimated eight million tons of plastic is dumped into our oceans, threatening the lives of fish, seabirds and marine mammals.  Now, a new study suggests that the key to clearing our oceans of plastic may lie in seagrass.  Seagrass forms so-called ‘Neptune balls’ – oval orbs made from the base of leaves … Read more

Wetherspoon set to announce sales plunge as lockdown forced bars to close over key Christmas period

Pub giant JD Wetherspoon is set to announce a dramatic sales slump over the key Christmas period after being impacted by coronavirus restrictions. Investors in the pub group will be keen to see the full extent of the impact of November’s lockdown in England as well as tighter tiered restrictions in December when it posts … Read more

TOM UTLEY: The only comfort from forgetting all my passwords – they don’t hold a key to £200million

From time to time on this page, I like to suggest modern contenders for the Kingsley Amis Prize, which I award every so often to the phrase I currently judge to be the most depressing in the English language. Set up in memory of the late whisky-loving novelist, it celebrates Amis’s famous declaration that the … Read more

Schools are refusing to allow children into class unless BOTH parents are key workers

Schools are ignoring government guidelines and refusing to allow children into class unless BOTH parents are key workers, MailOnline has learned. Department for Education guidance states that only one parent needs to be a critical worker for their child to attend class – even if both parents are working from home. It adds parents who … Read more

Key workers to be tested for Covid-19 twice a week in bid to ‘break the chain’ of passing on virus

Key workers are to be tested for Covid-19 twice a week in bid to ‘break the chain’ of people passing on the virus without knowing they have it Key workers unable to work from home will be eligible for two Covid tests a week Lateral flow tests will become a key way to avoid current … Read more

Ministers must NARROW definition of key worker status

Ministers must narrow the definition of key worker status, scientists have demanded, after thousands of parents sent their children to school despite the national lockdown.  Newly-released figures show that one in three schools in the UK had more than 20 per cent of pupils in on Wednesday.  In March, during the first lockdown, only 1 … Read more

School blasts parents for falsely claiming key worker status to get their child a place in class

Parents have been posing as key workers in an effort to get their children into classes in lockdown – as the Children’s Commissioner for England warned of ‘clear disparities’ in remote learning. A Liverpool school today said it had received a ‘large number of complaints’ about mothers and fathers making the attempts for their kids.  Leaders … Read more

Masked key workers on Underground provide only hustle-and-bustle

Commuters continued to head into work today after regulations enforcing England’s national lockdown as the stringent restrictions entered into force overnight amid spiralling coronavirus cases. Transport for London and Network Rail are now urging people to only travel by train for ‘legally permitted reasons’ such as work or education, in a toughening of language that previously … Read more

Defendants in court are classed as key workers so children can continue going school, say ministers

Defendants in court are classed as key workers so their children can continue going to school, ministers confirm Defendants ‘count as key workers’, wrote justice minister Chris Philip on Monday He said jurors, witnesses and lawyers are also entitled to send children to school Measures in March did not specify defendants could apply for key … Read more