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AT A GLANCE: HOW VALLANCE AND WHITTY DEFENDED THE LOCKDOWN SATURDAY’S GLOOMY SLIDES The pair admitted what one MP called the ‘avalanche of data’ they presented in Saturday’s briefing may have been too much to handle for the public. Sir Patrick said: ‘I would always like to get things simpler than they were and clearer … Read more
Business Secretary Alok Sharma defends decision to continue South Korea trade trip where he met local politicians after staff member in his private office tests positive for Covid He jetted to Seoul on Saturday October 24 for a series of trade meetings Two days previously he attended a meeting with staff from his private office … Read more
Sir Patrick Vallance and Chris Whitty have said they ‘regret’ frightening people with a doomsday dossier that forecast 4,000 Covid-19 deaths a day over winter and was used to justify a second national lockdown. The chief scientific and medical officers made the comments today as they were hauled before MPs to defend SAGE’s modelling that … Read more
Fears England may have jumped the gun with a second national lockdown grew today after top scientists claimed the R rate has already dropped to the crucial level of one and that Covid-19 cases are actually ‘flatlining’. King’s College London academics, who have been tracking the size of the coronavirus outbreak since the summer, argued … Read more
A graph showed during the Prime Minister’s address saying Britain will have 4,000 deaths a day by December was ‘proven to be incorrect’ and ‘four weeks out of date’, an Oxford University scientist has warned. Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Carl Heneghan said mathematically the document should not have been used to justify the … Read more
English airports could be mothballed amid looming ‘hammer blow’ from lockdown – as ministers face renewed demands to support the travel industry England’s looming lockdown includes a ban on foreign holidays and staycations This has been described as a ‘hammer blow’ to an already hard-hit travel sector Industry figures have called for measures including abolition of … Read more
Brexit breakthrough? The UK and EU ‘are close to a compromise on fishing rights’ that could allow them to seal a trade deal within WEEKS They are reported to be closing in on a compromise that would allow a deal Bloomberg said it would allow UK boats to catch more fish after December 31 But … Read more
Timeline of the PM’s lockdown decision Friday, 7am: Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab begins a round of broadcast interviews defending the government’s ‘Tiered’ system of local lockdowns. Friday 2.30pm: Sir Patrick Vallance underlines SAGE’s call for a national lockdown at a briefing with reporters, saying it was getting late Christmas. Friday 3pm: Papers are released online from … Read more
Boris Johnson was today roasted by Keir Starmer for wasting weeks refusing to lock down England while the death toll spiralled – before performing an embarrassing U-turn. In a statement to the Commons, the PM insisted cases were now surging so high there was ‘no alternative’ to the month-long blanket restrictions across England. He warned … Read more
Timeline of the PM’s lockdown decision Friday, 7am: Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab begins a round of broadcast interviews defending the government’s ‘Tiered’ system of local lockdowns. Friday 2.30pm: Sir Patrick Vallance underlines SAGE’s call for a national lockdown at a briefing with reporters, saying it is ‘not too late to save Christmas’. Friday 3pm: Papers are … Read more