Northern Ireland It may be that the British lion may be learning how to wag its Irish tail instead of the reverse. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has negotiated a settlement of the Northern Ireland Protocol which has bedevilled UK-EU and UK-US relations and Britain’s standing in the world since the 2016 Brexit Referendum. The chief […]
Covid-19
President Xi’s Grand Zero-COVID Reversal: What are the Risks?
President Xi has announced he will be opening China’s borders to travel by Chinese citizens from Sunday 8th January, a fortnight before the start of the 15-day celebration of the Chinese New Year which sees hundreds of millions of Chinese go on holiday inside and outside China to visit family and friends. Whilst this is […]
Tom Arms’ World Review
Europe is burning sounds like the title of an apocalyptic Hollywood blockbuster. Unfortunately it is an accurate newspaper headline as the continent this week sweltered in record temperatures. In normally temperate Britain the thermometer topped 104 fahrenheit. In Spain it reached 109. Spontaneous fires were widespread. The London fire brigade reported its busiest day since […]
Living with Covid: Shambolic Govt taking NHS & Care services for granted
Responding to the Government’s plan on Living with Covid, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: The Conservatives have been planning to end free Covid testing for more than two months, yet still we have no clarity on what this means in reality. Boris Johnson wasn’t even able to answer the simple question of […]
Ed Davey: Scrapping Covid tests means 4 million face £500 tax on caring
Boris Johnson’s latest attempt to rehabilitate himself with sceptical Tory MPs is to scrap the need to self isolate if you have Covid in England. So you are now free to spread it far and wide. You would think that you would have to monitor the impact really carefully. That is way too sensible for […]
Daisy Cooper: Scrapping free lateral flow tests would leave the public flying blind.
Yesterday, LBC reported that the Government would scrap free PCR and lateral flow tests for Covid from as early as next week. Lib Dem Health spokesperson Daisy Cooper highlighted the dangers in this approach, saying it would also make it impossible for those at highest risk of severe disease to properly assess what was safe […]
When catching up means losing out
Children and young people have spent the last two years trying to learn how to cope with isolation, loss and a world turned upside down. Why do we now need to harass them into making sure they’re at the same academic level as a hypothetical young person who hasn’t spent the last 2 years living […]
Cutting sick pay for unvaccinated employees – what do you think?
I’ve been really concerned this week that some major employers are cutting sick pay for unvaccinated employees to the statutory minimum. ITV reports how companies like Next, Morrisons and Ikea are only going to pay employees who have to self-isolate Statutory Sick Pay of only £96.35 per week, whereas those who have been vaccinated will […]
The damage caused by this Government now includes psychological harm – we need them gone
This morning I was looking on Twitter at the heartbreaking messages from people who had not been able to see their loved ones before they died in May 2020 due to the Covid rules in force at the time, or to attend family funerals or visit relatives in care homes. These are deeply hurtful and […]
Ed Davey: Boris Johnson must resign
Ed Davey has said that Boris Johnson must resign over the Downing Street parties. He said: “Boris Johnson has broken the law and lied to Parliament and the country, and he must now go. “Millions of people obeyed the lockdown rules, often at huge personal cost. They missed funerals, cancelled weddings and said goodbye to […]