Keep calm and carry on. The wartime slogan emblazoned on T-shirts and mugs at the height of the global financial crisis has taken on a new relevance in the second lockdown. Financial experts emphasise the challenges facing the UK economy, including Brexit. The outcome of the US election now seems clear, igniting optimism in Wall … Read more
The director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the US must immediately develop a testing strategy to find and isolate symptom-free coronavirus cases. In a tweet on Wednesday, Dr Robert Redfield described a meeting he and Dr Deborah Birx, another member of the White House coronavirus task force, had with Utah … 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
Boris Johnson is today urged to sack Matt Hancock for presiding over a ‘shambolic’ corona-virus strategy which is destroying jobs but failing to stop the disease. Sir Rocco Forte demands that the Health Secretary should pay with his job for championing misguided lockdown policies now driving the hospitality sector into bankruptcy. In a scathing article … Read more
Scotland Yard commander behind force’s drugs strategy ‘admits using cannabis – saying it is for medical reasons’ Commander Julian Bennett allegedly informed investigators he uses cannabis Said it was for ‘medical reasons’ that were not specified, sources have claimed He leads the Metropolitan Police on criminal justice and has served since 1977 Understood he was taken off … Read more
People most at risk of catching coronavirus should be tested regularly and random testing is a waste of time, experts say. Researchers from the University of Oxford suggest targeted, regular swab testing would do a better job of cutting Covid-19 infection rates than random tests. They said health and care workers, public transport staff, delivery … Read more
As the government adopts a ‘Thelma & Louise’ strategy on Brexit trade deal talks, which shares could be the best bet for a rocky road ahead According to analysis from Liberum, the government’ trade talks strategy is reminiscent of the final scene in Hollywood movie Thelma & Louise In such a high stakes scenario, certain types of … Read more
Ministers did not take responsibility for decisions made during the initial response to the coronavirus pandemic, a think tank has claimed. A report by the Institute for Government said leaders ‘lacked a wider sense of strategy’ at times and relied too heavily on scientific advice. It concluded that the Government should have been prepared to act … Read more
Scientists claim to be able to identify Twitter trolls in 50 tweets using algorithms to that can detect ‘distinctive’ patterns of word repetition. The algorithms identify linguistic patterns in tweets in order to distinguish deceptive ‘troll’ messages – which aim to achieve a specific purpose while also masking that purpose – from those posted by … Read more
Police commander in charge of drug strategy is suspended over alleged drug misuse Commander Julian Bennett currently leads the Met Police on criminal justice He was secretly suspended last month after claims involving controlled drugs It is understood the officer was taken off duty after refusing to have a drug test A spokesman for the … Read more