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Greater Manchester and Lancashire are to receive a “strengthened package of support” to tackle a rise in the Delta coronavirus variant, Matt Hancock has announced – with residents told to minimise travel.

Addressing the Commons, the health secretary said: “I can tell the House that today, working with local authorities, we are providing a strengthened package of support based on what is working in Bolton to help Greater Manchester and Lancashire tackle the rise in the Delta variant that we are seeing there.”

On the government’s website, the ‘minimise travel’ page has also been updated to include areas in Greater Manchester and Lancashire.

It states: “In the areas listed above, wherever possible, you should try to meet outside rather than inside where possible, keep two metres apart from people that you don’t live with (unless you have formed a support bubble with them) – this includes friends and family you don’t live with, minimise travel in and out of affected areas.”

Matt Hancock
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Matt Hancock told MPs extra testing will be rolled out in Greater Manchester and Lancashire

The support package announced on Tuesday includes:

• Rapid response teams

• Extra testing

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• Military support

• Supervised in-school testing

Mr Hancock told the Commons: “I want to encourage everyone in Manchester and Lancashire to get the tests on offer.

“We know that this approach can work. We’ve seen it work in south London and in Bolton in stopping a rise in the number of cases and this is the next stage of tackling the pandemic in Manchester and in Lancashire.

“And of course, it is vital that people in these areas as everywhere else come forward and get the jab as soon as they are eligible because that is our way out of this pandemic together.”

COVID mobile testing site
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Residents in Greater Manchester and Lancashire are being told to get tested twice a week for free

Other areas where the new COVID-19 variant is spreading include Bedford, Blackburn with Darwen, Kirklees, Leicester, Hounslow and North Tyneside.

As with residents of Greater Manchester and Lancashire, people in the areas above are advised by the government to try and meet outside, keep two metres apart and minimise travel.

Individuals are also advised to continue to work from home if they can and to get tested twice a week.

Mr Hancock announced the update in the Commons after briefing the relevant MPs on Tuesday morning.

It comes less than two weeks before 21 June, the government’s proposed date for the next relaxation of restrictions.

Responding to the announcement made by Mr Hancock in the Commons, the PM’s official spokesman said: “We want to provide the package of support that has been effective in Bolton to a wider area to tackle the cases of the Delta variant.”

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The Indian (Delta) variant of COVID-19 is 40% more transmissible than the Kent (Alpha) strain, Matt Hancock has told Sky News.

At the weekend, Matt Hancock told Sky News the Indian variant of coronavirus makes the decision about lifting lockdown restrictions on 21 June “more difficult”.

The new COVID-19 variant, also known as the Delta variant, is 40% more transmissible than the Kent (Alpha) strain, the health secretary said, leaving the easing of social distancing in the balance for the original target date.

It comes as government figures released on Tuesday show nearly a third of secondary school pupils in Bolton were absent for COVID-related reasons on the week before half-term.

In the North West of England, Covid-19 related pupil absence was 4% on May 27, compared to the national average of 1.8%, according to the statistics,

This was predominantly due to an increase in cases of coronavirus in Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen, the Department for Education (DfE) analysis said.

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Reform UK overtakes Conservative membership – Nigel Farage calls it ‘historic’, Kemi Badenoch says numbers are ‘fake’

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Reform UK overtakes Conservative membership - Nigel Farage calls it 'historic', Kemi Badenoch says numbers are 'fake'

Reform UK now has more members than the Conservative Party and is “the real opposition” according to Nigel Farage, while Kemi Badenoch has called his numbers “fake”.

According to a digital counter on the party’s website, Reform UK had gone past 131,690 members – the amount the Conservative Party declared before its leadership election in the autumn – just before midday on Boxing Day.

Mr Farage, party leader and MP for Clacton-on-Sea, hailed the “historic moment” and said on X: “The youngest political party in British politics has just overtaken the oldest political party in the world. Reform UK are now the real opposition.”

But Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused the party of issuing misleading figures: “Manipulating your own supporters at Xmas eh, Nigel?. It’s not real. It’s a fake… [the website has been] coded to tick up automatically.”

Posting on X, she added that the Tories had “gained thousands of new members since the leadership election”.

Reform UK also shared a video of the membership tracker being projected on to the Conservative Party headquarters in London overnight.

Zia Yusuf, party chairman, also said “history has been made today” and that the Tories’ “centuries-long stranglehold on the centre-right of British politics” has “finally been broken”.

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Mr Farage hit back at Ms Badenoch, who strongly contested Reform UK’s figures. He claimed to have proof and posted a screenshot of an online register reportedly showing ‘active memberships’.

“We understand you are bitter, upset and angry that we are now the second biggest party in British politics, and that the Conservative brand is dying under your leadership. However, this not an excuse to accuse us of committing fraud,” he wrote on X.

Mr Yusuf added to the debate by appearing to goad Ms Badenoch about an audit: “We will gladly invite a Big 4 audit firm to verify our membership numbers on the basis that you do the same.”

Read more on Reform:
Is Reform UK winning the ‘bro vote’?
Farage meets Musk amid possible £78m donation

Nigel Farage attends the Old Surrey, Burstow and West Kent Hunt in Chiddingstone.
Pic: Reuters
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Nigel Farage said Reform UK is ‘now the real opposition’ after the ‘historic moment’. Pic: Reuters

The Conservative party membership figure – shared after Kemi Badenoch was announced as the new leader on 2 November – was the lowest on record and a drop from the 2022 leadership contest, when there were around 172,000 members.

In response, a Conservative Party spokesman said: “Reform has delivered a Labour Government that has cruelly cut winter fuel payments for 10 million pensioners, put the future of family farming and food security at risk, and launched a devastating raid on jobs which will leave working people paying the price.

“A vote for Reform this coming May is a vote for a Labour council – only the Conservatives can stop this.”

According to research from the House of Commons Library, there is no uniformly recognised definition of party membership and no established method or body to monitor the number of members each political group has.

Reform UK was also originally set up as a limited company, but Mr Farage said he would change the party’s structure to be member-owned in September.

Read more from Sky News:
Funeral for five journalists killed in Israeli airstrike
‘Russian air defence system’ downed plane – Reuters

It comes after Mr Farage offered to help Lord Mandelson, the new ambassador to the US, negotiate with president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration.

A long-time associate of Mr Trump, he has been seen at several Republican events during and after the presidential election.

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Trump-linked Strive files for ‘Bitcoin Bond’ ETF

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Trump-linked Strive files for ‘Bitcoin Bond’ ETF

The fund aims to offer exposure to MicroStrategy’s convertible bonds, among others.

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Betting markets predict bullish 2025 for crypto

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Betting markets predict bullish 2025 for crypto

Prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket anticipate a slew of wins for crypto in 2025.

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