Connect with us

Published

on

Rising COVID-19 cases heading into winter “suggest this peak could be as serious as the last”, the UK’s former chief scientific adviser has warned.

Sir David King was speaking to Sky News a day after 49,156 cases were reported – the highest since mid-July.

Cases have been regularly over 40,000 in the last week – with the high numbers mainly being attributed to infections among schoolchildren.

“The disease is rising to another peak, and this peak could be as serious as the last,” Sir David told Sky’s Kay Burley.

Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world

It comes as a former World Health Organization director claimed the UK had the highest COVID-19 case rates in the world and a death rate far higher than China.

Professor Anthony Costello accused the government and advisers of being “silent” on the issue.

Downing Street said on Monday that the winter months look “challenging” and that it was keeping a “close watch” on cases.

However, it said new infections were roughly in line with predictions and that the vaccine programme had “substantially” broken the link between cases, hospitalisations, and deaths.

Follow the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

The latest seven-day average for deaths is 124.1, while the latest count for people in hospital for COVID is 7,097.

Both are much lower than the winter peak in January, and cases remain below the initial prediction of 100,000 per day made by the health secretary ahead of England’s so-called Freedom Day.

But there are fears these numbers could rise significantly in the coming months.

EMBARGOED TO 1300 THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 16 People receiving a Covid-19 booster jab, administered at Croydon University Hospital, south London, as the NHS begins its Covid-19 Booster Vaccination Campaign. Picture date: Thursday September 16, 2021.
Image:
Booster jabs are being administered, but Sir David said the rollout was too slow

Sir David also criticised the booster jab rollout as going “extremely slowly”.

“I do know many older people who haven’t had their booster – I can’t understand this. If the vaccines are available, what’s happening to the rollout?” he said.

A third COVID-19 jab is to be offered to groups including over-50s, vulnerable groups, and people who work in care homes and frontline health care.

The NHS will contact those who are eligible, so long as it’s been at least six months since their second jab.

How and when can you get your COVID booster jab?

You will be offered a booster dose at least six months after you had your second dose.

The NHS will get in touch to let you know when it’s your turn to have a booster dose. People have been asked not to contact the NHS for one before then.

Most will be invited to book an appointment at a larger vaccination centre, pharmacy, or local NHS service – such as a GP surgery.

Frontline health or social care workers can book a booster dose appointment online. These people don’t need to wait to be contacted by the NHS.

For those who work for an NHS trust or a care home, they will usually get their booster vaccine through their employer.

For more information about the booster vaccine, there is a dedicated NHS page here.

The UK’s former science chief also expressed frustration at lower levels of mask wearing now most COVID rules have been scrapped.

“How many people are still wearing masks? And for goodness’ sake, why not?” said Sir David.

“I just don’t understand why when I get into a train or an Underground, I don’t see everybody wearing masks. Why aren’t we still requiring people to travel with masks, to go into buildings with masks?

“It just seems a very simple thing.”

Mask rules in the UK

  • England: Only required in health care settings and care homes
  • Scotland: Required in shops, on public transport, in restaurants and pubs when not seated, and in indoor settings at universities and secondary schools
  • Wales: Required on public transport and in all public indoor spaces other than restaurants and pubs
  • Northern Ireland: Required in shops and hospitality venues, and on public transport

He also cautioned over the thousands of people coming to the UK for the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, calling it a “massive potential rollout of the disease”.

“It’s a viral factory to put all those people together from 197 nations of the world,” he said.

“I really worry about it – not because they will bring disease into use, but because we are the country with a very high level of virus, and we will be passing on to them.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Health secretary: The COVID ‘plan B’ for winter

The government last month set out a Plan A and B for dealing with COVID over winter, as it hopes to avoid more lockdowns.

Plan A includes expanding the vaccine rollout, such as to school-age children, plus more cash for the NHS COVID response, and a focus on antiviral drugs.

It also stresses that NHS Test and Trace and self-isolation will continue to be “critical” in keeping the disease under control.

Plan B would kick in should the NHS be threatened by “unsustainable pressure”. England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, has already warned the health service faces an “exceptionally difficult” winter.

Measures could include the possibility of vaccine passports in some settings in England – such as nightclubs and large sports events, while mask rules and working from home may also return.

Continue Reading

UK

Russell Brand charged with rape and sexual assault

Published

on

By

Russell Brand charged with rape and sexual assault

Russell Brand has been charged with rape and two counts of sexual assault between 1999 and 2005.

The Metropolitan Police say the 50-year-old comedian, actor and author has also been charged with one count of oral rape and one count of indecent assault.

The charges relate to four women.

He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday 2 May.

Police have said Brand is accused of raping a woman in the Bournemouth area in 1999 and indecently assaulting a woman in the Westminster area of London in 2001.

He is also accused of orally raping and sexually assaulting a woman in Westminster in 2004.

The fourth charge alleges that a woman was sexually assaulted in Westminster between 2004 and 2005.

Police began investigating Brand, from Oxfordshire, in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations.

Read more from Sky News:
Mum spared prison after son’s death
Last UK blast furnaces days from closure
Ship owner files legal claim after North Sea crash

The comedian has previously denied the accusations, and said all his sexual relationships were “absolutely always consensual”.

Met Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.

“The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.”

Continue Reading

UK

Last UK blast furnaces days from closure as Chinese owners cut off crucial supplies

Published

on

By

Last UK blast furnaces days from closure as Chinese owners cut off crucial supplies

​​​​​​​The last blast furnaces left operating in Britain could see their fate sealed within days, after their Chinese owners took the decision to cut off the crucial supply of ingredients keeping them running. 

Jingye, the owner of British Steel in Scunthorpe, has, according to union representatives, cancelled future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.

The upshot is that they may have to close next month – even sooner than the earliest date suggested for its closure.

Read more: Thousands of jobs at risk as British Steel consults unions over closure

The fate of the blast furnaces – the last two domestic sources of virgin steel, made from iron ore rather than recycled – is likely to be determined in a matter of days, with the Department for Business and Trade now actively pondering nationalisation.

The upshot is that even as Britain contends with a trade war across the Atlantic, it is now working against the clock to secure the future of steelmaking at Scunthorpe.

British Steel proceesing

The talks between the government and Jingye broke down last week after the Chinese company, which bought British Steel out of receivership in 2020, rejected a £500m offer of public money to replace the existing furnaces with electric arc furnaces.

More on China

The sum is the same one it offered to Tata Steel, which has shut down the other remaining UK blast furnaces in Port Talbot and is planning to build electric furnaces – which have far lower carbon emissions.

These steel workers could soon be out of work
Image:
These steel workers could soon be out of work

However, the owners argue that the amount is too little to justify extra investment at Scunthorpe, and said last week they were now consulting on the date of shutting both the blast furnaces and the attached steelworks.

Since British Steel is the main provider of steel rails to Network Rail – as well as other construction steels available from only a few sites in the world – the closure would leave the UK more reliant on imports for critical infrastructure sites.

British Steel in action

However, since the site belongs to its Chinese owners, a decision to nationalise the site would involve radical steps government officials are wary of taking.

They also fear leaving taxpayers exposed to a potentially loss-making business for the long run.

British Steel

The dilemma has been heightened by the sharp turn in geopolitical sentiment following Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

The incipient trade war and threatened cut in American support to Europe have sparked fresh calls for countries to act urgently to secure their own supplies of critical materials, especially those used for defence and infrastructure.

Read more:
Car manufacturers fined £461m for collusion
There were no winners from Trump’s tariff gameshow

Gareth Stace, head of UK Steel, the industry lobby group, said: “Talks seem to have broken down between government and British Steel.

“My advice to government is: please, Jonathan Reynolds, Business Secretary, get back round that negotiating table, thrash out a deal, and if a deal can’t be found in the next few days, then I fear for the very future of the sector, but also here for Scunthorpe steelworks.”

British Steel declined to comment.

Continue Reading

UK

Prince Andrew’s Pitch@Palace branded ‘crude attempt to enrich himself’ as Chinese spy documents set to be released

Published

on

By

Prince Andrew's Pitch@Palace branded 'crude attempt to enrich himself' as Chinese spy documents set to be released

Prince Andrew’s efforts to make money from his Pitch@Palace project have been branded as a “crude attempt to enrich himself” at the expense of “unsuspecting tech founders”, as new documents may shed more light on what he and his team have been attempting to sell.

Today is the deadline for documents to be released relating to Prince Andrew‘s former senior adviser Dominic Hampshire and his interactions with the alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo.

In February, an immigration tribunal heard how the intelligence services had contacted Mr Hampshire about Mr Yang back in 2022. Mr Yang helped set up Pitch@Palace China, a branch of the duke’s scheme to help young entrepreneurs.

The alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, has links with Prince Andrew
Image:
The alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, has links with Prince Andrew

Pic: Pitch@Palace
Image:
Yang Tengbo. Pic: Pitch@Palace

Judges banned Mr Yang from the UK, saying his association with a senior royal had made Prince Andrew “vulnerable” and posed a threat to national security. Mr Yang challenged that decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).

Since that hearing, media organisations have applied for certain documents relating to the case and Mr Hampshire’s support for Mr Yang to be made public. SIAC agreed to release some information of public interest. It is hoped they may include more details on deals that he was trying to do on behalf of Prince Andrew.

So what do we know about potential deals for Pitch@Palace so far?

In February, Sky News confirmed that palace officials had a meeting last summer with tech funding company StartupBootcamp to discuss a potential tie-up between them and Prince Andrew relating to his Pitch@Palace project.

More on Prince Andrew

The palace wasn’t involved in the fine details of a deal but wanted guarantees to make sure it wouldn’t impact the Royal Family in the future. Sky News understands from one source that the price being discussed for Pitch was around £750,000 – there are, however, reports that a deal may have stalled.

Photos we found on the Chinese Chamber of Commerce website show an event held in Asia between StartupBootcamp and Innovate Global, believed to be an offshoot of Pitch.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Who is alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo?

Documents, released in relation to the investigations into Mr Tengbo, have also shown how much the duke has always seen Pitch as a way of potentially making money. One document from 21 August 2021 clearly states “the duke needed money at the time, and saw the relationships with China through Pitch as one possible source of funding”.

But Prince Andrew’s apparent intention to use Pitch to make money has led to concerns about whether he is unfairly using the contacts and information he gained when he was a working royal.

Norman Baker, former MP and author of books on royal finances, believes it is “a crude attempt to enrich himself” and goes against what the tech entrepreneurs thought they were signing up for.

Read more:
Who is Yang Tenbo?
Virginia Giuffre says she has days to live
Emails between Andrew and Epstein revealed

He told Sky News: “The data given by these business people was given on the basis it was an official operation and not something for Prince Andrew, and so in my view, Prince Andrew had no right legally or morally to take the data which has been collected, a huge amount of data, and sell it…

“And quite clearly if you’re going to sell it off to StartupBootcamp, that is not what people had in mind. The entrepreneurs who joined Pitch@Palace did not do so to enrich Prince Andrew,” he said.

Rich Wilson was one tech entrepreneur who was approached at the start of Pitch@Palace to sign up, but he stepped away when he spotted a clause in the contract saying they’d be entitled to 2% equity in any funding he secured.

He feels Prince Andrew is continuing to use those he made a show of supporting.

He said: “It makes me feel sick. I think it’s terrible – that he is continuing to exploit unsuspecting tech founders in this way. A lot of them, I’m quite grey and old in the tooth now, I saw it coming, but clearly most didn’t. And a lot of them were quite young.

“It’ll be their first venture and you’re learning on the trot, so to speak. So to take advantage of people in such a major way – that’s an awful, sickening thing to do.”

We approached StartupBootcamp who said they had no comment to make, and the Duke of York’s office did not respond.

With reports that a deal may have stalled, it could be a big setback for the duke – especially with questions still about how he’ll continue to pay for his home on the Windsor estate now that the King no longer gives him financial support.

Continue Reading

Trending