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The health secretary has said it is going to be a “great Christmas” as he defended not imposing stricter restrictions to combat the new COVID variant.

Sajid Javid told Trevor Phillips On Sunday it would be “irresponsible to make guarantees” but the measures announced this week in reaction to the Omicron variant will “buy us time” to enable scientists to assess it.

“People should continue with their plans as normal for Christmas, I think it’s going to be a great Christmas,” he said.

Mr Javid said he did not think stricter measures needed to be imposed just yet as social distancing and work from home directives “carry a very heavy price, economically, socially, in terms of non-COVID health outcomes”.

“If one was to make decisions like that they’d have to be made very very carefully, we’re not there yet, we’re nowhere near that,” he added.

The new measures are:

• Anyone arriving in the UK will have to take a PCR test and self-isolate until they get a negative result

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• From Tuesday, face coverings will also be compulsory in shops and on public transport in England

• Those who come into contact with someone who tests positive for the Omicron variant will need to self-isolate for 10 days, even if they are fully vaccinated – this will be introduced “as soon as possible”

• South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia are now on the red list so arrivals will have to quarantine in a government-approved hotel for 10 days at a cost of £2,285.

Challenged on whether people will listen to the mask mandate given a drop in the public wearing masks, Mr Javid said: “This is about protecting the progress we’ve made.

“You said in your estimation about a third of people don’t wear masks but I would think you probably haven’t been taking those soundings since people have begun to understand more about this new variant and why the government has thought these new measures are appropriate.

“I do think people will take this more seriously and I think that will apply to public transport, it will apply to shops, it will be a regulation as it has been before.

“But it’s important to react in a proportionate, and also a temporary way, I hope this is something we can remove within weeks.”

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FBOT registry won’t bring offshore crypto exchanges to the US — Attorney

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<div>FBOT registry won't bring offshore crypto exchanges to the US — Attorney</div>

<div>FBOT registry won't bring offshore crypto exchanges to the US — Attorney</div>

The Foreign Board of Trade (FBOT) framework is designed for the legacy financial system and is a poor fit for cryptocurrency exchanges.

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‘Scam of all scams’: Crypto dev claims Trump-linked WLFI ‘stole’ his money

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‘Scam of all scams’: Crypto dev claims Trump-linked WLFI ‘stole’ his money

‘Scam of all scams’: Crypto dev claims Trump-linked WLFI ‘stole’ his money

A crypto developer says Trump-linked crypto project WLFI froze his tokens and refused to unlock them, calling it “the new age mafia.”

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Farage confirms he wants to deport women asylum seekers back to Taliban in Afghanistan

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Farage confirms he wants to deport women asylum seekers back to Taliban in Afghanistan

Nigel Farage has confirmed he wants to deport women asylum seekers back to the Taliban in Afghanistan if he becomes prime minister.

The Reform UK leader’s position on the topic has not been clear, with him previously saying he would send women back to the fundamentalist regime that took over after western militaries withdrew, before now saying he would.

Mr Farage was speaking to Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby at the Reform UK party conference in Birmingham.

Politics live: Govt responds to Farage wanting early election

When asked if he would “detain” women and children and “send them back”, the Clacton MP said “yes”.

Challenged on when he said in August that he was not “discussing” women and children, Mr Farage claimed this was a reference to his desire to seeing men detained on arrival in the UK.

At the time he said he was “very, very clear” on the “deportation of illegal immigrants”, adding: “We are not even discussing women and children at this stage – there are so many illegal males in Britain, and the news reports that said that after my conference yesterday were wrong”

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Speaking today, Mr Farage claimed that the UK has a “duty of care” if a four-year-old arrives in a dinghy, for example – but not so for women and men.

“For clarity, those that cross the English Channel will be detained and deported, men and women,” Mr Farage went on.

“Children, we’ll have to think about.”

The Reform leader also rowed back on his pledge to stop all boats within two weeks if he is elected prime minister.

Speaking to the conference yesterday, Mr Farage said: “You cannot come here illegally and stay – we will stop the boats within two weeks of winning government.”

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Watch Farage face questions on his tax affairs

But speaking to Beth Rigby today, he changed tack – saying “the passing of legislation” would be required.

He said the boats would then be stopped within two weeks, or sooner.

In the interview with Rigby, Mr Farage tried to claim he did not say he would end the boats within two weeks of “winning government”.

But the video of his speech, as well as the transcript released by Reform UK, clearly show him saying: “We will stop the boats within two weeks of winning government.”

When asked why he wouldn’t be able to stop the boats within two weeks of winning government, Mr Farage said it was impossible and “no one” can prevent them crossing the Channel.

The Reform UK leader said the law he wants to introduce will be called the Illegal Migration Act once it is passed by parliament.

He confirmed his agenda includes leaving the European Convention on Human Rights, shutting down asylum hotels and housing people at RAF bases instead, as well as deporting Channel migrants.

Mr Farage also claimed that deportation flights would also begin within two weeks of the law changing, and this combination of factors would stop people from wanting to travel from France.

This strategy all depends on Reform UK winning the next general election – which Labour does not have to call until 2029.

However, Mr Farage says he believes the government will collapse in 2027 due to economic pressure and other factors.

Reform are currently well clear of Labour and the Conservatives in the polling, and are targeting next year’s Welsh, Scottish and English local election to try and win more power in councils and national assemblies.

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