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UK scientists have begun developing vaccines as an insurance against a new pandemic caused by an unknown “Disease X”.

The work is being carried out at the government’s high-security Porton Down laboratory complex in Wiltshire by a team of more than 200 scientists.

They have drawn up a threat list of animal viruses that are capable of infecting humans and could in future spread rapidly around the world.

Which of them will break through and trigger the next pandemic is unknown, which is why it’s referred to only as “Disease X”.

Sky News was escorted around the site, which is run by the UK Health Security Agency, to see the work being done in high-containment labs.

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Risk of future pandemics ‘rising globally’

Professor Dame Jenny Harries, the head of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), told Sky News: “What we’re trying to do here is ensure that we prepare so that if we have a new Disease X, a new pathogen, we have done as much of that work in advance as possible.

“Hopefully we can prevent it [a pandemic]. But if we can’t and we have to respond, then we have already started developing vaccines and therapeutics to crack it.”

The Vaccine Development and Evaluation Centre at Porton Down has been expanded to take on the work.

Originally, it was focused on COVID and testing the effectiveness of vaccines against new variants.

But scientists at the centre are now involved in monitoring several high-risk pathogens, including bird flu, monkeypox and hantavirus, a disease spread by rodents.

File photo dated 25/02/21 of the Dstl high containment lab building at Porton Down in Salisbury, Wiltshire
Image:
File photo of a high containment lab at Porton Down

One early success is the world’s first vaccine against Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, a disease that’s spread by ticks and has a fatality rate of 30%.

Early-stage clinical trials have just started, with 24 volunteers expected to test the jab.

The disease is becoming more common in Europe as global temperatures rise and some travellers have returned to the UK with the infection.

Read more:
Deadly cat virus in Cyprus could be ‘potentially catastrophic for UK’
The NHS COVID app is closing down – but is the pandemic really over?

UK scientists have begun developing vaccines as an insurance against a new pandemic caused by an unknown ‘Disease X’. The work is being carried out at the government’s high-security Porton Down laboratory complex in Wiltshire by a team of more than 200 scientists.

Prof Harries said climate change and population shifts are making another pandemic more likely.

“What we’re seeing is a rising risk globally,” she said.

“Some of that is because of things like urbanisation where you may get virus jumping into humans [living close-by], as we’ve seen with bird flu.

“And some of it is because of climate change where you get things like ticks and mosquitoes moving to where it was previously cold and is now becoming increasingly warm.

“So this is a growing risk agenda. But it’s one we can use our science actively to prevent human impact.”

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Bird flu is currently thought to be the most likely pandemic threat.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds says at least 30,000 seabirds have died around the UK this summer as a more virulent strain of the H5N1 virus has swept around the world.

There is also evidence of limited spread in some mammals.

Bird flu is currently thought to be the most likely pandemic threat. The RSPB says at least 30,000 seabirds have died around the UK this summer as a more virulent strain of the H5N1 virus has swept around the world.
Image:
Bird flu is currently thought to be the most likely pandemic threat

And four people working on poultry farms in the UK have also tested positive, but were only mildly affected.

The UKHSA has started monitoring people in close contact with birds in case it can spread without causing symptoms.

The agency is part of a global effort to develop a vaccine within 100 days of a new pathogen being recognised as having pandemic potential.

“Historically, that would be unheard of,” said Prof Harries.

“It would normally take five or 10 years. For COVID it was around 360 days.

“So this is a really high ambition. But for some viruses, it is definitely possible.”

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Norman Tebbit: Former Tory minister who served in Margaret Thatcher’s government dies aged 94

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Norman Tebbit: Former Tory minister who served in Margaret Thatcher's government dies aged 94

Norman Tebbit, the former Tory minister who served in Margaret Thatcher’s government, has died at the age of 94.

Lord Tebbit died “peacefully at home” late on Monday night, his son William confirmed.

One of Mrs Thatcher’s most loyal cabinet ministers, he was a leading political voice throughout the turbulent 1980s.

He held the posts of employment secretary, trade secretary, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Conservative party chairman before resigning as an MP in 1992 after his wife was left disabled by the Provisional IRA’s bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton.

He considered standing for the Conservative leadership after Mrs Thatcher’s resignation in 1990, but was committed to taking care of his wife.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and party chairman Norman Tebbit.
Pic: PA
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Margaret Thatcher and Norman Tebbit in 1987 after her election victory. Pic: PA

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called him an “icon” in British politics and was “one of the leading exponents of the philosophy we now know as Thatcherism”.

“But to many of us it was the stoicism and courage he showed in the face of terrorism, which inspired us as he rebuilt his political career after suffering terrible injuries in the Brighton bomb, and cared selflessly for his wife Margaret, who was gravely disabled in the bombing,” she wrote on X.

“He never buckled under pressure and he never compromised. Our nation has lost one of its very best today and I speak for all the Conservative family and beyond in recognising Lord Tebbit’s enormous intellect and profound sense of duty to his country.

“May he rest in peace.”

Lord Tebbit and his wife Margaret stand outside the Grand Hotel in Brighton.
Pic: PA
Image:
Lord Tebbit and his wife Margaret stand outside the Grand Hotel in Brighton. Pic: PA

Tory grandee David Davis told Sky News Lord Tebbit was a “great working class Tory, always ready to challenge establishment conventional wisdom for the bogus nonsense it often was”.

“He was one of Thatcher’s bravest and strongest lieutenants, and a great friend,” Sir David said.

“He had to deal with the agony that the IRA visited on him and his wife, and he did so with characteristic unflinching courage. He was a great man.”

Reform leader Nigel Farage said Lord Tebbit “gave me a lot of help in my early days as an MEP”.

He was “a great man. RIP,” he added.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher with Employment Secretary Norman Tebbit.
Pic: PA
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Lord Tebbit as employment secretary in 1983 with Mrs Thatcher. Pic: PA

Born to working-class parents in north London, he was made a life peer in 1992, where he sat until he retired in 2022.

Lord Tebbit was trade secretary when he was injured in the Provisional IRA’s bombing in Brighton during the Conservative Party conference in 1984.

Five people died in the attack and Lord Tebbit’s wife, Margaret, was left paralysed from the neck down. She died in 2020 at the age of 86.

Before entering politics, his first job, aged 16, was at the Financial Times where he had his first experience of trade unions and vowed to “break the power of the closed shop”.

He then trained as a pilot with the RAF – at one point narrowly escaping from the burning cockpit of a Meteor 8 jet – before becoming the MP for Epping in 1970 then for Chingford in 1974.

Norman Tebbit during the debate on the second reading of the European Communities (Amendment) Bill, in the House of Lords.
Pic: PA
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Lord Tebbit during an EU debate in the House of Lords in 1997. Pic: PA

As a cabinet minister, he was responsible for legislation that weakened the powers of the trade unions and the closed shop, making him the political embodiment of the Thatcherite ideology that was in full swing.

His tough approach was put to the test when riots erupted in Brixton, south London, against the backdrop of high rates of unemployment and mistrust between the black community and the police.

He was frequently misquoted as having told the unemployed to “get on your bike”, and was often referred to as “Onyerbike” for some time afterwards.

What he actually said was he grew up in the ’30s with an unemployed father who did not riot, “he got on his bike and looked for work, and he kept looking till he found it”.

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Politics

‘Oui’ or ‘non’ for Starmer’s migration deal?

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'Oui' or 'non' for Starmer's migration deal?

👉Listen to Politics at Sam and Anne’s on your podcast app👈       

The first European state visit since Brexit starts today as President Emmanuel Macron arrives at Windsor Castle.

On this episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy look at what’s on the agenda beyond the pomp and ceremony. Will the government get its “one in, one out” migration deal over the line?

Plus, which one of our presenters needs to make a confession about the 2008 French state visit?

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Coinbase crypto lobby urges Congress to back major crypto bill

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Coinbase crypto lobby urges Congress to back major crypto bill

Coinbase crypto lobby urges Congress to back major crypto bill

US House lawmakers have been urged by 65 crypto organizations to pass the CLARITY Act, which would hand most policing of crypto to the CFTC.

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