PM ‘making plans’ to add evidence of booster jab to COVID passports

Published

2 years ago

November 15, 2021

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Boris Johnson has raised the prospect of Britons soon needing a booster jab to be considered “fully vaccinated” when going abroad or for self-isolation rules.

Speaking at a Downing Street news conference, the prime minister revealed plans to add evidence of a vaccine top-up to the NHS COVID pass.

He also said Britons would find “life easier in all kinds of ways”, including for foreign travel, with a booster dose.

Following an earlier announcement that the rollout of COVID booster shots will now be extended to all over-40s, Mr Johnson highlighted increased vaccination rates as a means of avoiding the reintroduction of domestic restrictions.

The prime minister warned that “storm clouds are gathering over the continent” with a “new wave” of COVID cases sweeping westwards through Europe, prompting some countries to reimpose coronavirus measures.

He said that “countries with lower vaccination rates have tended to see bigger surges in infection, and in turn been forced to respond with harsher measures”.

“We don’t yet know the extent to which this new wave will wash up on our shores, but history shows we cannot afford to be complacent,” Mr Johnson added.

The prime minister said he saw “nothing in the data at the moment” that would force the government to move to “Plan B” of its winter contingency planning for the NHS, which could see the reintroduction of mandatory face masks or the return of work from home guidance.

But he warned that ministers “cannot rule anything out” when asked about the prospect of a Christmas lockdown.

Mr Johnson said the “most important thing people can do” to prevent the reimposition of restrictions was to “get the boosters”.

Asked if evidence of a booster jab would be added to the NHS COVID pass, Mr Johnson replied: “I think we will be making plans to add the booster dose to the NHS COVID travel pass.

“But, again, I think what the general lesson is from anybody who wants to travel, you can see that getting fully vaccinated with a booster is going to be something that will, on the whole, make your life easier in all kinds of ways, including on foreign travel.

“So I would just say, if you’re thinking about that, then this is yet another reason to get it done.”

The prime minister later suggested that, at some point, only those who have had a booster jab – which for most people is a third vaccine dose – would be considered “fully vaccinated”.

“On boosters, it’s very clear that getting three jabs, getting your booster, will become an important fact and it will make life easier for you in all sorts of ways,” he said.

“We will have to adjust our concept of what constitutes a full vaccination to take account of that. I think that is increasingly obvious.

“The booster massively increases your protection, it takes it right back up to over 90%. As we can see from what’s happening, the [protections afforded by] two jabs sadly do start to wane.

“We’ve got to be responsible and we’ve got to reflect that fact in the way we measure what constitutes full vaccination.”

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The prime minister said that, so far, around 12.6m people across the UK have had a booster jab.

In England, this includes three-quarters of all people aged over-70 and 80% of eligible older people in care homes.

It would be an “utter tragedy” if people who had had two vaccine doses “ended up becoming seriously ill or even losing their lives because they allowed their immunity to wane”, Mr Johnson added.

UK

Natalie Elphicke: Who is the Tory MP who defected to Labour at PMQs?

Published

6 hours ago

May 8, 2024

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Natalie Elphicke: Who is the Tory MP who defected to Labour at PMQs?

It has been fewer than two years since Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves told Tory MP Natalie Elphicke to “f*** off” for criticising Marcus Rashford at the Euros. Now they are colleagues.

Ms Elphicke crossed the floor of the House of Commons to join Labour ahead of Prime Minister’s Questions, causing a stir on both sides of the House.

The Dover MP has long been critical of the Labour Party – especially on immigration – but she now says the party has “changed out of all recognition” and is trying to create “a Britain everyone can be a part of”.

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Ms Elphicke added that the Conservatives “ousted” Boris Johnson in a “coup led by the unelected Rishi Sunak” – with the party now a “byword for incompetence and division”.

So who is Natalie Elphicke, what are her policies, and why did she defect?

Who is Natalie Elphicke?

Professionally a solicitor, Ms Elphicke was long involved in Conservative Party politics, working with thinktanks and on policy goals.

She was not selected to contest a parliamentary seat until 2019 – despite trying before – although the opportunity emerged from scandal.

Her now ex-husband, Charlie Elphicke, had been the Conservative MP for Dover, but he was arrested, charged and eventually convicted of three counts of sexual assault in 2020.

The court heard he had chased one woman around his house while chanting “I’m a naughty Tory”.

Ms Elphicke contested the Dover seat in 2019 for the Conservatives after her husband’s arrest, and almost doubled the majority to 12,278.

She will not be standing at the next general election, and campaigned for Liz Truss to become prime minister in 2022.

What are her policies?

Ms Elphicke has been outspoken on migration, especially as the MP for Dover.

It was alongside Ms Elphicke that Rishi Sunak announced his plan to stop small boats crossing the English Channel was working in Dover last year.

In the minutes after her defection, Conservative MPs began sharing previous statements from Ms Elphicke.

For example, in April 2023, Ms Elphicke wrote in the Daily Express that Labour’s attempts to stop the Rwanda deportation scheme was “dangerous” – and that Sir Keir Starmer wanted to create “loopholes” in the system.

And Tory MPs also shared a social media post from late 2022 in which Ms Elphicke claimed: “A reminder that Labour back fewer and weaker border controls when it comes to illegal arrivals on our shores.”

In the wake of England’s loss in the Euro 2020 final – held in 2021 due to COVID – Ms Elphicke sent a private message which said: “They lost – would it be ungenerous to suggest Rashford should have spent more time perfecting his game and less time playing politics.”

She later apologised, although when asked about the comments, Ms Reeves said in late 2022 that Ms Elphicke should “f*** off”.

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Why did she defect?

In a statement shared by the Labour Party, Ms Elphicke mentioned Mr Sunak “failing” on keeping “our borders safe and secure”.

She added: “Meanwhile Labour plan to build the homes we need, help young people onto the housing ladder and care about the vulnerable and homeless. That’s why I’m honoured to have been asked to work with Keir and the team to help deliver the homes we need.

“We need to move on from the broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic government. Britain needs a government that will build a future of hope, optimism, opportunity and fairness.

“A Britain everyone can be part of, that will make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead. That’s why it’s time for change. Time for a Labour government led by Keir Starmer.

“The general election cannot come soon enough.”

UK

Sky Sports to show all English Football League opening weekend matches for first time

Published

6 hours ago

May 8, 2024

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Sky Sports to show all English Football League opening weekend matches for first time

Every match from the opening round of the three English Football League (EFL) divisions will be streamed live in a broadcasting first.

The airing of all 36 fixtures on the weekend of 10 and 11 August will be on a new Sky Sports + service from the parent company of Sky News.

It marks the start of a new five-year broadcasting rights deal between Sky and the EFL, covering the professional leagues below the Premier League.

Sky Sports managing director Jonathan Licht said: “For the first time, we will broadcast every game live from across the EFL on the opening weekend.

“It’s going to be a huge moment for football fans up and down the country and is a fitting way to kick off our ground-breaking new partnership with the EFL.”

Matches that kick-off at 3pm on Saturdays cannot usually be broadcast live to UK audiences due to a long-running blackout rule.

Also known as Article 48, it is a blacked-out period between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on Saturday afternoons when live football can’t be shown, meaning on most weekends the main broadcast fixtures are done around this time period.

But for the opening weekend, the blackout would not be in place, with the Premier League starting a week later.

Sky Sports + is a new TV channel launching in August along with live streams.

It will bring four times as many matches from the EFL with all 72 teams featured more than 20 times in a season.

Alongside football, it will bring increased coverage from golf and tennis as well.

The ATP and WTA Tours, US Open tennis as well as PGA Tour golf will all be more readily available to viewers.

The service will also offer more sports documentaries and can concurrently stream more than 100 sporting events.

UK

TSB to shut 36 branches and cut hundreds of jobs as full list of closures announced

Published

6 hours ago

May 8, 2024

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TSB to shut 36 branches and cut hundreds of jobs as full list of closures announced

High street bank TSB has announced 250 job losses and the closure of 36 branches.

The job cuts will be in the fraud operations department of the bank, central operations and staff who work at the branches earmarked for closure.

Trade union Unite said the decision was a “grave mistake” and customers would “undoubtedly suffer a downgrade in service from these job cuts”.

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The latest round of branch closures will start in September, and continue through to May next year.

TSB will have 175 branches across the UK after the latest round of closures. Ten branches have already been closed over the last year.

The branches to be closed in September are in:
Alloa
Bedworth
Birmingham, Pype Hayes
Bridlington
Buxton
Carmarthen
Cwmbran
Dovercourt
Edinburgh, Leith
Felixstowe
Frome
Glasgow, Cardonald
Glasgow, Castlemilk
Haddington
Hounslow
Lerwick
Leven
London, Bethnal Green
London, Clapham
Longton
Manchester, Middleton
Newcastle upon Tyne
Peterhead
Sheerness
Stornoway
Torquay
Whitehaven

The branches due to be closed in May 2025 are in:
Amble
Aylsham
Banff
Bedlington
Bude
Crook
Flint
Tenbury Wells
Whitchurch

The closures come as the lender said most account holders do their banking online and there is a need to “better balance” staff in face-to-face and digital roles.

A TSB spokesperson said it is making the changes “to remain competitive” and “to simplify the way we operate”.

“Our priority is to consult with impacted colleagues to ensure they’re fully supported, maximising redeployment opportunities where we can,” the spokesperson added.

“We remain committed to a national branch network and through innovation and integration with video, telephone, digital, branch and other face-to-face services TSB customers have more ways to bank with us than ever before.”

The workers who are due to lose their jobs “perform essential work in the fraud departments and across the branch network”, Unite regional officer Andy Case said.

“Through extensive negotiations Unite has been able to substantially reduce the number of jobs at risk. However, that isn’t sufficient, the union is pressing TSB to urgently reconsider its damaging bank branch closures plan.

“At a time when customers are increasingly concerned about financial fraud and often need support from a local bank branch this is the wrong course of action.”

The union said it is holding fresh talks with TSB in an attempt to prevent further job cuts.

Cuts were anticipated after the boss of TSB’s Spanish parent firm Sabadell told reporters in February that cost-saving plans would result in job losses and branch closures.