Work from home guidance, COVID passports and mandatory wearing of face-masks will be scrapped in England, as Boris Johnson announced the lifting of Plan B measures. The prime minister said people will no longer be told to work from home “from now on”, and from Thursday next week mandatory mask-wearing and COVID certification will end.
UK
Boris Johnson will face a confidence vote in his leadership of the Conservative Party after enough MPs submitted letters calling for a contest. It will take place between 6pm and 8pm this evening in the House of Commons and an announcement is expected about an hour after the vote closes. After months of speculation, it
Boris Johnson is set to announce an easing of Plan B coronavirus restrictions in England. The prime minister will go through the latest COVID-19 data on Wednesday morning with his ministers, before making a statement to MPs. Mr Johnson’s Commons announcement comes as pressure continues to mount over parties and gatherings held in Downing Street
Boris Johnson has said “nobody told me” the Number 10 garden party during lockdown was “against the rules”. The prime minister said he “humbly apologises” to people for misjudgements that were made but he would not have gone ahead with the event if he thought it broke the rules. He said: “I’m saying categorically that
Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser has said the prime minister knew in advance about a Downing Street drinks party during the first coronavirus lockdown and agreed that it could go ahead. In an updated post on his Substack page, Dominic Cummings said he raised his concerns about the event in the Number 10 garden in
The body of a British woman swept away by the tsunami in Tonga has been found, her brother has confirmed. Angela Glover, from Brighton, disappeared after an undersea volcano erupted near the country on Saturday, sending large tsunami waves crashing across the island’s shore. The 50-year-old’s family and friends had appealed for information on her
Prince Andrew has been accused of “victim blaming” and “gaslighting” after his lawyers asked for Virginia Giuffre’s mental health records – including confidential notes from her counselling sessions. The Duke of York’s legal team want to question Ms Giuffre’s psychologist Dr Judith Lightfoot about her “alleged emotional and psychological harm and damages”. His lawyers have
Coronavirus restrictions in England could be lifted by the end of January, with the Tory party chairman saying he was “hopeful”, thanks to “encouraging signs”. The current Plan B rules – which includes the mandatory wearing of face masks in some settings, the use of vaccine passports or negative lateral flow tests to enter some
Prince Harry has filed a claim for a judicial review over a Home Office decision to not to allow him to privately pay for police protection for himself and his family during a visit to the UK. A legal representative for Harry said he wants to bring his son Archie and seven-month-old baby daughter Lilibet
Boris Johnson should be kicked out in the national interest, the Labour leader has said following fresh claims of Downing Street boozing in defiance of lockdown restrictions. Sir Keir Starmer has further ramped up the pressure on the embattled prime minister arguing he had lost his moral authority and was too preoccupied in “defending his
Boris Johnson is facing claims that regular drinking sessions were held in Downing Street throughout the COVID pandemic with reports that staff held “wine-time Fridays”. In fresh allegations in the “partygate” scandal engulfing the prime minister, it is alleged that the weekly event was scheduled into the electronic calendars of around 50 staff in Number
Number 10 has apologised to the Queen over two parties held in Downing Street on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral. The prime minister’s spokesperson said it was “deeply regrettable that this took place at a time of national mourning”. Earlier on Friday, the prime minister’s former director of communications apologised “unreservedly” for one of
Downing Street has failed to deny reports that two parties took place at No 10 the night before Prince Philip’s COVID-restricted funeral – at a time when indoor mixing was banned. In fresh claims that will further fuel the “partygate” crisis afflicting the prime minister, it is claimed that Downing Street staff drank alcohol into
The Sue Gray report into parties in Downing Street and Whitehall that may have broken COVID rules could be published as soon as tomorrow, according to a government source. Downing Street has said discussions are still ongoing between the officials involved with the investigation by the senior civil servant and the Metropolitan Police, which announced
The isolation period for fully vaccinated people in England who test positive for COVID will be reduced from seven days to five, the health secretary has announced. “Two-thirds of positive cases are no longer infectious by the end of day five,” Health Secretary Sajid Javid told the Commons, citing data from the UK Health Security
A US judge has set out his reasons for rejecting Prince Andrew’s bid to have the sexual assault civil lawsuit against him thrown out. The Duke of York is being sued by Virginia Giuffre who claims he “committed sexual assault and battery” upon her when she was a teenager. In a 46-page document, Judge Lewis
The rollout of “all-lane-running” smart motorways is being paused amid safety concerns, following a government inquiry. The Department for Transport (DfT) says it will pause the expansion of smart motorways, where the hard shoulder is permanently a live traffic lane until there’s five years’ worth of data on drivers’ safety. Where work is already underway,
Boris Johnson “is going nowhere” and “retains the confidence of the people of this country”, a minister has claimed, as pressure mounts over Downing Street holding a “bring your own booze” party during the first COVID lockdown. The prime minister and his wife Carrie are understood to have been among 40 people in attendance at
The prime minister and his wife Carrie attended a “bring your own booze” event in the Downing Street garden during the UK’s first national COVID lockdown. More than 100 employees in Number 10 were invited to the drinks on 20 May 2020. In what has been described as evidence of “more rule breaking at the heart
A judge has rejected Prince Andrew’s attempt to have the sexual assault lawsuit against him thrown out. US judge Lewis Kaplan refused to dismiss the case after hearing arguments from lawyers representing the royal and his accuser Virginia Giuffre. It means the royal will face a civil sex case trial later this year. The Duke