ARMY SET TO BE SHRUNK

The Telegraph reports that the British Army is set to be shrunk by nearly 10,000 troops over the next decade, under plans being considered as part of the defense integrated review which will lead to more funding for equipment and other military supplies. Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, is considering reducing the number of full-time trained strength posts from 82,000 to 72,500 as part of the review, which is due to be published next month. A defence source said that there was no point in having 82,000 people and not having “the right  drones, the right artillery, the right air cover and  armoured personnel vehicles. “If people expect the Armed Forces to look the same at the end of this they will be mistaken.”

 

JABS AND ACCOMMODATION NOT FREE FOR ALL

From the Daily Mail: the Crowne Plaza hotel near Heathrow airport, is among scores of hotels across Britain housing migrants  who have slipped into the country illegally. Many have been put up at the hotel for weeks – or, like 20-year-old Abdul, even months – as they await their asylum claims to be decided. Abdul explained that he and most other migrants at the hotel were given the coronavirus vaccine earlier this week – ahead of thousands of older Britons or people in vulnerable groups. This is a far cry from arrivals from 33 red list countries flying into Heathrow, and four other English airports, from Monday, who will find themselves in strictly-guarded quarantine hotels at a cost per head of £1,750 – a rate for accommodation, transfers, food and drink set by the Government. A few miles away from the Crowne Plaza is the lower-grade three star Ibis Styles Heathrow East hotel. The travellers will be confined to their rooms apart from short breaks outside for exercise or fresh air, watched over by security guards. In normal times guests would be charged around £60 for a standard room, which would normally work out at £600 for ten nights, the length of the quarantine period

 

BBC SEEN AS WORLD CLASS

The Express reports that the BBC’s outgoing chairman David Clementi has taken a veiled swipe at Boris Johnson in his goodbye message to staff and In his parting email to colleagues, Mr Clementi said: “On the occasions I have represented the BBC abroad, I have always been struck by the high regard we are held in.We are one of the very few British institutions to be seen as world class. As I have argued elsewhere, it would be a colossal act of national self-harm if regulators or governments were to take steps which diminished the role of the BBC.” Boris Johnson’s Government has clashed repeatedly with the broadcaster since coming into power. The issues of decriminalising non-payment of the TV licence fee, free licences for over-75s, and improving the services offered by the national broadcaster have been major points of contention

 

THE ECONOMY SHRINKS

The Independent reports that  the economy shrank by a record 9.9 per cent in 2020, official figures show. The recovery slowed markedly in the final three months of 2020 as coronavirus restrictions were tightened to deal with a second wave of cases. Output expanded 1 per cent between October and December, following 16.1 per cent growth in the previous three months, the Office for National Statistics reports. However, it was not enough to make up for a  record plunge in Gross Domestic Product during the first lockdown earlier in the year. The overall decline in output last year was more than twice as deep as in 2009 when the global financial crisis caused GDP to fall 4.1 per cent.Last year’s fall was the biggest since statisticians began calculating GDP in the 1940s. The last fall in output of comparable scale was in 1921 as the nation dealt with the aftermath of the First World War.

 

US GOVERNMENT APPEALS UK COURT  RULING

The Guardian reports that the  US government has appealed a UK judge’s ruling against the extradition of the WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, according to a justice department official. The appeal made clear that Joe Biden intends to have Assange stand trial on espionage- and hacking-related charges over WikiLeaks’ publication of hundreds of thousands of US military and diplomatic documents.

 

BREXIT DEAL TO WIPE £45 BILLION FROM GDP

From the Independent: the Brexit  trade deal will swipe around £45bn over two years from the UK economy, a Brussels analysis says – after Boris Johnson refused to carry out his own study. And the economic damage will be more than four times greater than that suffered by the EU, from the putting up of daunting new barriers to cross channel trade. The Christmas Eve agreement will cut UK output by about 2.25 per cent by the end of 2022 compared with EU membership, the analysis has found. With annual gross domestic product (GDP) standing at around £2 trillion, such a loss would be equivalent to around £45bn over the next two years. Although the hard exit terms will also hit the EU economy, that loss is estimated to be only about 0.5 per cent over the same period. The EU said avoiding the threatened no-deal outcome before the New Year’s Day deadline “improves the situation”. But, its winter economic forecast added: “It cannot come close to matching the benefits of the trading relations provided by EU membership.

 

UP CLOSE AND WHERE THE UK BELONGS

The Express reports: Arch -Rejoiner Lord Andrew Adonis has reignited his attempts to push the UK closer to the European Union, warning doing so in the wake of Brexit and Covid-19 was a matter of economic survival. Lord Adonis has repeatedly demanded another referendum to try to reverse the democratic calls of 17.4 million Britons. Now, Lord Adonis has claimed in the wake of Britain’s full departure from the EU and the coronavirus pandemic, which has seriously damaged economies across the globe, Britain will need closer ties with the EU. He claimed the European Union will still be the absolutely central moving forward and called for the UK to seek a radically closer relationship with the bloc. The Labour peer claimed doing so would be a matter of economic survival.

 

NOW IT’S SOUP KITCHENS

The Mirror reports that soup kitchens in city centres are facing an unprecedented demand for food hand-outs despite sub-zero temperatures and emergency lockdown measures to stem the homelessness crisis. Alarming pictures taken on Monday in Glasgow – where temperatures plummeted to -14C – showed more than 200 people standing patiently in line during a blizzard for hot food. There were similar scenes in London a few days before when the Mirror spent several hours talking to rough sleepers at the capital’s busiest street kitchen. Volunteers are warning that the true scale of the homelessness problem is a ticking time bomb set to explode when lockdown ends.The end of the Government’s eviction ban, combined with an expected wave of redundancies and no uplift in Universal Credit mean many more could soon find themselves with nowhere to live.

 

CHEERS ON THE WAY 

According to the SUN the reopening of hospitality is being fast-tracked in a major boost to the blighted sector — and thirsty Brits.  A government source said: We will hopefully be sipping pints in the spring sunshine sooner rather than later.  The good news came as the UK’s Covid R rate fell below one nationwide for the first time since last July.

 

NO BEAUTY SPOTS THIS HALF-TERM

The SUN reports that police are warning Brits to stay away from popular beauty spots next week as they fear rule-breaking during half-term. The current rules in lockdown prevent non-essential travel, which includes travelling around the UK. However, with the school break coming up next week, many families may try to travel to parts of Britain despite the rules. Rule-breakers will be fined £200 for the first offence – but will double per offence with a maximum £6,400 fine given. Police in the south-west, which attracts tourists to popular locations such as Devon and Cornwall  tweeted: Stay local, Devon and Cornwall will welcome you back soon.

 

QUARANTINE  INFORMATION NOT GIVEN TO BORDER STAFF

The Guardian reports that Immigration officials expected to enforce a mandatory quarantine intended to protect the UK from new coronavirus variants have not been briefed on even the basics about how the system will work, little more than 48 hours before it begins. The Immigration Services Union (ISU), which represents many of the Home Office’s immigration officers, said that before Monday’s start for the new policy, staff had not been told if they would be expected to check for arrivals who had not properly declared their status, or when and how those obliged to quarantine would be taken to hotels. They’ve had no information at all, said Lucy Moreton, general secretary of the ISU. There have already been teething issues with the system. Throughout most of Friday people were still unable to secure hotel rooms, with an official booking portal unavailable due to what the health department called a minor technical issue.

 

RISK OF  VIRUS FOG AT HOTEL QUARANTINE

From the Telegraph: the plan to allow quarantining passengers to leave rooms to smoke or exercise risks Covid outbreaks, says professor Mike Toole, the deputy director of Melbourne’s Burnet Institute. Britain’s lax hotel quarantine, allowing self-isolating passengers to leave their rooms, is very risky, says a leading Australian epidemiologist who helped craft his country’s regime. He said Australia had learned its lesson to restrict all quarantining passengers to their rooms 24/7 after an outbreak when a guest opened their door and a “fog of virus” spread down a corridor and infected hotel staff. However, under UK rules and despite the risk, passengers will be allowed out of their rooms for exercise or to smoke “with special permission from hotel staff or security”.

 

AND FINALLY

From The Mirror: Lulu, an eight-year-old border collie, will now live the rest of her life as a pampered pooch thanks to the generosity of 84-year-old Bill Dorris who died last year after she was left $5million (£3.6m) in her owner’s will. Mr Dorris was constantly away from home due to work so Lulu was looked after by his pal Martha Burton. The will reads: “$5 million will be transferred to a trust to be formed upon my death for the care of my border collie Lulu. This trust is to provide for all the needs of Lulu. The dog will remain in possession of Martha Burton.

 

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