[Ed note: Debbie is still not well enough to do her News Review, so a new correspondent has stepped up to the mark. We’re very grateful indeed!]

BREXIT 

The Daily Express reports that Boris has warned the EU  that the Brexit Deal must be ratified by February 28th and that the time scale was reasonable and proportionate.

Delays are apparently being caused by the time needed to translate the 1,246-page document in into 23 EU languages sources have told the Daily Express.

  

COVID 

 Ministers are being urged to tell Britons that getting the covid 19 ‘jab’ is not  a licence to ignore restrictions. The Daily Telegraph reports that ministers have been told that millions of people will start to relax their attitude towards social distancing and other rules and that scientists have told ministers that they should look at introducing  stricter lockdown measures if this happens.

Meanwhile the Daily Mail reports that older people are facing a postcode lottery as some pensioners are fearful that they may have been overlooked as they are still waiting for their ‘jab’ as an unnamed minister has apparently said that ‘something is not right’.

The Independent reports that  the UK now has the highest death rate from the virus of any country in the world, the latest data has revealed. An average of 935 daily deaths in the UK over the last week was the equivalent of more than 16 people in every million dying each day

 

TRANSPORT 

THE SUN carries a report that  Rishi Sunak has privately warned he would be forced to hike fuel duty by five pence per litre to pay for extending the Universal Credit uplift post lockdown.

 

SMART MOTORWAYS

The Times reports: The lack of a hard shoulder on smart motorways contributed to the deaths of two motorists, a coroner ruled yesterday. He called for an urgent review of roads that present a risk of fatalities.

 

EU

According to a report in the Express Italy is on a collision course with the European Union this year after the coronavirus pandemic left the leading member state with “an almost unmanageable public debt” crisis. Italy is set for a dramatic showdown with Brussels this year after Covid ravaged the country’s economy.

 

HOME OFFICE

The Independent reports that Priti Patel has been accused of dodging parliament following the loss of hundreds of thousands of police records that were deleted by faulty software.

The home secretary said a “major technical operation” was underway to undo the damage caused by the loss of around 400,000 records from the Police National Computer (PNC) – including fingerprint, DNA and arrest history records.

 

 

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