Brexit
Express
BREXIT naysayers carping about a bumper UK trade agreement with Australia over concerns about the proposed removal of tariffs are threatening to derail Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Global Britain vision, with the result that the UK will still be tied to Brussels, a campaigner has warned.
Jayne Adye was speaking at the end of a week in which splits were revealed in cabinet between International Trade Secretary Liz Truss, who is working feverishly to get a deal over the line, and Environment Secretary George Eustice, who has voiced grave concerns over the plan, which would see tariffs phased out over a 15-year period. The National Farmers Union is also opposed to the plan as things stand, with general secretary Minette Batters describing the planned agreement as “incredibly concerning” while claiming it would “offer incredibly little benefit to the economy”.
However, Mrs Adye, director of grassroots pro-Brexit campaign group Get Britain Out, said: “Since we joined the European Economic Community back in 1973, the United Kingdom has been unable to pursue our own global trading agenda.
EU
Express
THE EU has been accused of “bullying” Switzerland, after the Alpine nation abandoned seven years of negotiations towards a new trade deal.
Relations between Switzerland and Brussels are governed by more than 100 bilateral treaties. EU leaders had hoped to simplify this whilst further integrating Switzerland into their economic sphere.
However, Switzerland has now abandoned negotiations with Ignazio Cassis, the country’s foreign minister, saying its conditions were “not met”.
There was particular anger in Switzerland over EU demands for freedom of movement to include the non-employed.
This would entitle them to full access to the Swiss social security system.
David Bannerman, a former Tory MEP, accused Brussels of seeking to bully the Swiss on Twitter.
Covid
Mail
An explosive new study claims that Chinese scientists created COVID-19 in a Wuhan lab, then tried to cover their tracks by reverse-engineering versions of the virus to make it look like it evolved naturally from bats.
The paper’s authors, British Professor Angus Dalgleish and Norwegian scientist Dr. Birger Sørensen, wrote that they have had ‘prima facie evidence of retro-engineering in China‘ for a year – but were ignored by academics and major journals.
Dalgleish is a professor of oncology at St George’s University, London, and is best known for his breakthrough creating the first working ‘HIV vaccine’, to treat diagnosed patients and allow them to go off medication for months.
Sørensen, a virologist, is chair of pharmaceutical company, Immunor, which developed a coronavirus vaccine candidate called Biovacc-19. Dalgleish also has share options in the firm.
The shocking allegations in the study include accusations of ‘deliberate destruction, concealment or contamination of data’ at Chinese labs, and it notes the silencing and disappearance of scientists in the communist country who spoke out.
The journal article, exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com and slated for publication in the coming days, is set to make waves among the scientific community, as the majority of experts have until recently staunchly denied the origins of COVID-19 were anything other than a natural infection leaping from animals to humans.
Freedom Day
Mail
Ministers are working to scrap social distancing but keep face masks and work from home guidance in place after the June 21 ‘Freedom Day’ amid concerns over the spread of the Indian variant.
The Treasury is said to be prioritising the end of the ‘one metre plus’ rule and the ‘rule of six’ indoors, in a bid to kickstart the British economy which has been battered by successive lockdowns since March last year.
Though the Government wants to end restrictions on mass gatherings to allow festivals, concerts and sporting events to go ahead, ministers are said to be worried that the variant could jeopardise the roadmap and are discussing contingency plans that would mean only a partial end to shutdown.
It comes as Britain on Friday recorded more than 4,000 daily cases for the first time since April, and as the R value – which measures the average number of people each infected person will pass the virus on to – moved above 1 for the first time since January, as the second wave ripped through the country.
A Treasury source told the Times that the Government is prepared for the worst-case scenario that the Indian variant led to a surge in hospital cases, pointing to the fact that the furlough scheme continues until September.
But in an attempt to reduce the spread of the virus, face coverings could still be required on public transport and in indoor public spaces – while guidance stating people must work from home if they can may also stay in place.
Times
Facemasks and work from home guidance could remain in place after June 21 under government plans to “prioritise” the end of social distancing if the Indian variant continues to surge, The Times has been told.
Ministers are increasingly concerned that the variant’s spread could undermine plans to lift all restrictions next month. They are discussing contingency plans that could mean only a partial end to the lockdown
The Treasury is prioritising the end of the “one metre plus” distancing rule and the “rule of six” indoors, which is viewed as crucial to supporting hospitality and retail and helping the economy to recover. Ministers also want to end rules that limit mass gatherings so that festivals, concerts and sporting events can go ahead.
Evening Standard
Caution is needed in determining whether England’s coronavirus restrictions can be lifted next month or the situation could turn bad “very, very quickly”, a professor whose argument against herd immunity helped trigger England’s first lockdown has warned.
Sir Tim Gowers, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, told The Guardian the downside of being “a bit more cautious” was a lot smaller than the downside of getting it wrong.
Asked about the next step in lockdown easing in England, due on June 21, Prof Gowers said he did not believe the plans were necessarily at risk, but urged caution.
“Because Boris Johnson has made a big thing about all the steps being irreversible, I think he’s put himself in a position where once he takes a step, he’ll be extremely reluctant to reverse because that would be a big U-turn, an embarrassing climbdown,” he said.
Independent
Prime minister Boris Johnson is facing mounting pressure to delay lifting all lockdown restrictions on 21 June as experts warn that cases could rise exponentially after the fourth stage of the roadmap out of lockdown is reached.
Cambridge professor Sir Tim Gowers, who is credited with warning the government off their initial herd immunity strategy, said that things “will get bad very, very quickly” if the timing is misjudged, as the number of daily infections hit its highest level since late March. Downing Street say it’s too early to make a decision.
Meanwhile, Vietnam’s health minister has said that a new variant of Covid-19 has been detected in the country, according to the VnExpress newspaper.
Nguyen Thanh Long reportedly said that the new variant is a “hybrid” of the existing Indian and UK variants and that it appears to spread quickly by air.
ITV News
Caution is needed in determining whether England’s coronavirus restrictions can be lifted next month or the situation could turn bad “very, very quickly”, a professor whose argument against herd immunity helped trigger England’s first lockdown has warned.
Sir Tim Gowers, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, told The Guardian the downside of being “a bit more cautious” was a lot smaller than the downside of getting it wrong.
Asked about the next step in lockdown easing in England, due on June 21, Prof Gowers said he did not believe the plans were necessarily at risk, but urged caution.
“Because Boris Johnson has made a big thing about all the steps being irreversible, I think he’s put himself in a position where once he takes a step, he’ll be extremely reluctant to reverse because that would be a big U-turn, an embarrassing climbdown,” he said.
“So I think if that’s the way you’re going to play things, then you should be very, very cautious about every step you take … And maybe everything [will] be OK, maybe the number of people who are vaccinated will be just enough … ‘R’ will broadly speaking stay below one even with Indian variants.
“But if it’s not OK, we know, because of mathematics, that things will get bad very, very quickly. Or at least, maybe it won’t look that quick to start with, but it’ll grow exponentially.
Breitbart
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that it was “too early to say” if the end of COVID-19 restrictions will come on June 21st as scheduled.
Mr Hancock made the remarks amidst the latest government figures revealing that up to three-quarters of new Chinese coronavirus cases are the Indian variant. Another mutant strain has also been found in the UK, first identified in Thailand, the government says.
“It is too early now to say, yet, whether we can take the full step four on June 21. I desperately want us to, but we will only do that if it’s safe.” Mr Hancock said during a press conference on Thursday, according to The Times.
Sun
PUB-GOERS look set for a boost as ministers are prioritising the return of ordering at the bar over ditching face masks.
The Sun understands that No10’s biggest priority is to scrap social distancing on June 21 over other restrictions.
Getting punters back into packed boozers and restaurants is seen as absolutely crucial for businesses – and the Treasury’s coffers.
Whitehall insiders reckon this “big ticket” goal of scrapping the 1 metre rule would have the biggest impact on Brits’ lives and the economy.
But they will only press the button on the massive lockdown easing if the Covid data looks good enough.
The revelation comes as Brits anxiously wait to see if Boris Johnson goes ahead with his plan to ditch lockdown measures on June 21 amid concerns about Indian Covid.
In a boost to the nation’s hopes, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said “there’s nothing in the data that suggests to me that we should move the day” restrictions are lifted.
Care homes
Telegraph
Dominic Cummings has been accused of “sabotaging” the ramp-up of Covid testing last year as allies of Matt Hancock hit back at claims he lied about protecting care homes.
One source suggested testing could have reached 150,000 per day by the end of April last year – rather than the 100,000 that was achieved – if Mr Cummings had not ordered staff to ignore Mr Hancock’s orders.
As the war of words between Mr Cummings and the Hancock camp escalated, friends of the Health Secretary also pointed out that the vaccination programme had been the biggest success of the past year “and Dom had nothing to do with that”.
Mr Cummings told a committee of MPs on Wednesday that Mr Hancock should have been fired for “lying” about the extent to which hospital patients were being tested before they were discharged to care homes.
He said Mr Hancock had misled the Prime Minister by promising that patients were being tested before discharge, but Mr Hancock has insisted Mr Cummings is mistaken, and that he only committed to ensuring patients would be tested once there was sufficient capacity.
Now allies of Mr Hancock have gone on the attack, saying testing of hospital discharges might have happened more quickly if Mr Cummings had not meddled in the process.
Guardian
The UK business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, has defended Matt Hancock against criticism that he failed to protect people in care homes at the outset of the Covid pandemic, saying residents “were protected as far as we could”.
The health secretary is under mounting pressure after Dominic Cummings accused him of promising ministers that all care residents in England were tested before being discharged back to their homes and then lying about this. On Thursday, Hancock denied the allegation but his explanation that it “wasn’t possible” to test all care home residents before they were discharged from hospital last March because the testing capacity was not yet available, has been called into question.
Kwarteng said it was “very easy with hindsight” to say where things could have been improved.
“I completely understand the anger and frustration about care homes, because a large number of people died, and it was a terrible situation,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “I think what Mr Hancock said was very clear. He’s always maintained that he wanted to build up the testing capacity. I think he was largely successful in that.”
Scotland
Express
A SCOTTISH trade body warned rejoining the EU would cost billions in savings and income as Scotland would be required to have its own central bank which would have a currency worth 20 percent less than the Pound Sterling.
CEO of Scottish Business UK Struan Stevenson spoke to Express.co.uk and warned it would be a “disaster” if Scotland chose to create its own central bank to rejoin the EU as economists have warned a new currency would be worth around a fifth less than the Pound Sterling. Membership of the EU requires a central bank which would ultimately see a new Scottish currency introduced – converting mortgages and other financial contracts from Sterling into this new currency. But the value of savings, pensions and other accounts would see their values drop as economists predict the value would be much less than the Pound.
More confusingly, however, Scotland has additional options to consider when rejoining the EU which includes either adopting the Euro – or negotiating an opt-out like the UK did when it was a member – or continue to use Sterling without control over the lending.
Telegraph
The scale of apathy towards Scottish independence by English voters has been revealed by an exclusive Telegraph poll, which found only 20 per cent “strongly oppose” separation.
Aside from Covid, it has become the most pressing issue of Boris Johnson’s premiership.
With Nicola Sturgeon insisting it is a case of “when not if” the SNP holds a second independence referendum, the Prime Minister knows the future of the UK lies in his hands.
Despite Scotland’s First Minister failing to win an outright majority at Holyrood earlier this month, she appears hell-bent on Scottish separatism.
This week, she even went so far as to suggest that she would consider ministerial posts for the radical Left-wing Scottish Greens to shore up her mandate for another ballot. The SNP won 64 seats in the election – one short of a majority – and the Greens currently have seven seats, raising the prospect of a coalition.
Mail
Nicola Sturgeon kept Glasgow in high lockdown for another week today as she revealed that the Indian Covid variant has seen cases hit their highest since March.
The First Minister said that the country’s R rate may have risen as high as 1.3 with the new strain accounting for half of cases.
But she added that the evidence pointed to younger people – who are less likely to experience severe illness – being the most affected.
While the current outbreak in Glasgow showed signs of ‘stabilising’ she said it was too early to open it up. Instead it will stay in Level 3 for at least another week, before potentially moving to Level 2.
Glasgow is the only part of Scotland under Level 3 lockdown rules, prohibiting non-essential travel out of the area and imposing greater restrictions on socialising, hospitality and businesses.
Speaking at the coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh on Friday, the First Minister said there still needed to be a ‘reasonable degree of caution’ exercised across the country.
Case numbers, she said, are on the rise in Scotland, with Friday’s daily case number the highest since March 25.
Olympics
Times
Japan will extend the state of emergency in its biggest cities to June 20, barely a month before the Tokyo Olympics are due to begin.
The decision is a further setback to the government’s efforts to persuade an anxious population that the Games can he held safely, amid growing calls for them to be cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The emergency measures were due to have been lifted at the end of this month. The opening ceremony, in the National Stadium in Tokyo, is set for July 23.
In designated areas, which include Tokyo and Osaka, bars and restaurants are forbidden from serving alcohol. Parks, museums, public facilities and some shops have closed or reduced their hours.
Alzheimer’s
Mail
A breakthrough drug to combat Alzheimer’s disease could be available in the UK on the NHS as early as 2022.
Regulators in the US are set to approve Aducanumab – developed by multi-national biotech firm Biogen – in the coming days.
The drug helps untangle clusters of plaque in the brain, suggesting it could stop the progression of the disease.
Around one million Britons are affected by Alzheimer’s, which slowly destroys memory, thinking skills and the ability to carry out the simplest of tasks.
Celebrities including EastEnders actress Barbara Windsor, former-US President Ronald Reagan and footballer Ray Wilson all suffered from it.
Clinical trials found that patients given Aducanumab showed an improvement in language skills and capacity to keep track of time. Those using the drug also saw a slower loss of memory.
The medicines currently available to treat Alzheimer’s only hide the symptoms of the disease and cannot slow its development.
Mirror
The first ever drug shown to work against Alzheimer’s could be available on the NHS by next year.
Aducanumab, if confirmed to slow mental decline, could be approved in the US next week.
Alzheimers affects one million Brits and killed legend Barbara Windsor. Alzheimer’s Research UK said: “There’s huge hope now.”
Millions of Alzheimer’s sufferers have been given fresh hope as the US is set to approve the new breakthrough drug within days.
If found to work by US regulators it would signal one of the biggest breakthroughs since the disease was discovered in 1906.
Clinical trial data is being analysed to see whether Aducanumab slows the decline in memory and thinking skills.
Early results indicated it slowed mental decline in patients given it at an early stage by 22% after 18 months.
What is it about these dictator type politicians? The Sturgeon lost her outright majority in the Scottish Parliament but she is still throwing her weight about and shouting the odds about Scottish Independence! Will no-one tell that abominable female to pipe down? I’m sick of the sight of her. Even more that the sight of The Handcock….and that IS saying something!
If the politicians carry on allowing the concreting over of land (and go ahead with the suggestion that Farmers be encouraged to ‘retire’ and give up their lands!!!!) there wont be enough farm land left to graze animals on never mind grow wheat for bread. When I see the amount of farm land that has been swallowed up for housing in my area, I can see famine on the horizon should there ever come a day when we need to provide more home grown food to feed gather nation! So…..while I can see where the NFU are coming from, what are they doing to stop the developers encroaching on land that should be used for food production? Or is it going to be a case of Marie Antoinette….”let them eat cake”!
Little snippets leaking out from Wuhan eh? Interesting.
The National Farmers Union is right to be concerned about tha Australia Trade Deal.
Its effect will be on a par with the abolishing of the Corn Laws in 1846. The devastation of British Agriculture.
We have what are perhaps the highest standards of animal welfare anywhere, with the possible exception of Sweden. But in the interests of a “deal” we are expected to import beef and sheep meat that is produced in a fashion that is forbidden in the UK.
If the intention is to provide “cheap food”, regardless of the consequences, then OK. That was the ireasoning behind the 1846 Corn Laws Act. But remember; in 1916 Lloyd George’s government had to introduce food rationing. Why? Because those nasty Germans were sinking the ships bringing us the food we should have been able to produce for ourselves, and our farmers had not yet got into gear. Farm production is not like turning on a tap… If some overeducated numpty in Downing Street decides today that we need more home produced beef, how long do you think it will be before that meat is on your table. Go on have guess.
First, a heifer that was destined for slaughter will have to be introduced to the bull. Allow a month, meanwhile we are even more short of beef.
Next, a nine month gestation period. That’s ten months gone.
Finally; another two and a half years growing and fattening (it can be done faster, but I assume you want your beef to taste like beef) That’s forty months from inception to fruition.(and another three heifers removed from the human food chain)
On top of that, think of the “Carbon foot (hoof) print” involved in the transportation over 12,000 miles. Of course, Princess Nut-nut and her little green friends will ignore that, because it is somewhere else… Then there is the ever-present risk of some unfriendly people disrupting the supply chain… It has happened before.
Ditch it.
Sorry dickatbarn, I have to argue with you on some of your points.
Australia has a huge land area, so no incentive for intensive rearing of food animals. In what way do their methods fall short of our animal welfare standards?
Given the cost of transporting the meat how will imports from Oz undercut efficient farmers here? Isn’t it rather that CAP has been subsidising inefficient land use and that has caused higher prices to the consumer. For example hasn’t the CAP actually paid big land owners to set aside their land out of productive use?
Also, the seasons are reversed so lamb in particular will be ready for eating at different times.
Obviously you are right about gestation and rearing time. Also you have a point about the ‘Nasty Germans’ sinking ships. In both world wars methinks!
However, so much has changed since then I doubt whether we can draw that parallel.
Are we now producing all the beef and lamb ourselves, that are consumed in Britain? I thought we were importing from E.U. I could be wrong there. I’m sure we import pig meat from E.U. Also milk and dairy produce, probably eggs, maybe chicken meat. At the moment I see it as important to cut dependence on the E.U. for food, as for everything else.
If it is possible to produce ALL our food ourselves, that is certainly what we must to aim for. I don’t see the trade with Oz preventing that.
Care homes
“Dominic Cummings has been accused of “sabotaging” the ramp-up of Covid testing last year……..” (Telegraph).
But how accurate is Covid testing anyway? Positive results could be valid in only two to ten per cent of cases. This was revealed in an article in the Guardian on the 15th April last month written by Josh Halliday. Its headline was “Rapid Covid testing in England may be scaled back over false positives”.
Here is part of Joshua’s article : “Senior government officials have raised “urgent” concerns about the mass expansion of rapid coronavirus testing, estimating that as few as 2% to 10% of positive results may be accurate in places with low Covid rates, such as London.”
By the way, Josh doesn’t say how “rapid” Covid testing differs from slow Covid testing. Are there different varieties of the Lateral Flow & PCR tests?
If only two per cent of positive Covid test results are valid, then that has certainly boosted the number of deaths within sixty days of a positive Covid result, which is the Office of National Statistics’ definition of a death “with” Covid.
I’m a ‘Lock Down Sceptic’, also a ‘Test and Trace’ sceptic. Consequently I’ve gone right off Cummings!
On the other hand he is quite right to attack Hancock in any way he can. He should attack ALL the so called ‘experts’ that have been giving duff advice.
Hancock panicking about the sacred cow being overwhelmed so therefore send them to care homes, to kill those residents who will not make it to hospitals, just happens to be the easy way to attack call me M—.
Don’t recall the Tories agonising about the livelihoods (and convenience to the public) of the village/high street butcher, chandler, baker, grocer, green grocer, corner store as the superstores threw donations towards them to smooth their monompolistic path to riches.
The farmers must swim or sink like any other business.
Debbie – not sure if I have missed a report from you but I was delighted to learn that GB News is expected to go live at 8pm on the 13th June. Hope its content does not disappoint.
https://inews.co.uk/news/uk/gb-news-launch-date-tv-channel-andrew-neil-new-when-start-latest-news-947550