Brexit
Express
BRITAIN will “get stronger” thanks to Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit trade deal with the EU, senior eurosceptic Tories have said. In a huge show of support, they said the historic agreement will enable the UK to free itself from the shackles of Brussels and unleash its potential as a global economic power. The backing comes just days before Wednesday’s crunch Parliamentary vote on the deal. Brexiteer Andrew Bridgen said: “If you look at it, things can only get better for us and the EU’s position will be weakened. Britain will be stronger for this deal.” The agreement was reached on Christmas Eve after months of fraught talks on issues including fishing rights and business rules. Scrutiny of the treaty started when the 1,246-page document was officially published on the morning of Boxing Day, less than a week before the transition period comes to an end. Mr Johnson has said that the “devil is in the detail” of the deal and he believes that it will be accepted by Brexiteers.
Telegraph
Boris Johnson has been urged to use new-found Brexit freedoms to ensure that the UK becomes more competitive. Shanker Singham, a former Brexit adviser to the Government, said that in order to “maximise the benefits” of leaving the EU, Britain should not remain tied into Brussels’ rules. Mr Singham, the CEO of economic consultancy Competere, said the ability to diverge on standards could boost competitiveness if both parties lowered market barriers as a result of the free trade deal. Writing in The Telegraph, he said: “We must now, as a country, choose to use our freedom wisely. “We must use it to create wealth, not destroy it – to be governed by competition on the merits as an economic principle, not intervention and Government distortion.
Illegal immigration
Breitbart
The year in which the United Kingdom finally left the European Union was marred by record waves of illegal immigration across the English Channel, as an estimated 9,000 boat migrants landed on British shores. A key pillar of the pro-sovereignty Brexit movement was for the British people to ‘take back control’ of their ability to determine their own laws, but perhaps just as crucially, to regain control of the country’s borders. In 2019, Home Secretary Priti Patel pledged to make migrant crossings an “infrequent phenomenon” and Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a promise that the government would send boat migrants back. Neither promise would be fulfilled in 2020, with over four times as many migrants landing this year than in 2019.
Fisheries
Telegraph
The fishing industry is to get a £100 million funding package in the “near future”, Michael Gove pledged as ministers were accused of “betrayal” over the compromise Brexit deal with the EU on fishing rights. Cabinet Office minister Mr Gove said the money, to modernise the fleet and fish processing industry, would enable it to take “full advantage of the riches flowing back” to the UK and build “sustainable” operations and healthy stocks. The move comes ahead of Wednesday’s vote on the Brexit trade deal in Parliament, where some Tory backbenchers are expected to raise concerns over the impact on the fishing industry. Under the terms agreed by the EU and the UK Government, 25 per cent of EU boats’ fishing rights in UK waters will be transferred to the UK fishing fleet, over a transition period lasting up to June 30 2026.
Mail
Fishermen will receive ‘a major funding package’ to help them take full advantage of Brexit, Michael Gove said yesterday. The Cabinet Office minister insisted the new trade agreement was the ‘best possible deal’ for the industry as a whole. Fishing leaders have accused Boris Johnson of betrayal for the compromise he struck with Brussels over access to UK waters. Twenty-five per cent of EU boats’ fishing rights in UK waters will be transferred to the British fleet over a transition period to 2026. Mr Gove wrote in The Scotsman that it gives the UK ‘control over who comes into our territorial waters’ and the fishing sector will get a ‘major funding package’. But Andrew Locker, of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, said the industry would be ‘absolutely worse off’ after the deal and would receive a fraction of the catch promised.
Trade deals
Express
BRITAIN is heading for a post-Brexit boom after securing trade deals worth a staggering £900 billion. The colossal figure comes as Trade Secretary Liz Truss signed off a new £18.6 billion tie-up with Turkey, meaning the UK now has new agreements in place with 62 countries around the world. And there are multi-billion free trade deals with America, Canada and Australia in the pipeline for 2021. Together they could boost the UK economy by at least £100 billion over the coming decade, according to analysts. Writing in the Daily Express, former Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom, says that the UK’s ability to secure it’s own trading agreements, free from EU interference, means that the “sunlit uplands” are on the horizon. She says Boris Johnson’s “phenomenal” £660 billion trade deal with Brussels is the “catalyst for the UK to redefine our place in the world”. “Let us seize the opportunities that our new position brings,” she says.
Tiers
Evening Standard
Some scientists are urging the Government to place all areas of the country under Tier 4 to “save lives” and prevent the new variant of Covid-19 from spreading further. Dr Zubadida Haque, a member of Independent Sage, said the advisory group of scientists were “very worried” about a rise in the number of coronavirus deaths and number of patients in hospital with the virus. She shared a post in which the group called on the Government to implement Tier 4 in all areas of the country, effectively putting the UK into another nationwide lockdown. Tier 4 means that non-essential shops, hairdressers, and leisure and entertainment venues must close and that you cannot mix with other households. The group also said Tier 4 should include enhanced travel restrictions.
Mail
Britain could be put into ‘Tier 5’ restrictions, it has been claimed, with England’s hospitals are now treating more Covid patients than they ever did in the first wave. NHS England data shows 20,426 hospital beds were occupied by patients who had tested positive for coronavirus as of 8am this morning, up from around 17,700 exactly a week ago. Scientists have now advised Boris Johnson to implement measures stronger than those imposed in November, including the closure of secondary schools, pubs and non-essential shops. Though it is unclear if the new measures will be called ‘Tier 5’, SAGE is thought to have told the Prime Minister they must be tougher than the current Tier 4 restrictions. Hospital bosses have also begged the public not to party on New Year, with fears of any gatherings leading to another surge in infections.
Sun
BRITAIN could be thrown into a “Tier 5” lockdown with even more harsher restrictions than the November lockdown. Government scientists have reportedly told Boris Johnson he needs to implement stricter measures to stop virus from spiraling out of control. There is no suggestion it would be called “Tier 5”, but the measures that are being called for go further than the current Tier 4 ones. The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies has told the PM that because of the new faster-spreading variant of the virus, the R-rate would surge above 1 in January, it has been reported. Experts have told Mr Johnson that a New Year national lockdown similar to the one in November where schools remain open will not be enough.
Express
CORONAVIRUS hospitalisations in England have soared beyond the peak reached in the first wave of the pandemic, as fears “Tier Five” restrictions may be needed rise across the country. NHS England data shows 20,426 hospital beds are occupied by coronavirus patients as of 8am on December 28. It shows a raise from around 17,700 patients last week, and beats out the April 12 peak of 18,974. Because of the surge in hospitalisations, along with a rise in cases and deaths, scientists are urging the Government to implement tougher restrictions. Top officials believe a new highly infectious strain of coronavirus is to blame for the surge in hospital occupancy.
Vaccine
Sun
THE coronavirus vaccine won’t achieve herd immunity before the summer, government scientists have warned. Calum Semple, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, has said herd immunity from vaccination won’t be affective until 70 to 80 per cent of the population get the jab. The professor of outbreak medicine at the University of Liverpool told BBC Breakfast: To get the wider community herd immunity from vaccination rather than through natural infection will take probably 70% to 80% of the population to be vaccinated, and that, I’m afraid, is going to take us right into the summer I expect.” He described the Oxford vaccine as a “game changer” if it is approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
Telegraph
Vaccines will have to be delivered at a rate of two million a week – double the current target – to avoid a devastating third Covid wave, ministers have been warned. The projection has been made by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in a new paper shared with the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), which is understood to be circulating in Whitehall. It comes as the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which has been hailed as a “game-changer”, is expected to be approved by Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency imminently. The vaccine offers the hope of a rapid expansion of the roll-out of jabs because it does not require special storage, and the Government has ordered 100 million doses.
Times
Everyone over the age of 50 will be offered a coronavirus vaccination by “late spring”, the head of the NHS will predict today. Speaking before the expected approval of the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine, Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, will say that if supplies continue to “come on stream” then the health service will be able to offer an injection to “all vulnerable people across this country” before the start of summer. About 25 million people are covered by the “vulnerable” categories set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. Under the committee’s guidance, the first vaccine supplies are being sent to care home staff and residents, NHS frontline workers and those aged 80 and over.
BBC News
Health workers are “back in the eye of the storm” as coronavirus cases rise at the end of the “toughest year”, NHS England’s chief executive has said. Sir Simon Stevens paid tribute to NHS staff in a new year message, saying they had “brilliantly” cared for 200,000 severely ill Covid-19 patients. He said that by late spring he expected the NHS to have offered vaccinations to all vulnerable people. That offered “the biggest chink of hope” for 2021, Sir Simon said. With coronavirus infections at what public health officials called an “unprecedented level” and a new variant spreading, hospitals in England have now surpassed the April peak of Covid-19 patients.
Express
CORONAVIRUS vaccines must be given to two million people a week to avoid another wave of the virus, Downing Street has been warned. The suggested increase in vaccination would be double the Government’s current target. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine made the projection in a new paper shared to the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). On Monday, the UK recorded its highest daily increase in COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic with 41,385 new cases. There are also now more patients in NHS hospitals in England with COVID-19 than there were during the April peak in the first wave.
Sun
COVID-hit Brits get a much-needed dose of optimism as the NHS boss says 22million of us will be vaccinated by spring. Sir Simon Stevens called it “the biggest chink of hope for the year ahead”. His prediction comes as Covid infections in the UK hit a record high, with 41,385 lab-confirmed cases recorded today. A further 357 deaths were reported — up 66 per cent on the previous Monday’s total of 215. Sir Simon said: “We are back in the eye of the storm with a second wave of coronavirus sweeping Europe and, indeed, this country. “We think by late spring, with vaccine supplies continuing to come on stream, we will have been able to offer all vulnerable people across this country Covid vaccination.
Mail
All Britons over the age of 50 could be vaccinated by spring, the head of the NHS has claimed, adding that medics are ‘in the eye of the storm’ as hospitalisations and cases pass first wave peaks. NHS England data shows 20,426 hospital beds were occupied by patients who had tested positive for coronavirus as of 8am yesterday morning, up from around 17,700 exactly a week ago. And the UK recorded 41,385 cases of Covid yesterday, in the largest one-day increase since the pandemic began. Hospital bosses have begged the public not to party on New Year, with fears of any gatherings leading to another surge in infections. Yet despite the chaos, the controversial Nightingale hospitals, built at great expense, are being quietly dismantled as there are not enough staff to run them.
Guardian
Uptake of the Covid-19 vaccine has been high among those offered it, doctors say, despite fears that vaccine hesitancy could undermine efforts to control the pandemic. Experts have feared mass uptake of the jab could be jeopardised by widespread misinformation, concerns among the public about the speed at which the vaccine has been developed and approved, and lack of trust in vaccines and the pharmaceutical companies and governments calling for it. Such concerns have been compounded by the new, highly transmissible variant of coronavirus that is spreading across the UK, which will mean a greater proportion of the population needs to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. But for now, at least, it seems few are shying away from vaccination.
Nightingale hospitals
Telegraph
The flagship Nightingale hospital is being dismantled as medics warn that there are not enough staff to run the facilities despite the NHS being at risk of being overwhelmed by coronavirus. Amid surging virus case numbers, elective surgery is being cancelled as the number of patients in hospitals in England passes the peak of the first wave in April. Although the NHS is “struggling” to cope, the majority of the seven Nightingale hospitals, created at a cost of £220 million, have yet to start treating Covid-19 patients during the second wave. The Exeter Nightingale has been treating Covid patients since mid-November. The facility at London’s Excel centre has been stripped of its beds and ventilators. The NHS has told trusts to start preparing to use the overflow facilities in the coming weeks, but bosses have failed to explain how they will be staffed.
Social care
Mail
The Government is being urged to launch a long-term plan to fund social care, and to integrate the system more closely with the NHS. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has a ‘now or never’ opportunity to use public support shown during the pandemic to set out why a new tax may be necessary, according to former Tory health secretary Jeremy Hunt. He floats the idea of following the lead of Japan and Germany in introducing a small surcharge for over-40s, which rises as you grow older. Meanwhile, Andy Burnham, a Labour predecessor as health secretary who is now Mayor of Greater Manchester, suggests placing social care within the NHS.
Education
Times
Boris Johnson is facing increased pressure from cabinet ministers and scientific advisers over the reopening of schools as more than 40,000 coronavirus cases were recorded in a single day for the first time. As the number of patients with Covid-19 in English hospitals exceeded the peak of the first wave, there was new uncertainty for parents after the government confirmed yesterday that the plans for primary schools to reopen next week along with Years 11 and 13 were under review. The Times has been told that Matt Hancock, the health secretary, and Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, suggested at a meeting hosted by Downing Street that the reopening of schools might have to be delayed.
Morning Star
TEACHING unions, politicians and medical experts called on the government today to prioritise the protection of school staff and pupils as it ploughs ahead with its plan to reopen classrooms. Ministers and the Department for Education discussed concerns over the spread of a new strain of coronavirus ahead of the return to school following the festive break. Scientists have suggested that the mutated coronavirus strain could more easily infect children, with Sir Jeremy Farrar, a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), claiming the arguments for reopening schools were “very finely balanced.” Sage has also reportedly urged PM Boris Johnson to keep secondary schools closed in January and order a stricter national lockdown to prevent coronavirus infections from spiralling out of control.
Sky News
The military is being called in to help secondary schools and colleges with coronavirus testing at the start of the spring term. Some 1,500 personnel will give planning support, training and phone advice to English schools needing help with the testing process and setting up facilities. The government is pressing ahead with plans for primary school, older secondary school and college pupils to return in early January – despite scientists claiming a delay is needed if rising infection rates are to be brought under control. Each secondary school and college in England will be offered testing, with £78m allocated to support this, the government has said, adding that schools will be given the kit they need.
Guardian
Plans for millions of pupils in England to begin a staggered return to school from next week hang in the balance as a debate rages within the government over the risk of a surge of infections, with the NHS already buckling under the strain. The education secretary, Gavin Williamson, is understood to be mounting a “rearguard action” against what one source described as “senior colleagues” who have been alarmed by advice that reopening schools will make it impossible to keep the R number below one. Opposition to schools reopening next week is also growing from teaching unions. The UK’s largest has said the reopening of schools in England should be delayed for at least two weeks amid mounting concern about the new strain of Covid-19 spreading from London and the south-east.
Is it BREXIT or is it BRINO? Meanwhile the COVID DICTATORSHIP gets worse and worse.
“BRITAIN will “get stronger” thanks to Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit trade deal with the EU, senior eurosceptic Tories have said. In a huge show of support, they said the historic agreement will enable the UK to free itself from the shackles of Brussels and unleash its potential as a global economic power.” (from the Express, in Debbie’s News Review above).
If Johnson’s Christmas Eve Brexit trade deal will free Britain to trade freely with the rest of the world outside the EU then why did the EU agree to it? How can these “senior eurosceptic Tories” be sure that Johnson’s Deal will “free” Britain “from the shackles of Brussels” when its full text is still withheld ? ( Even if the full text of two thousand pages has now been released to MPs, they only have one day to read it through before the debate in the Commons tomorrow) .
When I read that, I thought ‘only if they have a plan and are ready to hit the road running and all those necessary to perform have been briefed’
And then reality hit me, fat chance with this lot, they don’t know the words initiative, enthusiasm, panache or even basic capability.
And then there’s the surety of £600 billion trade a year with the EU, does anybody think our entrepeneurs are going to get up off their anatomies to go chasing all those juicy deals recently signed up all over the world.i believe they gave the game away by emphasising that vast sum
Sorry Boris, I don’t buy any more of your male bovine excrement, and there is no one on your team capable o putting things together anyway
If there is a significant Conservative and Labour rebellion which will no doubt include the Liberal Democrats, there is a distinct possibility that this deal ridden with holes will not be ratified by parliament. The fishermen have been well and truly shafted, and we do not have have as much control over our territorial waters as we were led to believe. And the same can be said of the level playing field issue. Johnson is weak willed and most of us on this side argument knew that this was the case, and it does increasingly look as if we the British public have been stitched once again over this. All the talk about walking away and leaving the EU on a No Deal and do well ‘mightily’ came to nothing. The Brexit Party might think it is an acceptable deal, but the Heritage Party doesn’t, so the fight goes on for full independence and no more payments to the EU.
Colin, is there any chance of a significant LABOUR and Conservative rebellion?
Pauline, well there was talk in some newspapers that Labour MP’s were not happy with being whipped by Starmer to vote for this deal. I suppose there is more likelihood of a significant number of Labour MP’s deciding to vote against it than Conservatives doing likewise, because they are anti Brexit. I mean every time there is a vote on anything and there is a supposed Conservative rebellion in the offing, it always falls by the wayside as the rebels are talked out of it. As far as I can see it there is very little political conviction in the Conservative Party with personal interests and future careers getting in the way. I suppose we will have to wait and see….
i Agree with you Colin but also believe that any objection will be well and truly stamped out with names added to “naughty list”. The timing was perfect.
Dear God. They don’t learn do they. Exactly the same trajectory as the May, WA. Nobody has learned anything from actually reading it. It’s just follow the leader. Wait for the star chamber verdict. Oh dear I am going to read numbers174 + .