Displaying items by tag: United Kingdom

Covid infections are increasing across the UK with about one in 25 people infected, according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). In Scotland, 300,000 people - one in 18 - have coronavirus, the highest level recorded during the pandemic. A sub-variant of Omicron, called BA2, is now thought to be the most common strain in most of the UK. Recent easing of restrictions and waning immunity from the vaccines could all be factors in the increase. Health secretary Sajid Javid said Omicron had been the last variant to be a concern, and the country had ‘successfully navigated’ it, but the Government continued to monitor the situation ‘very carefully’. The ONS infection survey tests thousands of people randomly in households across the UK and estimated 2.6 million people tested positive in the week ending 5 March. It was 2.4 million the week before.

A Joseph Rowntree Foundation report published on 16 March tells us that as Northern Ireland entered the pandemic, nearly one in five people lived in poverty, including over 100,000 children. 1 in 14 households are in food insecurity, and the recent spike in energy prices, and wider inflation. People in workless families, disabled people, carers, and people in ethnic minority households have much higher poverty rates. So people across Northern Ireland need the new Executive to focus on whether to reverse or partly mitigate the impact of the £20 per week cut to the basic rates of Universal Credit. It could also match benefit up-rating more effectively to the cost of living. A targeted payment, such as the Scottish child payment, would reduce child poverty. The Executive could also consider the role that DLA/PIP can have in helping disabled people into the labour market, including considering how the administration of payments could be redesigned with dignity and poverty reduction at their heart.

A detailed analysis of where almost £5bn of Covid business funding went is not possible due to gaps in data, a spending watchdog has found. The Scottish government provided £4.4bn in grants and business rates relief between the start of the pandemic and October 2021. A further £375m was announced following the emergence of Omicron last winter. Although the speed and scale of the rollout helped to safeguard thousands of jobs and businesses, Audit Scotland was unable to determine where all the money ended up. It also identified gaps in information about how quickly applicants received funding. Auditor general Stephen Boyle said, ‘Knowing where the money went matters’. Information to enable wider analysis of how funding supported groups, such as female-owned businesses, is not available from centrally held data. The Accounts Commission said that councils' fraud arrangements are generally robust, but during the pandemic they were severely relied upon.

The department of transport has blocked yachts from leaving Britain over suspected links to oligarchs, and ships linked to Russia have been turned away or redirected when attempting to enter British shores. Grant Shapps told the House of Commons, ‘I can confirm that we are investigating yachts moored in this country we suspect are linked to Russian oligarchs. I have taken steps to ensure that they are unable to depart, and investigations are ongoing. Ten Russian-linked ships have been turned away or redirected on their course. Eight ships or their companies have severed their Russian ties.’ Data from Marine Traffic, a global intelligence group, shows yachts owned by oligarchs are on the move, and sailing out to sea. Anti-corruption activist Bill Browder said, ‘No self-respecting oligarchy exists without a yacht. What we're seeing now is an escape on the high seas.'

On 17 March Interest rates rose again for the third time in four months to counter higher prices and calm the rise in the cost of living. It means interest rates are now at their highest level since March 2020, when the Covid pandemic began. Energy bills and food costs are increasing and there is concern the war in Ukraine will push prices up further. Inflation, the rate at which prices rise, is currently 5.5%, well above the Bank of England's 2% target. The Bank expects inflation to reach 8%, possibly higher, in coming months, and cited rising prices and strong employment as the reasons for the latest rise. About two million households will see an immediate increase of about £26 a month to a typical tracker mortgage, and £16 to a typical standard variable rate mortgage.

A letter to the PM, signed by 34 MPs and five peers, claims that pressing ahead with the fracking ban would play into the hands of the Kremlin, which they say wants to ‘stop us following this path to energy independence’. Energy company Cuadrilla is due to concrete over its two wells in Lancashire on 15 March, as ordered by the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA). The MPs’ letter to Mr Johnson stated, ‘We urge you to pause and review this decision. At a time of such geopolitical strife, we cannot refrain from actions that would improve the position of the UK and its allies. We have seen how a reliance on imported gas affects the responses of other countries during the initial stages of Russian aggression.’ OGA replied, ‘Fracking causes earthquakes, is hated by neighbourhoods, would take a decade to kick-start, and won’t lower the price’.

Susan Liverman, the mother of a boy with autism, wants to change the way parents of children with suspected special education needs or disabilities (SEND) are treated when their children do not attend school. In a petition to education secretary Nadhim Zahawi, she says parents of children who have yet to have a diagnosis are particularly vulnerable to a fine or the threat of a fine unless they get their children back into education. She started the petition after her nine-year-old son Arthur was unable to go to school due to extreme anxiety and panic attacks. She said, ‘Last year, Arthur had an autistic breakdown. We didn't know what it was at the time as he hadn’t been diagnosed. He has now been diagnosed with autism and is recovering from that breakdown. I felt the treatment we had, and continue to have, was just not fit for purpose and had put more pressure on us as a family.’

Former government energy minister, Lord Barker, has resigned as chairman of EN+, the aluminium giant founded by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. The Conservative peer's resignation came as he faced pressure to cut ties with Russia. Mr Deripaska has close ties to Vladimir Putin and is now sanctioned by the UK. Lord Barker earned £3m in 2020 from EN+. Although he has resigned, he plans to restructure the business to distance the company from Russia. Mr Deripaska is one of the richest associates of Putin having billions from Russia's aluminium industries, and 45% ownership of EN+.

The CofE's Diocese in Europe has joined forces with mission agency USPG to launch an emergency appeal to support Christian charities and churches carrying out humanitarian work both in Ukraine and in neighbouring countries. They have partners on the ground providing food, medicine, shelter, care for children and people internally displaced in Ukraine. With refugees they are supplying care at the border and beyond, including attention to those from Africa and Asia as well as Ukrainians who are fleeing the war. The archbishop of Tanzania has called on the UN to take urgent action to support over two million displaced people, particularly children, the elderly, and those most vulnerable. He has urged all member states to do what they can to support the UN in its vital work caring for those forced to flee.

Defence secretary Ben Wallace confirmed the UK had delivered 3,615 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, and will provide a ‘small consignment’ of Javelin anti-tank missiles. ‘The international community has donated 900+ manned portable air defence missiles, thousands of anti-tank guided weapons of varying type and various small arms, but the capability needs strengthening,’ he told MPs. Britain will now consider the donation of Starstreak high-velocity manned portable anti-air missiles at the request of the Ukrainian government. Supplies of rations, medical equipment and other non-lethal military aid is also being stepped up. Mr Wallace added, ‘President Zelensky's people are fighting for their very survival and are united against the aggression, it is indeed Ukraine’s darkest hour.’ He continues to rule out a no-fly zone over Ukraine on the grounds that it would disadvantage its military. But Ukraine's president said the international community will be responsible for a ‘mass humanitarian catastrophe’ if it does not agree a no-fly zone to protect his country.