Michelle Mone has hit out at the "obsession" with her personal life - claiming she is surprised the Daily Mirror hasn't asked about her "bras and knickers" following their latest report. Baroness Mone, who had been a Tory before she had the whip removed, admitted she lied when she denied links to firm PPE Medpro - a group led by her husband Doug Barrowman - which won contracts worth more than £200m to supply gowns and face masks during the pandemic. She also conceded in an interview last month that she and her family stand to benefit from the £60m in profits made by the company, placed into a trust by her husband. After the Daily Mirror reported on Wednesday Baroness Mone and her billionaire husband are having an £80m … 阅读全文

COVID vaccines could soon be sold on the high street, according to retailers. One industry leader said it was in talks with vaccine suppliers and the scheme could be introduced as soon as next year. A Superdrug spokesperson said the firm is speaking "with suppliers about potentially offering a private COVID vaccination service in 2024. "Ensuring healthcare is as accessible as possible for people is our priority and we're interested in offering a private COVID vaccination. "Currently we are gathering information to assess whether it's a viable option." A Boots spokesperson said: "We would like to offer private COVID vaccinations and we are looking into how this might be possible in the future. "We already offer a range of vaccinations, including flu vaccinations for both private and NHS customers." More … 阅读全文

Baroness Michelle Mone should "see sense" and not return to the House of Lords after she admitted she stands to financially gain from a government-linked PPE deal during the pandemic, a minister has told Sky News. Baroness Mone told the BBC she lied about her links to a PPE firm that was awarded contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds. She took a leave of absence from the House of Lords in December 2022, saying she wanted to "clear her name". Politics latest: Baroness Mone 'should have declared' interest in PPE firm Pressed by Sky News' Kay Burley on whether someone who had admitted to lying should be allowed back into parliament, energy minister and Tory peer Martin Callanan said: "I would hope that she would see sense." The minister … 阅读全文

The Metropolitan Police has closed its investigation into whether COVID rules were broken during a gathering in parliament on 8 December 2020. The event was reportedly hosted by the deputy speaker of the Commons, Eleanor Laing, to mark the birthdays of Conservative MP Virginia Crosby and peer Baroness Jenkin - the wife of fellow Tory and MP Sir Bernard Jenkin. However, it took place when London was under Tier 2 restrictions, meaning people could not socialise indoors with others from a different household. Politics live: New poll makes grim reading for Sunak In the wake of the Met's decision, it has emerged that parliament's standards commissioner has launched an investigation into Sir Bernard over "actions causing significant damage to the reputation of the House as a whole, or of its … 阅读全文

You can’t write him off. Boris Johnson has found his way back into the public's good books before and if his hopes of a political comeback are still alive, the coming week could be a decisive moment. The preparations are under way. The former prime minister has spent many hours with barristers, studying 6,000 pages of material to put together a testimony that reflects favourably on his leadership during the pandemic. The early drafts have been briefed to The Times. These do not provide a full account of what Mr Johnson is preparing to say but do offer a glimpse into his redemption strategy. That strategy is two-pronged. On the one hand, he will wholeheartedly apologise for his mistakes - perhaps realising that some of his former colleagues have come … 阅读全文

Boris Johnson will reportedly tell the COVID inquiry that he "unquestionably made mistakes" during the pandemic, but his decisions helped save tens of thousands of lives. The former prime minister is due to give evidence next week - and according to The Times, he will issue an "unreserved apology" and admit his government was "initially far too complacent" about the threats posed by the virus. He is also set to back Matt Hancock who has been severely criticised by senior civil servants, saying the former health secretary was doing "a good job in very difficult circumstances", the paper reports. The inquiry heard last month that former head of the civil service Mark Sedwill wanted Mr Hancock removed because of questions over his honesty. Deputy cabinet secretary Helen MacNamara told the … 阅读全文

Michael Gove has apologised for government mistakes during the pandemic, saying the UK was too slow to enter lockdown in early 2020 and then again in the autumn when the virus resurged. However, he defended Boris Johnson against claims of dithering and dysfunctionality, telling the official COVID inquiry that restricting people's freedoms went "deeply against his instincts" and there were no easy decisions to be made at the time. Asked by lead counsel Hugo Keith KC what the government failures were, Mr Gove said: "I believe that we were too slow to lockdown initially in March (2020). I believe we should have taken stricter measures before we eventually decided to do so in late October." COVID inquiry live updates He added that testing should have been more rigorously thought through, … 阅读全文

This week three familiar faces from the government's daily COVID news conferences gave evidence to the public inquiry into the handling of the pandemic. Sir Patrick Vallance, Professor Sir Chris Whitty and Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam were asked about their time advising the government on the virus as part of the 'UK decision-making and political governance' module. They were quizzed on their dealings with politicians when they first thought COVID was a serious threat and the impact on their personal lives. Here are three revelations from each adviser you may have missed. Sir Patrick VallanceFormer chief scientific adviser 'Rishi thinks just let people die' Sir Patrick Vallance kept a diary throughout the pandemic, submitting it all as evidence to the inquiry. One of the most damning revelations brought up during … 阅读全文

England's former deputy chief medical officer has revealed his family were "threatened with having their throats cut" over his response to the COVID pandemic. Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam spoke about his experiences at the COVID inquiry in London on Wednesday. He said he received "extremely hateful messages" from members of the public, which he said left him considering whether to quit. "Where I think it finally got to me was the fact that I might have expected that if a crisis happened that this was my responsibility to bear," he said. "But I did not expect my family to be threatened with having their throats cut. "I did not expect the police to have to say 'will you move out - in the middle of the night - middle of … 阅读全文

The UK achieving herd immunity from COVID was a "clearly ridiculous goal of policy" and "very dangerous", England's chief medical officer has told the public inquiry into the pandemic. Giving evidence for a second day on Wednesday, Professor Sir Chris Whitty said 80% of the population would have had to have contracted coronavirus to achieve herd immunity. But he said that by the end of the first wave that figure was only 20%. He said the public debate around herd immunity caused "considerable confusion" and was "frankly unhelpful", particularly as it was led by people who "had at best half-understood the issue". "It would have been inconceivable that this should have been an actual goal of policy because it would have led to an extraordinarily high loss of life," he … 阅读全文