Babak Belurs

Sabtu, 02 Desember 2023

New UK weather warnings for snow and ice as sporting events cancelled - BBC

By Thomas Mackintosh

BBC News

A fresh yellow weather warning for snow and ice has been issued by the Met Office for large parts of the UK.

Forecasters say the latest alert will cover much of the Midlands, Yorkshire and north and central Wales.

Roads and railways are "likely to be affected" by the conditions, with longer journey times by road, bus and train, the Met Office said.

It comes as heavy snow overnight forced Glasgow Airport to ground all flights for several hours on Saturday morning.

Despite teams "working through the night" airport bosses had to suspend arrivals and departures from Glasgow due to "heavier than forecast snow".

Two flights bound for Glasgow had to be diverted to Prestwick and Edinburgh airports.

Glasgow Airport said flights resumed just after 10:00 GMT, but disruption is still expected and passengers are urged to check with their airline.

Elsewhere, the freeze is set to continue over the weekend with several sporting events across the UK cancelled due to snow and icy conditions.

Nine football matches in the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) have been postponed due to snow and freezing temperatures.

Crewe Alexandra's FA Cup tie against Bristol Rovers has also been called off, while Saturday's high-profile racing fixture at Newcastle has been abandoned due to snow on the track.

The latest Met Office yellow weather warning will run into Sunday.

But, previous yellow warnings issued on Friday for the northern coast and south-west Scotland, as well as the South West and the eastern coast of England came to an end on Saturday morning.

Separately, an amber cold-health alert issued by the UK Health Security Agency remains in place for five regions in England.

Cold weather is likely to affect the whole health service, with the potential for the entire population to be at risk, the agency's alert says.

The alert is in place for the East Midlands, West Midlands, North West, North East and Yorkshire and the Humber until 5 December.

Temperatures of between -3°C (27F) to -6°C (21F) were widely seen across the UK on Friday, even in major towns and cities.

It was -5°C in Manchester and Edinburgh and -3°C in south-west London and Birmingham.

The lowest temperature recorded on Friday was -9.4°C in Shap in Cumbria, the Met Office said.

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Jumat, 01 Desember 2023

Boris Johnson to apologise to Covid Inquiry but say he got big calls right - BBC

Boris Johnson speaks during a virtual press conference to update the nation on the status of the pandemic in the Downing Street briefing room in central London on January 4, 2022

By Chris Mason

Political editor, BBC News

Boris Johnson is expected to apologise to the Covid Inquiry next week and acknowledge the government did not get everything right during the pandemic.

But the former PM will argue robustly that his government got many of the big calls right.

He will talk with pride about the vaccines programme and argue the UK emerged the final lockdown earlier than other comparable economies.

His evidence will follow weeks of heavy criticism of him at the inquiry.

Those around Mr Johnson are letting it be known the broad tenor and scope of the arguments he is expected to make, before what could be up to ten hours of questioning from lawyers.

Boris Johnson's capabilities as a prime minister in a pandemic have been criticised by some of those who worked most closely with him when Covid struck.

His former director of communications, Lee Cain, said the pandemic was the "wrong crisis" for Mr Johnson's "skill set", describing dither and delay.

The former chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, said Mr Johnson was "bamboozled" by scientific data.

And his former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, has long described the former prime minister as "the trolley" due to his tendency to veer around and constantly change his mind.

So Mr Johnson has some reputation management to do.

Those who have helped prepare him for his appearance before the inquiry - which will happen next Wednesday and Thursday - say he will take on those who have accused him of constantly changing his mind by emphasising the volume of briefings he was receiving, how quickly advice would change and the magnitude of the decisions he had to make.

He will also defend his use of colourful language and phrases, and the adoption of provocative positions in private - saying it helped him get the best out of his advisers and it is not wise for a prime minister to sit in silence when being briefed by experts.

One source said: "Ministers can argue for their briefs, as they should. So a health secretary will argue for public health. A chancellor will argue for the economy.

"But there is only one person in the British system of government that has to arbitrate between the competing arguments and ultimately come to a decision, having made a call on the trade-offs."

The source added: "There is only one guy in this country who can tell you what it is like to be prime minister in a pandemic. And one day there will be another one."

Mr Johnson's written statement, around 200 pages long, has already been submitted to the inquiry.

It is thought the statement barely mentions Mr Cummings.

The former health secretary, Matt Hancock, has revealed in his written statement to the inquiry that "the then prime minister has apologised to me for appointing his chief adviser and for the damage he did to the response to Covid-19".

Mr Hancock regarded Mr Cummings as a "malign actor" who created a toxic culture in Downing Street.

Mr Johnson is expected to say he does not agree with that and that there were always likely to be elements of tension within government, particularly at a time of heightened stress.

He is, though, expected to say that he doesn't condone unreasonable behaviour or language.

Boris Johnson has been advised in his preparations by Brian Altman KC.

At 10am on Wednesday, his interrogation by Hugo Keith KC will begin. A country will be watching and waiting: for scrutiny, accountability, and answers.

Kamis, 30 November 2023

Covid inquiry live: Matt Hancock denies lying as he hits back at 'toxic culture' - The Independent

Matt Hancock mocked by lawyer Hugo Keith after failing to find evidence of Boris Johnson call

Matt Hancock has been mocked by Covid inquiry lead counsel Hugo Keith KC for having a “little notebook” to refer to, after the ex-health secretary said he had used a break to uncover new evidence of a phone call between himself and Boris Johnson.

The MP claimed his phone call with Mr Johnson on 28 February 2020 was the moment government “really started to come into action”, and claimed that had his own “doctrine” been followed, the first lockdown would have come three weeks earlier – saving 90 per cent of those who died in the first wave.

But Dominic Cummings claimed Matt Hancock was “flat out lying” to the Covid inquiry by claiming he pressed the prime minister for a lockdown on 13 March, and claimed to have “physically stopped” Mr Hancock coming to a meeting the following day because he “was bull****ting everybody about herd immunity”.

In an escalating war of words, Mr Hancock claimed to the inqury that Mr Cummings was a “malign influence” who created a toxic “culture of fear”.

1701403200

ICYMI: Matt Hancock not told about Eat Out to Help Out

Matt Hancock was not told about Eat Out to Help Out until the day the scheme was announced, by which time it was a “done deal”, he told the inquiry yesterday.

He joins leading government scientists in not being told in advance about Rishi Sunak’s scheme – when he was chancellor – to revive the hospitality industry in the summer of 2020.

Mr Hancock, who was health secretary at the time, said he learned about the scheme in the Cabinet meeting on the morning it was announced.

The plan formed part of Mr Sunak’s summer economic update on July 8 2020, and provided 50% off the cost of food and/or non-alcoholic drinks.

Mr Hancock told the inquiry: “I didn’t know about the Eat Out to Help Out scheme until the Cabinet meeting on the morning of its announcement.”

Katy Clifton1 December 2023 04:00

1701396000

Recap: What was in Matt Hancock’s testimony on Thursday?

Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has this quick round-up of today’s events:

Matt Hancock accused Dominic Cummings of fostering a “culture of fear” which hamstrung the government’s response to the pandemic
The former health secretary denied having lied his way through the pandemic, saying there was “no evidence” to back up claims he was dishonest – instead pointing the finger at Mr Cummings for creating a “toxic” culture
He confirmed claims that Mr Cummings exerted “too great an influence” on Mr Johnson, even accusing the adviser of making a “power grab”
He accused Mr Cummings of lying to the official probe into the pandemic
Mr Hancock denied having sought to play God during the pandemic, after the former chief of the NHS said he wanted to “decide who lived and who died”
He said Britain would have saved “many, many lives” by locking down three weeks earlier
And Mr Hancock admitted he was not reading minutes of Sage meetings until February

Andy Gregory1 December 2023 02:00

1701390600

Hancock: 'I didn’t think there was a trade-off between health and economy

Asked whether Boris Johnson had a “consistent approach” during debates over “opening up” after the first lockdown, Matt Hancock said yesterday: “I think it’s fair to say that the prime minister felt strongly the arguments for the protection of health and the arguments for liberty and the protection of the economy.

“My particular beef was that I didn’t think there was a trade off at all. And it wasn’t an either or, you couldn’t choose between either.

“And my intense frustration was that economists at the Treasury, and elsewhere, couldn’t see that that although you could protect the economy by not locking down this week or next week, the second round consequence of that would be a firmer, more economically damaging lockdown in the future.

“And I couldn’t get them to see it, it was deeply frustrating that it was against the economic interest as well as against the health interest to avoid the action that was necessary.”

He added: “Late August was frustrating because in July, the prime minister had been extremely concerned that there was a second wave, and it’s reflected in the various communications and then came back from holiday and was much more concerned with not locking down and I found that a problem.”

Andy Gregory1 December 2023 00:30

1701384650

Full report: Matt Hancock insists he’s not a liar and blames allegations on ‘toxic’ Dominic Cummings

Matt Hancock launched an extraordinary fightback against claims by Dominic Cummings that had “lied his way through the pandemic” and “killed people”.

In a highly anticipated hearing at the Covid inquiry, the former health secretary attacked Mr Cummings as a “malign actor” in Downing Street who had fostered a “culture of fear” across government.

And he denied being a liar, instead pointing the finger at Mr Cummings for creating a “toxic culture” in which ministers and officials sought to blame each other for Covid-era mistakes.

Mr Hancock said Mr Cummings, Boris Johnson’s top aide during the pandemic, had “abused” staff across Whitehall. And, extraordinarily, he went on to accuse Mr Cummings of himself lying to the official Covid-19 Inquiry.

Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has the full report here:

Andy Gregory30 November 2023 22:50

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Hancock says he did not support ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown

The former health secretary said: “I was in favour of tougher measures that would get R below one, especially in the areas where cases were highest.

“I was I was not convinced by the circuit breaker proposal on two grounds: the first is it’s effectively just a short lockdown and if you put it in for two weeks, I could see why in theory, if for two weeks no human would come into contact with any other human then the case numbers would drop dramatically.

“But in the real world that isn’t how life works. For instance, in hospitals and care homes, people have to interact.

“And secondly, the political impact of repeat the circuit breakers would have been to lose the confidence of those who we needed to have on board to make it happen.

“And I thought we would I thought that therefore a circuit breaker was not the best approach because basically rates would just shoot up afterwards. That is what happened when they tried one in Wales.”

He added: “My position was to argue first and foremost for tougher local lockdowns and the tier system with a stronger top tier.

“And I first put that forward at the end of August to my own team and it was very frustrating that it took me a month to get that policy in place, even more frustrating was that the top tier was not enough to get R below one and therefore not effective for the task. That was deeply frustrating.

“The second thing was where national measures like the rule of six were proposed. I was an enthusiastic supporter.”

Andy Gregory30 November 2023 21:53

1701375050

Hancock claims he kept concerns about Eat Out to Help Out scheme ‘out of the news'

Matt Hancock kept concerns about the Eat Out to Help Out scheme “out of the news” as he believes government is a “team effort”, he told the Covid inquiry.

The probe was shown a WhatsApp exchange from August 2020 between the former health secretary and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case.

Mr Hancock wrote: “Just want to let you know directly that we have had lots of feedback that Eat Out to Help Out is causing problems in our intervention areas. I’ve kept it out of the news but it’s serious. So please please lets not allow the economic success of the scheme to lead to its extension.”

Mr Case replied: “Have you told Rishi? I don’t think he can afford to extend it!” Mr Hancock wrote: “Yes we’ve told Treasury - we’ve been protecting them in the comms and thankfully it hasn’t bubbled up.”

When asked about the exchange by inquiry counsel Hugo Keith, Mr Hancock said he was “being encouraged by various journalists” who presumed he was against the scheme.

“But I believe that government is a team effort. And so I didn’t want that to become a row in public,” he added. “You can see, during the whole pandemic, the corrosive effects of leaks.”

Andy Gregory30 November 2023 20:10

1701369170

Hancock: Officials were ‘actively working against’ my plans to ramp up testing

Matt Hancock said that the people at the “centre” were “actively working against” his plans to ramp up testing in the early days of the pandemic.

Asked about his plans to ramp up testing from 10,000 a day at the end of March 2020, to 100,000 a day at the end of April, he said: “I now know that there were people actively working against me on it in the centre, which is appalling.”

He added: “What Simon Case described to me as ‘the long screwdriver’, which is relatively junior people in No 10 trying to go into the testing programme at a level too far down, too low, and try and issue diktats was deeply unhelpful over this period. And following proper lines of accountability would have been much more effective.

“But that’s that wasn’t quite what I meant, what I meant was the criticism that instead of going for 100,000 tests, there were other things tests could have been used for is is wrong, and wrong in logic, because we needed the tests. Of course we also needed to work out what we were going to use the tests for and that was essentially a clinical decision.

“But what I needed to do from when I took over the responsibility for testing in the middle of on March 17 was drive the system, galvanise the system as somebody put it quite rightly, and announcing a target - even though I didn’t know that we could hit it, which is unusual in government ... normally people only do things they’re pretty sure they can achieve. That was absolutely critical to driving the expansion of testing, which was so necessary in the rest of the response.

“It is of course it’s frustrating to me that, in so doing and in in taking that approach, obviously some people were upset by it ... it baffles me why people were against the expansion of testing in that way.”

Andy Gregory30 November 2023 18:32

1701366890

Hancock says he wasn’t told about Eat Out to Help Out scheme

Matt Hancock has said he was not told in advance about Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme – echoing the host of top government scientists and medics who also told the inquiry last week of being blindsided by it.

Asked whether he knew in advance about it, the ex-health secretary said: “No. Not ahead of its announcement on the 8th of July. In fact cases were still falling at that point ... I didn’t know about the Eat Out to Help Out scheme until the Cabinet meeting on the morning of its announcement.

“And it was one of a package of loosenings. We were doing a number of things to bring back a bit of freedom over the summer.”

Mr Hancock said he didn’t know when asked what view he would have offered on the scheme as health secretary, to which Hugo Keith said: “Well, Mr Hancock. You’ve told the inquiry that there is in this debate between caution and allowing release – and it’s a difficult debate – a public health view, which you as the secretary of state are plainly on the side of caution, because that’s your job.”

The MP replied: “What mattered in the opening then was that there wasn’t overall too much. And in the end there was overall too much. Which individual items of opening you did or didn’t do is second order compared to the overall amount of openings.”

Andy Gregory30 November 2023 17:54

1701365150

Hancock: No 10 told me not to say restrictions would be needed until vaccine arrived

Matt Hancock has said he was told by No 10 in summer 2020 not to say that Covid restrictions would be needed until the arrival of a vaccine – by which point he claims he was “confident” that a vaccine would work.

Asked to what extent his concerns about easing lockdown measures too soon in summer 2020 were heard and reflected in the government’s actions, he said: “They were heard, and they were reflected I guess in as much as there might have been more opening had I not made these arguments.

“My entire strategy at this point was to try to keep R below 1. I was completely alongside Chris Whitty at this point on this strategy, which was: summer is the best time to release, if R goes a bit above 1 over the summer, not the end of the world so long as cases are very low, but then we’ll have to take action in the early autumn to get it down again’.

“But the criticial thing is to keep it under control. And in this period I articulated what I regarded as the government’s strategy, which was: ‘we suppress the virus until a vaccine can make us safe’.”

He claimed that, “after articulating that strategy a few times”, he “then got asked by No 10 not to say it because we didn’t know we’d get a vaccine. But I was confident by this point that we would get one – and anyway I couldn’t see any other way through this without far too many deaths.”

Andy Gregory30 November 2023 17:25

1701364010

Hancock ‘concerned’ UK’s testing system would struggle to be revived if needed

Matt Hancock has said that he was “concerned” that testing capabilities set up during the pandemic would struggle to be stood up again if needed.

Calling for the UK to spend more on health security, the ex-health secretary said: “That is what I’m concerned about.”

“For instance, recently one of the major labs was put on the market. I think it will be that better if it were mothballed and ready to go at the flick of a switch.”

Andy Gregory30 November 2023 17:06

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2023-12-01 04:00:00Z
2645765637

Omid Scobie refuses to apologise over Endgame 'error' - The Independent

Omid Scobie opens up on 'upsetting' revelation about Harry and William's relationship

The Dutch translator who worked on Omid Scobie‘s Endgame book has insisted the names of two royals accused of racism were in the manuscript she was sent - but the author says he will not apologise.

The Dutch version of Endgame was pulled from the shelves, the publisher dismissing the edition containing the names as a “translation error”.

Saskia Peeters told MailOnline she did not add the names to the Dutch version of the book, after a translated version identified the two royals accused of raising questions about the skin colour of Prince Harry and Meghan’s son before he was born.

Mr Scobie told Newsnight it was not for him to apologise because he still wanted to know what had happened.

“The buck doesn’t stop with me because there are irresponsible people in this country who’ve broken the law and repeated names that should never have been repeated, should never have been named,” he said.

“The book I edited and signed off on did not have names in it.”

TV host Piers Morgan defended his decision to identify the two members of the royal family at the centre of the furore, saying it was “blindingly obvious” they were not guilty of racism.

1701386029

It’s not for me to apologise, says Scobie

“It’s not for me to apologise because I still want to know what’s happened,” Mr Scobie told Newsnight.

“The book I edited and signed off on did not have names in it.”

Jane Dalton30 November 2023 23:13

1701385830

Book was ‘legalled and vetted'

Mr Scobie said his book had been legalled and vetted, and the i-s dotted and t-s crossed.

He found out on social media that the names were in the Dutch edition.

He swore “on his life and his family’s lives” that it wasn’t a publicity stunt.

Jane Dalton30 November 2023 23:10

1701385400

‘I’m used to death threats'

Mr Scobie said he had grown used to receiving death threats.

It had been exacerbated by “a lot of the nonsense” surrounding the book, he said.

Jane Dalton30 November 2023 23:03

1701385243

I’ve never used racism word, says Scobie

Mr Scobie insisted he had never used the word “racism”.

He said Harry and Meghan were irrelevant to the story of the royal family and there wasn’t even a chapter on them in the book.

Jane Dalton30 November 2023 23:00

1701385044

‘Not a publicity stunt'

Omid Scobie denied the book’s being pulled from shelves in the Netherlands and the row over the names was a publicity stunt.

Jane Dalton30 November 2023 22:57

1701385000

Scobie says experience ‘frustrating'

Mr Scobie said the row over the names was “a frustrating experience for me for a book that I was extremely proud of” and that it had been “overshadowed by an event that has caused me a lot of frustration as well”.

“I’m looking forward to finding out more about it because the version I signed off on, that’s the book that is out there today and has no names in it,” he said.

Jane Dalton30 November 2023 22:56

1701384895

Omid Scobie is appearing on Newsnight now. We’ll bring you the latest.

Jane Dalton30 November 2023 22:54

1701384739

Kate dazzles as she puts on united front with William

Jane Dalton30 November 2023 22:52

1701377416

Diana’s ex-butler backs Morgan

Former butler to Princess Diana Paul Burrell supported Morgan’s decision to identify the two royals accused of racism.

“The British public have a right to know which members of our royal family are being trashed by the Sussexes,” he told Piers Morgan.

Jane Dalton30 November 2023 20:50

1701377179

Piers Morgan agreed to apologise if evidence of racism was produced.

However, he said he was confident no such evidence existed.

Jane Dalton30 November 2023 20:46

Adblock test (Why?)

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2023-11-30 23:21:15Z
2636373485

Babak Belurs

Sabtu, 02 Desember 2023

New UK weather warnings for snow and ice as sporting events cancelled - BBC

Related Topics

Boris Johnson set to back Matt Hancock and apologise for COVID complacency - report - Sky News

Jumat, 01 Desember 2023

Boris Johnson to apologise to Covid Inquiry but say he got big calls right - BBC

Related Topics

‘An obvious message’: King Charles’s Greek flag tie rekindles marbles row - The Guardian

Kamis, 30 November 2023

Covid inquiry live: Matt Hancock denies lying as he hits back at 'toxic culture' - The Independent

ICYMI: Matt Hancock not told about Eat Out to Help Out

Recap: What was in Matt Hancock’s testimony on Thursday?

Hancock: 'I didn’t think there was a trade-off between health and economy

Full report: Matt Hancock insists he’s not a liar and blames allegations on ‘toxic’ Dominic Cummings

Hancock says he did not support ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown

Hancock claims he kept concerns about Eat Out to Help Out scheme ‘out of the news'

Hancock: Officials were ‘actively working against’ my plans to ramp up testing

Hancock says he wasn’t told about Eat Out to Help Out scheme

Hancock: No 10 told me not to say restrictions would be needed until vaccine arrived

Hancock ‘concerned’ UK’s testing system would struggle to be revived if needed

Omid Scobie refuses to apologise over Endgame 'error' - The Independent

It’s not for me to apologise, says Scobie

Book was ‘legalled and vetted'

‘I’m used to death threats'

I’ve never used racism word, says Scobie

‘Not a publicity stunt'

Scobie says experience ‘frustrating'

Kate dazzles as she puts on united front with William

Diana’s ex-butler backs Morgan

Sabtu, 02 Desember 2023

New UK weather warnings for snow and ice as sporting events cancelled - BBC

Related Topics

Boris Johnson set to back Matt Hancock and apologise for COVID complacency - report - Sky News

Jumat, 01 Desember 2023

Boris Johnson to apologise to Covid Inquiry but say he got big calls right - BBC

Related Topics

‘An obvious message’: King Charles’s Greek flag tie rekindles marbles row - The Guardian

Kamis, 30 November 2023

Covid inquiry live: Matt Hancock denies lying as he hits back at 'toxic culture' - The Independent

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ICYMI: Matt Hancock not told about Eat Out to Help Out

Recap: What was in Matt Hancock’s testimony on Thursday?

Hancock: 'I didn’t think there was a trade-off between health and economy

Full report: Matt Hancock insists he’s not a liar and blames allegations on ‘toxic’ Dominic Cummings

Hancock says he did not support ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown

Hancock claims he kept concerns about Eat Out to Help Out scheme ‘out of the news'

Hancock: Officials were ‘actively working against’ my plans to ramp up testing

Hancock says he wasn’t told about Eat Out to Help Out scheme

Hancock: No 10 told me not to say restrictions would be needed until vaccine arrived

Hancock ‘concerned’ UK’s testing system would struggle to be revived if needed

Omid Scobie refuses to apologise over Endgame 'error' - The Independent

Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter

Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter

It’s not for me to apologise, says Scobie

Book was ‘legalled and vetted'

‘I’m used to death threats'

I’ve never used racism word, says Scobie

‘Not a publicity stunt'

Scobie says experience ‘frustrating'

Kate dazzles as she puts on united front with William

Diana’s ex-butler backs Morgan