Green list countries: Bookings for holidays to Portugal go 'through the roof' - but angry airlines criticise the list - Sky News

Bookings for holidays to Portugal have gone "through the roof" after the country was added to the government's green travel list, Thomas Cook has said.

The European nation is one of just 12 destinations where travellers can visit from 17 May without needing to self-isolate upon their return to England.

On Friday night, Thomas Cook said it had taken more bookings for trips to Portugal in a single hour than it did in the whole of April.

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Transport sec on latest travel guidance

Searches for Portugal have increased by 264%, while enquiries about Gibraltar - another destination on the green list - rose by 277%.

The company's head of PR, David Child, said tourists appeared "poised, ready and waiting to go" when Transport Secretary Grant Shapps unveiled the relaxed rules at a Downing Street briefing.

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Despite the surge, he said bookings are lower than what they normally would be at this time of year - and although the price of flights may increase, many hoteliers are "not raising their prices yet" because they are "desperate for custom" and have rooms to fill.

Other destinations on the green list include Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, plus several small remote islands that are British Overseas Territories.

More on Covid-19

However, not all of these areas are accepting arrivals from British tourists - with entry to Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei and the Faroe Islands severely restricted.

No plans on international travel have been announced in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland yet, but these administrations are expected to introduce "broadly similar" measures.

Airlines and holiday companies, many of whom are battling for survival after being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, have expressed anger over the green list.

Four of the most popular destinations for British tourists - Spain, France, Italy and the US - were left off the green list altogether. Instead, their amber rating means people who travel to these countries will need to self-isolate on their return.

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'Not fair if British public left behind' in travel restart

EasyJet boss Johan Lundgren said: "The decision to put so few European countries into the green tier is simply not justified by the data or the science and is inconsistent with the approach to reopen the domestic economy."

He called on the government to clarify when other European countries are set to join the green list "so that consumers and airlines alike can plan for summer".

The industry body Airlines UK echoed these remarks, and said the government's plan "represents a reopening of air travel in name only".

Its chief executive, Tim Alderslade, called for "major additions" to the made to the green list when it is next reviewed in three weeks' time - and warned the UK is "at risk of falling behind and not opening up international travel to key markets".

The pilots' union Balpa accused the government of an "excess of caution", adding that the new rules will be "extremely disappointing for everyone who works in the travel sector and the millions of people who are desperate to jet away on holiday or business".

General secretary Brian Strutton added: "Tourists are sat gazing at the amber light, revving their engines, desperate to travel safe in the knowledge that their jabs will protect them. The government must flick those amber lights to green as soon as it possibly can."

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Mallorca missing its visitors from the UK

And British Airways boss Sean Doyle said the UK needs to urgently reopen travel links with other low-risk countries with high vaccination rates, such as the US, "to restart the economy, support devastated industries and reunite loved ones".

During the Downing Street briefing, Mr Shapps had said the government needed to "make absolutely secure" that the countries the UK reconnects with are safe.

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2021-05-08 02:26:15Z
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Keir Starmer faces fury of Labour after 13-month march to election defeat - The Times

As polls closed in Hartlepool on Thursday night, Sir Keir Starmer and his closest aides spoke to discuss the impending result and how to handle the fallout. They were resigned to a defeat but had not anticipated its scale.

“Our vote is holding up,” one official in the town messaged late on Thursday, in a view relayed to Starmer by Baroness Chapman of Darlington, his political director. “The problem is that the Brexit Party is folding into the Tories.”

Yet as Starmer watched the result come through from his north London home, just after seven o’clock the following morning, it was soon apparent that this was not the only problem.

Not only had the Tories scooped up almost all the Brexit Party votes of 2019

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2021-05-07 23:01:00Z
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Scottish Election results 2021 RECAP: Alex Salmond concedes Alba unlikely to win seats | SNP's Angus Robertson takes Edinburgh Central from Scottish Conservatives | Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney win constituencies | Labour's Jackie Baillie holds onto Dumbarton | Turnout surges | Interactive constituency map - The Scotsman

Last updated: Friday, 07 May, 2021, 20:10

• Angus Robertson takes Edinburgh Central from Tories
• Sturgeon plays down chances of SNP majority
• SNP take Ayr from Tories in tight race
• Salmond concedes Alba unlikely to win seats
• SNP gain East Lothian from Labour

Top stories and analysis from The Scotsman’s politics team

Counting set to begin in Scottish constituencies

Counts in more than half of Scotland’s parliamentary constituencies are to begin later, as the country awaits the outcome of its strangest election since devolution.

Votes in some 46 of the 73 constituency seats will be counted from about 9am on Friday, with the first results expected from noon.

It is anticipated all 46 should be declared by Friday evening.

Then, from about 9am on Saturday, the remaining 27 constituency seats will be counted, after which the regional seats will be allocated.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a staggered tallying up of ballots for the 2021 Holyrood election, with all results expected to be declared by Saturday evening.

Voters turned away

On Thursday, two voters in Glasgow North West said they were temporarily turned away from a polling station because a ballot box was “too full”.

Nadeem Basharat, 37, said he and his partner Joanne Basharat, 34, went to Jordanhill Parish Church polling station at around 8.30pm and were told they could not cast their vote at the time.

He said he was told ballot box 52 was too full and he was told to “come back by 10pm”, by a steward who was “quite vague”.

He told the PA news agency: “We went home and waited and got there for about 9.30pm and managed to get in, ballot box 52 was still pretty full, like it had just been pushed down and not a new box.

“It looked like there were people there who didn’t manage to vote first time around.”

A spokesman for Glasgow’s returning officer said: “The sheer size of the regional paper meant some ballot boxes became full. We were able to deliver replacement boxes, but in this case some voters were asked to wait outside before voting.

“The presiding officer is confident that all voters who were asked to wait were ultimately able to vote.”

Scottish Election 2021: Sonic the hedgehog is turned into Nicola Sturgeon in parody video game

From 12pm: First results expected from the 46 Scottish parliamentary constituencies counting on Friday.

The constituencies are Aberdeen Central; Aberdeen Donside; Aberdeenshire East; Airdrie & Shotts; Angus North & Mearns; Argyll & Bute; Ayr; Banffshire & Buchan Coast; Caithness, Sutherland & Ross; Clydebank & Milngavie; Coatbridge & Chryston; Cowdenbeath; Cunninghame North; Cunninghame South; Dumbarton; Dundee City West; East Lothian; Eastwood; Edinburgh Central; Edinburgh Southern; Edinburgh Western; Ettrick, Roxburgh & Berwickshire; Falkirk East; Glasgow Anniesland; Glasgow Maryhill & Springburn; Glasgow Pollok; Glasgow Southside; Greenock & Inverclyde; Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse; Inverness & Nairn; Kilmarnock & Irvine Valley; Kirkcaldy; Linlithgow; Midlothian North & Musselburgh; Moray; Motherwell & Wishaw; Na h-Eileanan an Iar; North East Fife; Orkney Islands; Paisley; Perthshire North; Renfrewshire North & West; Rutherglen; Shetland Islands; Stirling; and Strathkelvin & Bearsden.

Tories win Hartlepool by-election

The Conservatives have won the Hartlepool by-election, taking the constituency for the first time since it was created almost 50 years ago, with Jill Mortimer defeating Labour candidate Dr Paul Williams by 6,940 votes.

A 30ft inflatable Boris Johnson erected outside Mill House Leisure Centre in Hartlepool, where the Conservatives have taken the seat from Labour

Scottish Parliament election 2021: what was voter turnout for 2016 election and what was the outcome?

Blow for Keir Starmer and Labour as Hartlepool elects Tory MP for first time in a generation

Labour’s Ros Jones tweeted that she was “privileged and humbled” after being re-elected Doncaster mayor.

Milling “absolutely delighted” to topple Labour

Conservative Party co-chair Amanda Milling said she is “absolutely delighted” by the result in Hartlepool and said the people in the town “wanted to see change”.

She told the BBC’s Today programme: “This was about change in terms of, for 57 years they’ve had a Labour member of Parliament, they’ve felt like they’ve been taken for granted for that period of time.

“In 2019, again we didn’t win that seat, Labour won the seat again, but you know since the general election we made the promise to the people across the country that we’d get Brexit done, we’ve done that.

“Bearing in mind the people of Hartlepool voted 69.5% to leave the European Union and we have delivered that for them.”

Scottish election 2021: What day will each Holyrood constituency declare a result and when will we know if the SNP wins a majority in Parliament?

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2021-05-07 21:00:00Z
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Vote 2021: Hartlepool election results alarm Labour party - Sky News

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2021-05-07 18:24:01Z
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Julia James: Police don't know weapon used to kill PCSO - BBC News

Kent Police

Detectives investigating the murder of community officer Julia James are "not 100 per cent sure" what murder weapon was used, police said.

Kent Police's chief constable Alan Pughsley also said detectives still had no motive or suspect in the case.

Ms James, 53, was found on 27 April near woodland in Snowdown, Kent, having suffered serious head injuries.

Mr Pughsley said other forces were helping in the inquiry, and he appealed to the killer to give themselves up.

He said detectives were not able to say if the attacker was a man or a woman.

Kent Police

Ms James left her home in The Crescent just after 15:00 BST on 27 April to take her dog for a walk in nearby woodland.

Speaking to BBC Radio Kent, Mr Pughsley said: "At this time we are not 100 per cent sure with regard to what weapon was used to kill Julia.

"Pretty much every chief constable in the land is offering whatever assistance they can to help find the murderer.

"We have lots of lines of inquiries, lots to think about, and lots of work to do.

"We need just to get that little bit of luck, little bit of public information and little bit of forensic examination to come back to identify this individual, so we can capture him or her - we don't even know that yet."

Kent Police

A post-mortem examination found Ms James died from blunt force trauma and an inquest has been opened and adjourned.

A £10,000 reward has been offered for information that leads to a conviction in the case.

Mr Pughsley said he was convinced information from the public, together with forensic evidence would help solve the murder.

Speaking directly to the killer, he said; "They know their time will come, we will not rest in anyway shape or form.

"I'm absolutely certain, [we will] find you, and I hope that is in the very near future.

"You will never ever get away with this. You have to keep looking over your shoulder and at some stage we will be there to get you."

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk.

Related Internet Links

• Kent Police

• National Crime Agency

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2021-05-07 08:21:34Z
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Scottish election 2021: Polls close in Scottish Parliament election - BBC News

PA Media

Voting in the Scottish Parliament election has ended but Scotland has an 11-hour wait for counting of the ballots to begin.

The usual overnight count was postponed because of Covid restrictions.

Instead, counting will start at 09:00 on Friday, with the final result expected on Saturday.

A record number of people had already cast their ballots before polls opened - with more than a million having registered to vote by post.

The election is seen as being crucial to the future of the UK as the result could impact on whether or not there is a second referendum on Scottish independence.

• Full details of the results from across Scotland
• When will we know the result of the Scottish election?
• BBC Scotland election results coverage
• Will I know results in my area on Friday or Saturday?

But it will also decide who forms the next Scottish government, which has considerable powers over areas such as health, education and income tax.

The Electoral Management Board expects 48 of the 73 constituencies to be declared on Friday, including both the most marginal and safest seats from 2016, and eight of the SNP's top 10 target seats.

These include the Labour defences of Dumbarton, Edinburgh Southern and East Lothian, none of which have a majority exceeding 3%, and the Conservative seats in Ayr, Edinburgh Central, Dumfriesshire and Eastwood.

BBC Scotland editor Sarah Smith said: "Opinion polls seem to show Nicola Sturgeon will have another term as First Minister, the question is more what size of majority she will have."

SCOTLAND'S ELECTION: THE BASICS

What's happening? On 6 May, people across Scotland voted to elect 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). The party that wins the most seats will form the government. Find out more here.

What powers do they have? MSPs pass laws on aspects of life in Scotland such as health, education and transport - and have some powers over tax and welfare benefits.

Scotland's party leaders all turned out at polling stations on Thursday.

Scottish Labour's Anas Sarwar and Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie cast their votes in Glasgow.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross was at Alves Hall in Moray, while Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie - who had also voted by post - was at Strathpeffer Community Centre near Dingwall.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, who had already voted by post, visited polling stations in the south side of Glasgow and was involved in a tense confrontation with a far-right candidate.

The SNP leader was praised on social media for how she handled an approach from former deputy leader of Britain First Jayda Fransen, who accused Ms Sturgeon of "flooding" the country with immigrants.

Footage posted online showed her calling Ms Fransen "a fascist and a racist".

EPA

Voting in this election was impacted by the pandemic, with voters expected to follow social distancing rules, wear face coverings and use hand sanitiser at the polling stations. Special measures were put in place to allow people who tested positive for Covid-19 or were self-isolating to apply for a proxy vote on the day.

At some polling stations people were still queuing to vote at 22:00. People already waiting in line were allowed to vote after the official closing time.

Two voters in Glasgow North West said they were temporarily turned away from a polling station because ballot boxes were "too full".

Nadeem and Joanna Basharat went to vote at Jordanhill Parish Church polling station at 20:30, but were told to come back later because ballot box 52 was too full.

When they went back to vote, they said the box still looked very full and the papers inside had just been "pushed down".

A spokesman for Glasgow's Returning Officer said: "The sheer size of the regional paper meant some ballot boxes became full. We were able to deliver replacement boxes, but in this case some voters were asked to wait outside before voting.

"The presiding officer is confident that all voters who were asked to wait were ultimately able to vote."

PA Media

There have been no exit polls, and none of the parties have made predictions about the result of the election.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg tweeted that the SNP were "confident they'll get overall majority for Indy ref but not sure they'll hit magic 65".

Nick Eardley, a BBC political correspondent, said the Tories thought their campaign focus on the regional list was "bearing fruit".

With big health warning again, SNP think their vote more like 2019 (good) than 2017 (not as good). But electoral system is complicated.

Tories confident their regional list focus is bearing fruit.

Chat of tactical unionist voting in constituencies, but we’ll see in 48 hours. https://t.co/n1CB9QooWF

— Nick Eardley (@nickeardleybbc) May 6, 2021

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter

Several party leaders did take to social media after the polls closed to thank their supporters for their help during the election campaign.

Ms Sturgeon said the SNP campaign teams had been "awesome" and added: "Seeing long queues of people at polling stations was a very special sight - regardless of voting intention."

Mr Sarwar said on Twitter he was "so proud" of Scottish Labour's "positive and forward looking campaign".

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Mr Rennie thanked his party's members for their energetic and positive campaign. He said they were waiting "on tenterhooks for results to come in", but noted "how special it is to live in a country where parties can compete freely and fairly for the public's vote".

Mr Harvie said the Scottish Greens supporters had been part of their "best campaign ever".

Anyone living in Scotland and registered to vote was eligible, so long as they were aged 16 or over on the day of the election and had not been legally excluded from voting (for example because they were serving a prison sentence of longer than 12 months).

People had two votes - one for a constituency MSP and another for a regional ballot.

There are 73 Constituency MSPs, each elected on a first-past-the-post system similar to the UK general election - the winner is the candidate who receives the most votes in each constituency.

In the regional ballot, people vote for a party. The parties are then allocated a number of MSPs depending on how many votes they receive - once the number of constituencies already won in that region is taken into account - to make the overall result more proportional.

There are eight electoral regions, each with seven regional MSPs. This means that people in Scotland are each represented by eight MSPs - one representing their constituency and the other seven representing their region.

The Scottish government is formed from the party that hold the most seats in the parliament, or alternatively a coalition of more than one party.

Other elections also took place across the UK on Thursday, including for the Welsh Parliament.

There were also elections for seats on 143 English councils and for 13 local mayors, as well as a by-election for the Westminster seat of Hartlepool in the north east of England.

About 48 million people across the UK were eligible to take part in the elections - many of them postponed from last year because of the pandemic.

SIGN UP FOR SCOTLAND ALERTS: Get extra updates on BBC election coverage

• RESULTS: Full details from across Scotland
• WHEN: Why is there no counting overnight?
• TIMES: When will I find out the result in my area?
• BBC: How to follow Scotland's election results
• A to Z: Details of all Scottish constituencies

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2021-05-06 22:17:33Z
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Dozens of French boats protest off Jersey in row with UK over fishing rights - BBC News - BBC News

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2021-05-06 21:37:43Z
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