Rabu, 19 Mei 2021
Don't holiday in amber list countries, Boris Johnson @BBC News live BBC - BBC
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2021-05-19 05:33:34Z
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Selasa, 18 Mei 2021
Covid: Government criticised over pre-pandemic planning - BBC News
The government did not plan enough for a "threat" on the scale of coronavirus, its spending watchdog has found.
The National Audit Office also urged ministers to come up with ideas to prevent "widening" inequality caused by the pandemic.
But it said they had enjoyed some success in their efforts to deal with the crisis, on which £372bn had been spent by March this year.
The government said it had acted "quickly and decisively" throughout.
Almost 127,700 people diagnosed with coronavirus have died in the UK, but more than 38.6 million people have received their first vaccination jab since the programme began in December.
When coronavirus struck in early spring last year, the government lacked plans for many areas of its response in England - including identifying who needed to shield and managing mass disruption to schooling - the NAO said.
It added that there had been problems setting up employment support schemes, for which as many as 2.9 million people were not eligible.
The report said: "While the response to the pandemic has provided new learning from both what has worked well and what has not worked well, it has also laid bare existing fault lines within society, such as the risk of widening inequalities, and within public service delivery and government itself."
'Exceptionally challenging'
Communications had not always been clear and timely, the NAO said, stating that guidance on personal protective equipment (PPE) changed 30 times up to the end of last July.
And the report said there had not always been a clear audit trail to support decisions to award PPE contracts.
The NAO warned that the hundreds of billions of pounds spent in response to the pandemic so far may have an impact on the longer-term sustainability of the public finances.
UK government borrowing hit £303bn in the financial year 2020-21 - the highest amount, as a proportion of national income, since 1946.
NAO head Gareth Davies said: "Covid-19 has required government to respond to an exceptionally challenging and rapidly changing threat.
"There is much to learn from the successes and failures in government's response."
Lessons learned were "not only important for the remaining phases of the current pandemic, but should also help better prepare the UK for future emergencies", Mr Davies said.
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In response, the government said its approach throughout the pandemic had been "guided by data and the advice of scientific and medical experts".
"As new evidence emerged, we acted quickly and decisively to protect lives and livelihoods," a spokesperson said.
"We have committed to a full public independent inquiry to look at what lessons we can learn from our response to this unprecedented global challenge."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiL2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3VrLXBvbGl0aWNzLTU3MTYwMjk30gEzaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmJjLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvdWstcG9saXRpY3MtNTcxNjAyOTcuYW1w?oc=5
2021-05-18 23:13:14Z
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Rosemary West could be questioned over missing Mary Bastholm as police prepare to dig up cafe cellar - Sky News
Rosemary West could be questioned over the disappearance of missing schoolgirl Mary Bastholm, say police.
Detectives are preparing to dig up the cellar of a Gloucester cafe after "possible evidence" she could be buried there.
The 15-year-old went missing in 1968 and there has long been a suspicion that serial killer Fred West may have killed her.
West was a regular at the cafe and knew Mary through her job as a waitress, said Detective Chief Inspector John Turner.
The "house of horrors" killer committed at least 12 murders - most of them with wife Rosemary.
He took his own life in prison in 1995, aged 53, but she remains locked up in a Yorkshire prison serving a whole life sentence.
Mr Turner said it was his "understanding that Mary disappeared before Fred met Rosemary, but that she might still be questioned".
"As and when we know more, I will then consider whether people need to be interviewed and spoken to and Rose West may be one of those people," he said.
Investigations at the Clean Plate cafe were prompted by a TV production team, who took a picture of blue material in one area of the cellar. Mary was wearing a blue coat, dress and bag when she disappeared.
Many of the Wests' victims, who were all young women, were found buried in the cellar or garden of their house.
Forensic archaeologists have confirmed they have found "six voids" in the cafe and the excavation is set to start on Wednesday.
Two of the voids were found by the TV crew and four by the forensics teams.
Mr Turner said one had been uncovered by a detection dog in a toilet block in the basement.
"Below the surface of the concrete and tiles, there is a void - a hole within the ground - which is an anomaly," said the chief inspector.
He added: "What the GPR [ground penetrating radar] won't say is what is in that void - but what it does say is there is a hole or a void in the ground."
They will be excavated "methodically and meticulously one at a time" in a process expected to take about two weeks.
The search has been slow as the cafe sits above an ancient burial ground going back to Roman times, Mr Turner said.
Police were also seen removing objects from the cafe on Tuesday, including a number of wooden doors.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiiAFodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9yb3NlbWFyeS13ZXN0LWNvdWxkLWJlLXF1ZXN0aW9uZWQtb3Zlci1taXNzaW5nLW1hcnktYmFzdGhvbG0tYXMtcG9saWNlLXByZXBhcmUtdG8tZGlnLXVwLWNhZmUtY2VsbGFyLTEyMzEwMjQw0gGMAWh0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5L2FtcC9yb3NlbWFyeS13ZXN0LWNvdWxkLWJlLXF1ZXN0aW9uZWQtb3Zlci1taXNzaW5nLW1hcnktYmFzdGhvbG0tYXMtcG9saWNlLXByZXBhcmUtdG8tZGlnLXVwLWNhZmUtY2VsbGFyLTEyMzEwMjQw?oc=5
2021-05-18 19:07:16Z
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Covid: Nurse who cared for PM resigns from NHS - BBC News
A nurse who cared for Boris Johnson when he was in intensive care with Covid has quit the NHS and criticised the government's handling of the pandemic and nurses' pay.
Jenny McGee said she was "taking a step back" from the NHS after her "toughest year" in the job, but hoped to return.
She told a Channel 4 documentary that nurses were not getting "the respect and now pay" they deserve.
The government has recommended a 1% pay rise for NHS staff this year.
Ms McGee also told the programme, The Year Britain Stopped, that "a lot of nurses" felt the government "hadn't led very effectively" and that there had been "indecisiveness" and "so many mixed messages".
She said it had been "very upsetting".
Ms McGee, originally from New Zealand, now plans to work abroad and spend time in her home country.
She told the documentary: "Yes, we have put ourselves on the line and we have worked so incredibly hard, and there's a lot of talk about how we're all heroes and all that sort of stuff.
"But at the same time, I'm just not sure if I can do it. I don't know how much more I've got to give to the NHS.
"We're not getting the respect and now pay that we deserve. I'm just sick of it. So I've handed in my resignation."
She gave the comments to the programme recently and a spokeswoman for the hospital confirmed she has now left.
In a statement released through Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, Ms McGee said: "After the toughest year of my nursing career, I'm taking a step back from the NHS but hope to return in the future.
"I'm excited to start a nursing contract in the Caribbean, before a holiday back home in New Zealand later in the year.
"I'm so proud to have worked at St Thomas' Hospital and to have been part of such a fantastic team."
Ms McGee also told the documentary, being broadcast on 24 May, that Mr Johnson was surrounded by sick patients, "some of whom were dying", when he was admitted to hospital in April last year.
"I remember seeing him and thinking he looked very, very unwell," she said. "He was a different colour really."
She described it as a "surreal" time, and added that as Covid patients are complicated to look after, "we just didn't know what was going to happen".
After his release from hospital, Mr Johnson gave a statement in which he praised Ms McGee and fellow nurse Luis Pitarma for staying by his bedside all night.
She was invited to Downing Street in July for a garden party to celebrate 72 years of the NHS. In the documentary, the nurse said she was asked to take part in the clap for carers alongside the prime minister.
It would have been a "good photo opportunity" but she said she wanted to "stay out of it", adding: "Lots of nurses felt that the government hadn't led very effectively - the indecisiveness, so many mixed messages."
Downing Street said in a statement: "Our NHS staff have gone above and beyond over the past year and this government will do everything in our power to support them.
"We are extremely grateful for the care NHS staff have provided throughout the pandemic in particular."
But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the nurse's decision to leave the NHS was a "devastating indictment of Boris Johnson's approach to the people who put their lives on the line for him and our whole country".
Pat Cullen, acting general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said it was warning of "an exodus" from the profession. She said the government should "demonstrate its respect by giving nurses a fair pay rise for the skilled work they do".
Sara Gorton, head of health at the Unison union, said many more staff could quit "unless the prime minister sees sense over pay".
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiJmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3VrLTU3MTYyNDI40gEqaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmJjLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvdWstNTcxNjI0MjguYW1w?oc=5
2021-05-18 17:40:55Z
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Dominic Cummings threatens to exact revenge on Boris Johnson by revealing document on COVID strategy - Sky News
Dominic Cummings is threatening to exact revenge on Boris Johnson by revealing a Downing Street document on the prime minister's COVID lockdown strategy.
Unleashing a blizzard of often erratic messages on Twitter, the maverick former No 10 aide claimed he has "the only copy of a crucial historic document from COVID decision-making".
And as the government faces accusations that being too slow to ban flights to the UK from India caused a surge in the new Indian variant, he also hit out at "our joke borders policy".
Mr Cummings, who was the prime minister's policy guru and close confidant until he was ousted in a vicious power struggle late last year, is due to make a potentially blockbuster appearance before MPs next week.
He is scheduled to give evidence next Wednesday to a joint inquiry into the government's handling of the pandemic being conducted by the all-party health and social care and the science and technology committees.
As well as stirring up mischief, Mr Cummings' Twitter blitz will be seen by Tory loyalists as a backlash against allegations from No 10 insiders that he was responsible for embarrassing leaks about who paid for the costly makeover of the PM's Downing Street flat.
In a 1,000-word blog last month, Mr Cummings accused Mr Johnson of "falling so far below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves".
With a public inquiry now promised by the PM, Mr Johnson and Mr Cummings - once the closest of allies on Brexit and election campaigning - now appear to be sworn enemies and the PM's allies fear the former aide is hellbent on destroying his ex-boss.
In his tweet threatening trouble for the PM in his committee appearance, Mr Cummings said: "I've got the only copy of a crucial historical document from covid decision-making,"
And then in more light-hearted vein, he went on: "Should I 1/ give it to the Cmte next week / put on blog, b/ auction it … & give the ETH to a covid families charity?"
Mr Cummings later deleted the tweet offering to auction the document about 45 minutes after posting it, explaining he had "botched options like idiot".
The threat to reveal a damning document triggered trepidation in the Tory high command and ridicule among Mr Cummings' critics, with some suggesting the document was the result of his eye test after his notorious explanation for his lockdown-busting trip to Barnard Castle last year.
The tweets were among at least 25 posted by Mr Cummings over a 24-hour period, mostly relating to Mr Johnson's COVID strategy, with some apparently composed while he was in a waiting room ahead of his first vaccination.
Asked about Mr Cummings' tweets and his threat to release a top secret Downing Street document, the prime minister's spokesman gave a frosty response.
"I'm not going to speculate about what information individuals may or may not choose to present at committees," the spokesman said. "Obviously there are strict rules that are abided by in these situations."
Among the tweets were allegations about the failure of "pseudo lockdowns" and more on his vendetta against Matt Hancock's Department of Health, which in a previous select committee appearance he called "a smoking ruin".
His tweets included: "Remembered Vallance 24/3 amid disaster: will u support taking vaccines out of DH & a new Taskforce, we need different leadership & skills to drive it? CABSEC supported divvying up DH tasks. If not, normal Whitehall process, probably normal result."
This appeared to be a suggestion that Sir Patrick Vallance, the government's chief scientific officer, had proposed stripping Mr Hancock's department of vaccines policy and that this was supported by the former cabinet secretary, Sir Mark Sedwill.
Mr Cummings then wrote: "Success seems to have blinded SW1 to important Qs. a/ We did it much better than Brussels, obviously, but Brussels is not a good comparison.
"How well did we do relative to 'how well wd General Groves who ran the Manhattan Project have done it?'".
The Manhattan Project was the US-led race to build a nuclear bomb in World War II.
Mr Cummings also alleged that the government missed an opportunity to start vaccinations last summer.
He tweeted: "I think we'll conclude we shd have done Human Challenge trials immediately & cd have got jabs in arms summer.
"This is not criticism of the VTF (Vaccines Task Force) which has been constrained in ways they shdnt be. It's cnctd to b/ where is the public plan for how the VTF will deal with variants?"
Mr Cummings also suggested there had been a cover-up to hide government blunders.
"One of the most fundamental & unarguable lessons of Feb-March is that secrecy contributed greatly to the catastrophe," he wrote.
"Openness to scrutiny wd have exposed Gvt errors weeks earlier than happened.
"So why are MPs accepting the lack of a public plan now for VTF viz variants? Especially when rumours reach me that the silent entropy of Whitehall is slowly turning VTF back into a 'normal' entity?
"The best hedge re a variant escaping current vaccines is PUBLIC SCRUTINY of Gvt plans. This will hopefully show it's been taken seriously. If not, better learn now that the Gvt has screwed up again than when 'variant escapes' news breaks.
"I can think of no significant element of covid response that wd not have been improved by discarding secrecy and opening up. This was symbolised by e.g how COBR cd not be used: a constrained STRAP environment cd not cope with the scale/speed, another important lesson."
"Having watched classified elements of covid response, Gvt cd make the vaccine plans 99% public without risks, 'national security' almost totally irrelevant to the critical parts of the problem, a few things cd be withheld while publishing all crucial parts of the plan."
Hitting back at Mr Cummings' claim that border policy is "a joke", the PM's official spokesman said: "Obviously, I would reject that. We have some of the strongest border measures in the world."
On his claim that vaccine trials should have started earlier, the spokesman said: "There are a number of individuals who have different views on actions taken by government during the course of this pandemic."
And on the claim that the COVID plan was "either non-existent or a disaster", the spokesman said: "Our approach to this pandemic throughout has been guided by the best scientific data.
"It is an approach that has enabled us to secure early development of vaccines which has now enabled us to move through our roadmap and restore freedoms to the public."
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2021-05-18 14:43:18Z
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Coronavirus: Ministers to step up vaccine take-up calls amid variant fears - BBC News
Ministers will step up calls for people to book a Covid vaccination as soon as they are offered one, amid increasing concern about the Indian variant.
The health secretary said anyone who was unsure should look at Bolton, where most people in hospital with Covid were eligible for a jab but had not had one.
Matt Hancock said 86 local councils had five or more cases of the variant that is thought to be more transmissible.
It comes as lockdowns eased in England, Wales and most of Scotland on Monday.
Yasmin Qureshi, the Labour MP for Bolton South East, challenged the suggestion that her constituents had refused the vaccine, blaming poor organisation instead.
More than 36.7m people have had their first vaccine dose in the UK and more than 20.2m have had their second.
The NHS website for booking a vaccination is now open to those aged 36 and over.
Environment Secretary George Eustice told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that surge testing was taking place in Bolton, while the government was "keeping a very close eye" on the football match at Old Trafford in Manchester later - where 10,000 fans are expected to gather.
He said the more people who are vaccinated, "the greater the collective immunity that we have as a population".
Mr Hancock told the House of Commons on Monday that there had been 2,323 confirmed cases of the Indian variant across the UK, saying it was now the dominant strain in Bolton and neighbouring Blackburn and Darwen, in Lancashire, and was rising in all age groups.
He said most people in hospital in those areas had been eligible for a vaccine but had chosen not to have it - and urged anyone not sure whether to get jabbed to "look at what's happening in Bolton".
But Ms Qureshi argued that the area was initially slow to get the right vaccine rollout infrastructure, telling BBC Newsnight on Monday that the rollout "was done in one place in the town centre with only about six vaccinators to cover a huge area and a huge population".
"Some people had to use two or three buses to get into the town centre," she said. "A lot of these people were on zero-hours contracts or living in multi-generational homes and they weren't able to be contacted."
Mr Hancock also identified Bedford as another hotspot for the variant.
Vicky Head, Bedford's director of public health, told BBC Breakfast the town was experiencing a "massive rise" in cases of the Indian variant in what was a "worrying time".
"It's really important that people understand just how quickly the situation can change," she said.
She said they had been doing targeted testing in schools, setting up walk-in clinics for those eligible to get the jab, and making sure the right information was available.
The wait for more data begins.
Data on the variant from India: how quickly it spreads, how many fall seriously ill, how effective vaccines are against it.
And data on the impact of the latest easing of restrictions in much of Britain.
It's likely to be a few weeks before an assessment can be made about what is done next.
The removal of all remaining restrictions in England is meant to be a little over a month away, but there's a consistent caution from ministers.
The government is desperate not to overpromise and disappoint; many businesses and some Conservative MPs are desperate the final shackles on our liberties are thrown off, on time.
One former minister, Conor Burns, said the country had tolerated "the most profound curtailment of our freedoms in peacetime" and "it wouldn't be right to do so again" because some people had refused the offer of a vaccine.
Prof Steven Riley, professor of infectious disease dynamics at Imperial College London, told BBC Radio 4 Today's programme that, so far, the evidence was that the vaccine was still effective against the Covid variant first found in India.
He said "the messaging we're hearing" is about getting people vaccinated, including those at-risk "who for whatever reason they may have decided not to, it may have been very difficult for them for logistical reasons".
"Now really is the time to reach as many of those people as we can in case we do have a little bit of a wave of infection now, and that will give them the best chance of getting protection," he said.
On Monday millions of people were able to enjoy new freedoms - such as indoor pints, hugs with loved ones and foreign holidays - for the first time in months, under the latest relaxation of rules across England, Wales and most of Scotland.
But amid concern over the variant first found in India the government has warned its next review of social distancing rules - set to take place by the end of May - may be delayed.
As part of its road map out of lockdown, the government's plan was to end all remaining restrictions on social contact by 21 June - which would mean unlimited numbers of guests at weddings, and venues such as nightclubs being allowed to reopen.
Ministers are said to be considering contingency plans for local lockdowns if the variant cannot be brought under control, according to the Times newspaper.
- LOOK-UP TOOL: How many cases in your area?
- YOUR QUESTIONS: We answer your queries
- VACCINE: When will I get the jab?
- NEW VARIANTS: How worried should we be?
NHS England national medical director Stephen Powis said yesterday that there had been 930,000 appointments made since the vaccination programme was opened up to 38 and 39-year-olds, and he encouraged people to accept a jab when they are offered one.
"Getting vaccinated is the most important step we can take to protect ourselves, our families and our communities against Covid-19, so when it is your turn to get your first or second dose please do so," he said.
A further 1,976 new infections were reported in the UK on Monday, and another five deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid test.
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2021-05-18 10:48:17Z
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Fred West: 'Six voids' found under cafe linked to serial killer and missing girl Mary Bastholm - Sky News
Police searching under a cafe for a suspected victim of serial killer Fred West have found "six voids" - and excavation will start tomorrow.
Detective Chief Inspector John Turner told Sky News that two voids were discovered by a production crew working on a documentary, and another four have been found since.
Forensic archaeologists have been undertaking exploratory work at the Clean Plate cafe in Gloucester in connection with the disappearance of Mary Bastholm who vanished in 1968 aged just 15.
Serial killer West, who took his own life in prison in 1995 aged 53, was previously suspected over her disappearance.
Ms Bastholm, who worked at the cafe on Southgate Street, has never been found.
DCI Turner said excavation work will begin from tomorrow following safety checks - since asbestos was found behind tiles the other day.
He said a void was found in a toilet in the basement of the cafe via a cadaver dog and there was some minor to medium interest in it.
"Below the surface of the concrete and tiles, there is a void - a hole within the ground - which is an anomaly."
He added: "What the GPR won't say is what is in that void - but what it does say is there is a hole or a void in the ground."
He said the six voids would be excavated "methodically and meticulously one at a time" with all of the earth removed and reviewed - with the "painstaking process" expected to take around two weeks.
One of the findings presented to police was a photo taken by the production company of what appeared to be blue material buried in one area of the cellar - and Mary was wearing a blue coat when she went missing.
DCI Turner said: "The production company put in an endoscope and found a grainy image of what looked like to me - blue material."
"The significance of that is when Mary went missing in 1968 she was wearing a blue coat and a blue/white dress and had a blue bag with her".
The blue material "hasn't been confirmed" and "there was no requirement for us to do a further endoscope", DCI Turner said.
The search has been slow as the cafe sits above an ancient burial ground going back to Roman times, he added.
DCI Turner said police have been working with a team of forensic archaeologists and anthropologists to go over the data provided by the production crew with their own GPR equipment.
He said they have had to carry out health and safety assessments for enclosed space working before excavation work goes ahead in the basement due to the discovery of asbestos - with health and safety work being done to remove it.
Mary's body was not found during the 1994 excavation of the Wests' home, now known as the "House of Horrors", on Cromwell Street in Gloucester.
West was charged with 12 murders, but took his own life in a Birmingham prison before his trial.
Rose West was convicted of 10 murders in November 1995 and is serving life.
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2021-05-18 10:05:03Z
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