There is no guarantee sanctioned oligarch Roman Abramovich can return to the UK – and more sanctions will be imposed, the foreign secretary said. Chelsea FC owner Mr Abramovich was in Israel, where he has citizenship, and flew to Moscow via Istanbul on Tuesday after he was sanctioned by the UK last week. Liz Truss
UK
Scotland Yard has apologised after a black schoolgirl was strip searched by police while on her period after being wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis. A safeguarding report found that the “traumatic” search by Metropolitan Police officers took place at the girl’s school without another adult present and in the knowledge that she was menstruating. It
The government has overseen a “long-term decline” in critical cancer care and waiting times performance that is dragging “heroic” NHS staff down, MPs have said. The cross-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC) warned that the waiting list for treatment – currently 6.1m people – is likely to grow for the next few years while performance against
British-Iranian nationals Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori are heading to Tehran airport ahead of leaving the country, their lawyer has said. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a charity worker from Hampstead, northwest London, had been detained since her arrest in 2016 on charges of plotting to overthrow the Iranian government, which she denies. Her release comes after her
Boris Johnson will face a confidence vote in his leadership of the Conservative Party after enough MPs submitted letters calling for a contest. It will take place between 6pm and 8pm this evening in the House of Commons and an announcement is expected about an hour after the vote closes. After months of speculation, it
Boris Johnson is facing calls to come to the Commons to explain how he came to attend a lockdown-busting “bring your own booze” party in the Downing Street garden As well as a Whitehall inquiry into allegations of several Downing Street parties during lockdowns in England, the prime minister could now also face a police
The prime minister and his wife Carrie attended a “bring your own booze” event in the Downing Street garden during the UK’s first national COVID lockdown. More than 100 employees in Number 10 were invited to the drinks on 20 May 2020. In what has been described as evidence of “more rule breaking at the heart
Michael Gove has refused to deny that free lateral flow tests could be phased out in the coming weeks, less than 24 hours after another minister told Sky News the government would “absolutely not” charge for the devices. The housing secretary told Kay Burley that lateral flow tests will be free for “as long as
A cabinet minister has said he is in favour of reducing the coronavirus isolation period from seven days to five – provided the move is backed by officials. Speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sunday, Nadhim Zahawi said the issue is something that the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is looking at. Live COVID updates from
The scale of loss to COVID-19 is so vast, barely a community in the country can have been spared. In north London, John and Ida Sullivan have been suffering the pain of that loss for nearly two years. Their daughter Susan was one of the first to die from the virus, which has now claimed
The UK has recorded more than 150,000 COVID-related deaths since the start of the pandemic after the latest daily figures showed 313 further fatalities. It brings the total number of deaths reported within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test to 150,057. A further 146,390 COVID cases have also been reported, according to the latest
COVID booster jabs provide 90% protection against hospitalisation in the over-65s for at least three months, UK scientists have said. It means there is “no immediate need” for a fourth jab to be administered to vulnerable people, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said. Older adults who have not had a booster suffer a significant
Health Secretary Sajid Javid has been directly challenged by an unvaccinated hospital consultant over the government’s policy of compulsory COVID jabs for NHS staff. During a visit to King’s College Hospital in south London, Mr Javid asked staff members on the intensive care unit about their thoughts on new rules requiring vaccination for NHS workers.
Some 200 Armed Forces personnel are being deployed to support the NHS in London as hospitals grapple with staff shortages. Military medics will assist NHS doctors and nurses with patient care, while general duty personnel will help fill gaps caused by other absences. The Royal College of Nursing has said the deployment means the government
The epicentre of the current COVID outbreak has moved from London to the North West of England and more older people are being admitted to hospital, new data reveals. The UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) latest surveillance report also shows that the uptake of booster jabs is slowing in every age group. Rates in the
Pre-departure coronavirus testing for people returning to England has been scrapped because it has “outlived its usefulness” amid the rapid spread of Omicron in the UK and around the world, the transport secretary has told Sky News. “Omicron is global, it is worldwide, everybody has it now, the proportion that comes in overseas is completely
“Around a million people” are currently isolating as a result of coronavirus, a minister has said, as Sky News understands an announcement on the relaxation of testing rules will be announced today. “We don’t actually collect that data on a daily basis, but it’s obvious if you look at how many people tested positive yesterday,
Travel firms are calling for the removal of COVID testing restrictions, saying it would have no real impact on the spread of the Omicron variant in the UK. The call from trade body Airlines UK and Manchester Airports Group (MAG) comes after recent figures showing one in 25 people in England had COVID-19 just before
Key workers across several industries that keep the country running will be required to take COVID tests daily, the prime minister has announced. Boris Johnson said 100,000 workers “from food processing to transport to Border Force” will have to test every day they are in work from 10 January. The government will send lateral flow
Multiple hospitals have declared critical incidents amid warnings the NHS is “in a state of crisis” in the face of staff shortages caused by coronavirus and rising pressures. In a letter to Health Secretary Sajid Javid, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said the NHS can “ill afford” the current level of absences as it