4 d. ago Nigel Farage blasted for 'disgusting insult' to Covid bereaved with call to end Inquiry

The Reform UK leader complained the Covid Inquiry, which was set up to learn lessons from the devastating pandemic that killed some 227,000 people, was too expensive

Politics

5 d. ago Covid inquiry becomes most expensive in British legal history

Financial reports published on Monday showed £110.8 million has been spent on lawyers and chairman Baroness Heather Hallett has been paid £794,000 and received £41,000 in expenses payments

Politics

6 d. ago Windrush commissioner: Black Britons asking if UK is ‘going backwards’

Rev Clive Foster says rhetoric targeting legal migrants makes some wonder if history is repeating itselfBlack Britons are asking if the UK is “going backwards”, the Windrush commissioner has warned in an interview marking his 100th day in office.The Rev Clive Foster said Windrush scandal survivors were questioning whether “history is repeating itself” as UK politicians target legal migrants. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Covid Inquiry reveals ‘forgotten’ children left disabled by Long Covid

Long Covid Kids supports 7,000 children whose parents say they have been 'gas lit' by NHS, schools and social services, as the inquiry uncovered pandemic-era advice against diagnosing the condition

Politics

1 week ago Boris Johnson admits his government’s Covid rules went ‘too far’ for children

The former prime minister said closing schools during the pandemic was a ‘nightmare’ scenario

Politics

1 week ago Boris Johnson admits Covid rules went ‘too far’ for children

The former prime minister said closing schools during the pandemic was a ‘nightmare’ scenario

Politics

1 week ago Boris Johnson says DfE failed to plan for school closures during Covid crisis

Former PM tells inquiry that children ‘were paying a huge, huge price to protect the rest of society’Boris Johnson laid blame on the Department for Education (DfE) over its lack of preparation for school closures at the outbreak of the pandemic, telling the Covid-19 inquiry that he assumed detailed planning was going on behind the scenes.“We were focused on trying to delay the peak of the pandemic and we thought that the closure of schools, if it had to be used at all, would be a measure of last resort,” the former prime minister said. He added: “It was my impression that the work was being done. I certainly, let me put it this way, I certainly assumed that the work was being done.” Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Boris Johnson left in ‘homicidal mood’ over Covid exam results saga

Boris Johnson said closing schools during the pandemic was a ‘nightmare’ scenario

Politics

1 week ago Boris Johnson says children paid a 'huge price' when schools were closed during Covid but officials DID plan ahead of 'nightmare' decision

The former PM told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry that it was 'obvious' there would need to be 'consideration of closing schools' and he believed education bosses were making a plan.

Politics

1 week ago ‘We let down a lot of kids’, Boris Johnson admits over Covid exam results saga

Boris Johnson said closing schools during the pandemic was a ‘nightmare’ scenario

Politics

1 week ago Frustrated Boris Johnson loses his cool at Covid inquiry: ‘You try!’

Boris Johnson appeared to get annoyed when giving evidence to the Covid inquiry on Tuesday (21 October), telling the panel his job “wasn’t easy”.

Politics

1 week ago Covid inquiry live: children paid ‘huge price’ to protect rest of society in pandemic, says Johnson

The former prime minister says method for adjudicating exam results ‘must have been bitterly disappointing to students’Former prime minister Boris Johnson tries to give the inquiry context around the decision making on the closure of educational settings. He says:Don’t forget that we didn’t know the effect this disease had on kids. We didn’t know much about the transmissibility of the disease. There were all sorts of things that were simply unknown and difficult to plan for. And the thing was moving very fast.And from the point of view of No 10, we were focused very much on trying to stave off, trying to avoid an appalling public health crisis, and we were focused on getting enough ventilators, on getting enough PPE, trying to avoid a significant number of casualties, and I think it’s important for the inquiry to focus, to remember that at the time that the school closures were first mentioned, they were seen as something you put in at the peak of the pandemic, and we didn’t think w...

Politics

1 week ago Johnson insists there had been planning for Covid school closures

The former prime minister is giving evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

Politics

1 week ago Covid inquiry live: Boris Johnson questioned over impact of pandemic on children

The former prime minister is appearing at the UK’s Covid-19 inquiryClair Dobbin KC is questioning the former prime minister. She is counsel to the Covid Inquiry. She leads its work in Northern Ireland and, separately, its work in relation to children.She has opened by asking about Gavin Williamson’s evidence which suggested there had been very little preparation for the closure of schools. She says his evidence was that “he didn’t seek assessment of the impact of school closures, and nor did he seek to develop planning for mass school closures because, and these were the words he used in his oral evidence, the steer I was hearing – whether it was in cabinet or anything else – was to keep things open, not about closing things.” Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Boris Johnson gives Covid Inquiry evidence on decisions he made as PM

The former Prime Minister Boris Johnson will face questions from the Covid-19 Inquiry about late lockdowns and a lack of national preparation for remote learning

Politics

1 week ago UK's Covid rules around going outside during lockdown were too strict and should have been 'more liberal', Chris Whitty admits

Professor Sir Chris Whitty told the Covid-19 Inquiry that the approach to the first lockdown should have been 'more liberal', as the evidence showed that being outdoors was safer than being indoors.

Events

2 w. ago Covid plan rushed as decision to close all schools drafted overnight, says Williamson

Sir Gavin Williamson said blunders were made when making massive decisions like closing all schools during the covid pandemic as the inquiry into 2020 lockdown continues

Politics

2 w. ago Sir Gavin Williamson: ‘Many mistakes made’ with Covid school closures

The former education secretary told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry things should have been done differently.

Politics

2 w. ago I came fourth in the Ballon d'Or and was the most expensive foreign player in British football history but I now sell vacuum cleaners

Would you quit being a professional football to sell vacuum cleaner nozzles with an inventor you had just met? That's exactly what Tomas Brolin did in 1998.

Sport

3 w. ago I don’t recall asking questions of botched Covid exam model, says Swinney

The First Minister appeared before the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on Thursday.

Politics