© 2020 – 2024 AEA3 WEB | AEAƎ United Kingdom News
AEA3 WEB | AEAƎ United Kingdom News
Image default
News

UK Covid live: virus-related staff absences in England’s hospitals up by nearly 60% with north-west hit hardest

Latest updates: total of 39,142 NHS staff at hospital trusts in England were absent for Covid-19 reasons on 2 January

  • NHS England hit by highest Covid absences since vaccine rollout
  • Military deployed at London hospitals due to Omicron staff shortages
  • Schools in England ‘teetering on the edge’ with staff Covid absences
  • England testing changes could hit low-paid workers, leaked memo warns
  • Coronavirus – latest global updates

Steve Reed, the shadow justice secretary, has said that Labour is asking the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Kathryn Stone, to investigate the text messages between Boris Johnson and Lord Brownlow, the Tory donor who initially funded his flat refurbishment. Reed said the WhatsApp message from Johnson to Brownlow that included both a request for help with the refurbishment costs and an assurance that Brownlow’s plans for a “Great Exhibition” were been looked at suggested a “cash for access” arrangement.

Reed told the Today programme:

What we’re seeing here is a case of, potentially, cash for access where Lord Brownlow was given access to ministers to try and influence them over decisions of spending taxpayers’ money – that is why this matters so immensely.

Those very cosy text messages show there was a quid pro quo in operation between the prime minister and Lord Brownlow, and we need to get to the absolute bottom of this.

The issue is not whether it happened, it is whether rich people can pay to get access to government ministers to try and influence them over how they decide to spend taxpayers’ money.

We have seen an immediate and dramatic spike in bookings, with volumes since the government announcement heading towards pre-pandemic levels, which demonstrates just how much demand is out there among people wanting to get away for a much-needed holiday.

We’ve already seen an immediate and strong uptick in bookings and we now expect summer 2022 bookings to be normalised.

January is traditionally the busiest month for holiday bookings and demand is yet to reach pre-Covid levels, so we need to see sustained confidence in travel so the industry can fully recover.

I predict travel will be 90% back to 2019 levels before the end of spring. We’re already seeing increased call volumes and inquiries about trips for the year ahead as confidence builds.

Continue reading…

Related posts

No need for fully-jabbed Covid contacts to isolate from Monday, confirms Javid

AEA3

Cormac McCarthy, celebrated US novelist, dies aged 89

AEA3

Lawyers question strength of Prince Andrew’s response to lawsuit

AEA3