C nh

Keir Starmer has blasted Boris Johnson for freezing the pay of NHS heroes - while giving Dominic Cummings a 40% raise. The Labour leader said it was "absolutely wrong" to make all public-sector workers take a pay freeze. Asked if it was financially responsible to give pay rises without tax hikes, the Labour leader said: "We have to have a plan for the future to rebuild the foundations of our country. "You don't do that by freezing the pay of those at the front line throughout this pandemic, public-sector workers, while at the same time giving people like Dominic Cummings a pay rise." Asked what he would say to private-sector employees who have had pay cuts or lost their jobs, Sir Keir said: "What I say to them is we need the recovery to work, and that means we need businesses to succeed over the next six months. "We need to do everything we can to stimulate growth and we do not do that by the sort of Budget we saw on Wednesday." Health service unions denounced the … [Read more...] about Keir Starmer blasts Boris Johnson for NHS pay freeze while Dominic Cummings got 40% raise

A 1% pay rise for NHS workers is "the most" the government can afford due to the economic cost of the COVID crisis, a health minister has told Sky News. The government is facing a furious backlash - led by the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer - after calling for health care staff in England to be restricted to a pay rise of 1%. Live COVID updates from the UK and across the world But Nadine Dorries said it "would be wrong to say a single person in the government does not appreciate the effort" of NHS staff, as she defended the decision not to recommend a larger pay increase. "Of course, we recognise the sacrifice and the commitment and the vocation of nurses and all health workers over the past year," the minister said. Advertisement "We've all been touched by, or personally experienced, help by NHS workers. "But I think it is important to note that the priority of the government has been about protecting people's livelihoods, about … [Read more...] about COVID-19: 1% pay rise for NHS staff ‘the most’ the government can afford, says minister Nadine Dorries

Holidaymakers face paying more for a UK seaside break this summer, with demand for staycations driving up the cost of accommodation by an average of 35% compared to last year. A study by consumer group Which? indicated prices have been hiked in 10 of the UK's most visited beach destinations, including St Ives, Whitby, Llandudno and Brighton. Live COVID updates from the UK and across the world Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 'Great uncertainty' around foreign holidays Under Boris Johnson 's road map for easing coronavirus lockdown restrictions, people in England could be allowed to stay in self-contained accommodation such as holiday lets from 12 April. Meanwhile, foreign holidays, which may be permitted from 17 May, are likely to involve restrictions and conditions such as COVID-19 testing and self-isolation periods. Advertisement It comes as Cyprus said it will let British tourists who … [Read more...] about COVID-19: Staycation surge hikes up cost of seaside holiday lets

TODAY, March 5 marks one year since Britain saw its first citizen die from Covid-19. To mark the anniversary, Brits are being asked to light a candle and hold a minutes silence for Covid Memorial Day. What is Covid Memorial Day? A day-long “virtual commemoration” of those we have lost to Covid-19 over the last year culminating in a 7pm candle-lit minute’s silence. On 5 March 2020, the BBC reported that a 75-year-old woman in the Royal Berkshire Hospital had become the first Briton to die of COVID-19. Exactly one year and so many deaths on, Covid Memorial Day will be a moment for Britain’s to take a moment to grieve. Virtually every nation that has had large numbers of Covid deaths have held national memorials. Spain, for example, had a 10-day period of remembrance period and last month, the first thing that Joe Biden did was to hold a national Covid Memorial Day. The reaction of so many Americans after the event was: “I hadn’t realised just how much I’d … [Read more...] about What time is the minute silence for Covid Memorial Day today, Friday, March 5?

Basingstoke, England (CNN) Last May, Steve Bates' phone rang. The UK was in the midst of its first national lockdown -- there was a stay-at-home order, schools and most shops were closed, and experts were warning that a vaccine could still be years out. At the other end of the line was an old friend, Kate Bingham , a pharmaceutical investor who had just agreed to lead the UK's Vaccine Taskforce, a team of private sector experts assembled to secure vaccine doses for the British public. She wanted him to join. "She wanted my contacts. She knew that I knew everybody in the industry," Bates, a lobbyist who heads the UK BioIndustry Association, told CNN. "Kate Bingham said to me, 'we've never made a vaccine that's worked against a human coronavirus. This is a long shot.'" Compelled by a sense of national duty in a time of crisis, Bates agreed to help. By that time, the British government had one of the highest national death tolls globally, having dragged its feet to … [Read more...] about Vaccine rollout is a much-needed win for UK after bungling its pandemic response