Markus Andrews

A council in west London is to “revisit” its controversial decision to remove a popular cycle lane on a busy London road.Lanes were installed on Kensington High Street in October to help people move around during the pandemic, but were removed after just two months amid complaints from motorists.The decision to scrap the lanes left a hole in the main safe east-west route through London for people travelling by bike, at a time when the government is urging people to stay off public transport.But on Friday night the council said it would look again at the decision to remove the £320,000 lane and report back in March after reviewing the evidence.The removal of the infrastructure had reportedly angered Boris Johnson, who has ordered councils to make their roads safe for people to get around by bike.But research by a campaign group using traffic camera footage also found that the road space where the cycle paths once stood has since been blocked by parked cars 80 per cent of the time.Average journey times on the road were also observed to have increased since the lane was removed, according to the analysis by Bike Is Best.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayA freedom of information request by The Independent has also established that the council did not conduct an equalities impact assessment on the removal of the lane.And while the council said it had conducted a separate risk assessment for removing the infrastructure, they refused to release it, stating: “It is our belief that the release of the information would likely prejudice our contractors’ commercial interest.” The council said in a letter to The Independent: “Whilst we accept that there is a general public interest in the openness and transparency around the functioning of the council which includes the allocation and use of public money … it is also our opinion that it is essential that the commercial interests of our contractors are afforded a certain degree of protection.”We believe their release could give other competitors insight into their operations/competitive advantage.”Councillor Johnny Thalassites, the councils lead member for transport, said taking out the lane would “help get the High Street moving again and give our local economy the best possible chance of a good December”. More

The government has quietly introduced a loophole to its eviction ban that waters down protections for people who lost their jobs during the pandemic.Ministers on Friday announced that they were extending the ban on bailiff evictions that has been in place since the first lockdown in March, covering most tenants for another six weeks.But the announcement did not mention a key change snuck out in legislation that will for the first time give landlords the power to evict people for not paying their rent during lockdown.Since September the eviction ban has allowed landlords to go ahead with evictions in exceptional circumstances, such as when tenants are behaving anti-socially or were sitting on extreme levels of rent arrears.These “substantial” rent arrears were previously defined in law as equivalent to nine months’ rent, but debt accrued since the first lockdown on 23 March was not allowed to be counted in the total.This rule was to make sure people who lost their jobs during the pandemic were not made homeless because the government had forced their workplace to close.But the new legislation published on Friday removes this protection and redefines “substantial arrears” to cover many more people.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayNow, a tenant can be evicted if they have been unable to pay their rent for just six months, and most crucially, rent accrued since the pandemic began is no longer excluded.The charity Citizens Advice estimates that around half a million tenants are in arrears, with the average amount owed being £730.Housing activists warned that the new loophole leaves in tatters the government’s promise that no one will lose their home because of the pandemic.
“The Government promised repeatedly that no one would lose their homes because of the pandemic. Clearly, they lied.” Alva Gotby, organiser at the London Renters Union“The Government has sneaked out this desperately cruel legislation on a Friday night. Clearly they’re ashamed – and they should be,” said Alva Gotby, a renter and an organiser with the London Renters Union.“If people are forced out of their homes, the virus will spread. Everyone is making enormous sacrifices to get transmissions down, yet, shockingly, the Government has chosen to prioritise the profits of landlords over our lives.”She called for the government to again halt all evictions and write off debt that renters had built up during the pandemic, adding: “The Government promised repeatedly that no one would lose their homes because of the pandemic. Clearly, they lied.”The new rules take effect from Monday, when the latest extension to the ban takes over. Landlords have long lobbied ministers to end the ban, claiming it harms their business and is causing tenants to build up more arrears.
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Ministers are monitoring the nation’s snack intake amid fears that repeated coronavirus lockdowns are fuelling a surge in obesity.  Information on the UK’s snacking habits and nutritional intake has been added to a monitoring tool used by Public Health England to assess the wider impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the nation’s health, with figures showing that sales of “sweet home cooking” goods rose by almost a quarter in the year to June.  “Take home confectionery” purchases increased by 16.5 per cent, while the number of biscuits purchased went up by 12 per cent.  Ministers have already committed to banning multi-buy offers on junk food as part of a major new public health drive announced by Boris Johnson earlier this year, but it is thought that more restrictions could be considered if unhealthy eating habits continue to increase.The crackdown, unveiled in July, came after the prime minister admitted that his weight had been too high when he was struck down by Covid-19 over Easter, and was aimed at getting Britons to lose weight, making them less susceptible to a second wave of the pandemic.  But there are now fears that the effects of multiple lockdowns this winter will lead to long-term health problems which will linger even if a vaccine removes the immediate threat from Covid-19. The government is concerned that the pandemic could affect the long-term health of the country for years to come.  Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayThe Independent revealed in November that plans to restart a scheme to weigh schoolchildren had been accelerated following warnings that the events of last year had exacerbated the UK’s childhood obesity programme. But experts are also concerned about the impact that measures taken to fight the virus have had on the waistlines of millions of adults. They believe exercise levels have plummeted and snacking levels soared as millions made the switch overnight from working in an office to working from home. Data shows that obese people are significantly more likely to become seriously ill and be admitted to intensive care with Covid-19 compared with those who have a healthy body mass index.Experts warn that extra weight can put pressure on our bodies and reduce the ability to fight off serious diseases.In addition, a whole host of dangerous illnesses, such as diabetes, are linked to too much weight.  Tam Fry, the chair of the National Obesity Forum, said analysis of what food millions of people are buying is important.  “It is vital for us to know what is going on in households,” he said.  
There was no clear evidence of how much weight adults had put on during the pandemic.  “At the moment we have no idea,” he said, but his expectation is that the final numbers will be “quite significant”.  He warned that the problem could dog efforts to improve health outcomes in the UK for years: “Putting on weight is chicken feed. Taking it off takes a long time.”  He added that excess weight has been linked to a number of different diseases.  “Weight is a real killer and I do not say that lightly.  “It is a real disaster and we have to be careful,” he said.  A spokesperson for Public Health England said that the organisation planned to continue to look at nutritional data as part of its response to Covid-19.   More

The Camberwell Green branch in Southwark said its members did not believe Sir Keir could lead the party to victory against Boris Johnson’s Conservatives or deliver “socialist” policies.“This branch has lost confidence in Keir Starmer as leader of the Labour party,” the group stated on Twitter. “It does not believe he can win a general election and deliver the socialist policies that this country so badly needs.”Despite the group’s complaint about Sir Keir’s electability, the two parties remain neck-and-neck in the polls. It marks a substantial shift from the 17-point advantage the Tories enjoyed in final poll of the Jeremy Corbyn era last April.The latest YouGov survey, carried out just before Christmas, showed Labour enjoying a four-point lead over the Tories – though a Deltapoll survey taken just after Christmas gave the Conservatives a five-point lead.Sir Keir may not need to be worried by a single branch’s symbolic protest, but many die-hard Corbyn supporters and some anti-Brexit campaigners continue to criticise the Labour leader on social media.The motion of no confidence comes as one of his backbenchers, Rosie Duffield MP, said the majority of her colleagues in the parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) are “desperate” to re-join the EU in future.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayThe MP for Canterbury told The Huffington Post they would try to “shift the leadership” towards the re-joiner position, even if it took a long time. “We’re not talking in the next five years realistically … Possibly we might even have a different sort of set up, a different leader by then, who knows.”The latest research suggests Sir Keir has managed to win back some of the Leave voters who deserted the party at that last general election.One 7,000-strong poll taken last month by Opinium showed Labour now has backing from 20 per cent of Leave voters – having only won 16 per cent of Leave voters at the last election.The Independent has asked the Labour leader’s office for comment on the Camberwell Green branch’s motion of no confidence.Many local Labour branches are made up of only a few dozen members, and the motion has no bearing on the larger Camberwell and Peckham Constituency Labour Party (CLP) which elects people to national party structures. More

The government has extended its ban on enforcing evictions during the coronavirus pandemic until “at least” 21 February, ministers have announced.The emergency measure, which has been extended before, had been due to expire in just three days, on Monday 11 January.Boris Johnson had told MPs on Wednesday that the end date of the ban was under review.While courts will be able to process cases and eviction notices can be issued, bailiffs will not be able to enact them until 22 February at the earliest, except as now in extreme cases such as anti-social behaviour.During the first national lockdown the government legislated to stop courts hearing possession cases, effectively banning evictions outright for any reason. This was extended until 20 September 2020, when it was replaced by a weaker ban that allows cases to proceed through courts – but not to be enforced by bailiffs. Exemptions for extreme rent arrears and anti-social behaviour were also introduced.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdaySome housing campaigners and charities have warned that the latest six-week extension will be inadequate to protect tenants.“Sadly, a six week extension just isn’t good enough,” said Harriet Protheroe Sultani, vice chair of campaign group Momentum.”We have around a million people currently in rental arrears and facing eviction in the middle of a pandemic.”The ability of landlords to extract rent cannot be valued above the lives of working people. The ban needs to be extended and pandemic rent debt needs to be forgiven.”Alistair Cromwell, acting chief executive of the charity Citizens Advice, said: “The government has made the right decision to extend this protection. Renters who are struggling with arrears shouldn’t face the prospect of losing the roof over their head when everyone is being asked to stay at home.“However, there are still hundreds of thousands of people in arrears and this debt will continue to hang over them. The government should put in place targeted financial support for tenants in England who’ve fallen behind on their rent.”The Citizens Advice estimates that around half a million tenants are in arrears, with the average amount owed being £730.Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said the ban was “a sticking plaster” and called for support to help tenants pay their rent arrears.
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London mayor Sadiq Khan has declared a “major incident” in the capital because of the pressure of Covid-19 on the city’s health and emergency services.The mayor said he took the action, in his role as chair of the London Resilience Forum, as the situation was now “critical, with the spread of the virus out of control”.Hospitals in London are “at risk of being overwhelmed”, with beds likely to run out within the next two weeks unless the spread of the virus slows dramatically, he said.Declaring a major incident allows authorities to step up the co-ordinated emergency response to crisis situations involving serious risk to human life and welfare, and gives additional weight to requests for assistance from central government. The measure was previously invoked for the Grenfell Tower fire and Westminster Bridge and London Bridge terror attacks.With one Londoner in 30 now infected with Covid-19, the pressure on the city’s health services has become increasingly intense in the past weeks.The mayor wants to ram home the seriousness of the situation and the need for Londoners to obey lockdown requirements to stay home and avoid mixing.Between 30 December and 6 January, the number of patients in London hospitals grew by 27 per cent (from 5,524 to 7,034) and the number on mechanical ventilation grew by 42 per cent (from 640 to 908). Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayOver the last three days alone, the NHS has announced 477 deaths in London hospitals following a positive test for Covid-19.The 7,034 people currently in hospital with Covid-19 represents a 35 per cent increase compared to the peak of the pandemic in April. There are currently around 830 admissions to London hospital trusts per day – up from around 500 before Christmas – with the London Ambulance Service taking up to 8,000 emergency calls a day now, compared to 5,500 on a typical busy day. Mr Khan consulted with leaders of NHS London, local authorities, Public Health England and the emergency services before taking the step.He said: “The number of cases in London has increased rapidly with more than a third more patients being treated in our hospitals now compared to the peak of the pandemic last April.”Our heroic doctors, nurses and NHS staff are doing an amazing job, but with cases rising so rapidly, our hospitals are at risk of being overwhelmed. The stark reality is that we will run out of beds for patients in the next couple of weeks unless the spread of the virus slows down drastically.“We are declaring a major incident because the threat this virus poses to our city is at crisis point. If we do not take immediate action now, our NHS could be overwhelmed and more people will die.“Londoners continue to make huge sacrifices and I am today imploring them to please stay at home unless it is absolutely necessary for you to leave. Stay at home to protect yourself, your family, friends and other Londoners and to protect our NHS.”The chair of London Councils, Georgia Gould, said: “Cases are rising at a dangerous rate in London, putting extreme pressure on the NHS. “One in 30 Londoners now has Covid. This is why public services across London are urging all Londoners to please stay at home except for absolutely essential shopping and exercise. “This is a dark and difficult time for our city but there is light at end of the tunnel with the vaccine rollout. We are asking Londoners to come together one last time to stop the spread – lives really do depend on it.” More

Parcel courier firm DPD has suspended road deliveries from the UK to the EU – including the Republic of Ireland – because of the increased burden of paperwork caused by Brexit.DPD said that some 20 per cent of parcels destined for Europe are having to be returned because the new customs forms required by Boris Johnson’s EU trade deal.The announcement came as Scottish seafood producers said they had been hit by a “perfect storm” of administrative burdens following the transition out of the EU on 31 December, with queues and rejected paperwork causing “utter confusion”.And retailer Marks & Spencer said that “complex administrative processes” resulting from Brexit, as well as tariffs on some products, were “significantly impacting” on its activities in Ireland, France and the Czech Republic.Anticipated queues of lorries at the Channel ports have failed to materialise in the week since new rules came into effect, with a spokeswoman for the Port of Dover saying that traffic had been “running smoothly since the end of the post-transition period”.But hauliers said that this was due in part to unusually low volumes of traffic in what would normally be the quietest week of the year, with crossings reduced even further by the effects of stockpiling to prepare for Brexit, the Covid crisis and firms holding back on movements until the new system is bedded in.Road Haulage Association spokesman Paul Mummery said that while a majority of trucks have cleared customs formalities successfully, a “significant” proportion were being turned back for having the wrong paperwork, an issue which he expected to become more visible as traffic levels pick up over the coming weeks.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekday“We will see supply chain friction in the coming weeks,” he said. “We don’t expect it to be as visible as the queues we saw in Kent before Christmas, but the impact will be there just the same, in the form of trucks parked up at inland checkpoints or standing idle in the depot waiting for paperwork to be completed before they set off. “We’re expecting disruption for around six months until the new systems are bedded in.”Ferry company DFDS said it was experiencing “a high volume of vehicles being refused and delayed at the ports of Calais, Dunkirk and Dover due to incorrect paperwork being presented at check-in”.In a statement, DPD said it was pausing its road operations to the EU until 13 January, after a “challenging few days” following the New Year transition, with teams working round-the-clock to deal with new administrative burdens.Leaving the EU’s single market and customs union had required “significant changes to the way we take your parcels cross-border”, the company said.“It has now become evident that we have an increased burden with the new, more complex processes, and additional customs data we require from you for your parcels destined to Europe,” DPD said in a message to customers. “This has placed extra pressure on our turnaround and transit times.“We are seeing up to 20% of parcels having incorrect or incomplete data attached, these will have to be returned to you so that the required data can be provided.“In addition to this we are seeing delays and congestion at UK ports and more rigid requirements for Channel crossings.”In its post-Christmas trading statement, M&S said: “The free trade agreement with the EU means we will not incur tariffs on our core UK sales. “However potential tariffs on part of our range exported to the EU, together with very complex administrative processes, will significantly impact our businesses in Ireland, the Czech Republic and our franchise business in France which we are actively working to mitigate.”It is understood that tariffs may arise because of rules-of-origin regulations governing items brought into the UK and then re-exported to the EU, which do not enjoy the same zero-tariff zero-quota status under Mr Johnson’s deal as goods originating in Britain.Mr Mummery told The Independent there were concerns that complex new documentation and the prospect of delays may deter exporters from shipping products, reducing opportunities for hauliers.“Some firms may find a way of doing business that focuses more on the domestic market,” he said. “We have heard that there are firms in the EU that have decided that working in the UK is not worth their while this year. There will be firms in this country who will anticipate the ache of the new procedures and decide not to focus on export markets.“If you are looking at hundreds of pounds to fill in forms and then you have delays built in, time is money and it may well be that with tight cost margins, they will say it is just not worth it.”Shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon said: “The Government promised it had a plan to make sure things ran smoothly for businesses and hauliers post-Brexit.“It’s clear the problems caused by its poor preparation and delaying tactics have not gone away. Ministers have to get a grip on this and make sure essential workers are actually able to do their jobs, or we risk seeing a repeat of the chaos on our roads at Christmas.” More

Fishermen are halting exports to Europe because new border bureaucracy introduced by the government as part of Brexit is making their business unviable.Exporters now have to deal with new health certificates, customs declarations and other paperwork if they want to sell to the EU, the largest market for much of the UK’s catch.Describing the situation as a “catastrophe”, businesses said orders from Europe were also drying up because of Boris Johnson’s new trade barriers.  Seafood is highly perishable and relies on a seamless flow across borders, but small test consignments sent to France and Spain that would normally take one day are now taking three or more days, if they get through at all. It is also taking five hours for firms to secure a health certificate from authorities, a document required to apply for other customs paperwork.”Our customers are pulling out,” Santiago Buesa, director of SB Fish told the Reuters news agency. “We are fresh product and the customers expect to have it fresh, so they’re not buying. It’s a catastrophe.”Meanwhile David Noble, another exporter who buys from Scottish fleets to export to Europe, told the same agency that the new Brexit bureaucracy was costing between £500-£600 pounds a day and wiping out most of the profit.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekday”If our fish is too expensive our customers will buy elsewhere,” he said.Donna Fordyce, chief executive at Seafood Scotland, said: “The last 48 hours has really delivered what was expected – new bureaucratic non-tariff barriers, and no one body with the tools to be able to fix the situation.”It’s a perfect storm for Scottish seafood exporters. Weakened by Covid-19, and the closure of the French border before Christmas, the end of the Brexit transition period has unleashed layer upon layer of administrative problems, resulting in queues, border refusals and utter confusion.“IT problems in France meant consignments were diverted from Boulogne sur Mer to Dunkirk, which was unprepared as it wasn’t supposed to be at the export front line. There have also been HMRC IT issues on the UK side that need to resolved ASAP regarding certification.”She said a lack of knowledge of the required paperwork was also making shipments take far too long and called for checks to be relaxed.While lorries are physically moving smoothly through Britain’s ports without tailbacks, freight volumes have dropped sharply and businesses are simply staying away from the new border on account of the bureaucracy. Stena, the ferry company that operates many services said it was cancelling a dozen sailings between Wales and Ireland next week because of “a decline in freight volumes during the first week of Brexit”.Speaking on Friday morning, Transport secretary Grant Shapps defended the new barriers to trade, adding there had been some “changes”.”The cabinet office are working very closely with businesses,” he said.  “It’s not the case that goods have stopped flowing. In fact just before I came on I was studying, as I do by the hour at the moment, the flow at Kent and it’s been picking up every single day of this year so far. “You’re seeing goods crossing the short straits and flowing perfectly smoothly – so far not the 11-mile traffic jams we were told about.”
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