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    Lib Dems asked Tony Blair to rebuild Commons chamber to make it less confrontational

    Former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown wanted to the House of Commons chamber redesigned to make it less confrontational, it has emerged. Mr Ashdown, who led his party between 1988 and 1999, wrote to Tony Blair asking him to rebuild parliament and lay it out as a hemicycle like the European Parliament, United States Senate, or Holyrood.He said the alteration would represent a new political culture of “consultation, pluralism, and debate”.In the early days of Tony Blair’s government the Liberal Democrats expected to cooperate with the incoming New Labour administration. The efforts led to the establishment of a “joint consultative committee” in which members from Labour and the Liberal Democrats jointly discussed issued. The government also commissioned a report by Lib Dem Lord Jenkins into electoral reform.But in a July 1998 letter to Tony Blair released by the National Archives the Liberal Democrat leader said as well as changing politics, he wanted to “alter the shape of parliament itself”.“One of the most telling criticisms of the [cooperation] project will be that you are doing this to get even greater dominance and I am sacrificing my duty and role to oppose for ambition/greed etc and that this is yet another mechanism to diminish the role of Parliament and make it into even more of a cipher,” he said. “One way of dealing with this is to openly recognise it and say that we are concerned about it too. More

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    Up to 90% of people in ICU ‘not boosted,’ says Boris Johnson

    Up to 90 per cent of the people “currently ending up” in intensive care units (ICUs) have not received a Covid booster vaccine, Boris Johnson has said, as he urged people to get their third jabs.The prime minister used an official visit to a vaccine centre in Milton Keynes on Wednesday to admit that Omicron “continues to cause real problems”, while defending his decision not to impose new rules in England – unlike the other three UK nations – saying the Covid variant remains “obviously milder” than its predecessor Delta.“I’m sorry to say this but the overwhelming majority of people who are currently ending up in intensive care in our hospitals are people who are not boosted,” he said. “I’ve talked to doctors who say the numbers are running up to 90 per cent of people in intensive care.”The PM added: “If you’re not vaccinated, you’re eight times more likely to get into hospital altogether. So, it’s a great thing to do. It’s very, very important. Get boosted for yourself, and enjoy new year sensibly and cautiously.”Mr Johnson also told reporters Britons should “enjoy” their new year celebrations but in a “cautious and sensible way”, citing extra precautions such as ventilation, regular testing and getting a booster as means of doing this.Following its “jingle jab” campaign over Christmas, the NHS is now calling on people to have a “jabby new year” after the latest government data suggested 39,923 more cases of Omicron were discovered in the UK in the last 24-hours. It brings the UK’s total infections of the variant up to 210,122, according to the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA). Meanwhile, new cases of Covid hit a record-high 183,037 in the UK today, with both Scotland and England recording their highest-ever daily case figures. Mr Johnson’s warning over hospital admissions comes as the NHS highlighted research from the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNARC), which found that at the start of last month around three out of five patients in London’s ICUs had not received a jab, a figure the health service said was rising.The PM spent Christmas at Chequers with his family, but broke what some were referring to as his “Covid silence” with the remarks he made today in Milton Keynes – less than an hour’s drive from the famed country estate. Despite his advice on “regular testing” in the lead-up to New Year’s Eve, the UK has again begun experiencing a shortage of both PCR and rapid lateral flow tests. Health secretary Sajid Javid blamed the UK’s supply issues on a “global shortage” of both kinds of tests, with senior Tory MP Sir Roger Gale saying Mr Javid had told him personally that a British company making them “has ramped up its production line fourfold and [the government is] buying the lot”.“But we are competing in a global market,” he added. Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, described the situation as “a total shambles”.“People are trying to do the right thing, follow the government’s own advice and test themselves regularly, but are prevented by the Conservative government’s incompetence,” the Labour MP said. “They need to get a grip and provide enough tests so people can keep themselves and everyone else safe.”Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrats’ health spokesperson, added it was “now or never to get Covid tests to frontline workers”. Around 51.6 million people in the UK have received the first dose of a Covid vaccine and 47.2 million have had two, the latest data shows, while only 32.6 million have taken up a booster. More than 800,000 of those third doses were administered during the five-day Christmas period alone, after the government sent out millions of text messages urging people to “get boosted now”. More

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    Labour demands answers after Tory peer ‘given £330,000 for driveway repair’

    The shadow secretary for levelling up has demanded an explanation from Michael Gove over reports his department approved the award of £330,000 to fund pothole repairs on the driveway of a former Tory peer.The public money was spent fixing a track leading to Charleston Farmhouse, an independently-run museum and art gallery within the grounds of a country estate owned by the 87-year-old aristocrat Lord Gage, the Daily Mailreported.The newspaper said the East Sussex museum applied for the funds, but the work was done on the driveway, which is the property of 8th Viscount Gage.Lord Gage’s Firle Estate Management team helped the Charleston Trust secure the money from the Getting Building Fund, the Mail reported.Lisa Nandy has written to the Levelling Up Secretary asking him to say how the decision on the funding was made.She wrote: “When he announced the £900 million Getting Building Fund the Prime Minister said the Government was determined to put ‘its arms round people in times of crisis…“Filling in potholes for a Conservative peer surely cannot have been what he meant. I would therefore be grateful if you could let me know how this happened and what steps are being taken to ensure it does not happen again.”She added: “A good starting point would be to release the criteria on which this decision was made, and how decisions about the Getting Britain Building Fund are made more widely. Could you put these in the public domain at the earliest opportunity?“Furthermore, given the representation of Conservative councillors on the local enterprise partnership, what steps are being taken to ensure they weren’t lobbied and that taxpayer money was protected at all times?”The Charleston Trust said: “Charleston is a thriving cultural centre which attracts visitors from around the country and internationally to its year-round programme of exhibitions, festivals, talks, concerts, theatre and workshops.“The rural access track to Charleston had remained functional for farm traffic but was increasingly unsuitable for visitors travelling in the average family car.“Working with the South Downs National Park and East Sussex County Council, the charity that runs Charleston successfully applied to the Getting Building Fund to rebuild the access track.“The new road provides safer, easier, and greener ways for visitors to reach Charleston and will help support the recovery and growth of the region’s creative and visitor economy.”Lord Gage, who inherited his title in 1993, was removed from the House of Lords alongside the majority of his fellow hereditary peers in 1999.Bob Baines, estate director at Firle Estate, told the Mail: “The Firle Estate sold Charleston to an independent charity formed in 1980.“The access track had remained functional for farm traffic and cottages but was unsuitable for Charleston’s visitors travelling in the average family car.“Charleston successfully applied to the Getting Building Fund to rebuild the track to improve access for visitors, create job opportunities and support the recovery and growth of the region’s visitor economy.“The southern extent of the new track beyond Charleston that services the dairy farm and estate cottages was funded by Firle Estate.”A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesman said: “Charleston has not received any money from the Levelling Up Fund.“This project was allocated funding from the Getting Building Fund by the South East Local Enterprise Partnership, whose independent evaluators assessed it as offering value for money.“Charleston is a charity-owned, internationally recognised site of cultural importance, with a museum and art gallery, and this work is estimated to provide a £1.6 million boost to the local economy by creating jobs and increasing visitor numbers.” More

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    UK records 183,037 new Covid cases in 24 hours as surge accelerates

    Covid cases have continued to surge across the UK with over 183,000 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours.The figures released by the government on Wednesday afternoon set a new record for the pandemic, breaking the one set yesterday by over 50,000.The numbers include several days worth of figures from Northern Ireland, which were backlogged over the holiday – but still set a record without them.The government said a further 57 people have died within 28 days of a positive test, bringing the rolling seven-day total to 516.Boris Johnson warned this morning that the more infectious Omicron variant was causing significant problems, but has so far resisted imposing new social distancing measures ahead of New Year.The variant is thought by scientists to be milder than previous incarnations of the virus, but it is not clear exactly to what extent – or how many of the record number of people being infected will end up in hospital or dying.Ministers are focusing on their Covid booster programme, which they hope will head off the surge and prevent deaths and serious illness. Mr Johnson said this morning that in some wards as many as 90 per cent of people in intensive care were unvaccinated.No new restrictions were imposed over the Christmas period, with people free to see their families but the government urging caution.NHS England separately reported on Wednesday afternoon that there were 1,751 Covid-19 hospital admissions in England on December 27 – up 65 per cent week-on-week and the highest number since February 5.During the second wave of coronavirus, admissions peaked at 4,134 on January 12.In London, 437 admissions were reported on December 27, up 45 per cent week-on-week and the highest number since January 28. The winter wave peak was 977 on January 6.According to further separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics there have been a total of 173,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.Mr Johnson told reporters on Wednesday while visiting a vaccine site that 2.4 million eligible double-jabbed people are yet to take up the offer of a booster, adding: “I’m sorry to say this but the overwhelming majority of people who are currently ending up in intensive care in our hospitals are people who are not boosted.”I’ve talked to doctors who say the numbers are running up to 90 per cent of people in intensive care who are not boosted.”If you’re not vaccinated, you’re eight times more likely to get into hospital altogether.”So, it’s a great thing to do. It’s very, very important. Get boosted for yourself and enjoy (the) New Year sensibly and cautiously.” More

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    Is Britain’s Covid test shortage unique, and is Brexit to blame?

    A shortage of Covid home test kits is hitting the UK – with supply chain issues being blamed.For weeks, the NHS website has been running out of kits almost as soon as they become available, and pharmacies in the highest demand area have also run dry.Despite some commentary suggesting otherwise, this shortage is not unique to the UK – although the picture is complex and different countries have different issues depending on how tests are used.Britain’s emphasis on testing, and the availability of free home kits, is among the reasons for particularly high demand.One country facing similar problems is Ireland, which has a similar system for distributing the lateral flow kits: they are in theory available for free in pharmacies, or ordered from a government website.But Ireland’s website was actually suspended ahead of Christmas because of stock issues, and pharmacies have reported a drop in deliveries. France and Belgium have also faced a run on tests in recent months, with shortages in some pharmacies hitting the headlines in France at the beginning of December, and Belgium in November.But while the lateral flow kit shortage is not limited to the UK – and thus unlikely to be the result of supply issues such as Brexit – the problem is far from universal. Each country has taken a slightly different strategy in tackling Covid, and the way home testing kits are used as part of the wider ecosystem of policies is the a major effect on supply.In Britain, the tests are required to come out of self-isolation early, and the government’s messaging has heavily emphasised at-home testing as a way of keeping safe – especially ahead of seeing family members at Christmas. It is unsurprising, therefore, that demand is particularly high.But the approach taken by the UK has not been mirrored in all European countries. Germany and Greece, for example, are two EU member states that stopped offering free tests, after health authorities argued that the availability of free, rapid, at-home testing was discouraging people from getting a vaccine. If someone thinks they can stay safe or access events simply by testing, they might see it as an alternative to getting a jab. Both countries began imposing charges for tests, with some exemptions for people on low incomes and other categories. Pharmacists in Germany have said this has significantly hit demand. Unsurprisingly, shortages have not really been an issue in either country. While vaccination was the publicly stated reasoning for imposing charges in both countries, the backdrop of an international run on at home kits was inevitably the context. Supply in all countries is also inevitably affected by one-off factors, such as whether a particular contractor has actually delivered tests on time, or whether delivery services are overstretched.In Britain, distribution issues at Royal Mail and Amazon have sometimes been blamed. In this respect, the shortage of tests is similar to the situation in the early days of Covid vaccine distribution, with supplies limited in various countries but not others, often for reasons that would have been difficult to predict.Indeed, concerns about a shortage of tests is nothing new – it been voiced across Europe at different times since March 2020. And the situation is not limited to Europe; on the other side of the Atlantic in the US there are similar problems, which Joe Biden’s administration is grappling with. More

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    Will there be a lockdown in January 2022 as Omicron cases rise?

    The emergence of the Omicron variant is causing concern around the world, not least because it is thought to be highly transmissible and because the 32 mutations of its spike protein suggest it might be able to resist current vaccines.The UK has recorded more than 177,000 confirmed cases of the strain so far and at least 49 deaths, prompting fresh fears that more severe social restrictions could soon be imposed on the British public.Although many scientists believe the new variant is milder than previous mutations, it remains unclear how many of the record number of people infected will end up in hospital, severely ill or dying.Prior to Christmas, prime minister Boris Johnson said that no further restrictions would be introduced ahead of the holiday, explaining that “that people could go ahead with their plans”, a decision that allowed him to avoid a repeat of his notorious address of 19 December 2020, when he reluctantly imposed tough new measures at the last minute and dashed the festive hopes of millions.He spoke on the same day that chancellor Rishi Sunak announced £1bn in support for the hospitality industry after customers cancelled reservations en masse in response to the latest twist in the pandemic. Since then, the government has ruled out the possibility of imposing further Covid restrictions in England before the new year. On Monday 27 December, health secretary Sajid Javid confirmed that the prime minister had decided not to bring in any new measures this week, but said that ministers would continue to monitor the data carefully to determine whether more controls would be needed in January. He added that Omicron was now responsible for 90 per cent of new cases across the UK. Meanwhile, in Scotland Nicola Sturgeon announced fresh restrictions on sporting events and large gatherings and cancelled Edinburgh’s annual Hogmanay street party, having already asked Scots to keep household mixing to a minimum over the holidays. Wales and Northern Ireland have also imposed new curbs, closing nightclubs and limiting hospitality to the rule of six and returning to table service only. ‘Rule nothing out’In his video message from Downing Street on 21 December, Mr Johnson said: “We can’t rule out any further measures after Christmas – and we’re going to keep a constant eye on the data, and we’ll do whatever it takes to protect public health.”The announcement came a day after he told reporters that the government was still deciding whether or not to impose further additional measures.He said ministers were monitoring the data “hour by hour” and that the arguments for taking further action were “very, very finely balanced”.“Unfortunately I must say to people that we will have to reserve the possibility of taking further action to protect the public, to protect public health, to protect our NHS,” he added. “We are looking at all kinds of things to keep Omicron under control and we will rule nothing out.”The prime minister is understood to have been waiting for more data on the variant to become available before he made a decision, a stance that saw him accused of “dithering” by scientists and his political opponents.By contrast, London mayor Sadiq Khan was decisive when he declared a major incident over the extent of the outbreak in the capital on 18 December, while NHS England announced a return to its highest level of emergency preparedness, level four national incident, meaning that the health service’s response will be coordinated as a national effort, rather than led by individual trusts. Overall, the UK added another 129,471 infections in 24 hours on Tuesday, a record high for this pandemic. That compares to about 27,000 cases this time last year.Chief scientific officer Sir Patrick Vallance is said to have led the call for fresh measures to drive down infection rates and ease the pressure on the NHS, but these have so far been resisted by senior Cabinet ministers loathe to further jeopardise the economy and constrain individual freedom without more data to justify it.Sir Patrick’s fellow advisers have been equally outspoken, with Professor Stephen Reicher, a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), warning that Omicron is “coming at us like an express train” and insisting that the government must give the public a “good, clear message” about how “serious the crisis is”.The prospect of introducing a two-week circuit-breaker lockdown after Christmas has been mooted – and appears to be broadly popular with the public – with plans made available to ministers for consideration and apparently including a ban on meeting others indoors except for work purposes and limiting pubs and restaurants to outdoor service only. It is clear the PM hopes the take up of booster vaccines, along with the partial “Plan B” restrictions recently introduced, will be enough to see off the threat.As part of those measures, Britons are currently again being ordered to wear face masks in shops, cinemas, theatres and places of worship and on public transport, to work from home order where possible.The government has further revised its approach to vaccine booster jabs, planning to make them available to all over-18s by the end of December and halving the amount of time between second and third injections from six months to three, all in the hope of staving off the feared “tidal wave” of infections we are already beginning to see. According to government data, nearly 32,700,000 people have received a booster jab to date. Some form of “Plan C” – a circuit-breaker, or tighter restrictions – could be necessary if Omicron starts to disrupt the NHS over the festive season, but there is little political appetite for any kind of fourth national lockdown.But Sage advisers remain unambiguous in calling for stricter curbs, with the influential Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London openly entertaining the possibility for several weeks.The bigger pictureEven before Omicron began to cast its sinister shadow across the globe, many Britons were already glancing anxiously towards the continent as Austria and the Netherlands reintroduced lockdowns in response to spiking cases of Covid-19.The World Health Organisation (WHO) had said it was “very worried” about the spread in Europe and warned 700,000 more deaths could be recorded by March unless urgent action is taken, bringing the total to 2.2 million since the pandemic began.Omicron variant shows just how ‘perilous’ Covid situation is, WHO saysPrior to the latest worrying developments sparked by omicon, Mr Johnson’s government had been deeply reluctant to reimpose restrictions at all, despite consistently high case numbers.While the vaccines have consistently kept death rates low since the spring, infection levels have remained consistently high, typically hovering around the 40,000-per-day mark but in recent days have been more than double that.Mr Johnson may also be concerned that further restrictions might lead to social disorder, having seen anti-lockdown protests – some of them violent – erupt in Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy and Croatia.Londoners were certainly unhappy about the initial return of the mask mandate, accusing the PM of hypocrisy for declining to wear one himself at several public engagements.However, in other quarters, there appeared to be a clear appetite for new restrictions even before Omicron, at least according to the polls.A recent survey of 900 managers and 1,200 employees carried out by Hack Future Lab found 53 per cent would welcome a “festive lockdown” for the sake of their own well-being after struggling to come to terms with the return to ordinary working conditions, often finding themselves forced to take on extra tasks to cover for absent colleagues.Another poll by Savanta ComRes revealed 45 per cent of adults would be in favour of a selective lockdown targeting only those who had declined to get their Covid jabs and therefore could pose an ongoing risk to others.But, until Omicron threw a fresh spanner into the works, there was a credible case for believing that the UK was in such a strong position that it could avoid the worst of the outbreak marauding across Europe.Although Britain’s infection rate has remained high for months, it has also been highly stable until recently, lingering at a seven-day average of around 600 daily cases per million people, whereas Austria and the Netherlands have suddenly spiked to 1,500 and 1,250 respectively from well below that starting point since the beginning of October.Part of the reason for this is that the UK was hit by the more infectious Alpha and Delta variants of the coronavirus sooner and was therefore able to tackle them ahead of its European neighbours and unlock earlier. 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    Boris Johnson says Omicron causing ‘real problems’ as he makes first appearance in 10 days

    Boris Johnson has made his first public appearance in 10 days and urged more people to get vaccinated, amid questions about where has been as Covid cases mount.Newspaper front pages questioned the PM’s whereabouts at the start of the week, with Mr Johnson notably absent from the airwaves despite the worrying situation.On a visit to a vaccine centre on Wednesday morning the prime minister said the Omicron variant was causing “real problems” but that people could enjoy New Year celebrations cautiously.Calling on more people to come forward to get jabbed, he said in some wards as many as 90 per cent of those in intensive care for Covid had been unvaccinated.But asked where he had been over the festive season he appeared flustered, replying: “In this country… where do you think?” Ahead of Christmas the PM said he did not expect to be taking a break because of the mounting workload.But with cases hitting record levels and decisions over whether to restrict New Year gatherings, Mr Johnson’s deputies such as Sajid Javid have been fronting announcements.On rising cases, the PM told reporters: “I cannot stress too much how vital it is for everybody to get that booster jab, particularly the 2.4 million people who’ve had two jabs but haven’t yet had their booster. They had two jabs more than six or seven months ago so they’re eligible for their booster, but they’ve not yet come forward to do it. I would say to people come forward and get your booster.” He added: “I’m sorry to say this but the overwhelming majority of people who are currently ending up in intensive care in our hospitals are people who are not boosted. I’ve talked to doctors who are saying that the numbers are running up to 90 per cent of people in intensive care who are not boosted. If you’re not vaccinated you’re eight times more likely to get into hospital altogether. It’s a great thing to do, it’s very important, get booted for yourself and enjoy New Year sensibly and cautiously.”When questioned about his whereabouts the PM did not elaborate on where in the UK he had been, and whether he had taken a break. The Independent has contacted Downing Street for further comment. Mr Johnson has previously been criticised for taking too many holidays – having been forced to defend a break to Spain amid the growing energy crisis in October. More

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    Covid announcement: When is Boris Johnson’s next update?

    Boris Johnson has already been forced to introduce social restrictions to combat the new Omicron variant of coronavirus and rocketing infection numbers this month could see him forced to tighten them still further in the days after Christmas.The prime minister has already brought back mandatory mask-wearing on public transport and in shops, cinemas, theatres and places of worship, asked citizens to work from home where possible and made an NHS Covid Pass or negative lateral flow test a necessary requirement for entry to crowded venues and events involving mass gatherings.He pledged not to introduce further measures before the Christmas weekend but fears persist they may yet be needed to beat back Omicron, with government scientific advisers pushing for new restrictions as soon as possible to stop the spread and meeting opposition from senior Cabinet ministers reluctant to jeopardise the economy and impose further constraints on public freedom.The prime minister also said he will “reserve the possibility” of a tighter clampdown and is understood to be waiting for more data on Omicron to become available before he makes a decision, a stance that has seen him accused of “dithering” by opponents. The usual statistical update will take place this afternoon and we can expect further announcements from the prime minister in the coming days, as the Omicron situation develops.The health secretary has said no further coronavirus restrictions will be introduced in England before the new year after ministers reviewed the latest data.Giving the update on Monday, Sajid Javid said “people should remain cautious” and urged those marking the start of 2022 to consider testing themselves beforehand and to celebrate outside.Mr Javid told broadcasters: “We look at the data on a daily basis – that hasn’t changed over the Christmas period.“But there will be no further measures before the new year. Of course, people should remain cautious as we approach New Year’s celebrations.”The precise characteristics of the new strain of the virus are still not clear at this early stage in its development, although it is feared it may soon usurp the Delta variant as the dominant strain of Covid-19 given its high transmissibility.Mr Johnson recently warned the public that a “tidal wave” of infections could break on these shores unless people adhere to the new measures, exercise extreme caution and get their vaccine booster jab as a matter of urgency.The rollout of third shots is being greatly expanded to address the Omicron threat, with the aim of offering one to all over-18s by the end of December, bringing forward that deadline by a month and placing further pressure on medical professionals across the country in the process.That decision came in response to findings by the UK Health Security Agency indicating that two jabs do not offer strong protection against symptomatic infection from Omicron, with the current suite of vaccines less effective against it than they were against Delta.However, that same analysis also concluded that those who had received a booster remained up to 70 per cent protected, underlining the importance of getting a third shot as soon as possible.The UK has recorded more than 74,000 confirmed cases of the strain so far and at least 18 deaths.London mayor Sadiq Khan has declared a major incident over the extent of the Omicron outbreak in the capital while NHS England has announced a return to its highest level of emergency preparedness, level four national incident, meaning that the health service’s response will be coordinated as a national effort, rather than led by individual trusts.Just 56.1 per cent of British adults have had their booster injection so far, although demand is high so that figure should continue to climb rapidly as more people make an appointment and roll up their sleeves. More