Prime minister Boris Johnson’s May 10 address to the British public turned out to be a bit of a communications mess. The 14-minute speech was meant to simply announce new, mostly small changes to the lockdown in England that has been in place since March 23. It appears to have left many Brits with more questions than it answered.
The UK entered a general lockdown on March 23, behind most European countries. The government is now determining what measures should remain in place, with an announcement by prime minister Boris Johnson due May 10 at 7pm local time.
One major issue animating Brexit backers during the 2016 referendum—and still the case now—was the idea of an unleashed Britain free to forge its own lucrative trade deals with countries, with the US as the biggest prize. Today, as negotiations kick off between the UK and US, that optimism looks ever more misplaced.
Scenes of Brits flouting lockdown restrictions have been widely reported on in the UK press. That includes queueing up in long lines for ice cream during unseasonably warm weather, sunbathing in the park, and going for dips in the still-brisk sea. While these images might reinforce a stereotype that people in the UK are bona fide lockdown rebels, new data suggests otherwise.
Britain’s prime minister Boris Johnson was back at work today, after recovering from a serious bout of Covid-19. Speaking outside 10 Downing Street this morning, he said the UK is still in danger.
Many people in Britain are not originally from there. In the best of times, they’re doing fine; in the worst, like the coronavirus pandemic, they’re far more vulnerable.
Britain’s Parliament made history today. The 700-year-old institution—very much an analogue one—approved a new measure that will allow some business to be done remotely.
The UK today reported the highest number of weekly deaths since comparable records began in 2005. According to the Office for National Statistics, some 16,387 deaths were registered in the week ending April 3, which is 6,082 more than the five-year average.
Grocery sales in the UK are now at record highs, due to the coronavirus pandemic. And Britain’s biggest retailer Tesco has seen a more-than-healthy sales rise—but, looking at the company’s balance sheet, that success might not be obvious.
This weekend marks a genuine moment in British political history. The left-wing Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, a divisive figure even by today’s standards, steps aside. Taking his place will be either Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey, or Lisa Nandy, once vote results are announced Saturday, April 4, at 10:45am local time. (Update: It will be Starmer.)
Grocery sales in the UK are now at an all-time high, as millions of Brits stockpile during the coronavirus pandemic. In the four weeks ending March 22, some £10.82 billion ($13.24 billion) was spent at supermarkets across the country, 20% more than the previous period.
The UK enters British Summer Time (BST) on Sunday (March 29) at 1am, with clocks moving forward one hour. It’ll mean less time in bed that night for millions of Brits, but longer evening daylight hours through the summer until the clocks get rolled back again in October.
The UN today appealed for some $2 billion in global funding to help both poor countries and those wracked by war tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
Major upheavals—like today’s coronavirus pandemic—can often reduce inequality. The first and most immediate reason is that they tend to hurt almost everyone financially, and the rich have more wealth to lose. The falling fortunes of these well-to-do folks bring them relatively closer to how everyone else is doing.
The head of the EU’s Brexit negotiations, Michel Barnier, tested positive for coronavirus today. Negotiating a UK-EU free trade agreement was always going to be enormously difficult. Now there is a global pandemic getting in the way.
Some people around the world shake hands. Some hug. Some rub their noses together. And some—many in fact—kiss on the cheek. But now, as Covid-19 spreads around the globe, people are rethinking how they say hello.
The UK today published its negotiating mandate for trade talks with the EU (the bloc published its own mandate earlier this week). Judging by the substance of each document—and the specific words within them—it won’t be easy for the two sides to bridge their differences and secure a free trade agreement before the Brexit transition period ends on Dec. 31.
Boris Johnson’s new cabinet met on Friday (Feb. 14), following the first reshuffle since the prime minister’s decisive election win on Dec. 12. One thing it agreed upon is overhauling the UK’s immigration system: Starting next year, it will reportedly enact an Australian-style points-based system that is blind to country of origin.
Almost 700,000 Syrians have been forced (pdf) from their homes in northwest Syria since Dec. 1. That’s the highest level of displacement since the country’s civil war broke out nine years ago.
Hardcore Brexit backers wanted Big Ben to bong on Jan. 31 at 11pm (midnight Brussels time), to mark the hour Britain left the EU. They set up fundraisers to bring the clock out of refurbishment for the historic occasion, with the largest amassing £272,000 ($356,217).
The UK government has for years steadily reduced the number of civil servants on its payrolls. But after its ranks sunk to their lowest level in the post-war period, those numbers have ticked up every quarter since Brits voted in June 2016 to leave the EU.
The FIFA Club World Cup, which sees the winners from each of six continental confederations compete every year, is normally a quiet affair. Fan attendance is relatively low, and in Europe in particular the tournament receives little enthusiasm—or even attention.
Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Opt for fish or lean meats, poultry, eggs, or legumes. Get enough exercise. That’s the healthy-living advice that has been around for years. Yet even sticking to all that might not be enough to offset the consequences of being a desk potato, something most office workers are today.
In what many have described as the most pivotal vote since the Second World War, millions of Brits today cast their ballots in the country’s general election. Exit polls suggest a large majority for Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party, with an estimated 368 seats, up from 317 in 2017.
