The £6.75billion PPE debacle: Dossier reveals ministers UNDERBOUGHT then threw fortunes at protective clothing - much of which was overpriced or can never be used
So inefficient has the Government been in purchasing PPE that, according to its own figures, it has amassed a stockpile of 32billion items, purchased at a cost of £6.75billion - and rising.
Rishi Sunak's 'Eat Out to Help Out' was to blame for one in SIX coronavirus outbreaks and may have accelerated second Covid-19 wave, study claims Warwick researchers said initiative to blame for up to 17 per cent of infections Eat Out to Help Out was designed to jump-start the economy after lockdown But drove up social interactions and encouraged people to use public transport
There was a sharp increase in clusters of Covid-19 infections a week after the Government's discount scheme began, according to University of Warwick researchers.
The data 'forcing Boris into lockdown': SAGE releases papers showing scientists sounded alarm two weeks ago and UK is headed for 'worse than worst case scenario' including 85,000 deaths - as 52,000 catch virus every day
The revelation that Boris Johnson is poised to plunge Britain into a new national lockdown followed days of briefings and leaks from government advisers - who say coronavirus cases in the UK are accelerating faster than their worst case scenario and the nation could face 1,000 deaths a day within a month. It culminated with the release last night of papers from a meeting of the Government 's SAGE committee that showed how they warned ministers two weeks ago that Britain could be headed for a more serious situation than their 'worst case scenario'. The document, dated October 14, which was released online, said 'we are breaching the number of infections and hospital admissions in the Reasonable Worst Case planning scenario' before adding that the outlook for Covid-19's future spread was 'concerning' if no action was taken. According to briefings from advisers yesterday, they believe there is still time to save Christmas with a lockdown of at least a month that closes restaurants, pubs and all but essential shops.
Halloween Horror" is how the Sunday People describes Saturday night's announcement of a new lockdown in England. It says the country faces a "month of ****".
The Sun on Sunday says Boris Johnson delivered a "grim" address to the nation.
It also has a warning from an economist that the lockdown will cost Britain £1.8bn a day.
The Independent website asks: "What has taken Boris Johnson so long?"
It pictures a graph of rising Covid cases, with the key dates on which government scientists recommended tougher action and other nations took stronger measures.
"If only the PM had acted a lot earlier," laments the Sunday Mirror's leader column.
Instead of being guided by the science, "he jettisoned it", the paper argues, calling Mr Johnson's delay in bringing in both the first and second lockdowns "an abject failure of leadership".
The Sunday Times says the lockdown will only work if people "believe the sacrifices are worth it" - and offer a path out of it on the other side.
The Sunday Telegraph views it as a "depressing and debilitating development, one that will plunge Britain even deeper into a double-dip recession, a mental health crisis and a social, personal and cultural abyss".
The Mail on Sunday reports the lockdown has sparked a "Tory civil war", with Conservative MPs vowing to vote against the measures next week in the Commons.
The paper says there is also fury among members of the cabinet who were "left in the dark", after the decision was made by a close-knit "quad" of senior ministers.
It reports that Health Secretary Matt Hancock is at the centre of an inquiry into how the measures were leaked to Saturday's newspapers.
One of his allies denies he was involved, telling the Sunday Times Mr Hancock is "focused on dealing with the global pandemic and protecting lives, not briefing journalists".
Rishi Sunak failed to publicly declare his wife's luxury clothing firm which supplies Eton received furlough cash, new biography reveals
The book, Going For Broke: The Rise Of Rishi Sunak, by former Tory Party deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft, says staff at the firm's London store were furloughed during the first lockdown.
Under the headline, "A nightmare without end", the Daily Mail says the PM is facing a "Tory rebellion" - with many of his own MPs "outraged" by the revelation that the restrictions could continue past December and potentially "run into spring".
It quotes the former cabinet minister, Esther McVey, who says she would vote against the proposed measures, arguing that the "lockdown cure" was "causing more harm than Covid".
Another Conservative MP describes the fresh clampdown to the newspaper as "like a nightmare that we'll never wake up from".
The Financial Times focuses on the call from businesses for more support to survive the new lockdown.
Carolyn Fairbairn, head of the Confederation of British Industry employers' organisation, wants the government to commit to more than just an extension of the furlough scheme.
She tells the FT grants - rather than loans - need to be made available to businesses to get them through the next four weeks and that some industries, such as aviation, need specific help.
Doubts over 'rapid turnaround' Covid tests pledged by Johnson
The “rapid turnaround” coronavirus tests the prime minister announced on Saturday are not approved for the public to interpret themselves without an expert’s help and so will not provide results in the promised 15 minutes, the Guardian has learned.
Boris Johnson’s briefing about this week’s national lockdown in England included the promise of a mass rollout of “tests that you can use yourself to tell whether or not you are infectious and get the result within 10 to 15 minutes”, which would be made available at universities and across whole cities.
He said the army would be deployed to roll out the “many millions of cheap, reliable and above all rapid turnaround tests” everywhere they were needed.
Three of these rapid antigen tests, called lateral flow tests, have passed an assessment by Porton Down with Oxford University. The government has bought one of them. The health secretary, Matt Hancock, announced the government had signed a deal for 20 million, from the company Innova Tried and Tested, on 19 October.
But the Innova tests are not for people without symptoms, such as university students or people wanting to get on a plane or go to the theatre. They are designed for people who already have Covid symptoms. And the devices, which look like a pregnancy test, are intended to be read by a healthcare professional.
The company is clear about their limitations on the instructions for use, which can be found on its website. The tests analyse throat and nose swabs “from individuals who are suspected of Covid-19 by their healthcare provider, within the first five days of the onset of symptoms”. The test is designed for use by trained lab and healthcare staff, it says.
The Metro reports that the prime minister "defended" Baroness Dido Harding, head of NHS test and trace, despite "contact tracing falling to a record low" and Kate Bingham, who chairs the UK Vaccine Taskforce, after she was "accused of revealing confidential information to US financiers". The government says "inaccuracies are being addressed" with the Sunday Times over the report.
According to the Independent, leaked NHS data has revealed that the number of patients admitted to hospitals in England with Covid has jumped by more than 60% in just 10 days. The number needing a ventilator is said to have increased by more than a half as hospitals across the North and the Midlands report higher levels of the disease than in the spring. The medical director of Liverpool University Hospitals Trust is said to have warned colleagues that services are now running at 100% capacity.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's efforts in the Commons to quell the anger felt by many Conservative MPs about England's new lockdown are given short shrift by many of the papers which - in normal times - he might expect to support him.
The Daily Mail accuses the prime minister of "duping the public" by "cherry-picking only the most blood-curdling statistics" to regulate "who we hug, whether we visit our parents, and where we eat and drink".
The Daily Telegraph and the Sun both ask why children are to be banned from playing sport outdoors - something they will be allowed to do at school.
There's some comfort for Mr Johnson in the Daily Express, though. Faced with the spectre of an overwhelmed NHS, it says he's decided there's no alternative to a second lockdown. It adds that his hope that the virus can be defeated by the spring should be taken in good faith.
Back in the UK, the Sun reports that the £200m polar explorer ship, RSS Sir David Attenborough, was unable to leave port in Liverpool - because of a bit of a breeze. The vessel was built to withstand extreme conditions in Antarctica and the Arctic. But unsuitable weather in Merseyside meant a planned trip to Holyhead was called off. The Sun's headline: "Boaty McBoat Farce!"
Furious Speaker Lindsay Hoyle demands full apology to the House if an MP leaked PM's lockdown plan with Gove and Hancock denying involvement - as science chief Patrick Vallance faces backlash over grim briefing an hour BEFORE Boris agreed to curbs
Speaker Lindsay Hoyle read the riot act to the government after the bombshell news spilled over the weekend, rather than being announced to Parliament first.
England lockdown: Redfaced Michael Gove apologises for wrongly claiming tennis and golf will be allowed
The Cabinet Office minister – one of the ‘quad’ of Boris Johnson’s senior team in deciding on the new shutdown – suggested the sports could be allowed with one other person.
“You’ll probably be able to play singles tennis,” he told constituents on Facebook, adding: “If people are properly socially-distanced, they can take exercise with one other person.
My apologies, I got this wrong. Outdoor leisure facilities including tennis courts and golf courses will be closed from Thursday,” he tweeted.
The backtrack comes just two days after No 10 slapped down Mr Gove for suggesting the entire four-week lockdown could be extended, angering Tory MPs.
He put the 2 December expiry plan in doubt by calling it a “review” date – not an end date – saying: “We’ll always be driven by the data.”
But Downing Street quickly made clear the measures would last for 27 days, after which a return to the three-tier regional approach was planned.
Glitch caused self-isolation orders to be too long
More than 7,200 people in England were told to stop self-isolating on the wrong date by the Test and Trace scheme as a result of a software error.
The mistake - which was first reported by Sky News - follows a series of other software-based Covid-19 foul-ups.
Last month, the BBC revealed how an oversight in the use of Microsoft's Excel software led to nearly 16,000 coronavirus cases going unreported in England.
And on the weekend, the Sunday Times reported that a risk-score threshold used by the NHS Covid-19 app to trigger self-isolate alerts had been lowered weeks later than intended. In that case, officials are still carrying out checks to identify the "root cause".
Pints ordered by text, football at school but not at clubs, and 30 guests at funerals but only six for weddings: The odd new rules we face in the new lockdown
The detailed lockdown legislation also revealed a number of curious anomalies Complex rules, enforced by fines of up to £10,000 tripped up Cabinet ministers Michael Gove apologised after saying people could play tennis one other person
If you're sad about not being able to drink at your local pub during the new lockdown, there is a way to drown your sorrows at home - order your pints via post instead (pictured top left)! The detailed legislation also revealed a number of curious anomalies. Pubs will be able to sell takeaway drinks to customers who order online or by phone, text or post. Nature lovers will be allowed to visit parks and gardens, but they will be banned from visiting many botanical gardens (pictured middle, top). Children will be permitted to play football and other team sports at school, but banned from playing with schoolmates at local clubs (pictured bottom middle and right). Funerals will be allowed to go ahead with up to 30 guests, but weddings will be limited to six people (pictured top right and bottom left).
Comments
So inefficient has the Government been in purchasing PPE that, according to its own figures, it has amassed a stockpile of 32billion items, purchased at a cost of £6.75billion - and rising.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8898907/Dossier-reveals-ministers-UNDERBOUGHT-threw-6-75billion-protective-clothing.html
Warwick researchers said initiative to blame for up to 17 per cent of infections
Eat Out to Help Out was designed to jump-start the economy after lockdown
But drove up social interactions and encouraged people to use public transport
There was a sharp increase in clusters of Covid-19 infections a week after the Government's discount scheme began, according to University of Warwick researchers.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8897441/Rishis-Eat-Help-blame-one-SIX-new-infections.html
The revelation that Boris Johnson is poised to plunge Britain into a new national lockdown followed days of briefings and leaks from government advisers - who say coronavirus cases in the UK are accelerating faster than their worst case scenario and the nation could face 1,000 deaths a day within a month. It culminated with the release last night of papers from a meeting of the Government 's SAGE committee that showed how they warned ministers two weeks ago that Britain could be headed for a more serious situation than their 'worst case scenario'. The document, dated October 14, which was released online, said 'we are breaching the number of infections and hospital admissions in the Reasonable Worst Case planning scenario' before adding that the outlook for Covid-19's future spread was 'concerning' if no action was taken. According to briefings from advisers yesterday, they believe there is still time to save Christmas with a lockdown of at least a month that closes restaurants, pubs and all but essential shops.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8899369/The-data-forcing-Boris-lockdown-SAGE-advisers-sounded-alarm-two-weeks-ago.html
Halloween Horror" is how the Sunday People describes Saturday night's announcement of a new lockdown in England. It says the country faces a "month of ****".
The Sun on Sunday says Boris Johnson delivered a "grim" address to the nation.
It also has a warning from an economist that the lockdown will cost Britain £1.8bn a day.
The Independent website asks: "What has taken Boris Johnson so long?"
It pictures a graph of rising Covid cases, with the key dates on which government scientists recommended tougher action and other nations took stronger measures.
"If only the PM had acted a lot earlier," laments the Sunday Mirror's leader column.
Instead of being guided by the science, "he jettisoned it", the
paper argues, calling Mr Johnson's delay in bringing in both the first and second lockdowns "an abject failure of leadership".
The Sunday Times says the lockdown will only work if people "believe the sacrifices are worth it" - and offer a path out of it on the other side.
The Sunday Telegraph views it as a "depressing and debilitating development, one that will plunge Britain even deeper into a double-dip recession, a mental health crisis and a social, personal and cultural abyss".
The Mail on Sunday reports the lockdown has sparked a "Tory civil war", with Conservative MPs vowing to vote against the measures next week in the Commons.
The paper says there is also fury among members of the cabinet who were "left in the dark", after the decision was made by a close-knit "quad" of senior ministers.
It reports that Health Secretary Matt Hancock is at the centre of an inquiry into how the measures were leaked to Saturday's newspapers.
One of his allies denies he was involved, telling the Sunday Times Mr Hancock is "focused on dealing with the global pandemic and protecting lives, not briefing
journalists".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-54766050
The book, Going For Broke: The Rise Of Rishi Sunak, by former Tory Party deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft, says staff at the firm's London store were furloughed during the first lockdown.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html
Under the headline, "A nightmare without end", the Daily Mail says the PM is facing a "Tory rebellion" - with many of his own MPs "outraged" by the revelation that the restrictions could continue past December and potentially "run into spring".
It quotes the former cabinet minister, Esther McVey, who says she would vote against the proposed measures, arguing that the "lockdown cure" was "causing more harm than Covid".
Another Conservative MP describes the fresh clampdown to the newspaper as "like a nightmare that we'll never wake up from".
The Financial Times focuses on the call from businesses for more support to survive the new lockdown.
Carolyn Fairbairn, head of the Confederation of British Industry employers' organisation, wants the government to commit to more than just an extension of the furlough scheme.
She tells the FT grants - rather than loans - need to be made available to businesses to get them through the next four weeks and that some industries, such as aviation, need specific help.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-54774493
The “rapid turnaround” coronavirus tests the prime minister announced on Saturday are not approved for the public to interpret themselves without an expert’s help and so will not provide results in the promised 15 minutes, the Guardian has learned.
Boris Johnson’s briefing about this week’s national lockdown in England included the promise of a mass rollout of “tests that you can use yourself to tell whether or not you are infectious and get the result within 10 to 15 minutes”, which would be made available at universities and across whole cities.
He said the army would be deployed to roll out the “many millions of cheap, reliable and above all rapid turnaround tests” everywhere they were needed.
Three of these rapid antigen tests, called lateral flow tests, have passed an assessment by Porton Down with Oxford University. The government has bought one of them. The health secretary, Matt Hancock, announced the government had signed a deal for 20 million, from the company Innova Tried and Tested, on 19 October.
But the Innova tests are not for people without symptoms, such as university students or people wanting to get on a plane or go to the theatre. They are designed for people who already have Covid symptoms. And the devices, which look like a pregnancy test, are intended to be read by a healthcare professional.
The company is clear about their limitations on the instructions for use, which can be found on its website. The tests analyse throat and nose swabs “from individuals who are suspected of Covid-19 by their healthcare provider, within the first five days of the onset of symptoms”. The test is designed for use by trained lab and healthcare staff, it says.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/doubts-over-rapid-turnaround-covid-tests-pledged-by-johnson/ar-BB1aBgAh?ocid=msedgdhp
The Metro reports that the prime minister "defended" Baroness Dido Harding, head of NHS test and trace, despite "contact tracing falling to a record low" and Kate Bingham, who chairs the UK Vaccine Taskforce, after she was "accused of revealing confidential information to US financiers". The government says "inaccuracies are being addressed" with the Sunday Times over the report.
According to the Independent, leaked NHS data has revealed that the number of patients admitted to hospitals in England with Covid has jumped by more than 60% in just 10 days. The number needing a ventilator is said to have increased by more than a half as hospitals across the North and the Midlands report higher levels of the disease than in the spring. The medical director of Liverpool University Hospitals Trust is said to have warned colleagues that services are now running at 100% capacity.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's efforts in the Commons to quell the anger felt by many Conservative MPs about England's new lockdown are given short shrift by many of the papers which - in normal times - he might expect to support him.
The Daily Mail accuses the prime minister of "duping the public" by "cherry-picking only the most blood-curdling statistics" to regulate "who we hug, whether we visit our parents, and where we eat and drink".
The Daily Telegraph and the Sun both ask why children are to be banned from playing sport outdoors - something they will be allowed to do at school.
There's some comfort for Mr Johnson in the Daily Express, though. Faced with the spectre of an overwhelmed NHS, it says he's decided there's no alternative to a second lockdown. It adds that his hope that the virus can be defeated by the spring should be taken in good faith.
Back in the UK, the Sun reports that the £200m polar explorer ship, RSS Sir David Attenborough, was unable to leave port in Liverpool - because of a bit of a breeze. The vessel was built to withstand extreme conditions in Antarctica and the Arctic. But unsuitable weather in Merseyside meant a planned trip to Holyhead was called off. The Sun's headline: "Boaty McBoat Farce!"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-54788566
Speaker Lindsay Hoyle read the riot act to the government after the bombshell news spilled over the weekend, rather than being announced to Parliament first.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html
The Cabinet Office minister – one of the ‘quad’ of Boris Johnson’s senior team in deciding on the new shutdown – suggested the sports could be allowed with one other person.
“You’ll probably be able to play singles tennis,” he told constituents on Facebook, adding: “If people are properly socially-distanced, they can take exercise with one other person.
My apologies, I got this wrong. Outdoor leisure facilities including tennis courts and golf courses will be closed from Thursday,” he tweeted.
The backtrack comes just two days after No 10 slapped down Mr Gove for suggesting the entire four-week lockdown could be extended, angering Tory MPs.
He put the 2 December expiry plan in doubt by calling it a “review” date – not an end date – saying: “We’ll always be driven by the data.”
But Downing Street quickly made clear the measures would last for 27 days, after which a return to the three-tier regional approach was planned.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/england-lockdown-redfaced-michael-gove-apologises-for-wrongly-claiming-tennis-and-golf-will-be-allowed/ar-BB1aDJSe?ocid=msedgntp
Cabinet ministers have created confusion about the rules which will apply when England’s second national lockdown begins on Thursday.
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick suggested that an entire household could meet up with a friend, before then contradicting himself.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/ministers-add-confusion-over-england-091557192.html
More than 7,200 people in England were told to stop self-isolating on the wrong date by the Test and Trace scheme as a result of a software error.
The mistake - which was first reported by Sky News - follows a series of other software-based Covid-19 foul-ups.
Last month, the BBC revealed how an oversight in the use of Microsoft's Excel software led to nearly 16,000 coronavirus cases going unreported in England.
And on the weekend, the Sunday Times reported that a risk-score threshold used by the NHS Covid-19 app to trigger self-isolate alerts had been lowered weeks later than intended. In that case, officials are still carrying out checks to identify the "root cause".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54797921
The detailed lockdown legislation also revealed a number of curious anomalies
Complex rules, enforced by fines of up to £10,000 tripped up Cabinet ministers
Michael Gove apologised after saying people could play tennis one other person
If you're sad about not being able to drink at your local pub during the new lockdown, there is a way to drown your sorrows at home - order your pints via post instead (pictured top left)! The detailed legislation also revealed a number of curious anomalies. Pubs will be able to sell takeaway drinks to customers who order online or by phone, text or post. Nature lovers will be allowed to visit parks and gardens, but they will be banned from visiting many botanical gardens (pictured middle, top). Children will be permitted to play football and other team sports at school, but banned from playing with schoolmates at local clubs (pictured bottom middle and right). Funerals will be allowed to go ahead with up to 30 guests, but weddings will be limited to six people (pictured top right and bottom left).
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8911445/Pints-ordered-post-football-school-not-clubs-odd-new-rules-new-lockdown.html
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/first-arrests-for-alleged-fraud-over-eat-out-and-bounce-back-loan-schemes/ar-BB1aGC7O?ocid=msedgntp