In this issue

July 30, 2022

Covid absences in the NHS nearly twice last year's level

NHS staff absences caused by Covid-19 are estimated to be nearly double what they were in the first half of 2021, depleting care teams by up to 50 per cent and putting lives at risk, officials warn.

4 mins

Sunak attacks ‘left-wing agitators’ as defeat looms

Rishi Sunak is launching a fierce attack on "left-wing agitators" undermining British history and traditions, as he tries to prevent a likely defeat in the Tory leadership race.

2 mins

Truss: Use rent payments for mortgage assessments

Tory leadership contender Liz Truss has vowed to ensure rental payments are considered as part of mortgage assessments under a plan to "unlock homeownership".

2 mins

Some talk of a general strike - but could it really happen?

Mick Lynch, leader of the RMT union, is threatening the almost unprecedented action of a general strike because Liz Truss, and to a lesser extent Rishi Sunak, are threatening to make it virtually impossible to take effective industrial action.

3 mins

The Tories are sidestepping the elephant in the room

"We must never forget why Boris had to resign," one former minister told me. Yet the Conservatives are already suffering from collective memory loss.

3 mins

At times I felt like a nanny, says former aide to Johnson

Boris Johnson's former deputy chief of staff Cleo Watson has compared her role in No 10 to being like the prime minister's "nanny".

2 mins

Hosepipe ban to come after driest July for over a century

The first hosepipe ban of the year has been announced in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight after England recorded its driest July in a century.

1 min

London Fire Brigade calls for disposable barbecue ban

The London Fire Brigade is calling for a "total ban" on disposable barbecues after it experienced its busiest days since the Blitz tackling an unprecedented number of fires during the extreme heat last week.

2 mins

Details of £400 energy bill support scheme announced

All households in England, Scotland and Wales will receive £400 in energy bill discounts from October, the government has announced. The support will be issued in six instalments over six months to some 29 million households.

1 min

Dorries grants listed status to Oxford's Rhodes plaque

Nadine Dorries has granted listed status to a plaque commemorating the British imperialist Cecil Rhodes at a University of Oxford college.

1 min

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