4m ago
It was updated at 6.24am.
17m ago
23m ago
Jessica Elgot.
Two cabinet sources say the cabinet meeting to sign off on the final Covid regulations has been pushed back, and they haven't got a confirmed time for later.
No 10 denied that it was canceled completely.
Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot)Two sources confirm @patrickkmaguire that the cabinet meeting to sign off final Covid regs has been pushed back... not yet clear why. Ministers were expecting to meet imminently.
February 21, 2022
It was updated at 6.11am.
24m ago
Steven Morris.
Any scrapping of testing programmes was described as reckless by the Welsh government.
A person said:
Any decision to change the existing national testing programme would be premature and reckless. Testing has played a pivotal role in breaking chains of transmission of Covid, and has acted as a powerful surveillance tool helping us to detect and respond rapidly to emerging variants.
It is clearly essential that this continues. Any decision to effectively turn off the tap on our national testing programme with no future plans in place to reactivate it would put people at risk. This is not acceptable.
34m ago
It was updated at 5.58am.
47m ago
1h ago
Rajeev Syal is a person.
The government wants to push through major changes to the criminal justice system, but ministers will reject making misogynists a hate crime in England and Wales.
The government will oppose a Lords amendment that would extend hate when the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill returns to parliament next week.
The home office said that it was rejected because of a Law Commission report that warned against extending hate crimes to cover misogynistic behavior.
A new offence of street harassment that would criminalise the verbal abuse of women, pestering and persistent cat-calling or making lewd comments is being considered by the government.
Over the last few months, the government has been forced into a series of concessions on crime and violence against women and girls.
The letter was responded to by the shadow home secretary, who said that new legislation was needed to tackle hatred against women.
She said something.
It is shameful that the home secretary is still refusing to make violence against women and girls a strategic policing requirement so it has the same prominence as tackling organised crime.
She is also still refusing to establish specialist rape units in every police force area or minimum sentence for rape and stalking, and shockingly is still resisting Labour’s proposals for action against landlords who pressurise tenants into sex for rent.
The full story can be read here.
2h ago
It was updated at 5.04am.
2h ago
2h ago
The government's plan to live with Covid is due to be announced today despite concerns from scientists, health experts and Labour.
After one of the most difficult periods in our country's history, Johnson said the proposal would be about giving people back their freedom.
The legal requirement for anyone with Covid to isolated will be scrapped a month earlier than planned, while free tests for everyone will be axed in order to restore people's confidence that life can return to normal. The tests will be kept for a long time.
The national contact tracing service is expected to be wound down.
Fresh guidance is expected to be issued, similar to that already published about seasonal flu, designed to let individuals make their own judgments about the risk of catching or transmitting Covid, my colleague Aubrey Allegretti reports.
The cabinet will meet today to rubber stamp the plans before a Commons statement by the prime minister and a press conference in the evening.
The changes will come into effect later in the week, which is being dubbed "Freedom Day" by some newspapers.
Today's politics live blog is here. We will be taking the lead today. If you have a question or think I'm missing something, you can email me at nicola.slawson@theguardian.com.
You can follow our Ukraine crisis blog here.
Our global coronaviruses blog is here.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
