Rishi Sunak’s March budget will be a fresh Covid rescue package that will defer plans for significant tax increases as the chancellor throws his weight behind a cautious approach to reopening the economy, government sources have confirmed. Boris Johnson signalled on Wednesday that the government would take a slow path …
Read More »Mass tests for teachers and pupils to be part of England lockdown easing, report says | World news
Teachers, schoolchildren and their families could be tested for coronavirus twice a week under a plan for mass rapid testing that has been touted as key to safely easing England’s lockdown, reports claim. As many as 400,000 rapid lateral flow tests will be sent to homes every day, supported by …
Read More »After Topshop owner Arcadia’s demise, what now for UK clothes shopping? | Business
Sir Philip Green’s fashion empire Arcadia is no more, with its famous brands, including Topshop, carved up by online retailers leaving behind a ghost chain of 500 shops. The sale to Boohoo of its last three high street names – Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton – was confirmed this week. …
Read More »Couples choose sentimental Valentine’s Day cards over rude ones
Loved up couples have gone all sentimental this year sending rude Valentine’s Day cards down in popularity, a leading card seller said. Moonpig, the online seller, said it has sold the highest proportion of sentimental cards since 2015 and there has been a 10 per cent swing toward the genre …
Read More »Royal Mail apologises after postman left pensioner lying in snow
The Royal Mail has apologised after a postman left a pensioner lying in the snow because he was too “knackered” to help. Patricia Stewart, who suffers from osteoporosis, slipped and banged her head on Wednesday as she bent over to pick up two parcels left on the doorstep of her …
Read More »Postal workers could be paid to check on the elderly
Postal workers could be paid to check up on elderly people during their rounds under new plans proposed by union members. Delivering prescriptions could also become the responsibility of Royal Mail staff under measures designed to widen their duties and create additional revenues. The idea has been put forward by the …
Read More »Royal Mail postal workers could check on vulnerable customers’ welfare, union offers
Postal workers could be utilised to check on the wellbeing of the elderly and to deliver essential items, such as prescriptions, a trades union has suggested. The Communication Workers Union is understood to have proposed the idea to the loss-making Royal Mail to build on its claim “we own trust …
Read More »Councils told to consult more local people before imposing green road plans
Town halls have been ordered to consult more with local people after an outcry in The Telegraph over the way some roads have been shut and replaced with cycle lanes. Grant Shapps admitted some local authorities had “got it wrong” and “had not thought through” plans before shutting roads to …
Read More »Prince Harry forced to dilute ‘unduly tendentious’ attack on media as judge rules he must pay £32,500 costs
The Duke of Sussex was ordered by a judge to water down an “unduly tendentious” attack on the media, court documents have revealed. The Duke made a rare personal statement in court on Monday, in which he took aim at the Mail on Sunday over a story that wrongly …
Read More »Asymptomatic testing rollout targeted at people unable to work from home
Thousands of rapid turnaround coronavirus tests are being handed out to businesses to test workers without symptoms. The Government announced a rollout of rapid testing in industries including food, manufacturing, energy and retail sectors, as well as job centres, transport networks and the military. Around 734,600 lateral flow tests, which …
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