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Tens of Thousands March for Freedom in London

A huge crowd has descended on central London today to make their feelings known to the Government about the endless restrictions we have been living under since March last year. They are also calling for Matt Hancock to resign following revelations that he kissed an aide despite regulations banning intimate contact being in force at the time. MailOnline has the story.

Tens of thousands of anti-lockdown protestors marched in central London today calling for freedom and an end to COVID-19 lockdown regulations. 

Maskless anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown protesters were seen marching along Oxford Street in central London on Saturday as they called for the end to all Covid regulations after Freedom Day was delayed from June 21st.  

As well as demanding the end to Covid lockdown rules, protestors also brandished placards that demanded police “arrest Matt Hancock” after he was caught breaching Covid safety regulations by kissing his married aide.

The crowds of protestors marched through Oxford Street, Regent Street, Hyde Park and Northumberland Avenue as they held placards reading “freedom is not for trade”, “no to Covid vaccine” and “no to Covid passport”.

If you’re there, why not send us your photos.

Read MailOnline‘s report in full here.

Stop Press: BBC News has actually covered the protest, although it describes the number of protestors as “thousands” and is at pains to point out that the numbers aren’t just made up by anti-lockdown protestors: “Whether it was austerity or Palestine, lockdown or the NHS, campaigners of all ages and backgrounds wanted to make their voices heard today.”

Stop Press 2: The Evening Standard covered the protest in a surprisingly balanced way. The Guardian, on the other hand, did not.

By Will Jones  /  26 June 2021 • 15.40
     
105 comments

Hancock Facing Calls to Resign

At least one Conservative MP has publicly called for Matt Hancock to resign today, as pressure mounts on the Health Secretary. Duncan Baker, the MP for North Norfolk, told the Eastern Daily Press that people in public office with positions of responsibility “should act with the appropriate moral and ethics that come with that role”. The Independent has more.

Mr Baker told the newspaper the health secretary should resign and said he had made his views known to Boris Johnson’s administration.

It comes after the prime minister attempted to save his beleaguered cabinet minister — declaring the matter “closed” on Friday — but questions have continued to mount over Mr Hancock’s conduct in office, after he was filmed embracing in his Whitehall office with a longtime friend he placed on the government payroll.

The Daily Telegraph also reported Conservative MPs were telling the prime minister to “pull the plug” on the health secretary, but, until now, have resisted from making their views publicly known.

Speaking on GB News on Saturday, Esther McVey, a former Tory cabinet minister also added to the intensifying pressure on Mr Hancock, saying: “If it had been me, I would have resigned myself.”

She added: “I’m hoping that Matt Hancock is thinking the same thing that he doesn’t have to have it pushed upon him it will be viewed far more admirably if he comes forward reassessing it and that’s what I’d like to see.”

I said the same thing on Twitter last night, arguing that he should resign for self-interested reasons.

https://twitter.com/toadmeister/status/1408496275440517126

Bill Clinton’s aides had a ’10-day rule’, meaning that if a politician manages to cling on for 10 days after a scandal breaks he can then survive because the media will inevitably get bored of the story and move on to something else. Alastair Campbell amended this to 11 days on the grounds that British journalists had a slightly longer attention span than their American counterparts. Eleven days from the Hancock story breaking in the Sun would be Monday July 5th. If I was a betting man – and I am – I’d say he’ll be gone by then.

By Toby Young  /  26 June 2021 • 13.19
   
64 comments

Cabinet Reshuffle May Be Brought Forward to Give Matt Hancock a “Dignified” Exit from Role

With the first Tory MP having broken ranks to call for disgraced Matt Hancock to resign, there are rumours that the next Cabinet reshuffle could be brought forward to give the Health Secretary a “dignified” departure from his job. The Mail has the story.

Boris Johnson has been toying with a planned reshuffle for months, but had recently decided to postpone it until the autumn.

However, a Tory source said the shake-up could be brought forward to next month to allow the Prime Minister to move Mr Hancock to a lower-profile role.

The Health Secretary was mercilessly mocked on social media yesterday after admitting he broke his own social distancing rules during a passionate clinch with aide Gina Coladangelo. Senior Tories fear revelations of his hypocrisy will undermine public support for continuing lockdown measures, making it “imperative” that he is moved to a new job.

One said: “I think you will see the Prime Minister bring forward his reshuffle quite quickly now. Hancock doesn’t want to quit and the PM doesn’t want to sack him, but it is quite clear that a dignified way has to be found to move him on.

“Hancock is going to find it very hard to persuade anyone to take him seriously on Covid now. But it’s clear the PM wants to reward his loyalty so another job, preferably out of the public eye, is possible.

“It was always quite likely that he would be moved from health when the reshuffle came anyway, but now it’s imperative.”

Michael Gove and Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden were both tipped for a move to the Department of Health yesterday morning before the Prime Minister decided to stand by Mr Hancock. Mr Johnson has also considered Trade Secretary Liz Truss for the role.

Some Tory MPs were pushing for Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi to get the job after orchestrating the successful jabs rollout.

Mr Zahawi yesterday backed his boss to stay, telling reporters: “The Secretary of State has apologised and has said everything he needs to say.” Former Tory leader William Hague also backed the decision to keep Mr Hancock in his post for now.

Worth reading in full.

By Michael Curzon  /  26 June 2021 • 13.07
     
32 comments

Young People Told to “Grab a Jab” Without Needing to Make an Appointment This Weekend

The drive to get all British adults vaccinated against Covid is being boosted this weekend with young people being told to “grab a jab” at one of the hundreds of walk-in vaccination clinics across the country without having to make appointments. Some sites, such as football stadiums, are even offering free tours to those who get vaccinated in an effort to increase turnout. BBC News has the story.

Sites will be publicised locally so people can choose the location best for them, or they can type in their postcode to the NHS website to find their nearest site.

Sporting grounds involved in the vaccination drive include the Newcastle Eagles basketball arena, Watford’s Vicarage Road, Birmingham’s Edgbaston cricket ground and Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.

People who get a vaccine at the Emirates Stadium between now and Monday are being offered a free tour of the stadium as part of their visit.

In addition to mass vaccination centres, there will be buses offering jabs in Dudley, Colchester, Ipswich and several other towns.

Latest Government figures show 43.87 million – 83.3% of the adult population – have received a first dose of a coronavirus jab and 32 million – 60.9% – have had two doses.

The Prime Minister says he hopes two-thirds of the adult population will be fully vaccinated against Covid by July 19th, creating a “wall of immunity” against the virus. If this target is not met, it is possible that the easing of restrictions could be delayed again, as London Mayor Sadiq Khan warned:

Unless sufficient numbers of Londoners have the jab it makes it more likely that we won’t be able to fully reopen on July 19th. 

I’m determined to have not only as many Londoners [as possible] fully protected but for us to reopen on July 19th. 

The BBC News report is worth reading in full.

By Michael Curzon  /  26 June 2021 • 11.29
   
86 comments

The UEFA Decision Shows the Government is Making Things up as it Goes Along

Following pressure from UEFA, the Government will allow several thousand football VIPs to attend the Euro 2020 finals in Britain without having to quarantine. Meanwhile, ordinary Britons and other NVIPs (Not Very Important Persons) will still have to quarantine for 10 days if they arrive in the U.K. from amber list countries.

This absolutely flagrant double standard – one rule for thee and another for VIPs – has united everyone from David Davis to Caroline Lucas in condemnation of the Government. Davis said the decision was “morally inconsistent”, while Lucas called it “deep hypocrisy”.

How has the Government attempted to justify the decision? Well, as one source told The Telegraph, “It’s important to be able to host international events such as the Euros, and there will be strict mitigations for those attending in order to protect public health, similar to those used at the G7.” 

To be fair and reasonable to the Government’s position, this makes absolutely no sense. On 14th June it was announced that the full re-opening would be delayed by four weeks due to a supposedly alarming rise in cases. Here the Government’s top priority was keeping cases down, even if that meant cancelling weddings, concerts and other live performances.

Now the Government is saying, “It’s important to be able to host international events.” But why isn’t it important to be able to host weddings and concerts? I suspect some of these events even have had international guests (you know, people travelling from abroad to see their friends get married).

The Government’s position seems to be: it’s of course very important we don’t do anything that could risk another epidemic, unless that thing happens to be an “international event such as the Euros” in which case it’s of course very important that we host it. You’re keeping up, aren’t you?

But it gets better. The VIP exemption was negotiated by Dan Rosenfield, the PM’s chief of staff, who happens to be “an avid football fan”. So now policy is decided based on the hobbies of political appointees? “Sorry your concert’s been cancelled but our chief of staff doesn’t really listen to music.” 

How can the Government get away with simply making things up as it goes along? I guess it’s down to the lack of any real opposition. In the vote to extend lockdown, almost every Labour and “Liberal” Democrat MP again voted with the Government. And it’s hard to hold a party to account when there aren’t any other options.

Stop Press: Ross Clark has made a similar argument in the Sunday Express.

By Noah Carl  /  26 June 2021 • 08.53
     
107 comments

News Round-Up

By Jonathan Barr  /  26 June 2021 • 03.29
 
34 comments

Indian Variant Infectiousness Falls Again, PHE Data Shows – Just 10.7% of Contacts Become Infected. So Why Isn’t COVID-19 More Infectious?

The latest Public Health England (PHE) Technical Briefing on the variants of concern is out, and it shows that the infectiousness of the Delta (Indian) variant has dropped again, so that it is now at the same level as the Alpha (British) variant was at the end of March.

Data from PHE

The Delta variant secondary attack rate (SAR – the proportion of contacts an infected person infects) is down to 10.7% this week, from 11.4% a week ago (see graph above). That means that around 90% of the close contacts of people infected with the Delta variant are not infected by them. Once again, this shows how claims that the Delta variant is “60% more transmissible” or similar fail to make clear that transmissibility changes and often declines over time, and that even if the Delta variant is currently more infectious than the Alpha variant it is still less infectious than the Alpha variant was when it first appeared on the scene.

You might be wondering, though, how a disease that only infects 10-15% of close contacts, even at the height of an epidemic wave, can be called highly infectious. And indeed, how such a disease can cause an explosive epidemic wave at all, and why those waves crash down as quickly as they arise despite not exhausting the pool of susceptible people.

If you do wonder that, you would not be alone. A famed epidemiologist called Robert Edgar Hope-Simpson spent his life observing the idiosyncrasies of seasonal influenza and summarised some of his thinking in a 1981 article entitled “The role of season in the epidemiology of influenza“. More recently, in 2008, a group of scientists took up Hope-Simpson’s investigations (which were inconclusive) and summarised seven conundrums of influenza that he identified, all of which apply equally to COVID-19:

Indian Variant Infectiousness Falls Again, PHE Data Shows – Just 10.7% of Contacts Become Infected. So Why Isn’t COVID-19 More Infectious?Read More

By Will Jones  /  26 June 2021 • 01.38
       
41 comments

Schoolchildren Are Using Fruit Juice to Get ‘Positive’ Covid Test Results

Schoolchildren, inspired by videos on social media platforms, have taken to using fruit juice and fizzy drinks to get false positive Covid test results and skip school. A number of videos have been found, with titles including: “Fed up of going to school? Want to get a positive Covid test? Use orange juice.” The MailOnline has the story.

When droplets of orange juice or fizzy drinks like coca-cola are placed on a lateral flow test it can produce a positive result because the acidity of the drink destroys the antibody proteins in the test.

And although it does not work every time, viral videos on TikTok and Instagram have been encouraging children across the U.K. to try the trick to get out of going to school…

Gateacre School in Belle Vale, Liverpool, sent an email to parents yesterday warning them to watch over their children as they take lateral flow Covid tests. 

The school warned parents children around the country had discovered a trick for producing a false positive reading…

The email read: “Nationally, some school students have discovered that placing droplets of orange juice or other fruit juice on an LFD test gets a false ‘positive’ result. 

“In light of this, can you be extra vigilant when your child is doing their LFD tests. Also, remind them that a positive LFD test must be followed by a confirmatory PCR test.” …

A Government spokesman said it is “imperative” lateral flow tests are used in the correct way.

They added: “Around one in three people with Covid experience no symptoms and rapid testing with lateral flow tests helps us track down positive cases that would otherwise go under the radar.”

Worth reading in full.

By Michael Curzon  /  25 June 2021 • 19.46
     
57 comments

Just 28 Positive Covid Test Results after Trial Events Involving Almost 60,000 People

A Government scientific adviser says that the European Championship finals can go ahead safely following results from 10 trial events which identified only 28 positive Covid test results among 58,000 participants. The Telegraph has the story.

Between mid-April and mid-May, the Government allowed a number of large gatherings to take place, including the World Snooker Championships, the Brits, the F.A. Cup Final, a 5k fun run and a club night in Liverpool. 

Participants had to test negative to be allowed in, and were asked to take a second test after the event to see if they had caught Covid there.

Results published on Friday show that there were no major outbreaks caused by any of the events and just 28 people tested positive in the days that followed. 

Asked whether it was safe to allow 60,000 people to meet for the European Championship final, Professor Tom Rodden, a Chief Scientific Adviser in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said: “Certainly, those events can go on safely.”

The Events Research Programme was commissioned by the Prime Minister in February 2021 as part of the roadmap out of lockdown, and was designed to explore how reopening of events can be conducted safely whilst limiting the transmission of the virus.

The report found that prevalence within events was no different to that in the wider community, which they said was “reassuring”…

Experts said it was important that people were allowed back to mass events because it was important for mental health and social cohesion.

Professor Iain Buchan, the Chair of Public Health and Clinical Informatics at the University of Liverpool, said: “This is a really important social phenomenon, and the World Health Organisation’s founding principle was health as a complete state of physical, mental and social wellbeing, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, or the absence of a virus.

“We have to consider society in the round.”

Oliver Dowden, the Culture Secretary, added: “The findings and learnings will help event organisers plan for large audiences as we move to step four of the roadmap.”

Worth reading in full.

By Michael Curzon  /  25 June 2021 • 18.23
           
25 comments

Seychelles Outbreak: World’s Most Vaccinated Country Extends Restrictions Indefinitely

In a perplexing and worrying development, Seychelles, one of the world’s most vaccinated countries, announced today that it was extending restrictions for an indefinite period as infections remain persistently high. Bloomberg has the story.

Seychelles extended curbs imposed on movement and gatherings indefinitely as the world’s most-vaccinated nation fights a persistently high number of coronavirus infections.

The palm-fringed Indian Ocean archipelago has seen a large number of infections since early May even though 70% of it 98,000 people are fully vaccinated with either Sinopharm or AstraZeneca Plc vaccines. It had rushed to conduct an inoculation campaign and reopen to tourism, the lifeblood of its economy.

“In view of the persistent community transmission of COVID-19, the increasing number of deaths, the confirmation of the presence of variants circulating in the population, the Public Health Authority is reinforcing the public health and social measures in place,” the health ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Bars, casinos and shops have to close at 7 p.m., events such as wedding celebrations are banned and gatherings of more than four people, unless it’s for work, are banned indoors and outdoors.

“These measures will remain in force and can only be relaxed when the outbreak is under greater control,” the ministry said.

Here is their cases curve with a comparison to the U.K.

Seychelles Outbreak: World’s Most Vaccinated Country Extends Restrictions IndefinitelyRead More

By Will Jones  /  25 June 2021 • 17.15
   
61 comments