Johnson and Trump seem to share the same hairdresser.

Millions wake up to tougher restrictions as UK Covid deaths pass 70,000
Six million more people in England enter tier-4 restrictions as new measures come into force in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales
Last modified on Sat 26 Dec 2020 06.21 GMT

Millions more people will be waking to harsher coronavirus restrictions on Boxing Day when new tier changes come into force in England.

New lockdowns are set to be introduced in Scotland and Northern Ireland, while restrictions that were eased for Christmas Day in Wales will be reimposed on Saturday.

Those in the strict tier 4 in England will increase by 6 million to 24 million people, representing 43% of the population, in response to a more transmissible variant being discovered in the UK.

It comes after the government said a further 570 died within 28 days of testing positive for the virus as of Christmas Day, taking the UK’s total deaths within 28 days of a positive test to 70,195.

Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 86,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.

There were also 32,725 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK, bringing to 244,146 the number of positive tests in the past seven days.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... pass-70000

Fresh British sausages will be banned from being exported to the EU

I seem to remember an episode from Yes Minister in which Europe banned the great British Banger. But now it seems to be true.

Unless this ban is removed in the near future, I predict a new business opportunity smuggling sausages to southern Spain to satisfy the demand for the ubiquitous full English breakfast which appears on just about every menu where expats go.

Fresh British sausages will be banned from being exported to the EU when the post-Brexit transition period ends later this week.

EU rules mean that after December 31 so-called 'chilled meat preparations', a category which includes raw sausages, will be prohibited from entering the bloc.

Chilled minced meat - both red meat and poultry - will also be prohibited but it is thought frozen products will still be allowed.

However, British sausage-makers will still be able to send their fresh produce to Northern Ireland after the UK and Brussels agreed to special arrangements.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/foodanddrink/ ... d=msedgdhp

Doc67 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 30, 2020 12:46 pm Fresh British sausages will be banned from being exported to the EU

I seem to remember an episode from Yes Minister in which Europe banned the great British Banger. But now it seems to be true.

Unless this ban is removed in the near future, I predict a new business opportunity smuggling sausages to southern Spain to satisfy the demand for the ubiquitous full English breakfast which appears on just about every menu where expats go.

Fresh British sausages will be banned from being exported to the EU when the post-Brexit transition period ends later this week.

EU rules mean that after December 31 so-called 'chilled meat preparations', a category which includes raw sausages, will be prohibited from entering the bloc.

Chilled minced meat - both red meat and poultry - will also be prohibited but it is thought frozen products will still be allowed.

However, British sausage-makers will still be able to send their fresh produce to Northern Ireland after the UK and Brussels agreed to special arrangements.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/foodanddrink/ ... d=msedgdhp

To EU via NI.

Ban the great British banger, just shows how nitty and childish this group are, if they have sense the other countries will disperse the kindergarten party.

Happy New Year !


Schools chaos as 21m more people in England face toughest Covid curbs
Start of new term delayed in worst-hit areas while millions more are put into tier 4 restriction
Last modified on Thu 31 Dec 2020 04.36 GMT
More than three-quarters of England’s population will enter 2021 being urged to “stay at home”, with the reopening of schools also delayed in the hardest-hit areas, as the government battles to contain the new variant of coronavirus.

Boris Johnson warned the public it was time to “redouble our efforts” against the virus on Wednesday, as the government used a one-day sitting in the House of Commons to announce a slew of tough new measures, including plunging many more areas into tier 4.

Amid criticism of the government’s fractured approach to the start of the new school term and renewed calls for a national lockdown, the prime minister said: “No one regrets these measures more bitterly than I do. But we must take firm action now.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... ue-to-soar

Britain actually left the EU last night, at 11pm GMT. No more transition period or faux independence. This is it for real folks...

With little ado, a divided United Kingdom casts off into the Brexit unknown

LONDON (Reuters) -The United Kingdom left the European Union’s orbit on Thursday, turning its back on a tempestuous 48-year liaison with the European project for an uncertain post-Brexit future in its most significant geopolitical shift since the loss of empire.

Brexit, in essence, took place at the strike of midnight in Brussels, or 2300 London time (GMT), when the United Kingdom ended the de facto membership, known as the transition period, which lasted 11 months after it formally left on Jan. 31.

For five years, the frenzied gyrations of the Brexit crisis dominated European affairs, haunted the sterling markets and tarnished the United Kingdom’s reputation as a confident pillar of Western economic and political stability.

After years of Brexit vitriol, one of the most significant events in European history since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union passed with little fanfare: The United Kingdom slipped away, serenaded by the silence of the COVID-19 crisis.

Supporters cast Brexit as the dawn of a newly independent “global Britain”, but it has weakened the bonds that bind England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland into a $3 trillion economy.

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-brit ... SKBN2950CJ

Good luck, wherever it may lead to.

Covid-19: UK records more than 1,000 daily virus deaths
Published
14 minutes ago

The UK has reported a further 1,041 people have died with coronavirus, the highest daily death toll since April.

It came as 62,322 new cases were recorded, the highest daily rise since mass testing began, and as MPs supported England's lockdown.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock earlier said doctors could be forced to ration treatment without the new curbs.

There are 30,074 Covid patients in UK hospitals, he said, as an ambulance trust told of severe pressure.

Current patient numbers are 39% higher than the previous peak on 12 April last year, when 21,684 were hospitalised.

The number of those who died within 28 days of a positive test in the past week is 37% higher than the previous seven days.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55565254