PM Johnson could lose his seat and majority at next election - poll
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brita...SKBN2970MB
INTRO: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is on course to lose his own seat and neither of the two main political parties is likely to win an outright majority at the next general election, not due until 2024, according to a new poll.
This is the first detailed survey of the public’s perception of Johnson’s handling of the recently concluded Brexit talks and the COVID-19 pandemic after he reversed plans to allow families to meet up at Christmas in parts of southern England to combat the spread of the virus.
More than 22,000 people were surveyed in a closely watched poll constituency-by-constituency poll over a four-week period in December, which was conducted by the research data company Focaldata and published by the Sunday Times... (
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Hospitals in UK start receiving doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine
https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-40200147.html
EXCERPTS: Batches of the newly approved coronavirus vaccine from Oxford University and AstraZeneca have started arriving at UK hospitals ahead of the jab’s rollout. Some 530,000 doses of the vaccine will be available for rollout across the UK from Monday, with vulnerable groups already identified as the priority for immunisation.
[...] As it can be kept at normal fridge temperature, he said this vaccine is “much easier” to administer when compared with the jab from Pfizer and BioNTech, which needs cold storage of around minus 70C. Rollout of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab began almost a month ago, with more than a million people having already received their first coronavirus jab.
Second doses of either vaccine will now take place within 12 weeks rather than the 21 days that was initially planned with the Pfizer/BioNTech jab, following a change in guidance which aims to accelerate immunisation... (
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Brexit: how the new rules will change your visits to Europe
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/202...ile-phones
INTRO: Before Brexit, UK citizens could travel, live, go on holiday and work anywhere in the EU without any special permits or visas. As of 1 January 2021 that is no longer the case. The Guardian’s Money team has spent the week poring over the many pages of documentation to explain how Brexit will affect you... (
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QUESTIONS ADRESSED:
What does all this mean for holidays this year – if and when they are allowed to resume? ..... I usually spend more than 90 days in the EU over a six-month period as a tourist – will I be able to with a visa? ..... Will my Ehic card still work? ..... Will I need travel insurance? ..... What about passports/immigration control? ..... And driving abroad? ..... What about mobile roaming? ..... And pet passports? ..... How much booze can I bring back with me? ..... So, compensation for flight delays … will we still get it?
OTHER TOPICS ADRESSED:
Studying in the EU ..... Working in the EU ..... Living in the EU ..... I am a UK national in Europe – will I still get my UK pension? ..... So can I keep my UK bank account? ..... What does this mean for my payments in and out of the account? ..... Will £85,000 of my savings still be protected?
Will Britain’s 2020 house-price boom continue in 2021?
https://moneyweek.com/investments/proper...ue-in-2021
EXCERPTS: . . . as 2020 draws to a close, it has proved to be the best year for the UK housing market [...] in a long time. House prices hit new record highs and saw their strongest growth for years, as measured by any house-price index you cared to use ... And this isn’t just about the well-off fleeing the cities for rural properties with bigger gardens or sea views (though that has been a major feature). The boom is widespread, with transactions hitting their highest level in five years in October, according to HMRC.
What happened? Pent-up demand has helped – house moves were delayed by the outbreak, so transactions piled up towards the middle of the year. And the stamp-duty holiday introduced by the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has likely brought forward sales from the future as people rush to beat the March 31 deadline. But what this year should really demonstrate once and for all, to anyone who was ever in any doubt, is that the main driver of house prices is the availability of credit...
[...]
What about 2021? So what happens next? The experience of previous stamp-duty holidays suggests that sales will slow once it ends (assuming that it isn’t extended, of course). And the exodus from the cities that might have added a bit of feverish fuel to the fire this year is unlikely to be as marked as vaccines are rolled out. Working from home is likely to be a permanent feature of many employees’ lives, but others may find that commuting is still a necessity – or at least more important than it might have seemed during lockdown.
There are other factors that could slow things down a little... (
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Man Scandalized by "Obscene" Tweet About Tampons in 2021
https://www.themarysue.com/man-scandaliz...s-in-2021/
EXCERPTS: We are mere hours into 2021, but have no fear: a man on the internet already has opinions! [...] Adam Garrie has taken to Twitter to call out an obscene image. Is it gratuitous violence? No. Is it pornography? Guess again. Is it (gasp) a nipple?! Perish the thought. Nope, the image that Garrie took umbrage with was a tampon. And not even a real tampon, an illustration of one! A singular white unused tampon was enough to send Mr. Garrie calling for the censors...
Garrie was responding to a tweet from the UK government’s treasury, which celebrates the
abolishment of the tampon tax. It’s a
political movement gaining steam around the world, as men are slowly coming to the realization that menstrual products are essential items, not luxury purchases. Ah yes, the luxury of not bleeding through your pants for 5 days every month. The opulence of shoving a dry wad of cotton up your vagina! What a lavish treat! Oh how we women are spoiled.
[...] In a bizarre online rant, Garrie exclaimed that the image was obscene due to the “implication of bodily fluids” and the “particular curvature” of said tampon. Hmm, I wonder if he’d have the same objections to an image of toilet paper? How about the poop emoji?
[...] This is why we need comprehensive sex education … and way more women in elected office. Men are clearly too emotional and unstable to handle it... (
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Europe's MOST wanted: Prostitute killer, cocaine smuggler and mafia boss top list of fugitives being hunted by Europol
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...ropol.html
EXCERPTS: With Brexit looming, questions remain over the UK's relationship with The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, or EuroPol. [...] It's focus is primarily on cracking down on serious international organised crime and terrorism through the sharing of information across borders.
But with the UK leaving the EU, there have been warnings from UK police chiefs that the country's fight against international crime will be slowed. Cross-border investigations will have to be reorganised if the UK crashes out of the EU's security agency with the National Crime Agency saying in November that the UK makes 'extensive use' of Europol's 'significant and unique capabilities'.
[...] There are currently 50 people on Europol's most wanted list. ... The UK has two members on the list - one from England and one from Scotland - both of whom are wanted for murder.
The English man - Nathan Smith [age 27] - is believed to be on the run somewhere on the continent. [...] He is wanted by police in connection with a fatal stabbing in London's Finsbury Park on Friday, 3 January 2020, that saw the death of Takieddine Boudhane – known as Taki. ... London's Metropolitan Police is offering up to a £10,000 reward for information that could lead to the identification, arrest and prosecution for the person responsible for Taki's death. ... Smith has connections to north London, particularly the areas of Islington, Camden and Kittenish Town.
Scotland's 'most wanted man' Derek 'Deco' Ferguson [age 57] is the only other current UK member of EuroPol's most wanted list after Nathan Smith. He has been on the run since the 2007 murder of Thomas Cameron at the Auchinairn Tavern, Bishopbriggs near Glasgow, which he is wanted in connection to. The gangland enforcer has also been linked with a second murder - of a second suspect named Billy Bates, who's body was found dumped in the river Clyde in an oil drum. He was found out following a hacking operation by the National Crime Agency that uncovered thousands of encrypted text messages... (
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Police trying to track down ‘reckless’ party organisers and revellers in UK
https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-40200159.html
INTRO: Police are trying to identify the “reckless” organiser of an unlicensed music event on New Year’s Eve during in which hundreds of revellers trashed a 500-year-old church in Essex, England. Members of the conservation group that supports All Saints Church in East Horndon – a Grade II-listed building – said they are “devastated” by the damage caused and estimate repairs could cost more than £1,000 (€1,126).
The police had objects thrown at them and were threatened as they dealt with the incident at the disused church, which led to three people being arrested on suspicion of drugs and public order offences. Another new year celebration which had to be shut down saw police break up a crowd that had gathered at an industrial building in Wates Way, Brentwood.
Two people were arrested on suspicion of drink-driving and for failing to provide details. Officers are trying to track down the organisers of both events, and UK chief inspector Richard Melton said they would receive the maximum penalty for these “blatant breaches” of coronavirus regulations.... (
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