Police charge Black Lives Matter protesters outside Downing Street
Demonstrations in London yesterday (6 June 2020) in support of US protests following the murder of George Floyd were the scene of heavy handed policing which resulted in clashes with anti-racism protesters and mounted police charging crowds.
UK Statistics Authority calls out Tories for misleading COVID-19 testing figures
Tory Health Secretary Matt Hancock received scathing of criticism of official government figures in a letter published today (2 June 2020) from Mr David Norgrove chairman of the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA).
The watchdog’s response to government publication of official data on COVID-19 tests in England described the figures as of “limited value” and called out that the “aim seems to be to show the largest possible number of tests, even at the expense of understanding”.
A Red Wedge to beat the blues
Communist Party assistant secretaries Alex Gordon and Phil Katz write about the aims for 10 Red Wedge events across Britain this weekend
Dominic Cummings flagrantly breached lockdown at height of pandemic
It has emerged that, senior No.10 aide Dominic Cummings travelled hundreds of miles from London to County Durham during the lockdown when he had virus symptoms. This comes after the resignation of Prof. Neil Ferguson, who ignored the law to visit his partner in another home. Back in April the Chief Medical Officer of Scotland, Dr Catherine Calderwood was also forced to resign after flouting lockdown measures, which she herself had advocated for.
Rent waivers violate ‘human rights’ says Labour MP
Labour MP Clive Betts told renters union ACORN that rent waivers risked violating “Human Rights” yesterday (May 6th 2020). Mr Betts who is Chair of Select Housing Committee made this statement in a response to a letter from ACORN seeking greater protection for renters during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Care Worker MP sacked for speaking out
Former care worker and Labour MP Nadia Whittome revealed today (May 6th 2020) that she had lost her job at Nottinghamshires’s Lark Hill retirement village for speaking out about a lack of PPE. The MP for Nottingham East, who returned to work at the care home a month ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic, revealed that she was told on Tuesday (May 5th 2020) she would no longer be given shifts due to her comments.
Hancock tells Doctor MP to watch her ‘tone’
Health Secretary Matt Hancock instructed Labour MP and A&E doctor Rosena Allin-Khan to watch her “tone” in during an exchange in Parliament today (5 May 2020).
During the Health and Social Care Questions session Dr Allin-Khan alleged that the government’s testing strategy was “non-existent” and that “testing figures are now being manipulated” after it emerged uncompleted tests were being counted towards the government’s 100,000 tests a day figure.
Tories Fudge Figures on PPE
An explosive BBC Panorama Documentary on the 27th revealed that gloves were being counted individually to reach a figure of 1 billion items of PPE provided to the NHS. The Tories have come under fire from all sides due to the significant lack of adequate Personal Protective Equipment available to NHS staff dealing with COVID-19 patients. Over 100 members of NHS staff have now succumbed to the virus, and many have said they are terrified of going to work due to a lack of protective equipment.
Birmingham’s Nightingale Hospital sits empty
The new Nightingale Hospital Birmingham temporary hospital was revealed to be empty on Sunday (26 April 2020) over 10 days after it’s completion. The facility was constructed over an 8 day period by military and clinical staff and is managed by the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. Despite having capacity for up to 500 patients, to be drawn from 23 hospitals across the Midlands, it remains completely unused.
