Latest lockdown measures highlight UK and devolved governments’ failure

Across the UK yesterday, further lockdown measures were announced and plans for a break in the restrictions have been curtailed. As Christmas week looms, the latest measures further highlight the Government’s total failure to contain the virus which has killed tens of thousands across the country since March. Despite repeated lockdowns the country remains in the grips of the deadly virus.

Communists slam Brexit talks as ‘confected theatre’

Britain’s Communists have sounded a sceptical note about the extension of post-Brexit trade talks between the British government and the EU. Addressing the party’s executive over the weekend, Alex Gordon said the continuing talks have “an air of confected theatre about them, although these are performances that not many people might pay to watch”.

Humanitarian situation worsens in Ethiopia as PM Abiy focusses elsewhere

As a humanitarian crisis threatens to spiral out of control in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ignored the conflict to open a new highway in the south of the country. Ahmed won huge praise and a Nobel Peace Prize for his role in negotiating peace agreements for long-standing conflicts against internal rebel forces in Ethiopia and against their neighbours Eritrea. International praise of him has made way for criticism since the beginning of November however. His heavy-handed response to tensions with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has led to an outbreak of violence.