COVID-19: Retailers suffered worst year on record in 2020 despite Christmas sales boost

British retail suffered its worst annual performance for sales growth on record in 2020, new figures reveal.

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  • GOP Senator threatens to block Biden cabinet confirmations if Democrats push ahead with impeachment

    Mr Johnson said Democrats have to choose between 'being vindictive or staffing administration to keep nation safe’

  • Scientist advising Government urges tougher lockdown

    Professor Susan Michie said current lockdown measures are ‘the problem’ and not people who aren’t sticking to the rules.

  • Hollyoaks star Sarah Jayne Dunn confirms Mandy will blackmail Luke

    "Mandy is forced to go extremes."

  • AstraZeneca to cut Covid-19 vaccine delivery to EU by 60 per cent, in fresh blow to bloc

    AstraZeneca is to cut deliveries of its Covid-19 vaccine to the European Union by 60 per cent in the first quarter of the year due to production problems, in a blow to the bloc’s efforts to push back against the virus. The British firm was expected to deliver about 80 million doses to the 27 EU countries by the end of March, but now only 31 million will be delivered. The decrease will further hamper Europe's Covid-19 vaccination drive after Pfizer and partner BioNTech slowed supplies of their vaccine this week, saying the move was needed because of work to ramp up production. The UK will not be affected by the shortfall, insiders stressed, because the majority of doses, produced in conjunction with the University of Oxford, are manufactured in this country. A spokesman for AstraZeneca, said: “While there is no scheduled delay to the start of shipments of our vaccine should we receive approval in Europe, initial volumes will be lower than originally anticipated due to reduced yields at a manufacturing site within our European supply chain. “We will be supplying tens of millions of doses in February and March to the European Union, as we continue to ramp up production volumes.”

  • Britain to discuss tighter travel restrictions - BBC

    British ministers are to discuss on Monday further tightening travel restrictions, the BBC reported on Saturday, adding that people arriving in the country could be required to quarantine in hotels. Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a news conference on Friday that the UK may need to implement further measures to protect its borders from new variants of COVID-19. Britain's current restrictions ban most international travel while new rules introduced earlier in January require a negative coronavirus test before departure for most people arriving, as well as a period of quarantine.

  • Bidens left stuck outside White House on Inauguration Day after ‘petty’ final Trump act

    ‘There was a protocol breach when the front doors were not held open’

  • Latest weekly Covid-19 rates for local authority areas in England

    Knowsley, Slough and Sandwell continue to record the highest rates.

  • Coronation Street and Emmerdale pause filming due to Covid-19

    After a deep clean, filming on Emmerdale is set to resume next week. On Coronation Street, changes to storylines in the wake of the pandemic mean the team have decided to take a two week break to re-write storylines and work on improving safety and protocols for staff.

  • Exclusive: Half a million fewer vaccines being supplied to NHS next week

    Up to half a million fewer doses of Covid vaccine will be supplied to the NHS next week as Whitehall sources admitted the target of vaccinating priority groups by mid-February was increasingly “tight”. Deliveries of the Pfizer vaccine will be cut by between 15 and 20 per cent next week after the US firm announced delays in shipments because of work to increase capacity at its Belgian processing plant, sources said. Boris Johnson announced on Friday that more than 400,000 people in the UK were vaccinated on Thursday in another record day for the national rollout. "Our immunisation programme continues at an unprecedented rate," the Prime Minister told a Downing Street press conference. "5.4 million people across the UK have now received their first dose of the vaccine and over the last 24 hours we can report a record 400,000 vaccinations. "In England, one in 10 of all adults have received their first dose, including 71 per cent of over-80s and two-thirds of elderly care home residents."

  • 'Unthinkably Stupid Behavior': CCTV Captures Woman Lying on Railway Tracks in England for Photo

    A woman was caught on a security camera lying down and posing for photographs on a railway track in Sussex, England, video released by Network Rail shows.This clip, taken from CCTV footage at Tidemills level crossing, shows a woman walking onto the train tracks before lying on her back while another woman takes photos.Network Rail said they were concerned about a rash of risky behavior at the crossing recently. The railway said this was the 17th incident at the crossing in the last nine months, with 15 recorded near-misses, compared to four incidents in the whole of 2019.British Transport Police Inspector Jonathan Pine said the two women were oblivious to the dangers of level crossings.“This is unthinkably stupid behavior … Trains pass through this line at speeds of up to 70 mph, so they could quite easily have been moments away from a catastrophic incident. We’ve seen first-hand the consequences of this sort of recklessness and no photo opportunity is worth risking your life for,” Pine said.Other concerning events recorded at Tidemills include level crossing users filming the emergency stop of an oncoming train, bicyclists narrowly missing a train, a funeral procession using the crossing, and “large groups of pedestrians” having close calls while trying to beat approaching trains, the railway said. Credit: Network Rail via Storyful

  • 'When Boris Johnson moves on, Rishi Sunak will become leader. The party will demand it'

    They call him the "Yorkshire Maharajah", the king of all he surveys. And certainly, for a Chancellor in a Government presiding over the deepest recession in three centuries, Rishi Sunak is a remarkably popular politician. The cynical explanation is that he is spending money like nobody before him. After all, the forecasts suggest he will soon become the first Chancellor to spend a trillion pounds in a single year. Yet the truth is something different. "He has something lacking in other politicians," says James Johnson, a pollster. "If I had to make a comparison, it would be with Tony Blair. Sunak has an extraordinary ability to connect with people." Conservative MPs are already speculating that Mr Sunak, still only 40 and Chancellor for less than a year, will become Britain's first Asian prime minister. "The relationship between Rishi and Boris is very good,” says an MP. "There's no question of a saga between them. But when Boris moves on, Rishi will become leader. The party will demand it." First impressions and first Budget On March 11, just 27 days after he became Chancellor, Mr Sunak rose to deliver his first Budget. It was to be one of the most remarkable fiscal statements made by a Chancellor in decades. Mr Sunak was already the fastest minister to reach a great office of state since the war. He was the first politician from a minority background to deliver a Budget. He would announce a fiscal expansion to meet the Prime Minister's promises. He would make an open-ended commitment to do "whatever it takes" to get the economy and NHS through the pandemic. And he would, in effect, rewrite the whole package just days later.

  • Melania Trump's photo snub prompts speculation over post-White House path

    Melania Trump's photo snub prompts speculation over post-White House path. Former first lady walks off after touching down at Palm Beach airport this week, leaving husband to relish the spotlight alone

  • Garth Brooks’s favourability rating drops among Republicans after Biden inauguration performance

    The country singer performed ‘Amazing Grace’ at President Joe Biden’s swearing-in

  • Sir Patrick Vallance says 'Kent' variant may be more deadly because it sticks to cells more easily

    When news emerged last month of a new, far more contagious mutation of coronavirus spreading across Britain there was only one positive straw at which to clutch. There was no evidence, said scientists, that the “Kent” variant was more deadly than the original strain. On Thursday morning, the Prime Minister was shown a paper by the Government’s Nervtag [New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Group] which appeared to destroy even that shred of hope. It considered three studies, which suggest that as well as being remarkably contagious, it is also significantly more fatal - between 30 and 90 per cent more so. Scientists don’t know why. But they think it may be that some of the behaviours which make the variant more easy to transmit, may also make it more lethal. Key among them is the stickiness of the mutation, and the way it gets into cells, and replicates.

  • Two serving police constables die with coronavirus, as federation calls for officers to be vaccinated

    Two serving police constables have died after testing positive for Covid-19, as the Police Federation pleads for officers to be vaccinated. Pc Michael Warren, a 37-year-old father-of-two who joined the Met in 2005, was classed as “vulnerable” and had been shielding at home, working remotely to help his team. He died on Tuesday after a positive Covid-19 test. Police Constable Abbasuddin Ahmed, 40, joined Greater Manchester Police in March 2017 and leaves behind his wife and two young children who are receiving Force support. PC Ahmed, who passed away on Thursday, has been described by his colleagues on the Stretford Response Team as 'the greatest brother in and out of work' and 'such a lovely man who was never seen without a smile on his face.' Officers also paid tribute to Abs' 'pride of being a police officer' adding: "Abs lived up his name meaning 'lion' - brave, loyal, a fighter, protective, and completely fearless. Abs will live in our hearts forever."

  • The Squad shouldn’t have to feel terrified of their colleagues in Congress

    The Squad shouldn’t have to feel terrified of their colleagues in Congress. After the 6 January riot, the Capitol isn’t just a hostile working environment – it’s a disaster waiting to happen

  • Senior Republicans quietly lobbying for Trump’s conviction in impeachment trial, reports say

    Effort against ex-president reportedly includes former top Trump administration officials

  • Coronavirus news - live: Government risked cover-up claims over variant, adviser says, amid scrutiny of data

    Follow for the latest developments

  • Patrick Vallance warns UK death rate is 'awful' and COVID could be around forever

    Vallance, Chris Whitty and Boris Johnson painted a sober picture of the weeks and months to come.

  • Taiwan denounces incursion of air defence zone by Chinese fighter jets, bombers

    Eight Chinese bomber planes and four fighter jets entered the southwestern corner of Taiwan's air defence identification zone on Saturday, and Taiwan's air force deployed missiles to "monitor" the incursion, the island's Defence Ministry said. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, has conducted almost daily flights over the waters between the southern part of Taiwan and the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands in the South China Sea in recent months.However, they have generally consisted of just one or two reconnaissance aircraft.The presence of so many Chinese combat aircraft on this mission - Taiwan said it was made up of eight nuclear-capable H-6K bombers and four J-16 fighter jets - is unusual.A map provided by Taiwan's Defence Ministry showed that the Chinese aircraft, which also included a Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft, flew over the same waters where the most recent Chinese missions have been taking place near the Pratas Islands, though still well away from mainland Taiwan.Taiwan's air force warned away the Chinese aircraft and deployed missiles to monitor them, the ministry added, using standard wording for how it responds to such activities."Airborne alert sorties had been tasked, radio warnings issued and air defence missile systems deployed to monitor the activity," it said in a brief statement.There was no immediate comment from China. In the past China has said it has been carrying out exercises to defend the country's sovereignty and security.US commitment to Taiwan 'rock-solid'Beijing has watched with growing concern increasing U.S. support for democratic Taiwan, especially during Donald Trump's administration which left office on Wednesday.Last year during visits by senior U.S. officials to Taipei Chinese aircraft briefly crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which normally serves as an unofficial buffer.The flight by the Chinese bombers and fighters on Saturday came just days after Joe Biden assumed the U.S. presidency.Emily Horne, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, said the U.S. commitment to Taiwan was "rock-solid" after the island's de facto ambassador in Washington, Hsiao Bi-khim, attended Biden's swearing-in on Wednesday.(REUTERS)