The 55-year-old hit back at suggestions her teenage son Damian had taken the photos.
UK quarantine hotels: how would they work? Our blueprint for getting holidays back to normal Will vaccine passports open up our holidays? 'We can't control the virus with a travel ban' Sign up to the Telegraph Travel newsletter Anyone departing from the UK will be required to declare their reasons for travelling, as the Government today announces tighter border restrictions – including 'quarantine hotels' for arrivals from selected countries. Speaking in the House of Commons this afternoon, Home Secretary Priti Patel said that it "is clear that there are still too many people coming in and out of our country each day," and set out new measures to "reduce passenger flow so that only a small number of people for whom it is absolutely essential to travel are doing so." Transport providers will check passengers' reasons for travel on departure, police presence will be increased at ports and airports, and people will be directed to return home if they do not have a valid reason – and may face a fine. Patel added that police will carry out more checks at physical addresses, to ensure compliance with the restrictions. A new 'quarantine hotel' policy will also see arriving travellers being forced to self-isolate in hotels. The rule will apply to those returning from countries where international travel bans have already been imposed, including Portugal. "They will be required to isolate for 10 days, without exemption, and the Department of Health will set out further details on this approach next week," Patel said. "Despite the stay-at-home regulations, we are still seeing people not complying with these rules. The rules are clear – people should be staying at home, unless they have a valid reason to leave." Scroll down for more on this story, and other breaking travel news.
Only five Senate Republicans join Democrats to reject effort to declare trial is unconstitutional
Piers Morgan speaks about Derek Draper's "heartbreaking" condition.
There is a "real danger" that schools could remain closed until the summer, the Children's Commissioner warned as she blamed ministers for a "lack of planning". Downing Street needs to "think creatively" about how to get youngsters back to the classroom and must "ultimately make something happen", Anne Longfield said. Her intervention came as the Government came under mounting pressure from Tory MPs to explain why schools in their constituencies could not reopen after the February half-term. In a new policy briefing on schools, Ms Longfield said: "Everyone recognises the necessity of reopening schools as soon as possible, but hope alone will not make it happen. What is lacking is a clear roadmap towards this. There is a real danger that schools will remain closed until Easter at the earliest, or even into the summer – not because the virus makes this inevitable, but because of a lack of planning." She said that while the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) could provide modelling of different options, it was the role of ministers to "think creatively about what those different options might be, explore all possibilities, come up with a plan and ultimately make something happen". Ms Longfield set out a number of options for the gradual reopening of schools, including certain year groups returning sooner than others and children returning on a rota basis, meaning they take it in turns to come in on certain days. She said reopening is "not a simple on/off switch", and that while it may not be possible for all schools to open before Easter, that "does not mean it is impossible" for some children to go back in some areas on a smaller scale. On Tuesday, Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, came under fire for failing to appear in the Commons to answer Labour's urgent question on schools reopening. Instead, the schools minister Nick Gibb was pressed by MPs on what the Government's plan to reopen schools is.
He made sure to say sorry on Good Morning Britain
A bomb disposal team has been called to the factory in which the Oxford vaccine is made after a suspicious package was reported. The Wockhardt factory on the Wrexham Industrial Estate was evacuated this morning after the package was sent to the site. It is here where the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is packaged into vials. In a statement, Wockhardt said: "Wockhardt UK in Wrexham this morning received a suspicious package to site. "All relevant authorities were immediately notified and engaged. Upon expert advice we have partially evacuated the site pending a full investigation. "The safety of our employees and business continuity remain of paramount importance." Downing Street is being kept up to date on developments, a Number 10 spokesman said. Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford tweeted: "We are working with local police and the military to find out more about this incident. "Thank you to the security personnel who are on-site to protect lives and ensure the safety of our vaccine supply. This highlights the vital role they play in keeping us all safe. Diolch." Last week, emergency teams were called out to protect supplies of the Oxford University and AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine following flooding at the industrial estate. All "necessary precautions" were taken to prevent disruption to the manufacture of the jab, a Wockhardt spokeswoman said at the time. North Wales Police said on Wednesday afternoon: "We are currently dealing with an ongoing incident on the Wrexham Industrial Estate. "The roads are currently closed and we would ask the public to avoid the area until further notice." What we know so far Suspicious package delivered this morning to Wockhardt factory, where vaccine is bottled into vials Factory partially evacuated Bomb disposal team called Police asking people to avoid area The 'ongoing incident', in pictures
Keir Starmer demands explanation for UK’s death rate, accusing PM of being ‘slow… slow… slow’
Mike Pence has been residing in public housing for the past eight years
The makers of an experimental drug, now being trialled by the NHS, say it is 100 per cent effective in protecting against symptomatic cases of the virus. US-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals says its two-antibody cocktail called REGEN-COV also reduces overall coronavirus infection rates by about 50 per cent. The claims are based on interim results and the "confirmatory stage" of the trial will not be complete until the second quarter of this year, but the company has said it is hopeful it may "break the chain" of rising infections.
Around one in 16 local areas are currently recording a week-on-week rise.
The Scottish Secretary faced down SNP questions over the granting of a second independence referendum.
The PM said schools won’t reopen and 'other economic and social restrictions' won’t be eased until then.
‘Just do the math’, said Susan Collins as colleagues hailed trial against Donald Trump being ‘over’ before it begun
A catalogue of costly errors, the refusal to heed scientific advice at crucial pinch-points and the absence of any real strategy set the UK on a collision course with tragedy, writes Samuel Lovett
AstraZeneca vaccine may not go to older people, EU medicines chief suggestsEuropean Medicines Agency approval could stipulate age range, says Emer CookeCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverage Emer Cooke of the EMA, who is Irish, said the regulatory body is examining the ‘totality of the data’. Photograph: AP
Two Virginia police officers who took selfies inside the US Capitol during the riots have been fired. Five people were killed, including a US Capitol Police officer, after a violent mob of Donald Trump supporters and extremists descended on the Capitol on January 5, storming the building as members of congress gathered to certify Joe Biden’s election victory.
The UK has some of the most stringent lockdowns in Europe but there are several countries who have imposed even tighter restrictions.
Iceland has issued its first vaccination certificates to ease international travel for those inoculated against Covid-19, authorities told AFP on Tuesday, with EU countries still haggling over using such documents. All the 4,800 Icelanders who have received two doses of coronavirus vaccine are eligible for the digital certificates, said the health ministry, which has set up a website to handle their distribution. "The aim to facilitate the movement of people between countries so that the individuals can show a vaccination certificate during border checks and be exempt from border restrictions," the ministry said. However, the documents have yet to be recognised internationally. Iceland, which is not an EU member but is part of the bloc's Schengen open travel zone, intends to allow most Europeans bearing similar certificates to enter the country. But Brussels is still trying to find a consensus between member states about the certificates. Greece backs the idea to boost its suffering tourism industry.
The SNP’s islands minister has been accused of arrogance and complacency after he rejected the findings of a major investigation which branded the building of two new super-ferries a “catastrophic failure”. Opposition MSPs said that ministers “had their hands over their eyes and their fingers in their ears” and branded Paul Wheelhouse’s response to a Holyrood rural affairs committee report, unanimously agreed by its members, “appalling”. In damning findings published last month, a catalogue of failures was highlighted in the process for building two new CalMac ferries, which are to serve Arran and the Hebrides on Scotland's publicly-owned ferry network. The ferries are four years late and will cost twice the original price of £97m. However, in his response to the probe, the findings of which were agreed by the committee's SNP members, Mr Wheelhouse insisted a procurement process found to be "not fit for purpose" was in fact completed “fastidiously, in good faith and following appropriate due diligence.”
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