Above Photo: Headquarters of NHS England. (Lad, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons) It is safe to say that, far from being overstated, the Americanization of the NHS is very nearly complete, write Stewart Player and Bob Gill. One of the recent roles of the Parliamentary Healthcare Committee has been to reassure the British public that any claims regarding the ‘Americanization’ of the National Health Service (NHS) were wildly overstated, “creating a climate that risks blocking the joining up of services in the interests of patients.” In fact, the penetration of the healthcare system by the giant U.S. insurer UnitedHealth reveals the […]
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The British Royal Air Force (RAF) has released a short video that shows the C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft landed on a dirt runway. British long-range, heavy-lift strategic transport aircraft performed take-off and landing testing on the semi-prepared runway as part of a test to expand the C-17 capabilities to land on dry and wet-dirt runways. “Even on Semi-Prepared Runway Operations (SPRO), the C-17 can land and take off at 220 tonnes! That’s the equivalent of 37,000 medium turkeys or 9,700 6ft Christmas trees, to be precise!,” the 99 Squadron said in a Twitter post Saturday. – ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW – A semi-prepared runway […]
The next three F-35B Lightning II short take-off and vertical landing aircraft departed the Lockheed Martin production facility recently to the United Kingdom. In a release Friday, Air Officer Commanding No 1 Group, Royal Air Force, Allan Marshall said the new stealth fighter jets to increases the British fleet to 21 F-35s. “Looking forward to their arrival in the UK over the coming days,” the message added. – ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW – According to Britain’s Royal Air Force website, the F-35B Lightning combat aircraft currently operates alongside the Typhoon. A multi-role machine, Lightning is capable of conducting air-to-surface, electronic warfare, […]
In May, the UK Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) seemed to have been sidelined, with an expanded Joint Biosecurity Centre taking on a prominent role in co-ordinating the coronavirus response. The move had worried scientists, who said the new unit was “shrouded in mystery”. Senior MPs and scientists are rallying behind demands that advice issued to UK ministers by the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC), set up earlier this year to deal with the country’s coronavirus response, be made public, writes The Telegraph. The government is being called upon to lift the shroud of secrecy surrounding the body that has […]
The UK has recorded 17,540 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours. The new figure is an increase of 3,300 above those reported on Wednesday, and smashes the country’s previous record for cases registered in a single day. A further 77 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were also reported by UK health officials on Thursday. The latest data means that a total of 561,815 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the UK since the start of the pandemic, and 42,592 have died within 28 days of a test. The alarming numbers come just days after […]
The United Kingdom has unveiled plans to deal with the problem of illegal migrants, in particular, the movement of people from France to Britain via the Channel, with a new off-shore detainment program. Priti Patel said on Sunday that she plans to introduce the biggest overhaul UK’s immigration policy in decades, pledging to “take every necessary step to fix this broken system”. While speaking at the Conservative Party’s annual conference, the home secretary said she would bring “forward legislation to deliver on that commitment next year”. “Our broken system is enabling this international criminal trade. It is disregarding the most vulnerable, […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/106912/61/1069126119_0:0:1200:675_1200x675_80_0_0_062454e3baad79839c52802b4610d9da.jpg Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/military/202010041080664311-russian-navy-tracking-movements-of-uks-dragon-warship-in-black-sea-mod-says/ MOSCOW(Sputnik) – Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is tracking the movements of the UK warship HMS Dragon, which has entered the Black Sea, the Russian Ministry of Defence said on Sunday. “The forces of the Black Sea Fleet have begun to monitor the activities of the UK Navy’s Dragon destroyer vessel, which entered the Black Sea on October 4,” a statement read. Use of the Black Sea by non-Black Sea-adjacent states is limited by the Montreux Convention of 1936, which allows warships from outside powers to remain in the body of water for no more […]
The UK announced reversal of its decision on the Chinese telecoms giant in July, forcing British telecos to remove kit from existing networks over potential threats to network supply lines due to US sanctions. But the delays are set to cost billions in GDP and cause Britain to lose its place as Europe’s 5G capital, numerous reports have shown. A delay to Britain’s 5G rollout could cost billions of pounds due to a drop in economic output, a report from the Centre for Policy Studies read on Monday. The centre-right think tank noted legislative challenges, including Downing Streets rip and replace […]
The home secretary said the UK was waiting to return some 1,000 migrants to the European Union states where they first arrived under the terms of the Dublin Regulation, but those countries have put up “legal barriers”. UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has accused European Union (EU) member states of breaking the bloc’s rules on seeking asylum. Patel, quoted by The Daily Express, said EU members were putting up “legal barriers” to enforcement of the 1990 Dublin Regulation – meant to ensure asylum seekers claim refuge in the first country they arrive in. “We have EU states themselves not following the […]
The UK government is well-known for being coy about revealing information on its cyber warfare powers. Therefore, the military official’s comments were rather unprecedented. The only acknowledged cyber campaign to date to have been carried out by British forces was aimed shutting down Daesh’ internet presence. The UK has developed offensive cyber warfare capabilities that have the power to destroy national power grids and other such critical infrastructure, according to a military chief. General Sir Patrick Sanders, who sits at the apex of Britain’s Strategic Command, revealed that British military personnel are working closely with their counterparts at the civilian intelligence […]
The report builds from Downing Streets expectations of a 3-year delay to its 5G rollout and comes after the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced the ban in July this year. The UK government’s ban and removal of Huawei from national 5G networks by 2027 will risk a severe delay in the country’s 5G rollout targets, an independent report from research and analysis firm Assembly said on Wednesday. The report, commissioned by Huawei Technologies, found that such measures could cost the UK economy £18.2bn and the countries competitive lead in 5G. British mobile operators had made “significant” progress […]
The British admission that UK legislation implementing the EU divorce treaty could break international law in a “limited way” proved to be a truly “kamikaze” statement that backfired spectacularly, Ireland’s deputy PM has said. “These were really extraordinary comments, and certainly set off alarm bells in Dublin. I think they have backfired,” Ireland’s deputy prime minister, Leo Varadkar, said on Wednesday while speaking to RTE. On Tuesday, the UK’s Northern Ireland minister, Brandon Lewis, admitted that Britain could break international law in a “limited way” with its new legislation linked to the implementation of its Withdrawal Agreement signed with the EU […]
The UK’s Natural History Museum is reviewing options for its Charles Darwin exhibits, including possible removal, after an internal review ordered amid Black Lives Matter protests found that they could be deemed “offensive.” The museum’s directors are scrutinizing collections that may be considered “problematic,” which could lead to removal or lesser remedies, such as renaming, The Telegraph reported citing internal documents. Artifacts from the father of evolutionary theory are among the suspects because Darwin’s voyage to Galapagos Island on the HMS Beagle was one of the UK’s “colonialist scientific expeditions.” “In light of Black Lives Matter and the recent anti-racist demonstrations around […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/106549/85/1065498526_0:12:2428:1378_1200x675_80_0_0_0e7f94e070a29d473054f273226ecb98.jpg Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/uk/202009011080339948-former-prince-william-aide-simon-case-appointed-as-uks-top-civil-servant/ MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Simon Case, a former aide to the UK’s Prince William, has been named on Tuesday as the country’s new top civil servant, according to a government press release. Case, a former private secretary to the Duke of Cambridge, will serve as the UK’s cabinet secretary and the head of the civil service, replacing the outgoing Mark Sedwill. “Simon will make a fantastic Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service. His years of experience at the heart of government and working for The Royal Household make him ideally suited for this […]
The UK’s Department for International Development contracted IMC Worldwide in 2013 to build 50,000 classrooms in Pakistan at a cost of £184 million. The programme was slashed to 5,000 for $244 million after the cost of each soared from $3,984 to $27,891. About 120,000 children in Pakistan had to abandon their classrooms and study in makeshift accommodations and tents after their school buildings, built by IMC Worldwide, were termed unsafe over design flaws, as per an investigation by The Times. The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) roped in IMC Worldwide, a UK-based company, to build 50,000 classrooms covering 1,300 locations […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/08/1b/1080293896_0:0:2545:1432_1200x675_80_0_0_52e76d8430a8138438c18d2587d22a3c.jpg Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/uk/202008271080293931-ed-davey-elected-new-leader-of-uks-liberal-democrats/ LONDON (Sputnik) – Ed Davey, who has been the acting leader of the Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) since December 2019 general elections in the United Kingdom, secured the position on a permanent basis on Thursday after winning the party’s internal elections. “To members of the Liberal Democrats, thank you for putting your faith in me and giving me the honour of leading a Party I joined 30 years ago,” Davey told his fellow party member in a victory speech broadcasted online due to COVID-19 social distancing measures. As it was announced in the virtual […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/105689/07/1056890761_0:114:2200:1352_1200x675_80_0_0_2932208db7d91200744ca8080e688a5d.jpg Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/uk/202008251080270125-uks-astrazeneca-begins-human-trial-of-covid-19-treatment-using-monoclonal-antibodies/ LONDON (Sputnik) – UK-based pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca announced on Tuesday that it had begun the human trial of a new treatment for COVID-19 using a combination of two monoclonal antibodies. “The first participants have been dosed in a Phase I trial of AZD7442, a combination of two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in development for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19,” the multinational giant said in a press release. Up to 48 healthy people aged 18 to 55 years will take part in the first stage of the trial, aimed at evaluating the safety, tolerability and […]
LONDON (Sputnik) – UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday it was “vitally important” that children return to classes in September, in an attempt to convince parents still wary of COVID-19 risks in schools. “It’s vitally important that we get our children back into the classroom to learn and to be with their friends. Nothing will have a greater effect on the life chances of our children than returning to school,” Johnson said in a statement. In his plea, the prime minister echoed a joint report issued on Sunday by the chief medical officers of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern […]
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – A 15-year-old girl died on Saturday after a rigid inflatable boat collided with a buoy off Southampton in the southern part of England, the local police in the Hampshire county said. “Twelve people who were on board were subsequently taken to the hospital. Sadly, one of the passengers, a 15-year-old girl, was pronounced dead in hospital”, the police said in a press release. The girl’s relatives have been informed and are being supported by officers, the release read. The vessel hit the buoy at around 10:10 am Saturday morning local time (09:10 GMT). The police are investigating the […]
Amid accusations of not doing enough to prevent migrants from arriving in the UK, France earlier sought additional finances from the British authorities to guard the English Channel against the spike in illegal crossings, with the Royal Navy called in for the first time this summer to help tackle the crisis. UK Home Secretary Priti Patel unleashed a diplomatic row after reportedly claiming migrants attempting the often perilous journey across the English Channel sought to escape ‘racist’ France, reported the Daily Mail. The remarks were believed to have been made in a private zoom conference call with Tory MPs, where Patel […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/08/09/1080106119_0:301:3071:2029_1200x675_80_0_0_0099f2357a8a0d54814bfbf45cae4de6.jpg Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/uk/202008091080106105-uks-privacy-watchdog-investigates-barclays-over-spying-accusations/ The bank reportedly used a special computer programme to monitor its employees at London headquarters without their knowing for 18 months, but failed to inform the staff that they were being tracked. UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is conducting a probe into allegations that Barclays spied on its staffers, the agency said in a statement on Sunday. “If organisations wish to monitor their employees, they should be clear about its purpose and that it brings real benefits. Organisations also need to make employees aware of the nature, extent and reasons for any monitoring”, a spokesman […]
The bank previously announced it would cut at least 35,000 of its 235,000 staff as part of a major restructuring, but the plan was put on hold amid the pandemic. At least 1,000 of those redundancies were planned for the UK. The British bank HSBC published its pre-tax profits on Monday, showing just $4.3 billion in revenue, compared to $12.4 billion for the same period last year. The bank, which sees a major share of its profits come from Hong Kong, was hit by both the coronavirus outbreak and the unrest in the autonomous region over Beijing’s national security law in […]
The UK Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament has published a long-awaited report that was completed in March 2019 on alleged Russian interference in British democratic processes. The UK stated that the findings show no evidence of Russian interference in the Brexit referendum, ruling out the need to reassess the result of the vote. A senior research fellow at the Global Policy Institute, George Szamuely, doubts the conclusions of the report, because he believes that interference is an obscure concept. Sputnik: What do these allegations from Britain represent in your eyes? Do you believe the conclusions that are being put forward […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107919/17/1079191708_0:0:3072:1728_1200x675_80_0_0_6d60462159b904abeda55a74fde54046.jpg Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/world/202007211079944524-pompeo-says-discussed-5g-free-trade-deal-during-constructive-visit-with-uks-johnson/ WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he held constructive and candid talks on 5G security, a potential free trade deal, and other matters during his meeting with the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson in London on Tuesday. “Constructive visit with @BorisJohnson today. Our two countries’ long-standing, strong bilateral relationship has laid the foundation for today’s candid discussion on issues ranging from 5G telecommunication to our negotiations for a US-UK free trade agreement”, Pompeo said via Twitter. Johnson welcomed the US secretary of state at his residence at Downing Street […]
The UK government has yet to tackle the modern slavery problem despite the adoption of the Modern Slavery Act five years ago, British law and human trafficking specialists warn. They claim the legislation does not work, and allows business owners to circumvent its provisions and benefit from sweatshop labour. “Modern slavery” is thriving in some parts of the UK, with workers in Leicester factories making clothes in unsafe conditions for as little as £3.50 ($4.38) an hour which is far below the UK minimum wage of £8.72 ($10.92), according to The Sunday Times’ 6 July report. Modern slavery is defined in the […]
The British government has announced that starting next year, telecommunications companies would be banned from buying Huawei equipment for the U.K.’s 5G network. Existing Huawei equipment will need to be removed by 2027. Leon Neal/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Leon Neal/Getty Images Months after approving some limited involvement by the Chinese technology giant Huawei in constructing the U.K.’s next-generation wireless data network, British regulators reversed course Tuesday. Beginning in January, U.K. regulators will implement a ban on telecom operators buying Huawei equipment. Existing Huawei 5G equipment will need to be removed from the U.K.’s 5G network by 2027. The decision […]
Amid a pending review of the UK’s armed forces, the Ministry of Defence has been warned that the chief advisor to Prime Minister Boris Johnson – Dominic Cummings – is looking to recondition the organisation. Dominic Cummings is poised to visit SAS and four other sensitive military sites, a leaked Ministry of Defence (MoD) email revealed on Wednesday, as the Prime Ministers’ top advisor seeks to overhaul the government body. Boris Johnson’s aide will be given a personal tour which will include visits to the Special Boat Service in Dorset, SAS headquarters in Herefordspecialist, and military research laboratories at Porton Down, Wiltshire, according to […]
In late February, the British government announced that it would give Huawei a limited role in building the UK’s 5G infrastructure, despite previous US warnings that the move could potentially compromise US-British intelligence sharing. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to start excluding the use of Huawei technology in the country’s 5G network this year “in a major about-turn”, The Telegraph reports. The newspaper referred to a report by the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)’s National Cyber Security Centre which claims that US sanctions against Huawei has had a “severe” impact on the firm and will prompt the Chinese telecom giant […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107958/05/1079580548_0:0:3076:1731_1200x675_80_0_0_781dbdc1765a89d895d28999c60a1104.jpg Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202007041079794768-moscow-surprised-by-uks-response-to-russias-exit-from-un-syria-deconfliction-mechanism/ MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Moscow is surprised by the UK Foreign Office’s comment that Russia’s withdrawal from the UN deconfliction mechanism in northwest Syria was “unacceptable,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, adding that the participation in the mechanism was voluntary. The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that the deconfliction mechanism was created in 2014 as an unilateral initiative of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and is not based on international humanitarian law or UN Security Council resolutions. “The guidance document regulating the functioning of this mechanism clearly states that […]
Earlier, a Black Lives Matter activist called for the removal of statues and murals portraying Jesus Christ as a “white European” amid the ongoing campaign addressing racial prejudice around the world. And the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby agrees that the Church of England should accommodate global depictions of Jesus in different cultures. A painting of the Da Vinci-inspired Last Supper portraying Jesus Christ as a black person will now be installed in the UK’s St Albans Cathedral in “solidarity with the Black Lives Matter” campaign, the Daily Mail reported, providing the image of the art work in question. The painting […]
Ryanair, Europe’s biggest low-cost airline, has blasted the UK’s plan to relax anti-coronavirus measures through establishing so-called air bridges with certain countries, calling quarantine altogether “useless.” The plan will exempt travelers from the mandatory two-week quarantine. A full list of countries is set to be unveiled by the British government next week, and it is expected to include France, Greece and Spain. While the plan has been designed to help air carriers, hard-hit by the Covid-19 fallout and enduring travel restrictions, the industry has not been very pleased with that limited lifting of anti-coronavirus measures. Ryanair called for scrapping all the […]
The news follows UK prime minister Boris Johnson recently announcing that single adult households could create ‘support bubbles’ with one other household to help those living alone or who cannot visit friends and family. Brits should support people suffering from isolation amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic by writing letters and cards, the UK’s Loneliness Minister urged on Monday. UK Loneliness Minister and Lords peer, Baroness Barran, urged the public to reach out to family, friends and neighbours as well as vulnerable groups as part of the nation’s #LetsTalkLoneliness campaign launched last year. Downing Street also partnered with the Royal Mail and […]
Britain allowed Huawei’s limited participation in the build-up of top-notch domestic 5G networks earlier this year, however, Downing Street has since shown signs of its hardening position towards the Chinese telecoms giant. “Banging China out” from 5G networks and encouraging allies to do so would make the world less secure in the end, as it would split the internet into two warring camps which would be likely to attack each other, the ex-head of cyber security at the British government’s listening post GCHQ, warned, as cited by The Sun. “It is far more sensible to think of a future with them […]
UK 20:26 GMT 24.05.2020(updated 20:29 GMT 24.05.2020) Get short URL Nicolae Ceausescu was a general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party, and paid a visit to the United Kingdom’s capital in 1978 with his wife Elena, where he was supposed to have a dinner with the royal family. Queen Elizabeth II is said to have ducked into a bush in her garden to avoid speaking to the Romanian leader, Nicolae Ceausescu, who was a guest at Buckingham Palace, according to a newly-released TV documentary “Inside the Crown: Secrets of the Royals”. Journalist and filmmaker Robert Hardman is the author of the documentary. The […]