featured

Poll shows the UK is in support of a 2-week lockdown

Published

6 months ago

December 21, 2021

Over 51% of UK adults were found to be in support of a lockdown over the festive period.

A survey by market researcher Savanta ComRes has revealed over half of UK adults are in favor of increasing restrictions over the festive period, as cases of the new variant Omicron continue to increase.

The UK reached nearly 25,000 reported cases of the new variant on Friday, almost 10,000 more than the previous day, according to the UK Health Security Agency.

The surge in cases caused London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, to declare a ‘major incident’, in order to help the city’s hospitals cope with the crisis.

Despite warnings from health chiefs, Downing Street has insisted PM Boris Johnson, ‘had no plans to go beyond Plan B restrictions’ which includes encouraging people to work from home, reintroducing mandatory face masks, and the introduction of ‘Covid passes’ to gain entrance into large venues such as nightclubs.

However, the poll of 1,400 adults taken on the 14th of December, has indicated the public would be in favor of the decision.

When people were asked about specific restrictions, the closure of nightclubs (63%) and the banning of large crowds at sporting events (64%) received the most support, and the reintroduction of the rule of six was supported by 55%.

Even the banning of indoor mixing had relatively high levels of support with 44%.

SAGE, the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, stated they were ‘almost sure’ thousands of people were being unknowingly infected with the variant and not being picked up by government figures.

Chris Hopkins, political research director at Savanta ComRes, commented ‘’The Omicron variant looks set to force the hand of the government and, as things stand, it seems the public are braced for another Christmas of disruptions and restrictions.’’

Almost half of the UK adults told the pollster that they are likely to cancel upcoming festive celebrations due to the threat of the new variant.

Will you still be heading to the pub this Christmas?

Related Topics:boris Christmas Featured lockdown

Up Next

New Law Makes Faking Covid Passports or a Covid Test Illegal.

Don't Miss

Big Freeze To Hit UK On Christmas Day

Click to comment

featured

Ex F1 chief executive would “take a bullet” for “friend” Vladimir Putin

Published

2 days ago

June 30, 2022

sophierennie00

Formula 1 have issued a statement following comments by their former chief executive, Bernie Ecclestone, in an interview with Good Morning Britain on Thursday morning, in which he praised “sensible” Vladimir Putin who he would “still take a bullet for”.

The 91-year-old businessman said that “unfortunately he’s like a lot of business people, certainly like me, that we make mistakes from time to time and when you make the mistake, you have to do the best you can to get out of it.”

These comments come amidst the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine following President Putin’s authorisation of a “special military operation” in the east, after intense diplomacy and the imposition of Western sanctions on Russia failed to deter him.

Ecclestone simultaneously criticised the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy for not making a “big enough effort to speak to Putin”, whom he described as a “sensible person” who “would have listened to him and could have probably done something about it.”

He went on to confirm that he believed that if Zelenskyy had done more to avert war, as opposed to any change in Putin’s actions, the conflict that has taken the lives of thousands of innocent Ukrainian people could have been averted. “I’m quite sure Ukraine, if they’d wanted to get out of it properly, could have done.”

A Formula One spokesman has said: “The comments made by Bernie Ecclestone are his personal views and are in very stark contrast to the position of the modern values of our sport.”

What are your thoughts – Join us on Facebook to join in the conversation..

featured

British Airways staff to strike over summer holidays

Published

1 week ago

June 23, 2022

sophierennie00

A total of 700 British Airways workers at Heathrow Airport have voted in favour of and are set to go on a strike during the summer holidays in a dispute over pay, where demand is at its highest.

Unite and GMB union members have backed industrial action due to a 10% pay cut which was imposed at the peak of the pandemic, and is not to be reinstated. 94.7% of Unite members and 95% of GMB members voted in favour of the walkouts.

It is understood that these proposed strikes will only be undertaken by fewer than 50% of British Airways staff at Heathrow Airport. Nevertheless, if these strikes go ahead, there will no doubt be disruption for passengers and possible cancellations of flights.

Some members of BA staff, such as ground operations and engineers, have had their pay cuts reversed, however the GMB claim that check-in staff “have had nothing”. Unite have called this an insult. BA have issued a statement claiming that they are “extremely disappointed” with the decision made and are committed to finding a solution with the unions.

The exact strike dates are to be confirmed in the next few days.

What are your thoughts on the strikes, join us on Facebook to join the conversation…

featured

Biggest Rail Strikes in 30 years to go ahead as talks fail

Published

2 weeks ago

June 20, 2022

rebeccarosecook

Britain is braced for the biggest rail strikes in 30 years after last-ditch talks failed to resolve a row over pay and conditions.

Thousands of staff affiliated to the Rail, Maritime and Transport union at Network Rail and 13 other train operators will walk out tomorrow, Thursday and Saturday.

The RMT says plans by Network Rail – the body which owns stations, track and signals – to cut 2,500 jobs, will put safety at risk. But the industry says it has to modernise and safety will not be compromised.

The Rail Delivery Group – which represents train firms – says the Covid pandemic has led to a decline in passenger numbers and while it wants to offer a pay rise to staff, the way the network operates has to change. But the RMT says it is prepared to take industrial action “for as long as it takes to get a settlement” and warned strikes could take place for the next six months.

It says train operators have now made an offer, but there is no further offer from Network Rail, after one was rejected last Friday. General secretary Mick Lynch said: “The RMT National Executive Committee has now found both sets of proposals to be unacceptable and it is now confirmed that the strike action scheduled this week will go ahead.”

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, whose department oversees the operation of the network, described calls by the RMT for ministers to intervene as a “stunt” and accused the union of “gunning” for industrial action. He said the strike was orchestrated by “union barons” and will cause misery and chaos to millions of commuters.

Services have begun to be affected this evening, and are likely to be disrupted throughout this week as the impact of the staggered stops cause an impact even on non-strike days. Talks had continued this afternoon, but the two sides could not reach a deal.

Sources close to the negotiations said Network Rail was prepared to offer striking unions a five per cent pay rise to settle the dispute.

Use this tool to see if trains will run from your station.