Finance minister Jeremy Hunt announced a huge package of 110 measures aimed at reinvigorating the ailing economy and boosting business investment.

Patrick Vallance, Boris Johnson’s chief scientific adviser said that the former UK prime minister struggled to come to grips with much of the science during the coronavirus pandemic.

Covid-19 restrictions speeded up brain deterioration in people over 50, a long-term study of over 3,000 subjects has found, raising ‘important questions’ about their increased risk of dementia.

The protester shouted “true democracy is citizen-led” and “politics needs an update” before scattering glitter over Keir Starmer’s head.

Sunak cancelled a rail link to Manchester ending weeks of uncertainty and provoking anger in his own Conservative Party.

Oliver Dowden raised the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions on Monday, amid pressure from MPs concerned at China’s activity in the field.

Conservative MP Dorries announced she would resign more than two months ago in the wake of former PM Johnson’s resignation. She accuses PM Rishi Sunak of helping to ‘whip up a public frenzy’ against her.

The BA.2.86 mutation was identified in someone with no recent travel history, which means there could already be “significant community transmission” the British Health Security Agency said.

The reopened investigation concerns a Christmas party held in December 2020 in the headquarters of the governing Conservative Party which was organised by staff working on a mayoral election campaign.

British lawmakers approved a damning report that found the ex-prime minister had lied about gatherings that broke UK pandemic rules.

He is the first politician to give evidence at an inquiry that seeks to lay bare mistakes made and lessons to be learned from the UK’s handling of Covid.

The privileges committee – the main disciplinary body for lawmakers – said he should now be stripped of having automatic access to parliament.

The first phase of the inquiry is due to focus on the UK’s resilience and preparedness in the face of the global health emergency.

A Hong Kong-based real estate fund is seeking fresh capital from outside investors to acquire UK pub, hotel and student-housing properties as landlords suffer from ever-increasing financing costs.

The ex-PM accused opponents of trying to drive him out after he received results of a probe over misleading statements he made on Covid rule breaches.

The probe, set up by Johnson himself when he was still PM, is set to investigate the British government’s pandemic preparedness and response.

More than 3,000 current and former students are suing University College London for breach of contract, in a case which could be followed by similar litigation against other British universities.

Long Covid has left Hong Kong public health advocate Dr Judith Mackay exhausted and breathless; she has tried vitamin D, traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and a steroid inhaler but nothing worked.

The findings are the latest to identify health as one of the factors dragging down the UK economy, with long-term illness since the pandemic cited as one of the main reasons people are dropping out of the workforce.

The four-day walkout by tens of thousands of doctors at the state-funded healthcare system could postpone up to 350,000 appointments.

Former British prime minister Boris Johnson mounted a robust defence at a hearing that could damage or even end his tumultuous political career.

The former leader, however, rejected the accusation he had deliberately lied to the House.

Move comes as China has shared more information about testing, vaccination, genomic sequencing results, UK health department says.

Head of Royal College of Nursing union said she had noticed a ‘little shift’ in the prime minister’s stance.

Sunak is facing calls to get a grip of the crisis in Britain’s NHS and make a more generous pay offer to end strikes by nurses and ambulance drivers. Doctors are also threatening to strike.

The two are among the latest countries – along with Spain, South Korea and Israel – to implement arrival screening and restrictions amid concerns over rising cases.

King Charles III evoked memories of his late mother Queen Elizabeth as he broadcast his first Christmas message as monarch, in a speech that also paid tribute to the “selfless dedication” of Britain’s public service workers, many of whom are in a fight with the government over pay.

Ambulance workers across England and Wales staged their biggest walkout in three decades. They are seeking big raises in the face of decades-high inflation that was running at 10.7 per cent in November.