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Downing Street has denied that Boris Johnson’s fiancée Carrie Symonds takes a role in running the country, after a Conservative think tank called for an inquiry into her behind-the-scenes power. The Bow Group, which boasts Tory grandees Norman Tebbit and Norman Lamont among its patrons, has said that Ms Symonds appears to enjoy huge influence in the hiring and firing of No 10 staff and in policy making, despite having no formal role in.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stressed the backing his government has given to Scotland during the coronavirus pandemic, as he seeks to quell support for a fresh independence vote.
Residents arriving in England from 22 ‘red list’ hotspot countries with new variants of COVID-19 will have to quarantine in hotels at their own expense, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Wednesday (27 January).
The measures will apply to people coming from most of South America, southern Africa and Portugal following concerns about new, more dangerous variations of the coronavirus. Portugal is likely to be the only EU country to be included on the ‘red list’.
Meanwhile, people wanting to leave the UK will be required to make a written declaration explaining why they need to travel.
“I want to make clear that under the stay-at-home regulations it is illegal to leave home to travel abroad for leisure purposes and we will enforce this at ports and airports by asking people why they are leaving and instructing them to return home if they do not have a valid reason to travel,” said Johnson.
Next Wednesday Northern Ireland turns 100 as it was on December 23, 1920 that the Government of Ireland Act was passed in the London parliament.
The birthday will bring a foretaste of the trickiest year in the decade of centenary commemorations coming up in 2021. For some, anniversaries are a cause for celebration – for others they are an opportunity to point up failures and past injustices.
Let’s be realistic, it is hard to imagine celebrations of the Northern six counties’ centenary on the southern side of the Border over the next year. But neither should this centenary be seen as an opportunity to simply point up the North’s many political, economic and social shortcomings.