by Bethany Rielly
THE spycops Bill is “one of the most dangerous” pieces of legislation ever proposed, Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti warned today as she launched a last-minute bid to weaken it.
The Covert Human Intelligence Bill seeks to give protection from prosecution to undercover agents and informants working for the police or intelligence service who commit authorised crimes.
Baroness Chakrabarti warned that such “blanket immunity” would open the door to “countless abuses of power and scandals in relations to criminality and abuses of human rights, potentially for many years into the future.”
She sought to remove the immunity element from the Bill by tabling two amendments at the legislation’s report stage in the House of Lords.
Asylum-seekers to protest delays in processing their asylum claims by sleeping outside in freezing conditions morningstaronline.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from morningstaronline.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
by Bethany Rielly
THE mass roll-out of the Oxford vaccine began with failures yesterday while hospitals teeter on the edge and NHS staff morale plummets.
The first community vaccines in England with the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab were due to take place yesterday at GP surgeries, with jabs being delivered to sites across the country.
However, supplies of the vaccine failed to arrive at a surgery visited by Health Secretary Matt Hancock to promote the jab’s launch, in a scene described by his Labour counterpart Jonathan Ashworth as “something from The Thick of It.”
It comes as NHS leaders warned this week of London hospitals soon being overwhelmed by Covid-19, with a shortfall of up to 5,500 beds by January 19.
By Bethany Rielly
THE government’s decision to splurge £550 million on supersonic missiles during the pandemic is an “insult” to Covid-19 patients, NHS staff and key workers, campaigners have said.
Under a multimillion-pound contract announced by the Ministry of Defence today, arms manufacturer MBDA will produce “new-generation” missiles for Britain’s fleet of fighter jets.
Once in operation, the weapons will have a range of more than 80 miles and travel at supersonic speeds, with the MoD boasting of their “unrivalled lethality.”
Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade said that the decision “emphasises how wrong and how totally inappropriate Downing Street’s priorities are” during the coronavirus crisis.
News Reporter
RENTERS could be at risk of losing their homes from next week if the government fails to extend the ban on bailiff evictions, housing campaigners warned today.
The government’s winter truce on evictions comes to an end on January 11.
Housing charities and campaigners are urging ministers to extend the ban throughout the third national lockdown, warning that it would be “too dangerous” to evict people while Covid-19 cases are so high.
The truce, introduced on December 11, bans bailiffs from enforcing eviction notices.
The protections for tenants are weaker than the eviction ban which existed from March to September 2020 which also suspended court proceedings.