CHILDREN’S Commissioners in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have urged the UK Government to end the “discriminatory” two-child limit on benefits. The change was brought in under then-Chancellor George Osborne along with the so-called “rape clause”, which allows child benefit for third or subsequent children only when their mothers have reported that the pregnancy was a result of sexual violence. In a new letter, Bruce Adamson, the Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland, and his Welsh and Northern Irish counterparts, Sally Holland and Koulla Yiasouma, tell Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey there is “no excuse” for continuing the policy, which they say is a “clear breach of children’s human rights”.
caroline.mortimer@thesun.co.uk
COVID-19 DEATHS RISE SLIGHTLY AS BANK HOLIDAY SLOWS REGISTRATIONS
Weekly registrations of deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales have risen slightly, new figures show - but the numbers are likely to have been affected by the early May bank holiday.
A total of 151 deaths registered in the week ending May 14 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
This is up from 129 in the previous week - a rise of 17%.
Many register offices will have been closed for the bank holiday on May 3, however.
This is likely to have led to fewer deaths being registered in that week and slightly more deaths being registered in the following week.
Local leaders in eight Indian variant hotspots have criticised the Government’s quietly-announced changes to advice on coronavirus controls, which have been described by one MP as “lockdown-lite”.
Health chiefs said they were not consulted or informed about fresh guidance asking those in affected areas in England to restrict their social interactions and travel.
The updated advice issued on Friday – which is not law and came without an official announcement – was published on the Government website, encouraging people in areas including Bolton, Leicester, Kirklees and the London Borough of Hounslow not to meet indoors in a bid to spread the halt of the highly-transmissible mutation.
The Government has been accused of "incompetence" after it appeared to impose local lockdowns on the areas hardest hit by the Indian variant without informing local leaders or residents.