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Boris Johnson calls on UK to have ‘smaller’ Christmas – to reduce Covid spread
Keep it small, keep it short and keep it local – that’s the message on Christmas from the UK government’s chief medical officer as Boris Johnson urged people to exercise “extreme caution” about meeting up with relatives or friends. The easing of strict coronavirus rules will still go ahead over the festive period, after Mr…
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Wales First Minister ‘confident’ that tighter restrictions over Christmas break will slow down Covid infection rates
In Wales, First Minister Mark Drakeford has said people must limit mixing over Christmas to just two households, something which will be put into law ahead of a third Welsh lockdown, which comes into force on the 28th of December. We spoke to Mr Drakeford and began by asking if his government has lost control…
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Air pollution contributed to girl’s death, says landmark ruling
In a landmark ruling, a coroner has recorded air pollution as a cause of death after an inquest into the death of a nine-year-old girl. Ella Kissi-Debrah died after a fatal asthma attack seven years ago. Now this is the first time air pollution has ever been listed as a cause on a death certificate…
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Mother speaks of ‘justice’ after coroner rules that air pollution contributed to daughter’s death
We spoke to Rosamund Adoo Kissi-Debrah, Ella’s mother, and asked what this verdict meant to her personally.
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Supreme Court overturns ban on Heathrow third runway
Another key ruling has disappointed environmental campaigners. The prospect of a third runway at London’s Heathrow has been given a boost after the airport’s owners won a challenge at the Supreme Court. It means they can now seek planning permission for the runway, which had previously been blocked by the Court of Appeal for failing…
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The families facing financial hardship at Christmas
For the first time in its history, the UN humanitarian aid agency Unicef has launched an emergency response in the UK, to help feed children caught up in the coronavirus crisis. The pandemic has seen hundreds of thousands of people lose their jobs and left many families struggling to cope. The national poverty charity Turn…
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Inside a Syrian hospital – amid warnings of Covid “catastrophe”
Covid meets war – that is the grim reality in Syria’s last rebel-held bastion in Idlib province, where hospitals struggle to cope with rising numbers of Covid patients while the intense bombardment by the Syrian regime continues. Channel 4 News filmmaker Fadi Al Halabi has had exclusive access inside the ICU ward of al Mazrat,…
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Ancient Egyptian artefact found in cigar box in Aberdeen
It’s the archeologist’s equivalent of finding a £5 note down the back of the sofa, but on a much bigger scale. Step forward assistant curator Abeer Eladany, doing a stock take in the vaults of the University of Aberdeen when she found an old cigar box with a 5,000-year-old Egyptian surprise.
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Nigerian musician Rema now making political waves
He’s become one of the biggest names in Afropop with a huge following across Africa. Nigerian superstar Rema is now making political waves. His latest song Peace of Mind reflects on a difficult year for the world, and for his homeland, especially the popular movement that’s taken to the streets.
Latest news
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Families of people suffering ‘mental health consequences of Covid-19’ need a voice’ says MP
The daily number of those who’ve died with coronavirus, up by more than 600 people today, is a sobering reminder of the havoc being wrought by the pandemic. But the impact on mental health is largely unseen. And that’s concerning some MPs, notably Sir Charles Walker, a vice-chairman of the Conservatives’ 1922 Committee. He’s been…
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‘Fighting for a better environment and creating new jobs can go hand in hand,’ says environment campaigner
We are joined by Katie Neild from Client Earth, an organisation that fights for environmental causes through the courts, and Gavin Davies from the GMB union, who represents workers at Heathrow Airport.
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How did we get coronavirus vaccines so fast?
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused global disruption – but conditions also turned out to be perfect for researchers to quickly develop vaccines that protect people against the new virus. Knowledge from previous epidemics meant experts could move fast. And the scale of the crisis meant there was no shortage of money, volunteers or infected cases…
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What next for the Iran nuclear deal?
Our International Editor, Lindsey Hilsum, has been reporting on Iran for over 20 years, and explains the recent tensions in the region.
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Esther Rantzen says ‘we don’t have the right to make individual decisions’ amid Christmas virus concerns
Although everyone is desperate for some kind of respite, is an extended family Christmas too much of a risk?
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The often secret world of government special advisers
They work behind closed doors and they’re paid for by the taxpayer – to the tune of some £10 million in total, it turns out.
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Biden presidential election victory confirmed by electoral college
In the United States, the Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has joined other leading Republicans to congratulate Joe Biden on becoming the country’s president elect, after the electoral college formally confirmed Mr Biden’s victory.
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Pandemic ‘exposed the underlying inequalities in society and amplified them’, says Prof Sir Michael Marmot
We spoke to the author of the report on inequality, Sir Michael Marmot, and asked if he saw parallels with the transformations seen in post-war Britain.
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UK inequalities exposed by Covid death toll, says report
The Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare the inequalities in our society, and multiplied the suffering of some of our most deprived communities.
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UK redundancies hit record high as jobless rate rises again
The number of people in the UK who’ve been laid off has soared to a record high.
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Schools in England told they cannot close early for Christmas
Schools in the London borough of Greenwich are being forced to stay open, even though the council wanted to move to online learning amid fears over rising Covid infection rates.
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‘The worst gift you can give to anybody over Christmas is a dose of this horrible disease’ – Prof Steve Reicher
Professor Steve Reicher is a behavioural scientist at the University of St Andrews. He’s advised both the UK and Scottish governments on their response to the coronavirus crisis.
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‘Growing frustration and anger about being told how we must behave and what we must do’ – Tory MP Sir Desmond Swayne
We spoke to the Conservative MP Desmond Swayne and started by asking if we should cancel Christmas.
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UK ministers offer Welsh patients treatment in England
The Covid case rate in Wales remains by far the highest in the UK, something which will no doubt be playing into four-nation discussions about Christmas rules.
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UK government may toughen message on Christmas household mixing
Our political editor Gary Gibbon joins us from Westminster.
