LONDON: Officials have warned revellers in Scotland and Wales to think twice before traveling to England to ring in the new year, highlighting how the four parts of the UK were again taking starkly different approaches to coronavirus restrictions amid record-high infections and soaring hospitalizations.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resisted tightening restrictions in England despite the rapid spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant, instead focusing on frequent self-testing and an expanded vaccine booster program to control the spread of infections.
Meanwhile Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which set their own public health rules, imposed new restrictions this week that closed all nightclubs and limited social gatherings. Bars and pubs have had to return to table service only. In Edinburgh, which traditionally hosts one of Europe’s largest New Year’s Eve parties, people have been urged to stay at home.
While no formal travel ban is in place to stop Scottish party-goers from making their way to England on Friday, Scotland’s deputy leader John Swinney said traveling would be the “wrong course of action.”
Opinions have been divided on whether Johnson’s Conservative government was taking a risky gamble in not enforcing tougher coronavirus measures in England as the omicron variant drove infections to record high numbers.
Figures released Thursday showed the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the UK jumped to 11,898, up 44 percent from a week earlier. Confirmed new daily cases hit a record of 189,213 on Thursday, and the government reported 332 deaths, the highest figure since March.
While the data is patchy due to delays in reporting over the holidays, the figures suggest there have not been large numbers of seriously ill patients.
“Although the numbers are going up and going up increasingly rapidly, the absence of large numbers of seriously ill older people is providing significant reassurance,” Chris Hopson, the head of NHS Providers, told The Times.
But immunologist and government scientific adviser Peter Openshaw said while UK hospitals haven’t yet reached the “threshold” of being overwhelmed, “it looks like that will be reached quite quickly.”
Some believe Johnson’s strategy is risky and that large crowds gathering indoors for New Year’s Eve will likely lead to a further rise in infections.
“It is quite risky, given the fact we’re now approaching 200,000 cases per day –- there is a high rate of infection in the community,” Dr. Azeem Majeed, head of primary care and public health at Imperial College London, told Times Radio.
Johnson has urged people to take a rapid coronavirus test before going out and meeting with others on Friday, or to celebrate outdoors if possible. While firework displays have been canceled in London for the second year in a row, many parties were going ahead and many revellers were still expected to turn out in the capital later in the day.
Party-goers urged not to travel across UK as omicron surges
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Party-goers urged not to travel across UK as omicron surges
- Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resisted tightening restrictions in England
- Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland imposed new restrictions this week that closed all nightclubs and limited social gatherings
Britain needs to step up defense spending faster, says Starmer
- Britain’s budget watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, said last year that raising defense spending to 3 percent of the GDP would cost an additional £17.3 billion a year ($24 billion) in 2029-30
LONDON: Britain should step up and accelerate its defense spending, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday, following a report that the government was considering bringing forward its target to spend 3 percent of economic output on defense.
Britain, which has warned of the risks posed by Russia, said in February 2025 that it would lift annual defense spending to 2.5 percent of the GDP by 2027 and aim for 3 percent in the next Parliament, which is expected to begin after an election due in 2029.
The BBC reported that the government was now exploring ways to reach the 3 percent target by 2029. It said no decision had been taken but the government recognized current plans would not cover rising defense costs.
HIGHLIGHT
The BBC reported that the government is now exploring ways to reach the 3 percent target by 2029.
Asked whether he would bring the target forward to 2029, Starmer echoed comments he made at the Munich Security Conference, where he said Europe had united to support Ukraine with the supply of weapons and munitions and to strengthen military readiness.
“We need to step up. That means on defense spending, we need to go faster,” Starmer told reporters on Monday. “We’ve obviously made commitments already in relation to that, but it goes beyond just how much you spend.”
Latest NATO estimates show that Britain spent 2.3 percent of the GDP on defense in 2024, above the alliance’s 2 percent guideline. But like other European countries, it has faced US pressure to spend more to protect the continent. Struggling with high debt and spending commitments, the government last year cut its international aid budget to fund the hike in defense spending to 2.5 percent of GDP but is yet to publish an investment plan with spending priorities, something that has frustrated the defense industry.
Britain’s budget watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, said last year that raising defense spending to 3 percent of the GDP would cost an additional £17.3 billion a year ($24 billion) in 2029-30.
Finance Minister Rachel Reeves has struggled to stay on track with her plans to repair the public finances. The BBC said the Finance Ministry was believed to be cautious about the new defense spending proposals.
A government spokesperson said Britain was “delivering the largest sustained increase in defense spending since the Cold War.”
