Author: LoveWorld UK

The police watchdog will not investigate a complaint that officers failed to properly look into an alleged party at Downing Street during lockdown in December last year, it has said. Jenny Jones, a Green party peer, asked the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) to investigate after reports that a gathering took place on 18 December 2020 that involved food, party games and drinking late into the night. In a letter to the IOPC this month, Jones said officers were on duty at Downing Street to protect the building and that part of their job involved controlling access. “If there was…

A federal court in Florida has temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate directed at federal contractors, marking a small win for the sunshine state as litigation over the matter continues. Florida is among 19 states that sued the Biden administration in late October over the federal vaccine mandate for government contractors, outlined under Executive Order 14042 that President Joe Biden issued on Sept. 9. The executive order requires almost all federal employees to get a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment, including civilian federal employees and contractors. Regular COVID-19 testing wouldn’t be an option, but religious or medical exemptions from vaccination may be granted. U.S. District…

Tony Blair tonight rowed back on his claim that anti-vaxxers were ‘idiots’, by admitting: ‘I was a bit undiplomatic in my use of language’. The former Prime Minister highlighted the rapid spread of the Omicron variant as a cause for concern, saying Britons who decline the jab were ‘going to get it (Covid)’, which would strain the NHS. But after describing people who refused the vaccine as beyond ‘irresponsible’ on Times Radio this morning, he then tempered the remarks in a subsequent interview on BBC Radio 4’s PM. ‘Possibly I was a little too undiplomatic in my use of language,’ he said tonight…

Antonio Conte has had one route to cup glory unceremoniously closed off this week. The Tottenham manager was never going to allow another one to slip through his fingers. Conte remains furious at how his club’s Europa Conference League campaign ended on Monday – in the forfeiting of the final group phase tie against Rennes after Covid positives ripped through the dressing-room – and he wants a solution via the courts. Spurs got the job done in more conventional fashion here, responding to Conte’s urgings to secure a frantic derby victory. Roared on by 5,700 travelling fans, West Ham played…

The Metropolitan Police has referred itself to the misconduct watchdog over allegations officers failed to step in and shut down ‘lockdown-breaching’ parties in and around Downing Street – and then didn’t investigate them properly later. Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb wrote to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) to raise concerns over the reported event on December 18 2020 and the lack of an investigation. The force has now replied to confirm her complaint has been split into two parts. Lady Jones had said there is a ‘case to answer’ for the Met ‘aiding and abetting a criminal offence, or deliberately failing…

Craig Tiley says Novak Djokovic wants to play the Australian Open but the tournament chief remains uncertain of the world No 1’s vaccination status. Tiley on Wednesday admitted a small cohort of players and staff would be allowed into Melbourne Park without being vaccinated after being granted medical exemptions. But, at this stage, no players had informed Open officials they had received an exemption. “Everyone who is coming in is vaccinated and there will be a small percentage – a very small percentage – that will have a medical exemption,” Tiley said. “So if any player, fan [or] workforce is on site…

President Joe Biden’s administration was directed on Monday to reply to a flurry of fresh challenges to its private employer COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump nominee, told administration officials to file responses to applications from faith groups, companies, and attorneys general from over half the states in the country by 4 p.m. on Dec. 30. That’s just days before the mandate’s deadline. “This case is finally where it belongs: the Supreme Court. OSHA has threatened to start punishing employers like our clients starting on January 10, and we’re grateful the court has ordered a briefing schedule that will…

Christmas train travel is already being badly disrupted by Omicron – and is only going to get worse – with almost one in ten staff now off sick or isolating and Britons now being urged to travel as soon as possible over the festive period because of cancellations, it was revealed today. Britain’s Rail Delivery Group has said that around one in 20 services were cancelled in the past week – up from an average of one in 40 – with passengers urged to check their train is running before they travel. Passengers face being crammed into carriages in the coming days…

Attorneys general (AG) from 24 states have filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration challenging COVID-19 vaccine mandates for early education staff, and mask mandates for young children. Led by Louisiana AG Jeff Landry, the lawsuit (pdf) argues that the mandates involving Head Start, the country’s largest early education program, are unlawful, and exceed President Joe Biden’s statutory authority. Biden’s mandate, issued last month, applies to all preschool programs funded by the federal Head Start program, and affects hundreds of thousands of staff, volunteers, and preschool students across the country. It mandates vaccinations for staff, volunteers, and others in contact with students by…

Sources point out that picture of staff enjoying cheese and wine was taken from Chancellor’s complex overlooking the No 10 garden. Downing Street insiders are pointing the finger of suspicion at Treasury officials for the damaging leak of a photograph showing Boris Johnson, his wife, and No 10 advisers enjoying cheese and wine during lockdown. Sources inside No 10 have pointed out that the photograph was taken from a veranda reached from a first floor function room, which was being used by Rishi Sunak’s team and overlooks the Downing Street garden. A well-placed source said: “It has to be taken by…