Top story: ‘We are not close to winning this’ Hello, Warren Murray bringing you the last Briefing of the week. Eyes to the skies this weekend for bits of Chinese rocket – although the UK seems to be out of the splash/crash zone. Labour has all but conceded defeat in the crucial Hartlepool byelection after a Conservative onslaught saw Boris Johnson’s party poised to win the seat for the first time in 62 years. It came amid early signs of a torrid night in the local elections in England, with voters deserting the party for the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and in some cases the Green party. Ballots continue to be tallied up across England, Scotland and Wales following the Super Thursday polls – the largest test of political opinion outside a general election. Follow the latest results with our live tracker. The expected loss of Hartlepool would leave Labour’s leader, Keir Starmer, facing huge questions over the future direction of his party as yet more of its lifelong supporters vote Conservative. It would be only the second time in nearly 40 years that a governing party has taken a seat from the opposition. Labour appeared to concede defeat in Hartlepool shortly before 3am on Friday. Jim McMahon, the shadow minister who ran the party’s byelection campaign, said: “It’s pretty clear from the way that the ballots are landing that we are not close to winning this despite our best endeavours.” Andy Sparrow has this morning fired up our live blog coverage of all the results and reaction. * * * £102bn to save NHS – Spending on the health service, social care and public health needs to rise by £102bn over the next decade, funded by big tax rises, an inquiry has said. The boost would cut avoidable deaths from cancer and heart disease, tackle health inequalities and rebuild the NHS, according to a four-year commission of inquiry by the London School of Economics and the Lancet medical journal. Its report warns Boris Johnson to drop his planned reorganisation of the NHS in England, due to feature in next week’s Queen’s speech, which it said will be disruptive and bring no benefits. It urges ministers and the NHS to fight preventable illnesses by cracking down on smoking, drinking and poor diet; and proposes an end to chronic staff shortages through the creation of a sustainable supply of healthcare workers. * * * E171 food additive may be unsafe – Titanium dioxide or E171, a food colouring used in products sold in the UK ranging from chewing gum and white chocolate to toothpaste and sauces for toddlers, can no longer be ruled out as a cause of cancer, the European Food Safety Authority has said. The EU health commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, said the bloc would propose to ban its use. The UK Food Standards Agency has said its scientific advisory committees will examine the European determination to help decide what to do in Britain. The French government announced a ban in 2019, but it is still used in other EU member states. * * * Choose your shot – A choice of Covid vaccines is to be extended to anyone up to the age of 40, after a recommendation by the government’s advisory body to allow more people to opt out of the AstraZeneca shot. Very small numbers of people out of millions vaccinated have suffered from blood clots in the veins and the brain, in combination with low platelets. From India, the author Jeet Thayil describes how “oxygen is the new currency” as the virus continues to rack his country. Japan is to extend a coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and three other areas until at least the end of the month in an attempt to arrest a surge in cases less than 80 days before the start of the Olympics. More coronavirus developments at our live blog. * * * Covid brings rise in alcohol deaths – Deaths from alcohol misuse reached a 20-year high in England and Wales as coronavirus took hold in 2020, official data shows. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggested deaths were likely concentrated among people with long-term drink problems. Four out of five alcohol-specific deaths in 2020 were from alcoholic liver disease; 10% were from mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use; and 6% from accidental alcohol poisoning. There are separate findings this morning that heavy consumption of sugary drinks may raise the risk of developing bowel cancer before age 50. Research using the dietary and medical records of more than 95,000 women found those who consumed more than a pint of sugary drink a day were twice as likely to be diagnosed with early onset bowel cancer than those who drank less than half a pint. * * * RAF photos help resurrect woodland – The National Trust is reconstructing a 19th-century landscape at Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk using an Edwardian survey map and aerial photographs taken by the RAF after the second world war. The £190,000 decade-long project will replant native trees in the Grade II-listed landscape, making it one of the largest wood pastures the charity has ever created. |