Prince Andrew to face trial
Prince Andrew has been stripped of his royal and military titles following the news that he will face a civil case in the US against Virginia Giuffre, who alleges that after being trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein, she was forced to have sexual encounters with the Prince in the early 2000s when she was 16 and 17 years old. The Prince denies these claims. The Duke of York’s lawyers claimed in October 2021 that the lawsuit should be dismissed, due to a 2009 settlement between Prince Andrew and Giuffre, which they claim covers this case. However, on Thursday 13th January, Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected this motion, meaning the Duke will now almost certainly face trial against Giuffre. Members of the royal family may be called as witnesses.
Johnson’s rating slips amid Partygate
The Conservatives have fallen to their lowest poll rating against Labour in nearly a decade, amid heightening media coverage on Downing Street parties that took place in May 2020 during the UK’s first lockdown and the 2020 Christmas period. The government has been accused of 9 lockdown parties, the latest revelation being that 100 people were invited via email to “socially distanced drinks in the No 10 garden this evening”. Johnson faced a tough PMQs on Wednesday as ministers criticised his conduct over this period, as the rest of country were isolating. Leader of the Scottish Conservatives Douglass Ross has called the PM’s position “no longer tenable”. The PM has defied calls for his resignation, and sources reveal he told Tory MPs in the Commons tea room that “we’re taking hits for something we don’t deserve”.
Government promises to sort post-Grenfell building problems
Michael Gove, Levelling Up Secretary, introduced to parliament on 10th January the new plan to deal with the cladding crisis, which came to public attention after the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Developers of low-rise buildings with cladding problems must now come to a £4 billion plan by early March – the government have said firms will face “commercial consequences” if they refuse to pay. The new plan would see no leaseholder living in these low-rise flats having to pay “a penny”. However, the plan has been criticised for underestimating the difficulties in getting developers to pay willingly, as they may simply pass the blame onto the next firm in the supply chain. About half a million people in the UK are living with some form of unsafe cladding, according to the Association of Residential Managing Agents.
Djokavic not allowed to stay in Australia
As of Friday morning, Novak Djokavic looks set to lose his battle to stay in Australia. After being denied entry into Melbourne for the Australian Open on 6th January, Djokavic was moved to an immigration hotel, where he was told he would likely be deported by 13th January, due to his lack of Covid-19 vaccination. Djokavic, world tennis no.1, claims he was given an exemption by the Australian government from the vaccine mandate, as he had been infected with coronavirus last month. Djokavic’s lawyer’s appealed his visa being denied, and on Monday 10th January the deportation was overturned in a court appeal – the no.1 seed started practising in Melbourne for the tournament, which is due to start on the 17th of January, but on 14th January Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke used his ‘personal power of cancellation’ to revoke the visa.
France opens border to the UK
France has relaxed the extremely tight restrictions on UK travellers, to come into place on 14th January. In mid-December, due to the exponential growth of the Omicron Covid variant, France declared that Brits could only enter with a “compelling reason”. From Friday the 14th however, as long as British travellers are fully vaccinated, they will only need a negative lateral flow test taken with 24 hours before travelling in order travelling in order to enter the country.
