Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 8 October 2021

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1. Flu ‘could kill 60,000 this winter’
2. Coronavirus alert issued in 2016
3. Inflation ‘will last longer’
4. Putin ‘choking off’ gas supplies
5. Tourism bosses welcome new rules
6. Footballer ‘attempted to murder referee’
7. Meat consumption falls by 17%
8. Man charged with murdering neighbour
9. Prince Andrew has ‘strong family values’
10. ‘Pariah’ Saudis take over Newcastle

published 8 October 2021

1. Flu ‘could kill 60,000 this winter’

The NHS is to embark on the largest programme of flu jabs in its history as government officials warn that up to 60,000 people could die from the virus this winter. A record 35m people will be offered vaccinations. Scientists have said the coming flu season could be particularly deadly because the population will have lost much of its immunity to the virus over the past 18 months. With a seasonal rise in Covid and other infections such as respiratory syncytial virus, scientists fear there will be a “triple whammy” for the NHS.

Health chiefs who “war-gamed” the impact of a coronavirus pandemic in 2016 warned of the need for stockpiles of protective equipment, a computerised contact-tracing system and screening for foreign travellers, The Guardian reported. The previously unpublished 2016 report was put together by Dame Sally Davies, then chief medical officer, with officials from NHS England, the Department of Health, Public Health England, and observers from the devolved administrations.

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The Bank of England’s new chief economist has said that inflation is rising faster than expected and will last for longer than anticipated. Speaking to the Commons Treasury select committee, Huw Pill said that the recent rise in prices would prove to be temporary but the “magnitude and duration of the transient inflation spike is proving greater than expected”. Markets are pricing in a 15-basis-point rate rise from 0.1% to 0.25% by the end of the year.

The UK has accused Vladimir Putin of “choking off” Europe’s gas supply to increase energy prices and secure approval for a new gas pipeline. Ministers believe Moscow is deliberately restricting gas exports to force the EU into approving Nord Stream 2, a pipeline under the Baltic Sea. The shortage of gas in Europe has led to higher household energy bills in the UK and pushed a string of suppliers into administration.

Travel companies are hoping for a boost after the latest relaxation of quarantine rules, in which 47 countries were taken off the “red list”. The airline Jet2 told the BBC there was a “genuine reopening” of international travel, with bookings trebling in some cases. The Times said the cost of a family holiday will fall by about £200 when PCR tests for returning foreign travel are scrapped by half-term.

A study has shown that daily meat consumption in the UK has fallen by 17% in the past decade. The research, published in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health, found that while most people are eating significantly less red and processed meat compared to a decade ago, they are eating more white meat. The overall reduction is not happening quickly enough to meet the National Food Strategy’s goal of a 30% drop in meat consumption over the next ten years.

A Gloucestershire man has been charged with killing his next-door neighbour. Matthew Boorman, a 43-year-old father of three, bled to death on his doorstep in front of his wife after being stabbed in Walton Cardiff, near Tewkesbury, on Tuesday. Can Arslan, 51, who rented a house next door, will appear in court today accused of murder. Gloucestershire Constabulary has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct because of “previous contact with the suspect and victim”.

The Duchess of York has insisted that she and Prince Andrew share “strong family values” despite the allegations against him. Speaking at the Henley Literary Festival, where questions were vetted in advance to avoid any mention of her former husband’s sexual abuse lawsuit, the 61-year-old said of their grandchildren: “We have strong family values and these two little naughties are phenomenal enhancers of an already unified family.”

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