As the anniversary of China’s first reported Covid case came and went, two separate clinical trial results have this week prompted hope that an end to the pandemic may be in sight.
It was also anti-bullying week, an occasion Boris Johnson marked by throwing his full support behind Home Secretary Priti Patel after an inquiry found she breached the ministerial code in her treatment of civil servants.
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Plans being considered by ministers to allow household mixing over the Christmas period could result in strict measures being reimposed in early 2021, according to research by Andrew Hayward, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at University College London.
Meanwhile, Johnson declared that Britain’s “era of retreat” is over, as he announced plans to “transform the armed forces. The ambition will be funded by a £16.5bn rise in defence spending over four years, amounting to an increase of about 10% in the annual budget.
The battle to reach a Brexit deal is first on the agenda, however, with Michel Barnier telling the European Commission that Brexit negotiators are in the “final push” to secure a trade deal with the UK.
The EU’s chief negotiator gave the update as senior diplomats warned that governments may begin enacting emergency no-deal plans if a trade accord was not struck by the end of this week.
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