A government proposal for NHS staff in England to get a pay rise of 1% in 2021-22 has been branded “pitiful and bitterly disappointing” by the Royal College of Nursing. (See 5.38pm.)
The Institute for Fiscal Studies, a leading economic thinktank, has criticised Rishi Sunak’s plans for an abrupt end to the £20 a week increase in universal credit, calling the decision not to phase out the uplift “remarkable”. It also said Sunak’s long-term plans involved spending cuts that were so harsh as to be unrealistic. (See 12.02pm.) Sixteen cases of a new Covid variant have been identified by Public Health England after being first detected on February 15 through genomic horizon scanning, PA Media reports. PA says: All individuals who tested positive and their contacts have been traced and advised to isolate, and the variant was designated a variant under investigation (VUI) on February 24, PHE said on Thursday. The variant is understood to have originated in the UK, and it contains the E484K mutation, which is also found in two existing VUIs present in the UK, but does not feature the N501Y mutation, present in all variants of concern (VOCs). The addition of this variant as a VUI means there are now a total of four VUIs and four VOCs currently being tracked in the UK. The N501Y mutation, which is present in the Kent variant of coronavirus (B117 - now the dominant version in the UK), is thought to be a factor in making variants more transmissible. The E484K mutation, present in the South African and Brazilian variants (B1351 and P1) is thought to make them more resistant to vaccines. The government has been accused of pulling emergency funding from the NHS via a £30.1bn cut in day-to-day spending on health in the budget from April this year, as Labour said extra funds were still needed with waiting lists at record levels. Priti Patel has reached a six-figure settlement with a senior civil servant following claims that he was forced out of his job for intervening in her alleged bullying of fellow staff, it has emerged. The European parliament has postponed setting a date for ratifying the trade and security deal with Britain after Boris Johnson was accused of breaking international law for a second time over Northern Ireland. Nicola Sturgeon has said she will “get on with the job” of steering Scotland out of the coronavirus pandemic, as she accused opposition parties of prejudging the outcome of inquiries into her and her government’s conduct in relation to the investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Alex Salmond. One in five UK schools have set up a food bank since the start of the coronavirus pandemic to support struggling local families, according to a survey that highlights how deeply the Covid crisis has hit living standards for many, especially in deprived areas. That’s all from me for today. But our coverage continues on our global coronavirus live blog. It’s here.