Downing Street parties: Sue Gray won’t wait for police inquiry


The government is facing mounting pressure over several events that are alleged to have been held during lockdowns. Here is what we know about them and the restrictions in place at the time:

Boris Johnson announced a plan to take the “first careful steps” out of the lockdown that began in March 2020. But he said people should continue to “obey the rules on social distancing and to enforce those rules we will increase the fines for the small minority who break them”.

Legal restrictions at the time said you could not leave your house without a reasonable excuse and government guidance was that you could meet one person outside of your household in an outdoor setting while exercising.

A photo from May 2020 showed the prime minister and his staff with bottles of wine and a cheeseboard in the Downing Street garden. When asked about it, Boris Johnson said, “those people were at work talking about work”.

About 100 people were invited by email to “socially distanced drinks in the No 10 garden” on behalf of the prime minister’s principal private secretary, Martin Reynolds.

Witnesses told the BBC the PM and his wife were among about 30 people who attended.

Boris Johnson has confirmed he attended the event, saying he was there for 25 minutes and “believed implicitly that this was a work event”.

On Boris Johnson’s birthday, up to 30 people gathered in the Cabinet Room at No 10 to present the prime minister with a birthday cake and sing Happy Birthday, according to a report by ITV News.

No 10 said staff had “gathered briefly” to “wish the prime minister a happy birthday”, adding that he had been there “for less than 10 minutes”.

Rules at the time banned most indoor gatherings involving more than two people.

Boris Johnson announced plans for a “significant return to normality” in England by Christmas “through targeted, local action” instead of national lockdowns.

But he added that the timetable relied on “every one of us staying alert and acting responsibly”.

With cases of coronavirus rising again, the prime minister told people in England that “we are once again asking you to stay at home” as a new national lockdown began.

He said people should only leave their homes “for work if you can’t work from home, for education, and for essential activities and emergencies”. Indoor gatherings with other households were banned, unless they were for work purposes.

Sources told the BBC that Downing Street staff members attended a gathering with Carrie Johnson in the flat where she and the prime minister live. A spokesman for Mrs Johnson denies the party took place.

A leaving event was held for No 10 aide, Cleo Watson, where people were drinking, and Mr Johnson made a speech, according to sources.

The second national lockdown ended after four weeks but Boris Johnson replaced those restrictions with “tough tiers to keep this virus down”.

London was placed in tier two, which banned two or more people from different households from meeting indoors, unless “reasonably necessary” for work purposes.

The Department for Education has confirmed it had an office gathering to thank staff for their work during the pandemic. It says drinks and snacks were brought by those who attended and no outside guests or support staff were invited.

The Conservative Party has admitted that an “unauthorised gathering” took place at its HQ in Westminster. It was held by the team of the party’s London-mayoral candidate, Shaun Bailey, who has since stepped down as chair of the London Assembly police and crime committee. The Metropolitan Police is to speak to two people who attended the party.

Image caption The gathering at the Conservative Party headquarters was described as ‘raucous’

Image copyright by Daily Mirror

Multiple sources have told the BBC there was a Christmas quiz for No 10 staff last year. A photo – published by the Sunday Mirror – showed Boris Johnson taking part and sitting between two colleagues in No 10. Mr Johnson has denied any wrongdoing.

Mr Johnson was pictured in the No 10 library under a portrait of Margaret Thatcher
Image caption Mr Johnson was pictured in the No 10 library under a portrait of Margaret Thatcher

Image copyright by Sunday Mirror

London moved into the highest tier of restrictions and Matt Hancock, who was health secretary at the time, said it was important “everyone is cautious” ahead of the festive period.

The Department for Transport apologised after confirming reports of a party in its offices that day, calling it “inappropriate” and an “error of judgment” by staff.

A leaving party was held at the Cabinet Office for the outgoing head of the civil service Covid taskforce – the team responsible for drawing up coronavirus restrictions.

Kate Josephs, now chief executive of Sheffield City Council, apologised for the event, saying she was “truly sorry that I did this and for the anger that people will feel as a result”.

Downing Street originally denied a report by the Daily Mirror that a party took place in Downing Street.

However, a video obtained by ITV News showed the prime minister’s then-press secretary Allegra Stratton, joking about reports of an event, saying: “This fictional party was a business meeting and it was not socially distanced.”

Lockdown restrictions were eased in England, with pubs and restaurants allowed to reopen with outdoor service only.

However, working from home continued to be recommended and socialising indoors with people from other households was not allowed. Meeting others outdoors was limited to groups of six people or two households.

Two parties were held by Downing Street staff at No 10, the night before Prince Philip’s funeral.

One of the events was a leaving party for the PM’s then director of communications James Slack, who has apologised for the event and acknowledged it “should not have happened at the time that it did”.

Boris Johnson was not at either party.





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Climate change: Hurricanes to expand into more populated regions



A hotter entire world will see tropical cyclones occur in locations around New York, Boston, Beijing and Tokyo.



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What went wrong with vaccinating the world?


The coronavirus pandemic has been slowed in developed nations many thanks to significant vaccination drives. International locations have bought shares to cover their populations, and in many instances have much far more than they will need.

On the other hand, poorer international locations generally have failed to reserve, and purchase the vaccine stock they need to have. Now the globe is confronted with a trouble of re-distribution, and campaigners say that the respond to is to force drug organizations to share their secrets, in purchase to make producing attainable in any region in the entire world.

3 gurus demonstrate how we arrived at this point and the challenges now dealing with every person concerned in the battle from Covid-19.



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Covid: Warning over patchy lateral flow test supply



As extra and extra men and women search for immediate tests, pharmacists say personnel and customers are pressured around provides.



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How to make your smartphone battery last longer

How-to-make-your-smartphone-battery-last-longer

How long can you stand without looking – θήκες κινητών – at the screen of your cell phone? The design of modern smartphones that leave no room for batteries, the larger and brighter screens and the 4G connectivity in relation to the long use, have led me to look for ways so that I can make the day with just one charge.

Most likely you already know some of the following tips, however, I hope you find the rest useful. At this point, it is worth emphasizing that these tips are based primarily on experiments on Android devices, but they can also be applied to your little apple.

Identify heavy applications

First of all,  check which applications and functions are responsible for the higher battery consumption. Do a simple test, fully charge your phone and then when there is 5% of battery life left, go to Settings -> Device Settings -> Battery or Settings> General> Battery Usage if you are an iOS user.

This way, you will find out which applications are to blame for running out of battery quickly. Commonly found apps like Facebook, Spotify and Instagram will show the highest percentages. Because it is difficult to get rid of them, try to reduce their use and delete the applications you rarely use from the list.

Selection of Dark Themes and Wallpapers

You will see that there is a lot of controversy among users as to whether it is better to prefer LCD or AMOLED screen. Most Samsung devices (such as the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note 4), HTC One S and Nexus 6 have AMOLED screens, which do not require “backlighting”, compared to the technology of an LCD screen, such as TVs and of LG (G2, G3 and G4) and Nexus 5 mobile phones.

Thus, you will notice significantly less consumption if you have an AMOLED screen and choose Themes and Wallpapers in dark colors. Now if you belong to the second category, you can not do much but not to touch the screen of your mobile phone all the time.

Say “no” to Auto Brightness

Turn off the “Auto Brightness” function on your device, as most of the time it is more than you really need. I would suggest you adjust the brightness to a level where you feel comfortable and then adjust it according to your needs.

Adjust the time your screen stays on (Screen Timeout)

Your screen does not need to light up for an extra minute from the moment you lower your device. See if you can get used to the 15 ”or 30” lighting by setting it from Settings> Display> Timeout.

Turn off the vibration

Turn off the vibration, unless you really need it, such as when you are in a place with a lot of noise and you have the device in your pocket. Mobile gaming is great with the use of vibration, however you have no real need when you receive your calls and notifications.

Disable connectivity that you do not need at all times: GPS, Auto-Sync, Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G

Ask yourself how many times a day you use Google / Apple Maps or apps like Uber and Taxibeat. If the answer is two to none, then you can safely turn off Location.
In addition, it is not vital that your email management applications, your calendar and your contacts keep Sync. Prefer to refresh manually the moments when you think you may have a new message in your Inbox. The same goes for apps like Facebook, Twitter or reddit and of course for all Google accounts.

Especially when your cell phone is battling to have a few more minutes with you before it turns off, help it by turning off Wi-Fi and Data Connection. You will see a significant difference!

Keep applications up to date and do not run them in the background

The reasons why applications are updated are not only changes in the application environment, but also those that you can not notice with the naked eye. Developers are constantly working on improvements, including reducing battery usage by the application.

This does not mean, however, that you should let applications update automatically. Make the updates when it suits you and you know that you are not in danger of running out of battery.

For Android devices go to Google Play Store> Apps> Settings> Auto-Update apps, while for iOS follow Settings app> iTunes & App Store> Under Automatic Downloads you make the setting for Updates on the left.

Finally, do not leave the applications to run in the background. When you no longer use the application, close it completely for the time being. Unless it’s an application you check every 5 ‘. In the latter case, I hope it does not fall into the Facebook category.

Hot spot, gaming, Camera and LED: use in moderation

Having a very economical data package you always want to share your connection with your friends via Hot Spot. I do not suggest you go to the other extreme, but I recommend you do not do it if you have a day ahead of you that you will need your mobile phone at any time. With the Hot Spot open you will not even realize how fast you will reach 20% of your battery.

The same goes for the camera and gaming apps. When I enter the Metro, my next move is to open a game. Let’s not wonder why when we arrive at our destination we have no battery at all.

Minimize Widgets as much as you can

Avoid using Widgets that need an Internet connection for constant updates, such as Weather, Twitter, Gmail, etc. and just open each application when you need it.

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More work needed to create green jobs, report says



Attempts to generate “green jobs” want to intensify if the federal government is to fulfill its concentrate on, a report says.



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Yemen: The children haunted by 'ghosts' of war



BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen satisfies terrified households jogging from civil war in Yemen.



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Labour reshuffle: Yvette Cooper becomes shadow home secretary



Sir Keir Starmer will make huge variations to his shadow cupboard, for the second time as Labour chief.



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Climate change: What's it like living in a place where it's 50C?



The BBC has spoken to individuals all-around the world about how serious warmth is altering their lives.



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Can COP26 really save the planet?



Past COPs our science editor went to didn’t cease climate modify – will this just one be any various?



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