First question echoes some of peculiar tone we've seen over last few days about the "3rd wave" in Europe spreading here. One of the big drivers of the wave in at least parts of Europe is the "UK variant". Ie they seem to be having some of the problems we had at the start of 2021.
Take a look at the latest data. Most countries in Europe still far below UK type peak that we saw in December/January. Case growth in most countries climbing relatively modestly or showing some signs of levelling, France being the most worrying exception.
Added even more countries here for extra context. Hungary another outlier but elsewhere rises going up far less sharply in the main.
Surely the worst European Covid outcome in the last months has been Czechia. UK/Irish style December/January peak, some suppression, only for it to re-emerge and get to virtually the same level as it was then in the last few weeks.
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NEW: Robert Jenrick confirms that the government will be sending commissioners to run several parts of Liverpool City Council for at least three years.
Says inspectors' report paints a "deeply concerning picture" and a "dysfunctional culture" in the council.
Steve Reed (Labour Shadow Local Govt Sec) says that the Labour Party will be launching a review into the Liverpool Labour Party. Says the party will take action over any wrongdoing.
Jenrick says that commissioners will have power over regeneration, highways and property management in the city.
Latest ONS House price figures out. House prices up by 7.5% on the year to January 2021. Average UK house price is £249,000, up £17,000 on the year before.
North West the highest annual % increase- house prices there up 12% on the year, the highest growth since 2005 (!)
Average London house price now over half a million pounds.
North East continues to have the lowest house prices (£138k)- only surpassing 2007 peak in December.
And though house prices are climbing across the UK, it is in England where they are by far the most inflated- take a look at the graph below.
Yet more evidence from ONS of the profound generational imbalance of the economic effects of the pandemic.
Of the Feb 2020-Feb 2021 annual decrease in employee jobs (down 693,000 overall)
63.1% (437k) were under 25
25.2% (174k) were 25-34
50-64s? Net increase of 32,000 jobs.
So a staggering 88.3% of the employee job losses from February 2020-February 2021 were among 18-35 year olds.
Better (qualified) news. The quarterly rise in unemployment has slowed to 5%. Is 1.1% up on the year. A year ago that would have looked wildly optimistic (though of course furlough is still in operation so should be treated with a bit of caution). Employment continues to decline.
Clear and sustained Coronavirus growth across much of Europe. In a great deal of eastern Europe 3rd wave already embedded, with fastest growth in the west. UK (along with other states which had a severe outbreak at turn of the year) now with the lowest rates across continent.
Daily vaccine doses per 100,000 people (7 day rolling average)
Clear trend is up for virtually everywhere in Europe, UK remains ahead (overtaken now by US whose own advances have been less noted here but extremely striking). Nonetheless dips in many EU countries in recent days.
ChiefExec of MHRA on AZ vaccine and potential to cause blood clots: “Our thorough and careful review, alongside the critical assessment of leading, independent scientists, shows that there is no evidence that that blood clots in veins is occurring more...” gov.uk/government/new…
“...than would be expected in the absence of vaccination, for either vaccine.
We’ve received a very small number of reports of an extremely rare form of blood clot in the cerebral veins (sinus vein thrombosis, or CSVT)occurring together with lowered platelets soon after vacc...”
“...This type of blood clot can occur naturally in people who have not been vaccinated, as well as in those suffering from COVID-19. Given the extremely rare rate of occurrence of these CSVT events among the 11m people vaccinated, and as a link to the vaccine is unproven..”