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The COVID Diaries – 234 9th December

Donald Trump continues with his attempts to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory. At least 17 Republican run states have joined an effort to overturn Trump’s defeat, making a claim that large numbers of genuine votes in swing states should not be counted.

However, it remains unlikely this latest undemocratic attempt to maintain power will be successful — though Trump claimed this was “the big one” that would help on his alleged path to victory.

It comes after the US Supreme Court knocked back an attempt by some Trump allies to reverse the results in Pennsylvania. The nine justices rejected the bid out of hand and refused to even hear it. 

The COVID Diaries – 233 8th December

Donald Trump is continuing his fight to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory but he has failed to stop another key part of the post-election process. With the exception of Wisconsin, every state appears to have met a deadline in federal law that requires Congress to accept the electoral votes that will be cast next week and then sent to the Capitol for counting on 6 January. Those votes will elect Joe Biden as the country’s next president.

The deadline, which falls today – 8th December, is known as the “safe harbour” provision under which the states “lock in” their electoral votes by certifying their results and resolving any state court legal challenges.

Federal law requires that if a state has completed its post-election certification by 8 December, Congress is required to accept the results.

The COVID Diaries – 232 7th December

On Sunday Donald Trump announced on Twitter that his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani had tested positive for Covid-19.

Giuliani is 76 years old and has been admitted to Georgetown University Hospital in Washington. His current condition is not known. It seems his reckless behaviour, including a notorious Michigan court hearing trying to get the state’s presidential vote set aside, has caught up with him.

His refusal to wear a mask when in close proximity to so many other people makes his infection inevitable.

The COVID Diaries – 231 6th November

The Guardian Newspaper is reporting a breakthrough on BREXIT negotiations:

“A major breakthrough has been made in Brexit negotiations on the rights of European fleets to fish in UK waters, EU sources said last night, leaving a Franco-German demand that Britain follow EU laws as the final hurdle to a historic trade and security deal.

“Sources in Brussels said the two sides had all but finalised terms on the level of access for EU boats to seas within the UK’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone, with a transition period for phasing in changes understood to be between five and seven years.

“The talks are now going to the wire on the so-called “ratchet clause” under which the UK government would have to follow EU environmental, social and labour standards as they develop over time or face tariffs on British exports.”

The COVID Diaries – 230 5th December

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, have agreed that a trade and security deal is still possible. Brexit negotiations will now resume in Brussels on Sunday.

In a joint statement, the two leaders said they would talk again on Monday evening, with the two sides searching for a breakthrough with just three weeks until the United Kingdom leaves the single market and customs union.

“Significant differences remain on three critical issues: level playing field, governance and fisheries. Both sides underlined that no agreement is feasible if these issues are not resolved.

“Whilst recognising the seriousness of these differences, we agreed that a further effort should be undertaken by our negotiating teams to assess whether they can be resolved. We are therefore instructing our chief negotiators to reconvene tomorrow in Brussels. We will speak again on Monday evening.”

The COVID Diaries – 229 6th December

Is a trade deal between the United Kingdom and European Union “imminent”, “paused” or at a “very difficult point”?

We are told by the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier that there are “significant divergences” and an inability for the two sides to agree on “governance and fisheries” so that Brexit talks have been paused.

The COVID Diaries – 228 3rd December

The Guardian reported today

“The UK government’s official Covid death toll has exceeded 60,000, just three weeks after it reached 50,000.

“The official death toll now stands at 60,113, a figure which counts known deaths among those who have died within 28 days of testing positive for the virus.

“This toll has been consistently lower than that put out by the UK’s three statistical agencies. They record the Covid death toll as having passed 76,000. This total comprises all fatalities that mention the disease on the death certificate, plus the deaths tallied in the government figures since the agencies’ last count.”

The COVID Diaries – 227 2nd December

The United Kingdom  government has authorised the first pandemic vaccine following approval by the independent medicines agency for the Pfizer-BioNTech jab.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has announced that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has met its “strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness” after months of rigorous clinical trials and a thorough analysis of the data by experts, a government spokesperson said

Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, said the “biggest programme of mass vaccination in the history of the UK” would start from next week.

The COVID Diaries – 226 1st December

Following yesterday’s news that the owners of Top Shop, Burtons and other High Street chains was going into liquidation, the 242-year old department store chain Debenhams followed suit today putting 12,000 staff at risk.  Talks trying to secure a rescue bid failed.

The chain said it will continue to trade through its 124 UK stores and online to clear current and contracted stocks but once the liquidation process is concluded “UK operations will close”.

Thousands of shops have already closed down due to the impact of Covid-19, leaving many High Streets in a desperate state.

The COVID Diaries – 225 30th November

In another sign of the desperate state of the British High Street, Arcadia Group has collapsed into administration, putting 13,000 jobs at risk.

The owner of household names that include Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Evans and Burton has appointed administrators from Deloitte.