Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be announcing further measures against coronavirus at 8pm GMT tonight in a TV address.
UK Today in Coronavirus
Operation Rescript is receiving a further boost of 5,000 military personnel being deployed to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic in the United Kingdom, in one of the largest deployments in the history of the UK in peacetime. This comes as coronavirus cases mount to high levels day on day in the midst of a highly contagious new variant of the disease, and also the staggered return of schools, colleges and universities.
Much of the personnel will be used to support and set-up areas for testing those thought to be infected, including at secondary schools and other higher places of education and the port of Dover to ease traffic across the Channel and will also be on standby to help with further pandemic jobs, such as support services.
A Vaccine Quick Reaction Force is also being set-up for launch on 11th January to help any possible needed rollout of the vaccine in England.
The government has said that the NHS does have the capacity to give the vaccine to two million people a week, which experts say is needed to bring down the rate of transmission. The Government says the main issue now is approval and quality control of batches of the vaccine which is currently preventing reaching the mark, but once that is through it should be possible.
Meanwhile Boris Johnson has said that tougher measures are coming and set to be announced to try and tackle quickly rising cases of coronavirus.
Such possible measures, although not confirmed, could see perhaps closing of schools, banning international travel altogether, further restrictions on gatherings in and outside of households, and the closing of more shops and businesses seen as non-essential.
In any case we will be hearing tonight at 8pm an address from Prime Minister Boris Johnson on further steps that will be taken to combat the spread of the disease. Parliament is also being recalled on Wednesday.
Scotland announced it would be going into its own national lockdown from midnight GMT. The new measures will be more severe than current Level 4 restrictions in Scotland, with leaving home only for essential caring and shopping or outside exercise, working from home unless it is absolutely not possible, maximum of two meeting outside excluding children 11 or under, no communual worship, and schools closed until at least February with home-learning in place.
Updates as they Come
- Government sources claim that the COVID Alert Level will be raised from Level 4 to 5 (Red) its highest level, meaning that there is a materiel risk of health services being overwhelmed and that extremely strict social distancing should be in place.
- New National lockdown similar to the original March lockdown. People told to remain at home and only go out for essential work or shopping. Exercise outside with up to one person. No meeting in households apart from legal support bubbles. Schools, colleges and universities closed and moved to remote learning.
- Above lockdown will last minimum to mid-February but possibly longer depending on how vaccine implementation goes.
Julian Assange US Extradition Blocked
Julian Assange’s extradition to the US cannot go ahead after a ruling by Judge Vanessa Baraitser at the Old Bailey over fears he may take his own life in US custody/prison and that such conditions of total isolation would damage his mental health. The US has 15-days to appeal the decision, which the US has said they will pursue. Although many did not expect this outcome Assange’s supporters are still disapointed that the ruling is on health grounds rather than on grounds of respecting freedom of journalistic investigation.
Assange faces 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over Wikileaks publishing of leaked military and diplomatic documents in 2010. An indictment also claims that Assange conspired with Chelsea Manning, an army intelligence analyst pardoned by Obama, to crack an encrypted password to a classified US defence department computer. Assange denies plotting with Manning.
It is argued by Assange’s lawyers that he was acting as a journalist and as such is entitled to First Amendment freedom of speech protections for the publishing of leaked documents that exposed US military crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, although the Judge (who ruled against extradition on mental health grounds) disagreed with the lawyer’s saying that the US First Amendment does not apply to trials held in the United Kingdom.
This has left many worried in that the only reason barring Assange from extradition was the risk of suicide due to mental health, and that other journalists could find themselves being extradited to the US for similar “crimes” over journalistic investigation.
People will now be seeing if the US can overturn this ruling through the appeals process and if it somehow does manage to, people will see what the final decision will be from the UK Home Secretary Priti Patel – will she choose journalistic freedom or political alignment with the US?
Iran Intends to Boost Uranium Enrichment
Iran signals its intent to start enriching uranium to 20% purity, breaching the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal. It comes at little surprise with one of the Deals most powerful signatories, the United States, having backed out of the agreement and reimposed damaging sanctions under Trump for the accusation that Iran was not following the deal in good faith anyways.
Under the deal Iran is limited to enriching uranium to 3.67%, currently enrichment stands at 4.5%, which although is in breach of the deal, is no where near to pre-deal levels of 20% enrichment which Iran now plans to go back to. It is of note that 90% enrichment is weapons-grade level.
Enrichment will take place at Fordow, a fuel enrichment plant that was meant to have been turned into a research and development site under the deal. Fordow is strategically placed in a way that it is protected by mountains and the site also has anti-aircraft guns for defense.
The move by Iran could be a way of getting Europe to ease its own sanctions on Iran, which they had promised to do if Iran had complied with the Deal. Joe Biden has stated that when he is in office he will rejoin the Iran Nuclear Deal and so it will remain to be seen if he will be able to do this and prevent Iran from breaching the deal any further.
Experts claim that as it currently stands Iran has enough low-enriched uranium to make at-least two nuclear weapons. Iran has always claimed that its nuclear programme is peaceful.
There are some with the view that the Iran Nuclear Deal is nothing more than bullying against a rival nation and that the country should have the freedom to pursue uranium enrichment for purposes of deterrence against regional rivals.
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