Snippets from UK: Beset by Bad News from Every Side, Boris Looks to Lift All Covid Curbs for Popularity Points
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a media briefing in Downing Street, London, Monday, Feb. 21, 2022, to outline the government’s new long-term Covid-19 plan. (Pic/AP)
From the Queen’s Covid infection to the fugitives from India awaiting their extradition verdicts, a roundup of what’s making news at this time.
- News18.com London
- Last Updated:February 22, 2022, 04:55 IST
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Desperate move: So it will soon now be the end of all Covid restrictions in England, including the need to isolate. Prime Minister Boris Johnson says this will mark a moment of pride. That claim does seem to ignore that his government’s decisions led to the loss of thousands of lives needlessly. And that he is under police investigation for breaking rules he had announced.
Covid-positive Queen carries on: The emblem of the new Covid protocol is none other than the Queen. At 95 she is down with Covid, but the Palace has announced that she’s still carrying on with light duties. This is the pattern with Omicron everywhere. But it’s reassuring to see that so emphatically underlined. If she can, all can, we are invited to believe.
PM Modi’s wishes: In another sign of a new warmth in relations between India and Britain, Prime Minister Modi has wished Queen Elizabeth a quick recovery from Covid. “I wish Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth a speedy recovery and pray for her good health,” he tweeted. Tweets are of course the happy new shortcut to what used to be called diplomatic channels.
Extradition extra time: The extradition season is on again. Directions, not necessarily an order, are due in the Nirav Modi case this week. And soon it will be Sanjay Bhandari starting at the Westminster Magistrates Court for hearings in his extradition trial. The pressure from India over the wily Vijay Mallya continues to pile up, to no end yet. It’s still all about waiting.
Golden visas lose sheen: The new restriction with immediate effect barring investor visas to Britain, the golden visas as they are more commonly and perhaps more accurately called, appears to have caught a number of Indian businessmen off guard. Many have taken that golden route of migration on the back of a two million pound investment, but several more have been held back by the change without warning, according to lawyers here who were processing their papers. They are now no doubt looking for other ways.
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