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Action should have been taken earlier against the spread of Covid-19, Sir Chris Whitty has said, though he denied warning ministers against lockdowns. In sometimes tense exchanges with Hugo Keith KC, lead counsel to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, England’s chief medical officer described how he had set out the downsides of locking down but argued that was not the same as saying it should not happen. Sir Chris was put

Half of adults who have conversations with strangers online do not check how old they are, research suggests. A survey of 2,558 people over the age of 16 for child protection charity the Lucy Faithfull Foundation found that a quarter of adults in the UK chat to people they do not know, with 55% not checking their age. The poll also suggested that one in 10 men (11%) over the

The disclosure of personal information about Nicola Bulley’s health struggles was “avoidable and unnecessary”, a review of the police handling of her disappearance has found. Lancashire Police came under fire for the way it made public details of Ms Bulley’s medical situation amid a media frenzy earlier this year, with even the Prime Minister expressing concern that private information had been disclosed. The body of Ms Bulley, 45, a mother-of-two,

The UK and South Korea are to launch talks on a new trade deal and sign a diplomatic accord as part of Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit. Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch will begin negotiations with her Korean counterpart Bang Moon Kyu at the UK-Korea Business Forum at Mansion House on Wednesday. They will also announce £21 billion of investments committed by Korean businesses in green energy

Public transport users in London are failing to claim thousands of lost property items handed in every week. Transport for London (TfL) is urging passengers who accidentally leave belongings on trains and buses to check if they have been retrieved. The transport authority moved its lost property office from South Kensington to West Ham last month to accommodate the rising number of objects being stored and to improve processing times.

Government borrowing increased by more than expected last month according to official figures, but left Chancellor Jeremy Hunt with headroom for planned tax cuts in Wednesday’s autumn statement. Economists said the latest borrowing data will mean the Chancellor “won’t be able to resist the temptation to unveil a pre-election splash” of cuts. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said public sector net borrowing stood at £14.9 billion in October –

A police search has been launched for four young men who have been missing since Sunday morning. Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Henderson and Hugo Morris are thought to have been travelling in the Harlech and Porthmadog areas of Gwynedd. They were last seen in a silver Ford Fiesta, registration HY14 GVO, North Wales Police said. It is believed they had gone camping in the Snowdonia area. Their worried parents

The company that manages the licence fee for the BBC and runs recruitment for the Army has said it might slash up to 900 jobs in a bid to save costs. Outsourcing giant Capita said it would shortly launch consultations as it looks to save around £60 million per year from the early part of 2024. The business said that the cuts would mainly hit “indirect support function and overhead