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How the Manchester talks collapsed over £5million
Northern cities have been told that more could follow Manchester into tough Covid restrictions by the weekend as Boris Johnson suggested that full-scale regional lockdowns may be close. South Yorkshire’s leaders are expected to agree to be placed into Tier 3 today, with West Yorkshire, the North-East, Teesside and Nottingham also in discussions with the Government. Greater Manchester will be put into Tier 3 from midnight on Thursday, against the will of its leaders, after they failed to agree a financial deal with ministers. It comes after 11 days of wrangling which have threatened to derail the Government’s three-tier system and pitted Tory MPs in the North against the Prime Minister. Christopher Hope has the inside story of how the Greater Manchester lockdown talks collapsed over just £5m. Michael Deacon sketches how the day of Covid chaos produced an enraged Andy Burnham and a rueful Boris Johnson.
Serious Covid-19 cases are rising so fast in Manchester, the Government claims, that intensive care beds will run out by mid-November. Indeed, at first glance, the figures seem terrifying. Yet the problem is, they are actually better than those at the same time last year. Sarah Knapton analyses why the figures do not support Manchester being in Tier 3. It may be little surprise, then, that a council boss said North East leaders will tell the Government to “sod off” if they try to impose measures.
Teaching children white privilege is fact ‘breaks law’
Teachers who tell their pupils that white privilege is a fact are breaking the law, the women and equalities minister has said. Kemi Badenoch told the Commons there was a “dangerous trend” in race relations that should not be taught in schools. Ms Badenoch was speaking in response to the Labour MP Dawn Butler, who said history needs to be “decolonised”. Calls to decolonise the curriculum have been gaining pace at universities, where students have urged professors to examine whether courses are too dominated by white male European points of view. They have also been growing in schools, where many teachers are keen for pupils to learn the history of colonialism and the slave trade from a less Eurocentric perspective. Read on for Ms Badenoch’s comments.
BBC has swapped quality for equality, says Boycott
Sir Geoffrey Boycott has accused the BBC of sacrificing “quality for equality”, saying the corporation was so beholden to political correctness that presenters were frightened to voice an opinion. The former cricketer left the BBC’s Test Match Special in the summer after 14 years and the BBC brought in new blood including Isa Guha, the former England women’s cricketer, and Sir Alastair Cook, the recently retired England great. Yet the changes have not been universally popular. Read Sir Geoffrey’s take in an interview with The Telegraph to mark his 80th birthday. It comes as the BBC’s chairman suggested only the over-50s believe the corporation is too Left-wing. Read on for his comments.
At a glance: More coronavirus headlines
Also in the news: Today’s other headlines
UK and US’s secret deal | David Cameron’s government struck a deal with the US to accept Osama bin Laden’s former spokesman back to the UK after his release from jail, for fear of breaching his rights as a political refugee. Adel Abdel Bary’s extradition to the US, to be tried for his role in the terror attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224, went ahead only after the UK agreed to take him back as a successful asylum seeker, sources have told The Telegraph. Read on for details.
Around the world: Trump’s battle to woo women
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