Labour frontbench divided as up to 60 backbench MPs threaten to rebel if told to vote with government

The shadow cabinet is split over whether to back a Brexit deal, as backbench Labour MPs warn that up to 60 could rebel if Keir Starmer insists they back the government rather than allowing a free vote.

Two backbench MPs said the potential for a frontbench reshuffle – and new shadow ministerial posts – had been raised when the issue had come up in conversations with Starmer’s office, as a way of containing potential rebels.

02/12/2020 - www.theguardian.com

Analysis: being first country in the world to license a jab for the virus is also fraught with unknown pitfalls

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The obvious joy and excitement over the UK’s approval of a vaccine against Covid, opening a way out of the pandemic, had barely begun to abate before questions started to arise over the speed with which the UK appeared to have stolen a march on the rest of the western world.

The health secretary saw this as a triumph for Britannia. Matt Hancock even tried to spin it as a triumph for Brexit. The UK had elected not to follow the cumbersome processes of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which has said it will decide on a licence for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine by 29 December. Instead, said Hancock, the government had passed special regulations so that the UK regulator could go it alone, with fantastic results. Many British arms will be jabbed before the EMA has come to a decision.

02/12/2020 - www.theguardian.com

There is a job of public reassurance ahead that will be made harder if partisanship and ministerial grandstanding get in the way

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When the history of the pandemic is written, the tragic cost will be balanced with stories of human ingenuity and resilience. The speed with which effective vaccines have been developed will feature prominently on that side of the ledger.

No remedy existed when the threat first became apparent a year ago. It was not certain that vaccination would ever be possible. But the highest priority cases in the UK will start receiving doses of an approved vaccine in the coming weeks. The practical impact on infection rates will be modest for a while. But as a signal of what might one day be achieved, and a tonic to anyone whose spirit was flagging at prolonged social and economic restriction, Wednesday’s news is tremendous.

02/12/2020 - www.theguardian.com