Perfect prezzie
IN the frantic rush towards a new lockdown, one important element was missing: hard data on how dangerous the new Omicron variant actually is.
Last night, studies by UK scientists gave us the answer.
Not only is Omicron around 50 per cent less likely to put you in hospital than the Delta variant, it can also be successfully beaten back by the booster jab programme — with a third jab reducing the symptomatic infection risk by 57 per cent compared to two injections.
Omicron spreads much more rapidly than Delta.
So the case for getting a booster jab, or having a first injection if unvaccinated, is stronger than ever.
As Boris Johnson writes today, getting a jab is the greatest gift you can give to yourself and your loved ones this Christmas.
But, as the Scottish and Welsh governments impose draconian new restrictions over the festive period, the Prime Minister has been vindicated in adopting a wait-and-see approach instead.
The prospect of new curbs in England over the New Year has not been entirely lifted.
But there are at least reasons to be merrier this Christmas.
Tagging doubt
FROM using jet-skis to repel dinghies, to stuffing the pockets of the French border force with £54million of UK taxpayers’ money, the Home Office has tried and failed in many different ways to stem the tide of illegal immigration.
Next on the list of ideas is electronically tagging the thousands of working age young men who make it across the Channel to prevent them absconding into the black market.
There is little doubt that the ease with which people can work illegally in the UK is a major pull factor, so we can see the logic in this latest plan.
Whether it survives contact with human rights judges and activist left-wing lawyers is another matter entirely.
Pump chumps
DRIVING home for Christmas will cost families a packet, thanks to the Scrooge-like behaviour of greedy petrol retailers failing to pass on £2billion of savings
Fuel prices at the pumps are 30p per litre more than last Christmas, despite wholesale costs of petrol and diesel being up just 18p on 12 months ago, according to analysis by FairFuelUK.
It’s the same old story of forecourt owners being rocket-quick to hike prices when the wholesale costs go up, but glacially slow to reduce them when the cost comes down.
We need an independent watchdog now to stop this rip-off.
