The Standard

Health experts and community leaders are joining forces to urge Londoners to get the Covid-19 jab after a shocking poll suggested a quarter of Londoners are unlikely to have it. The YouGov survey for the Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London, asked more than 1,000 Londoners in mid-November how likely or unlikely they were to have the Pfizer vaccine, which the pharmaceutical...

London has escaped the toughest Covid-19 restrictions with cases now falling in more than two-thirds of boroughs, according to official figures. But our deputy political editor, Nicholas Cecil, says it was a "borderline decision" that politicians and health officials debated until the last moment. He takes us behind closed doors to reveal what was behind the judgement call, and just how close the...

The Duchess of Sussex has described her “unbearable grief” after she suffered a miscarriage. In a moving account written for the New York Times, Meghan reveals how she lost her unborn baby in July while she and husband Harry were living in Los Angeles. We talk to Ruth Bender Atik, National Director at the Miscarriage Association, who tells us why it's important to break the taboo of talk...

Politicians and business leaders are pleading for London to stay out of Tier 3, as the number of covid-19 cases falls in the city as a whole. The Evening Standard's Lizzie Edmonds explains the "crippling" effect it could have if the capital faces the highest post-lockdown restrictions. She talks about the devastation live performance would face, with indoor events continuing to be banned. Als...

The UK’s home-grown Covid vaccine is “highly effective” — and the first Britons are expected to receive it by the end of the year. Oxford University says its vaccine was found to be up to 90 per cent effective in preventing people falling seriously ill with coronavirus. Our deputy political editor says rollout is due to begin "within weeks" but the government has a job on its hands to make su...

Leading music industry figures are issuing an urgent plea to protect small venues facing collapse amid the pandemic. The coronavirus and lockdown measures have forced scores of live music homes in London to temporarily close since March. The CEO of the Music Venue Trust, Mark Davyd, tells us seven sites in London are now on red alert, with permanent closure imminent if action isn't taken...

The Covid vaccine being made by Oxford university is safe and works well in older adults most likely to become seriously ill or die from the virus, its creators revealed today. In another major boost for hopes of bringing the pandemic to heel, they said the preliminary results for the UK’s main vaccine hope were “encouraging”. Our health editor Ross Lydall says there's optimism it will lead t...

Families may be able to mix in “bubbles” at Christmas under plans for a brief relaxation of coronavirus restrictions over the festive period, according to reports. It comes as data shows the number of new cases in London appears to be stabilising and the R transmission figure heads towards 'one' in parts of England. But how would it work and would the risk of a post-festive season spike...

Mouthwash can kill coronavirus within 30 seconds of being exposed to it in a laboratory, a scientific study has found. The preliminary result comes ahead of a clinical trial into whether using over-the-counter mouthwash could to reduce the levels of Covid-19 in a patient's saliva. We speak to Professor Damien Walmsley, from the British Dental Association, who says the latest research from Car...

The Crown is already a huge success for Netflix, but the drama's being criticised for taking liberties with the truth. Some leading historians are concerned about how Prince Charles is being portrayed as the drama moves into the 80s and the arrival of Princess Diana. The Evening Standard's Katie Rosseinsky has watched all of season 4, and says the writers definitely use artistic license but a...

Dominic Cummings has left Downing Street, but will he really have no influence over the government in future? We speak to Peter Cardwell, a former special advisor who worked with, and was fired by, Mr Cummings to find out what he's really like and what his legacy will be. Peter tells us Boris Johnson now has an opportunity to "reset Downing Street" and predicts a big reshuffle.  Als...

Boris Johnson’s Downing Street operation's been thrown into turmoil following the dramatic resignation of his communications chief Lee Cain. We speak to our deputy political editor Nicholas Cecil who explains how the departure was forced by an apparent power struggle involving both the new press secretary Allegra Stratton and the Prime Minister's partner Carrie Symonds. He also says Dominic C...

A row over a statue dedicated to feminist icon Mary Wollstonecraft is continuing, with protesters now covering up the silver sculpture featuring a naked woman in London. The artist behind it, Maggi Hambling, has told the Evening Standard she thinks some people are "missing the point", and it does have its defenders. We speak to historian Dr Christina Faraday who tells us why she thi...

Health Secretary Matt Hancock's confirmed the UK's coronavirus vaccination programme could begin "from the start of December", but our deputy political editor Nicholas Cecil says it won't be available to everyone straight away. He also says a second vaccine, being researched in Oxford, could be just weeks away from being ready. As the world breathes a sigh of relief with the end of the corona...

Experts are hailing “promising” news of a Covid-19 vaccine that trials show to be 90 per cent effective. Its makers, Pfizer and BioNTech are calling it a "great day for science and humanity" but, if it really does work, when could the general population get to see it? We speak to Professor Karol Sikora, a former director of the World Health Organisation's cancer programme, who tells us h...

A growing number of Republicans are distancing themselves from President Donald Trump, who has doubled down on claims of voter corruption in the US election. Representative Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, tweeted that the President's claims of fraud were "getting insane". The Evening Standard’s assistant news editor Michael Howie says some believe Mr Trump isn’t just making a bad moral...

Joe Biden is inching ever closer to the White House, but will his ambitions be dead on arrival if the Republicans hold the Senate? Our US correspondent, David Gardner, says the Democrat's going to struggle to get his big ideas, like healthcare reform, through without the upper chamber. He also says that Donald Trump's fighting tooth and nail to hold onto the top job, and even if the incumbent lose...

Donald Trump's vowing to go to the Supreme Court as the US election hangs on just a handful of key states. Our editorial column says the move's "without legal standing" and "saying the quiet part out loud makes him no less a danger to democracy". We also talk to US politics analyst Julie Norman, from UCL, who explains how the Trump campaign has used its underdog status to scrape up...

In this special early edition of the Leader podcast, we speak to the Evening Standard's Michael Howie who's been checking the results of a unique US election. With votes still being counted, there is still no clear winner, but that's not stopped Donald Trump from claiming victory. He's also threatening to go to the Supreme Court to get the continuing counting stopped. Meanwhile, Joe Biden's called...

America is going to the ballot box, with predictions Donald Trump's time in the White House is over. In this special programme, we're joined by Evening Standard columnist and senior editor of the Economist, Anne McElvoy. She tells us why pollsters are giving Joe Biden a more than 90% chance of victory, but says there are - very limited - ways for Trump to upset the odds as he did in 2016. CNN anch...

After another warning from the Speaker about the number of leaks coming out of the government, Boris Johnson told MPs why England has to go back into lockdown. The Prime Minister insisted the plans are “time limited” and he hopes to lift the latest draconian restrictions on December 2 when the country will return to the coronavirus tier system. But there has been no clear exit strategy announ...

Councils and charities today warned they could be facing an "unprecedented rise" in rough sleeping numbers over the winter as furlough ends and town halls struggle with funding. Councils, who housed thousands of people during the first wave, are now struggling with funding. The Evening Standard’s local democracy reporter Rachael Burford says they’re anticipating £97 million in spending to help man...

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been suspended from the party after refusing to accept the findings of a bombshell report into anti-Semitism during his tenure. The Equality and Human Rights Commission found the party was responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination and the party has now been served with an unlawful act notice requiring it to tackle the issue. Our political...

Environment Secretary George Eustice has called the current approach to coronavirus lockdowns in the UK right ‘for now’. As senior scientists warned of hospitals being overwhelmed with 25,000 coronavirus patients by the end of November, expectations are growing that Boris Johnson will reluctantly have to order a temporary major shutdown before the end of the year. Our political editor Joe Murphy t...

President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden are heading into their final days of an historic election campaign. Trailing Biden in national opinion polls, Trump will hold rallies in three states key to his relation hopes: Michigan, Wisconsin and Nebraska. Biden meanwhile will head to Georgia, just days after Trump was there and where the challenger believes he has a ‘fighting chance’. In the Lead...