NEWS

Up to £3.5billion of furlough cash may have been given to fraudulent companies or handed out in error

Up to a tenth of the taxpayers’ money handed out by the government through the furlough scheme may have been paid out to wrong or fraudulent claims, according to official estimates. So far, the scheme, which will end in October, has cost more than £35billion, meaning £3.5billion might have gone to the ‘wrong places’ – Mail

Return to work is too late to save city centres, says British Retail Consortium – Guardian

Fifteen-year-old boy is shot in the jaw on the way to school in Suffolk ‘by friend after they fell out’ – Mail

Pizza Express to shut 73 restaurants as landlords approve closures – Telegraph

Government apologises for Covid testing delays at UK care homes – Guardian

COMMENT

Should we be worried about the uptick in Covid cases? Almost certainly not – Toby Young, Telegraph

If Extinction Rebellion and BLM want power, let them stand for election… they would lose whatever credibility they once had – Richard Littlejohn, Mail