In the headlines
“It’s Boris versus the scientists,” says the Daily Mail, as Professor Chris Whitty warns the public to scale back their Christmas plans, while the PM insists he won’t cancel parties or close hospitality venues. Business leaders are panicking about a “worst-of-all-worlds scenario”, says Alex Wickham in Politico, where Brits choose to stay home but the government provides no financial support for affected industries. The Bank of England has raised interest rates to 0.25% – the first increase in more than three years. From Saturday, France will ban all travellers from the UK unless they have a “compelling reason” to visit – not tourism or work. Bruce Springsteen has sold the publishing rights for his life’s work to Sony for a reported $500m. Bob Dylan, who flogged his back catalogue to Universal last year, only bagged $300m.