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Portrait of the week: Sue Gray reports, ScotRail slashes trains and monkeypox spreads

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Sue Gray starched and ironed her report for publication after the Metropolitan Police wound up its own enquiries into breaches of coronavirus laws in and around Downing Street, with 126 fixed penalty notices being issued, only one to Boris Johnson. Meanwhile the nation contemplated photographs published by ITV News of the Prime Minister raising a glass at Downing Street on 13 November 2020. Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, said in an interview: ‘I would want to see Moldova equipped to Nato standard. This is a discussion we’re having with our allies.’ A ballot of 40,000 members prepared the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union for a national strike. ScotRail cut a third of trains from its timetable in a dispute with Aslef, the train-drivers’ union.

Monkeypox spread, with 71 cases detected in Britain and dozens in 11 other countries. In the seven days to 20 May, 725 people died with coronavirus, bringing total deaths (within 28 days of testing positive) to 177,977. In the week before that, 1,040 had died. The Office for National Statistics estimated that 1.27 million people, 2 per cent of the population, had coronavirus in the week ending 13 May. Numbers with Covid remaining in hospital fell from about 8,500 to about 6,700. The Queen visited the Chelsea Flower Show driven about in a buggy by a chauffeur in a cap.

The typical household energy bill will rise by about £800 a year in October, Jonathan Brearley, the chief executive of Ofgem, said, with the price cap rising to £2,800. Government borrowing was lower than expected in April at £18.6 billion, £5.6 billion less than in April 2021; estimated borrowing for 2021-22 was also £7.2 billion less that previously thought. The Paddington to Abbey Wood branch of the Elizabeth line in London opened with a ritual fire alarm evacuation at Paddington.

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