The Standard

The UK and US are to donate more than 600 million Covid-19 vaccine donations between them as part of global efforts to control the pandemic.

In this special report, we speak to doctors and other leading experts around the world to look at what kind of an impact that will make.

The donations come as African countries face a severe shortage of vaccines for their populations, with medics concerned a third wave will overwhelm hospitals across the continent.

We also look at the Evening Standard’s Vaccine for the World project which is highlighting some of the enormous efforts being made to get injections to some of the hardest to reach places on Earth. 

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Boris Johnson’s meeting Joe Biden face-to-face for the first time since the US election as the G7 summit gets underway in Cornwall.

The two have much to discuss, and disagree and several areas, but they’re united in their vows to tackle climate change.

For the Leader podcast, we’re joined by Nick Mabey who is the chief executive of climate change think tank E3G, an advisor to London mayor Sadiq Khan and a former advisor to the Blair government.

He tells us what’s likely to be on the world leaders’ agenda, and how it will affect relations with other countries such as China and Russia. 

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The Evening Standard’s royal editor, Robert Jobson, tells us what’s been happening at Buckingham Palace and in LA as Harry and Meghan threaten legal action over a story about their daughter’s name.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are hitting back at claims they had not asked the Queen before naming their daughter Lilibet in her honour.

A fresh war of words between the couple and the BBC broke out after the corporation quoted a senior Buckingham Palace source saying the monarch was “never asked” about its use.

A spokeswoman for Harry and Meghan, now based in California, said: “The Duke spoke with his family in advance of the announcement, in fact his grandmother was the first family member he called.

“During that conversation, he shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honour. Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name.”

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A cabinet minister’s advising people to “holiday at home,” following the rush to get Brits back from Portugal when that country was downgraded to amber from the UK’s green list.

Environment secretary George Eustace says he won’t be leaving the country for a break this summer and he doesn’t expect many others will either.

But our deputy political editor Nicholas Cecil says that’s not official government advice, with Number 10 insisting people are free to travel to green list countries.

Nicholas also talks about the extra measures being put in place to tackle the Delta variant of Covid-19 in Greater Manchester and Lancashire. 

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As our exclusive poll shows the public wants the coronavirus inquiry to start early, we speak to our political editor Joe Murphy and ask if the chaos in Portugal’s airports will add to the pressure. He tells us that anything that increases people’s “sense of unfairness or resentment” could turn into pressure “in multiple ways” including demands for that inquiry to start this year.

Currently, it’s set to launch in Spring next year and not deliver its findings until after the next general election. But just 17 per cent of people support that according to researchers at Ipsos MORI for the Evening Standard.

Meanwhile, Brits desperate to escape Portugal before an amber list deadline have spoken of carnage at airports. Confused holidaymakers, desperate to get home ahead of the deadline of 4am Tuesday, were met by two-hour-long queues at Faro Airport.

Ipsos MORI interviewed 1002 adults across GB by phone, from May 28 to June 3. Data are weighted. Details at www.ipsos-mori.com

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Securing the future sources of our food, especially in cities, sprouts some critical issues: cost, pesticides, genetically modified crops, delivery miles and ensuring children can access nutritious, fresh fruit and vegetables.

During lockdown, a trip to the farm seemed a flight of fancy for many city-dwellers, and a team of volunteers at the Felix Project is helping deliver farms’ surplus to charities and schools to provide healthy meals to those who need it.

We spoke Marcus Roberts, relationship manager at the Felix Project about their work getting fresh produce from field to table in quick time, and also visited one exciting London agri-startup hoping to achieve all of this - it’s a new ‘urban’ farm called Sitopia.

Chloë Dunnett, founder and chief grower, tells us how volunteers at their organic meadow and poly tunnels on the site of the huge Woodlands Farm Trust in Shooters Hill, south-east London, are getting ready for their first harvest after a stellar crowdfunding campaign.

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On March 12th 2020, the cast and crew of Six were preparing to debut their West End smash on the Broadway stage: then the New York governor closed all the theatres to stop the spread of Covid. Now, the show’s made a triumphant return to the Lyric Theatre in London, with plans to re-open in the Big Apple in September. 

Co-writer/director Lucy Moss joins the show to tell us what it’s like to make a comeback in a pandemic, and how they’re determined to keep performing.

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Channel 5’s new Anne Boleyn drama’s launching with black actor Jodie Turner-Smith playing the doomed second wide of Henry VIII.It’s another example of colour-blind casting in period dramas, following Bridgerton and the Great, but this time the character is a real, very well known, person. 

The Evening Standard’s Katie Rosseinsky tells us why producers are increasingly hiring diverse casts for historical pieces, and why audiences appear to be supporting their choices.

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A leading scientist has told the Evening Standard people should enjoy “life that looks vaguely normal” this weekend as temperatures rise for the bank holiday. Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University, says he’s confident vaccines are working against the Indian variant of Covid-19, but is warning people to remain cautious.

That would lead to the government being able to lift final lockdown restrictions on June 21st, but the British Beer and Pub Association fears many of its members won’t make it.

With some restrictions still in place, around 2,000 bars have not been able to re-open. It’s predicted around half of the number of pints expected to be sold this weekend will actually be served.

The Association’s chief executive, Emma McClarkin, joins the podcast to tell us why even with the sun coming out this spring bank holiday may leave some publicans with nothing to celebrate. 

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