Civil servants

Flights to Orlando, New York, Miami and Los Angeles are all set to be affected by the historic US government shutdown

Thousands of British travellers headed to the United States face either severe delays or flight cancellations as the US government’s shutdown shows no sign of ending.

Those with plans to fly to or return from the States are being advised that they could face disruption after the Trump administration announced a ten per cent to air traffic control. The ongoing US federal government shutdown is also affecting other areas of travel, airport staffing, and access to major tourist attractions.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has updated its guidance for UK travellers, cautioning that those flying to or through the US may face longer queues, delayed flights and reduced services at airports. Officials have also advised visitors to check in advance whether famous landmarks, national parks and museums remain open, as many are federally funded and may now have limited access or be closed altogether.

The warning comes after Washington lawmakers failed to agree on new funding for government operations, leading to a shutdown on 1 October that has left hundreds of thousands of federal workers unpaid and key services running on skeleton staff. The situation has become the latest flashpoint in the deepening political standoff between Democrats and Republicans in Congress.

In its updated travel advisory, the FCDO states: “There could be travel disruptions, including flight delays and longer queue times at some airports, due to the current US federal government shutdown. Check for messaging from your travel provider or airline and follow their guidance. There may also be restrictions on access to some federally-managed tourist attractions. Please check the relevant websites in advance.”

While the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and air traffic control services are still operating, many employees are either working without pay or calling in sick, placing pressure on staffing levels. Travel industry analysts warn that prolonged shortages could lead to further delays, particularly at major international gateways such as New York’s JFK Airport, Los Angeles International, Orlando, and Atlanta.

Tourists planning domestic flights within the US may also see longer wait times at security checkpoints, which could disrupt connecting flights and cause knock-on delays across the country. Airlines operating transatlantic services have begun issuing their own advisories. Some are advising passengers to arrive at airports earlier than usual for check-in and security screening, and to regularly monitor their flight status.

Another area of concern is the possible closure of major tourist attractions. National parks, including Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone, and the Great Smoky Mountains, are overseen by the National Park Service, which is affected by the government shutdown. Historically, visitor centres, museums, restrooms, guided tours, and safety patrols have all been suspended during previous shutdowns, leaving tourists with little access or support.

In major cities, museums such as the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, the National Air and Space Museum, and the National Museum of American History may also face reduced opening hours or temporary closure if funding is not restored.

Holidaymakers are being encouraged to verify opening times before visiting, and to have backup plans in case venues are closed. Travel providers say travellers should be prepared to be flexible, especially those on multi-stop itineraries.

The Foreign Office guidance is precautionary rather than alarmist. Flights between the UK and US remain operational, most major tourist hubs continue to function, and hotels, restaurants and privately-run attractions are unaffected. But experts say travellers should avoid assuming everything will run as normal.

The shutdown stems from a political deadlock in Congress over government spending.

Republican lawmakers, particularly those aligned with President Donald Trump, have blocked funding bills in a bid to push for cuts to public services and changes to government programmes. Democrats have refused to agree to the proposals, saying they would damage key areas of the economy and the welfare system.

Without a funding agreement, government departments have been forced to limit operations. Essential services, including national security and emergency response, continue to operate. But many civil servants are furloughed without pay, and non-essential federal programmes are pausing operations until funding is restored.

List of airports that will see thousands of flights cancelled starting Friday

Anchorage International

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International

Boston Logan International

Baltimore/Washington International

Charlotte Douglas International

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International

Dallas Love

Ronald Reagan Washington National

Denver International

Dallas/Fort Worth International

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County

Newark Liberty International

Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International

Honolulu International

Houston Hobby

Washington Dulles International

George Bush Houston Intercontinental

Indianapolis International

New York John F Kennedy International

Las Vegas McCarran International

Los Angeles International

New York LaGuardia

Orlando International

Chicago Midway

Memphis International

Miami International

Minneapolis/St Paul International

Oakland International

Ontario International

Chicago O’Hare International

Portland International

Philadelphia International

Phoenix Sky Harbor International

San Diego International

Louisville International

Seattle/Tacoma International

San Francisco International

Salt Lake City International

Teterboro

Tampa International

One civil service whistleblower told ITV filmmakers he was “disgusted” by amount of profits some companies made

Details of how the Tories presided over one of the biggest government spending scandals of all time are to be revealed in a shocking new documentary.

Eye-watering waste running into many billions of pounds resulted from huge Covid contracts for mountains of personal protective equipment and medical tests.

One civil service whistleblower told ITV filmmakers: “I was disgusted at the amount of money that these companies were making. It was just ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching for them.”

Some companies with little or no track record in supplying PPE landed massive contracts, including many introduced by ministers and key government figures via the high-priority VIP lane.

One firm, linked to Baroness Michelle Mone, is being sued by the Department for Health for more than £120 million for allegedly supplying unusable gowns. But the documentary names other previously unknown corporate winners.

Instead of buying four months of PPE stock as planned, within months of lockdown the government stockpiled years’ worth – including enough goggles to last 15 years.

One million pallets of unwanted PPE ended up being incinerated in what Gavin Hayman, of the Open Contracting partnership, says represents “probably the biggest government misspending scandal in the UK of all time”.

As the UK’s expensive Covid-19 inquiry rumbles on largely unnoticed by the public, new ITV documentary Exposures asks how we went from having almost no PPE to having more than we could possibly use.

The Mirror has previously revealed how thousands of ­ventilators bought for £50,000 each during the pandemic were sold off for as little as £100 via online auctions last year.

We also exposed how the NHS flogged 6,000 unused Nightingale hospital beds it had bought for £13million for just £410,000 as they were not suitable for hospitals. When the country went into lockdown in March 2020, the UK’s hospitals were woefully lacking in supplies of PPE.

Boris Johnson set up a new procurement unit run by Matt Hancock ’s Department of Health, with many of its staff coming from Michael Gove ’s Cabinet Office. The government put out public appeals to help source PPE from new suppliers, and the normal tender and competition rules were suspended.

Under pressure to respond quickly, a secret VIP lane was also set up by civil servants to deal with credible offers coming via ministers, MPs or senior officials.

According to the documentary, this is when things started to go wrong. A whistleblower who was working in the department at the time was exasperated that companies with a background in supplying PPE were being sidelined in favour of VIPs.

The source tells the programme: “It was very frustrating because you’ve done a lot of the background work, taking the time to find out about the companies, see who their manufacturer was, so that we could check the manufacturer had the capability of producing as many items as they said, and then to find out none of your deals have gone through.

“The VIP lane was obviously the Premiership, and all the rest of the suppliers were in the second division.” Mr Gove and Mr Hancock say the VIP lane was created by officials to effectively prioritise significant offers, that ministers were not involved in decisions to award contracts and just forwarded promising leads to civil servants. They say their priority at the time was to “save lives and protect the NHS”.

The ITV film shows how two previously unnamed Covid-testing companies, Tanner Pharma and Nationwide Pathology, both made huge profits thanks to their contracts.

Nationwide made £40million over the pandemic, while Tanner was given testing contracts totalling £1.4bn after it contacted a Department of Health official.

Tanner went from a pre-pandemic loss off £678,000 to a cumulative profit over the pandemic of £193m. Its American owner, Banks Bourne, paid himself a £148m dividend, courtesy of the British taxpayer.

Another company called Innova appeared from nowhere in March 2020. It was set up by Charles Huang, who rain a private equity firm in California.

Innova got its contract after it reached out to Dominic Cummings, who was Boris Johnson’s advisor at the time. By the end of the pandemic, Innova had been paid over £5bn by the UK government despite having no track record in supplying medical goods.

By contrast, Arco is a leading UK supplier of PPE with over 50 years’ experience. It sent 750,000 PPE kits to Sierra Leone during the ebola epidemic. But when Covid arrived, nobody was returning their calls.

Arco chairman Thomas Martin tells Exposure: “We used the government portals, we used all of our existing contacts. There would be 50 or 60 attempts every day to break through, and we were coming up against the closed door. I couldn’t understand why anyone in charge would choose to ignore the expertise on tap.

“The safety industry was not mobilised.” In all, the UK spent around £15bn on PPE. The whistleblower adds: “We had so much, but we were still buying when we didn’t need any more. We weren’t able to warehouse it, and it was getting left at docks.”

By March 2022, the UK had 300 pieces of unused PPE for every person in the country. Companies that were hired to supply PPE were now being rewarded again to store it. Much of it ended up incinerated. The whistleblower concludes: “We were wasting so much money.”

Tanner Pharma said: “Tanner Pharma was selected to provide lateral flow tests because they were determined by UKHSA to have high specificity and sensitivity. We were not referred to the high-priority lane and delivered over 480m reliable, accurate testing kits.”

Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings, Michelle Mone and Nationwide Pathology all declined to comment.

* The Covid Contracts: Follow the Money is on Sunday night on ITV at 10.15pm.

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The movie widely regarded as one of the best sci-fi films ever made and is an absolute must-watch for any fans of the dystopian genre

This year has seen a significant rise in dystopian thrillers, with series like The Last of Us gripping telly viewers and films such as 28 Years Later set to grace the big screen this June. With an abundance of options, it’s easy to feel swamped, but if you’re on the hunt for a true classic of the dystopian genre, I wholeheartedly suggest Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men.

I only recently had the pleasure of viewing Children of Men and was riveted from the opening scene. It swiftly climbed the ranks to become one of my all-time favourite films, and I was particularly taken by its peculiar optimism amidst the bleak post-apocalyptic setting.

What Children of Men is about

The world has descended into utter chaos as humanity grapples with impending extinction. The United Kingdom stands as one of the few remaining countries still operational, albeit under an authoritarian regime.

Theo Faron (Clive Owen), a disenchanted former activist, has ceased his resistance and now meanders through life as a civil servant. He’s so disconnected from the world that he barely registers the bombings, caged refugees, and public executions he encounters on his commute.

One day, Theo is abducted by his ex-wife Julian, who heads a rebel faction known as The Fishes, battling against the government for refugee rights. Julian implores Theo to safeguard Kee, a young African refugee, and assist her in escaping the country safely.

However, Theo soon discovers that Kee is astonishingly pregnant, carrying the world’s sole known unborn child. Driven by the need to protect this miracle, he risks everything to keep Kee’s condition under wraps and get her safely to the enigmatic Human Project, scientists seeking a cure for the global fertility crisis.

So why should you watch Children of Men?

Despite its stark backdrop, the film’s protagonist embodies hopefulness in his unwavering dedication to the prospect of a rejuvenated world.

The outpouring of support for Kee amidst such turmoil underscores a compelling truth: even in the bleakest circumstances, human kindness endures, proving that we have not strayed from our compassionate nature.

One of the captivating aspects of Children of Men is how palpably real and weathered its universe feels, peppered with background information gleaned from transient news reports, advertisements, and leaflets—a testament to the environment’s rich storytelling texture.

Packed with nuances, Children of Men invites viewers to engage deeply, promising new discoveries upon every viewing.

What critics are saying about Children of Men

Boasting an impressive 92% Rotten Tomatoes rating from over 250 critic reviews, Children of Men was also in the Oscar race for three categories (Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing) back in 2007.

Brian Tallerico of UGO hailed it as “feels more relevant than almost every film set in the present day and is better than almost every other film made this year.”

Kathi Maio from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction remarked: “This is one movie that will have a lasting impact even if you are forced to watch it on a ten-inch black and white Zenith.”

Peter Travers, writing for Rolling Stone at the time, placed it as the runner-up in his best films of the 2000s list, commenting: “No movie this decade was more redolent of sorrowful beauty and exhilarating action. You don’t just watch the car ambush scene (pure camera wizardry)-you live inside it. That’s Cuarón’s magic: He makes you believe.”

Where to watch Children of Men

The film can be streamed on Apple TV’s £8.99 monthly subscription or via Now TV’s £9.99 a month Cinema membership. You can also purchase Children of Men on Amazon Prime for £5.99.