Welcome to your early-morning news briefing from The Telegraph – a round-up of the top stories we are covering on Monday. To receive twice-daily briefings by email, sign up to our Front Page newsletter for free.
1. Vaccine booster shots for 32m to begin next month
Booster vaccines are to be offered to 32million Britons starting early next month with up to 2,000 pharmacies set to deliver the programme, The Telegraph can disclose.
Amid fears that the efficacy of the vaccines may begin to decline, ministers are planning to deliver an average of almost 2.5million third doses a week starting in the first week of September. Read the full story.
2. Boris Johnson faces Tory backbench backlash over ‘amber watch list’ travel plans
Boris Johnson has been warned he faces a Tory backbench backlash if the Government goes ahead with the introduction of “amber watch lists” for holidaymakers travelling to France, Spain or Italy.
The MPs and travel industry leaders who have been fighting a long rearguard action against the Government’s border policy believe it is an unnecessary complication designed solely to frighten Britons off foreign travel because ministers cannot afford to put the countries on the red list. Read the full story.
3. Exclusive: Samaritans to listen in on conversations after some volunteers ‘had sex with callers’
Samaritans volunteers abused their position of trust by having sex with vulnerable callers, The Telegraph understands, prompting the charity to ‘listen in’ to conversations for the first time.
The “shocking” incidents are believed to include volunteers meeting up with callers for inappropriate relationships. Read the full story.
4. Rishi Sunak mulls suspension of triple lock on state pension
Rishi Sunak is considering a temporary suspension of the Conservatives’ “triple lock” election manifesto commitment on state pensions that would save billions by linking this year’s rise to inflation instead.
The lock commits the Chancellor to lift payouts to match the highest out of average earnings, inflation or 2.5pc. Read the full story.
5. Matt Hancock living alone as he battles to save ministerial career
It is a measure of the brutal nature of politics that scarcely a month has passed since Matt Hancock’s resignation, yet he already has the air of a figure from history.
The former Health Secretary risked everything to pursue an affair with his aide Gina Coladangelo, and four weeks after it was so humiliatingly exposed, the future of his relationship with her, as well as the future of his career, appears to be up in the air. Read the full story.
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