Today’s daily case rate sits at 99,652, the lowest in three weeks. The Omicron surge appears to be passing…

The Telegraph has just revealed their third illegal Downing Street party of the last 36 hours. Kate Josephs, head of the Cabinet Office Covid taskforce, held a “boozy” leaving party on the evening of December 17. She’s just released a statement apologising…

“As people know I previously worked in the Cabinet Office COVID Taskforce where I was Director General from July 2020 to December 18, 2020.

“I have been cooperating fully with the Cabinet Office investigations and I do not want to pre-empt the findings of the investigation.

“However as Chief Executive of Sheffield City Council I am responsible for leading the organisation and working with partners across the city and region to support our covid response and recovery.

“That is why I have decided to make a statement.

“On the evening of 17 December, I gathered with colleagues that were at work that day, with drinks, in our office in the Cabinet Office, to mark my leaving the Civil Service.

“I am truly sorry that I did this and for the anger that people will feel as a result. Sheffield has suffered greatly during this pandemic, and I apologise unreservedly.

“The specific facts of this event will be considered in the context of the Cabinet Office investigation. I did not attend any events at 10 Downing Street.

“I am grateful for the ongoing support of colleagues and partners and need now to ask that people allow the Cabinet Office to complete its investigation.

“I will not be able to respond to any further questions until the Cabinet Office investigation is complete.”

The BBC has posted an open job application for the Political Editor vacancy, after Laura Kuenssberg confirmed last month she will leave the job in April. The application deadline is 20^th January, with the ideal candidate expected to have “an outstanding record in political broadcasting on the most high profile programmes […] deep knowledge of the Brexit process, [and] a full understanding of the BBC’s commitment to impartiality.” Reports had previously suggested the BBC didn’t plan to appoint an external candidate, although given this is a public advert there’s seemingly no reason external hacks can’t give it a go…

The latest bookies odds still show Kuenssberg’s current deputy Vicki Young is the favourite, with Jon Sopel close behind and Amol Rajan in third.

Early rumours that the job was being lined up for Sopel have been dismissed recently, with the New Statesman’s Harry Lambert claiming BBC insiders are insisting the job “has not been set aside for anyone.” The New Statesman also put out a questionnaire to 80 political hacks and insiders asking who they’d nominate to fill the role: the two front runners were Vicki Young and Sky’s Sam Coates. Betting a tenner on Coates would currently win you £259.74 if he got the gig…

YouTuber JaackMaate organised a protest party outside the gates of Downing Street this lunchtime, with 100 people dressed as Boris, dancing and draped in Union Jacks. Ironically the Met showed a lot more interest in the protestors themselves, unlike everyone behind the gates. It seems the public aren’t willing to wait for Sue Gray’s report anymore. For a PM who built a career on getting the public to laugh with him, laughing at him is going to wound…

New data from the ONS shows the UK economy is now back at pre-pandemic levels, with GDP growth at 0.9% between October and November – 0.7% larger than in February 2020, just before Covid hit. Obviously good news… although not quite the news we were all told to expect…

Back in January 2021, the FT’s annual economists’ survey painted a dire picture for the year ahead:

“Economists expect the UK economic recovery in 2021 to be slower than in peer countries, because of a lower starting point, a larger services sector, low business investment and the impact of Brexit.”

The survey asked nearly 100 economists to look into their crystal balls and predict the future. Almost all of them said they “expect the size of the economy not to return to pre-pandemic levels until the third quarter of 2022”. Scrolling through the survey made for miserable reading. Unemployment, bankruptcies and the horrors of Brexit were all supposed to thwart our recovery…

Instead, growth is now higher than pre-Covid, and unemployment is estimated at 4.2% – even after the end of furlough in September. Congratulations go to Erik Britton, Patrick Minford, and Tej Parikh, who were the only economists from the FT survey to actually get it right…