The massive revolt by British Conservative Party Members of Parliament against Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plans to introduce new anti-Covid-19 measures this week reflects the growing unease throughout Europe over the re-introduction of restrictions against the virus.
Mr Johnson’s bruising encounter with his own MPs this week stemmed from his government’s attempts to introduce a measure that legally required attendees at large events, such as nightclubs and football matches, to provide either proof of vaccination or a negative test before entering.
Opponents of the move accused Mr Johnson of attempting to introduce so-called vaccination passports, a measure civil liberties campaigners argue unfairly discriminates against those who have not received jabs.
Even though Mr Johnson personally sought to reassure MPs that the requirement was a temporary measure, almost 100 Tory MPs voted against the new rule when it was presented to the Commons, and the legislation only passed due to the support it received from opposition Labour MPs.
Moreover, the difficulties Mr Johnson experienced in seeking to reintroduce measures last used during last winter’s lockdown in England are symptomatic of the growing resistance governments throughout Europe are encountering as they struggle to contend with the spread of the new Omicron variant.
Opposition to the imposition of new measures essentially appears to stem from two fundamental issues. The first concerns complaints that governments are seeking to impose unnecessary restrictions on personal liberties in their drive to tackle the virus.
Protesters gather for a flashmob demonstration to demand emergency income and financing in front of the Milan branch of the Bank of Italy. EPA
Owners of restaurants and event organisers gather to protest at rally in front of the colosseum in Verona. EPA
Italian chefs and restaurant owners gather near place settings positioned on the street as they participate in a protest at Pantheon Square in Rome. AFP
People take part in a protest organised by fairs and events workers in Warsaw, Poland. EPA
A sticker reading "Hospitality not at closing" is pictured during a protest in Barcelona, Spain. Reuters
A Guy Fawkes mask hangs on a wing mirror as taxi drivers protest in Barcelona, Spain. Reuters
Owners of bars and restaurants in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, protest against the new restrictions imposed to stop the coronavirus spread. EPA
Artists and employees of events companies protest at Alexanderplatz in Berlin, Germany. Getty Images
Protesters demonstrate in support of the event sector in Berlin, Germany. Reuters
Demonstrators protest against the Czech government's measures in Prague, Czech Republic. EPA
The Czech Republic recorded a rise in Covid-19 cases, resulting in the government imposing a series of new restrictive measures. EPA
The other, more worrying, dissent comes from anti-vaxxer groups who are fundamentally opposed to receiving anti-Covid-19 jabs for a variety of ideological reasons.
Anti-vaxxers mainly seem to consist of supporters of populist and far-right parties, although some are adherents of alternative medicine, hippies and libertarians. Others object to the jabs on religious grounds.
Not being vaccinated certainly has its risks. In Britain, where more than 80 per cent of the adult population has received at least two jabs, the majority of those who have been hospitalised with the virus in recent weeks are those who remain unvaccinated.
In Europe, opposition to vaccinations means that around one third of the EU’s total population still have not received their jabs.
Moreover, their failure to do so is increasingly becoming a source of friction with those who have had their jabs, who accuse the refuseniks of prolonging the pandemic by failing to act in the public interest.
By far the most dramatic incident in Europe relating to anti-vaxxer groups took place in Germany this week when police in the eastern state of Saxony launched a series of raids after death threats were made against a prominent politician for backing coronavirus measures.
The death threats were made against Premier Michael Kretschmer who has publicly declared his support for the introduction of new coronavirus measures. A German television documentary accused far-right anti-vaccination activists of making threats against the state premier, prompting German anti-extremist officers to raid a number of locations in Saxony, which has the lowest vaccination take-up in the country. Far-right activists in the state are also suspected of plotting violence with crossbows or other "piercing weapons".
Suggestions that far-right anti-vaccination groups have been plotting against German politicians have caused a major headache for Germany's new chancellor, Olaf Scholz, who told MPs on Wednesday that "this tiny minority of uninhibited extremists" would not be allowed to impose their will on society.
Last week Germany's new government steered through a draft law to require all health workers and soldiers to get vaccinated by next spring, and Chancellor Scholz has backed mandatory vaccines for all adults early in 2022.
The German government’s no-nonsense moves to tackle the new strain certainly appear to have the backing of both politicians and the public. While support for a nationwide vaccine mandate had previously been regarded as taboo, several state premiers are now backing such measures for the entire country. And a recent opinion poll suggests 72 per cent of Germans are in favour of imposing a vaccine mandate.
Opponents of rules to enforce vaccinations are not just confined to Germany, where on Monday night some 3,500 people demonstrated in the eastern city of Magdeburg, chanting "peace, freedom, no dictatorship".
Thousands of opponents of anti-covid-19 measures have staged protests in Italy, Switzerland and Northern Ireland, while in Belgium and the Netherlands rioters have sparked violent clashes with the police.
Emotions have also been running high in neighbouring Austria, where the government imposed a nationwide lockdown in response to the emergence of the new Omicron variant. An estimated 40,000 unvaccinated Austrians marched through the capital, Vienna, with some protesters carrying placards likening Alexander Schallenberg, Austria’s new chancellor, to Josef Mengele, the sadistic physician at the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz.
In France, meanwhile, the authorities are concentrating their attention on the over-65s, placing anyone who has not received a third booster jab under lockdown from Wednesday.
The new measure has been introduced as the country seeks to ward off a massive Christmas surge of both the Delta and Omicron variants. As a result, France's health pass, the “passe sanitaire”, will no longer be valid without a booster, barring those without a third dose from visiting any restaurant or cafe, using inter-city trains and going to cultural venues like cinemas or museums.
The French government says some 400,000 people aged 65 and over who are eligible for the boosters are yet to receive them, accounting for 12 per cent of those aged 80 and above and 10 per cent of those aged 65 to 79.
Amid all the gloom surrounding the new measures in Europe there is, though, one note of optimism. A study by American researchers at the Nestle Purina Research institute in Missouri has found that dog-owners are better-equipped to deal with lockdowns and other measures, as owning a dog generates a feeling of being loved and valued during the pandemic, and that dog-owners are less likely to show signs of depression.
La Mer lowdown
La Mer beach is open from 10am until midnight, daily, and is located in Jumeirah 1, well after Kite Beach. Some restaurants, like Cupagahwa, are open from 8am for breakfast; most others start at noon. At the time of writing, we noticed that signs for Vicolo, an Italian eatery, and Kaftan, a Turkish restaurant, indicated that these two restaurants will be open soon, most likely this month. Parking is available, as well as a Dh100 all-day valet option or a Dh50 valet service if you’re just stopping by for a few hours.
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Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
Direct flights from the UAE to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, are available with Air Arabia, (www.airarabia.com) Fly Dubai (www.flydubai.com) or Etihad (www.etihad.com) from Dh1,200 return including taxes. The trek described here started from Jomson, but there are many other start and end point variations depending on how you tailor your trek. To get to Jomson from Kathmandu you must first fly to the lake-side resort town of Pokhara with either Buddha Air (www.buddhaair.com) or Yeti Airlines (www.yetiairlines.com). Both charge around US$240 (Dh880) return. From Pokhara there are early morning flights to Jomson with Yeti Airlines or Simrik Airlines (www.simrikairlines.com) for around US$220 (Dh800) return.
The trek
Restricted area permits (US$500 per person) are required for trekking in the Upper Mustang area. The challenging Meso Kanto pass between Tilcho Lake and Jomson should not be attempted by those without a lot of mountain experience and a good support team. An excellent trekking company with good knowledge of Upper Mustang, the Annaurpuna Circuit and Tilcho Lake area and who can help organise a version of the trek described here is the Nepal-UK run Snow Cat Travel (www.snowcattravel.com). Prices vary widely depending on accommodation types and the level of assistance required.
