Telegraph: Two centrally run committees to shape UK's COVID-19 approach in shake-up – Reuters

Late-Tuesday night in the US, Reuters came out with the news, quoting the Telegraph, that suggests British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is aiming to take “direct control” of the government’s handling of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in a Downing Street shake-up.

Key quotes

The move will see two centrally run committees, covering strategy and operational delivery, shaping the British government’s approach to the outbreak, the newspaper added.

The committees will substitute four ministerial implementation groups, which were formed at the start of the coronavirus crisis and covered health, foreign affairs, economy and business and public services.

UK PM Johnson will chair the strategy committee while Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove will chair the new operations committee.

The changes will free up some members of Johnson’s top team to concentrate on Brexit talks ahead of July’s deadline, when Britain determines whether to stretch the transition period beyond this year.

The newspaper also reported that a regular COVID-19 government meeting, which has been held every morning, is being axed.

FX implications

While the news should have helped the GBP/USD pair, the Cable stays mostly unchanged around 1.2550 by the press time.