Gillian Morand, 36, died in Bexley, south-east London in 2020 after which allegations against her husband emerged
A man has been charged with manslaughter over the death of a woman in 2020, in a rare prosecution of alleged domestic abuse linked to suicide, police have said.
Gillian Morand, 36, died in Bexley, south-east London, and an inquest concluded she had taken her own life.
Continue reading...Foreign minister wants ‘conversation’ about closing UK military sites following lack of warning of impending attack on RAF Akrotiri
Cyprus’s foreign minister has said there are “questions” about the future of the UK’s military bases on the island after the drone strike last Sunday.
The attack on RAF Akrotiri, suspected to have been launched by Hezbollah in Lebanon, caused minimal damage and did not result in casualties.
Continue reading...Stephen McCullagh also covertly recorded ex-girlfriend’s counselling sessions after loss of a baby, jury hears
A man accused of murdering his pregnant girlfriend in Northern Ireland beat a previous partner, a court has heard.
Stephen McCullagh also covertly recorded the counselling sessions of the woman, just months before he met and allegedly killed Natalie McNally, Belfast crown court was told on Friday.
Continue reading...Three women in their 40s, 50s and 60s interviewed under caution in relation to alleged abuse by late Harrods owner
Three women have been interviewed under caution on suspicion of facilitating one of Britain’s worst sexual abuse scandals, involving the former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed and his alleged attacks over four decades.
Scotland Yard said 154 women may have been raped or sexually assaulted by Fayed, or been subject to human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Continue reading...Deputy prime minister says while jets currently only shooting down missiles, there is legal basis for them to do more
Hello and welcome to the UK politics blog.
Royal Air Force jets could legally strike Iranian missile sites being used to attack British interests in the Middle East, David Lammy has said this morning.
It is entirely legal to protect our people and protect our staff, and therefore all operational capability is available to us in those circumstances.
It is my understanding that that would be legal.
The UK is sending four additional Typhoon jets to Qatar, as well as Wildcat helicopters with anti-drone capabilities being sent to Cyprus, Keir Starmer said in a press conference yesterday. He said the US has been allowed to use British airfields to carry out defensive missions and that HMS Dragon is heading for the Mediterranean.
Kemi Badenoch has said the UK should take offensive action against Iran after UK bases were attacked. “We need to do what we can to stop the ability for these attacks to take place,” the Tory leader told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Shabana Mahmood put herself on a collision course with Labour MPs after announcing a set of changes to the immigration system that one backbencher said mimicked Donald Trump and another claimed would lead to a Windrush-style scandal. The home secretary announced her plans on Thursday, including an end to permanent refugee status and the removal of government support from asylum seekers who are deemed not to need it or who break the law.
A small number of asylum seekers whose claims are rejected will be offered an “increased incentive payment” of £10,000 per person and up to £40,000 per family to leave Britain under a pilot scheme, Mahmood said. The home secretary said the government would seek to echo reforms introduced in Denmark, where she said there had been “great success” in using incentives.
The husband of a Labour MP and two other men have been released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of spying for China. David Taylor, who is married to the Scottish Labour MP Joani Reid, is accused of assisting a foreign intelligence service.
Nigel Farage has described May’s Senedd elections as a “referendum” on Keir Starmer, as Reform UK gears up to battle Plaid Cymru for the chance to end a century of Labour dominance in Wales. Launching Reform’s election manifesto in Newport on Thursday alongside the party’s newly appointed Welsh leader, Dan Thomas, Farage said: “It’s a Welsh election, but I’m afraid, whether you like it or not, it doubles up as a referendum on Keir Starmer’s premiership.”
Continue reading...Justice secretary calls for inquiry into disclosure of cabinet splits at national security council over use of British bases
David Lammy has said it is an “absolute travesty” that details were leaked from a top secret national security meeting on the US-Israel attacks on Iran and has called for an investigation.
Cabinet splits at a national security council meeting, which is protected by the Official Secrets Act, over allowing the US to use British bases for the strikes against Iran were reported over the weekend.
Continue reading...Counter-terrorism police say investigation linked to alleged spying on locations and people linked to Jewish community
Four people have been arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran on locations and individuals linked to the Jewish community in the London area, Scotland Yard has said.
The men – one Iranian and three dual British-Iranian nationals – were arrested on Friday at addresses in Barnet and Watford on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service, namely Iran, the Metropolitan police said.
Continue reading...UK house price growth slowed in February as value of typical home rose 0.3% to £301,151
Halifax has warned that the US-Israel war on Iran could slow mortgage rate decreases this year, as it said that house price growth eased dramatically in February.
Halifax, which is part of Lloyds – Britain’s biggest mortgage lender – said the conflict in the Middle East was likely to affect global economies, stoke inflation and reduce the likely rate of interest rate cuts that influence borrowing costs for homebuyers.
Continue reading...Adam Tickell, of University of Birmingham, says money is loaned to people who ‘are not really capable of graduating’
A leading vice-chancellor has questioned whether students without A-levels should be eligible for government-backed student loans, as part of an effort to solve England’s university funding crisis.
Adam Tickell, vice-chancellor of the University of Birmingham, said universities face an “almost existential challenge” and falling public support that requires a radical review of higher education funding.
Continue reading...The 55 pilot whales, which had to be euthanised, had been following a female having a difficult birth, scientists believe
The mass stranding and death of 55 whales on the Isle of Lewis in 2023 was caused by the mammals’ loyalty to their pod, a report has concluded.
It had been thought that the unusually large incident on Tràigh Mhòr beach, Tolsta, could have been caused by trauma, disease or acoustic disturbance from military or industrially generated noise.
Continue reading...Joani Reid steps back while internal inquiry takes place following freeing of husband David Taylor on bail until May
The MP whose husband was arrested this week on suspicion of spying for China has resigned the Labour whip while an internal investigation is carried out.
Joani Reid, the MP for East Kilbride, said on Thursday night she would temporarily stand down from the party while the inquiry takes place.
Continue reading...After the Greens’ byelection win, PM’s failure to make a progressive offer has angered Labour’s soft-left majority
But for the Iran crisis, Labour’s first major policy announcement since the party’s calamitous defeat in the Gorton and Denton byelection would have been arguably the biggest political story of the week.
Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, pressed ahead with what is intended to be the party’s full-throated answer to the competition it faces from Reform UK as she declared an end to permanent refugee status and the removal of state support from some asylum seekers.
Continue reading...CMA says it wants to ensure market ‘working well for consumers’ as more Britons forced to seek private care
The UK’s competition watchdog has launched a review into the £8bn private dentistry market after the price of a consultation increased by nearly 25% over a two-year period.
One in five people in Great Britain sought private dental care in 2024 in part because they could not access NHS treatment. Announcing its investigation, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it wanted to make sure the market was “working well for UK consumers”.
Continue reading...At least eight councils receive legal threats alleging flyers criticising wood burners are in breach of advertising codes
Lobbyists for the UK wood-burning stove industry have threatened councils with legal action over public information campaigns warning of the harms of air pollution.
At least eight councils have received legal threats, according to research by the British Medical Journal (BMJ). The Stove Industry Association (SIA), which represents the UK’s expanding industry around the burning of wood in domestic settings, wrote to the councils, all London boroughs, in late 2023 complaining that flyers stating wood burners were “careless, not cosy” were in breach of UK advertising codes.
Continue reading...Research challenges idea of ‘generation sensible’ as alcohol and drug use increase after teenage years
Binge drinking rates among gen Z have risen sharply since their teenage years, according to research that challenges their reputation as “generation sensible”.
Almost seven in 10 (68%) 23-year-olds reported binge drinking in the past year, while nearly a third (29%) said they did so at least monthly, up from 10% at age 17.
Continue reading...Financial abuse is a factor in more than half of deaths related to domestic abuse but is often misunderstood
Economic abuse from a partner contributes to one death from homicide or suicide every 19 days, a charity has found.
Surviving Economic Abuse (Sea) said economic abuse from an intimate partner was a factor in more than half of deaths related to domestic abuse but was often misunderstood or overlooked.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Continue reading...Prime minister’s initial refusal to help US could constrain Britain’s ability to protect its nationals in the Gulf and reassure allies
Britain knew that the US was considering attacking Iran from the moment Donald Trump told protesters that “help is coming” in the middle of January. It was obvious to the world that the White House was serious when the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group was sent to the Arabian Sea in late January.
But as Trump gradually built up his “massive armada”, reinforcing it with a second carrier strike group in mid-February, UK deployments were constrained and limited even though there was a recognition that it was likely allies and bases with British soldiers would be attacked in an Iranian retaliation.
Continue reading...Joani Reid asks for privacy after it was revealed her husband David Taylor was one of the three men arrested
Starmer begins PMQs by telling the Commons that his thoughts are with Sarah Everard “on this very painful anniversary” of her death.
He says the government is working hard to prevent boys and men from becoming abusers.
Continue reading...Government says it is working to solve ‘postcode lottery’ of access to green or blue spaces
There are urban areas of England where no one lives within a 15-minute walk of nature, government data shows, as ministers scramble to meet their access to nature targets.
While the data shows 80% of people live within walking distance of green or blue spaces such as a river, park or woodland, it also reveals a disparity between rural and poorer urban areas.
Continue reading...Liz Sayce tells MPs some civil servants tried to minimise extent of problems and deflect blame
The head of an official inquiry into carer’s allowance has criticised “forces of resistance” inside the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that undermined ministerial attempts to fix longstanding problems with the much-criticised benefit.
Liz Sayce, whose review of carer’s allowance was published in November, said rather than owning the problems, some at the DWP had tried to “minimise” the extent of the department’s failures and sought to deflect blame for the crisis.
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