Category Archives: UK news

My Father’s Shadow looms over competition at British independent film awards

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Akinola Davies Jr’s Nigeria-set drama has 12 nominations, including best film and besr director

Nigeria-set drama My Father’s Shadow is the leading contender at this year’s British independent film awards (Bifas), after it scooped 12 nominations, including best British independent film, best director for Akinola Davies Jr, and best screenplay for Davies’s brother Wale. The film came out ahead of Pillion, adapted from Adam Mars-Jones’s coming-of-age relationship story, which got 10 nominations, and biopic I Swear, which got nine.

My Father’s Shadow, which stars Sope Dirisu and is Davies’s debut feature as a director, premiered at the Cannes film festival to admiring reviews. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw described it as “a transparently personal project and a coming-of-age film in its (traumatised) way, a moving account of how, just for one day, two young boys glimpse the real life and real history of their father who has been mostly absent for much of their lives”. The film is yet to be released in the UK, but has already come out in Nigeria.

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Nigel Farage backtracks on Reform UK’s promise to cut £90bn of taxes

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Party leader says proposal had been an ‘aspiration’ and accuses Tories and Labour of ‘wrecking the public finances’

Nigel Farage has rowed back from his party’s election promise to cut £90bn of taxes, accusing Labour and the Tories of “wrecking the public finances” and saying Reform UK would need to get public spending under control first.

The Reform leader rejected suggestions he had been forced to break manifesto promises in order to gain economic credibility, suggesting the proposal had only ever been an “aspiration”.

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UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China

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Exclusive: Leading professor at Sheffield Hallam was told to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China after demands from authorities

A British university complied with a demand from Beijing to halt research about human rights abuses in China, leading to a major project being dropped, the Guardian can reveal.

In February, Sheffield Hallam University, home to the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC), a leading research institution focused on human rights, ordered one of its best-known professors, Laura Murphy, to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China.

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Pregnant British teen accused of drug-smuggling moved to baby unit in Georgian prison

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Mother of Bella May Culley, 19, awaiting sentencing on Monday, says conditions have improved after transfer to new jail

A pregnant British teenager accused of drug-smuggling has been moved to a mother and baby unit in a Georgian prison, her mother said.

Bella May Culley, 19, who is reported to be eight months pregnant, was arrested at Tbilisi airport in May.

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Richard Gott, former Guardian journalist and historian, dies aged 87

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Charismatic figure of the left is remembered as one of the most informed commentators on Latin American affairs

The former Guardian journalist and historian Richard Gott has died aged 87.

Gott’s career at the Guardian began in 1964 and included spells as foreign correspondent, leader writer, features editor and literary editor.

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Paintings by UK pioneer of abstract art to be displayed in West Country

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Large-scale William Scott works feature in exhibition that tells story of artist’s friendship with Mark Rothko

The story of how one of the UK’s great abstract painters was inspired by ordinariness – and the extraordinary meeting he had with an American artistic giant – is being told in a new exhibition in the West Country.

Three large-scale paintings by William Scott (1913 –1989) have been loaned to the Museum of Somerset in Taunton, not far from the artist’s home and studio in the countryside south of Bath.

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Two arrested after multiple people stabbed on train in Cambridgeshire

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A number of injured taken to hospital after incident in Huntingdon, according to Cambridgeshire police

Two people have been arrested after several people were stabbed on a train to Huntingdon, Cambridge, police have said.

Cambridgeshire constabulary said armed police attended after officers were called to the scene at Huntingdon station at 7.39pm on Saturday.

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Big belly, wavy fur and a nose for trouble: we exclusively reveal the new-look Paddington

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It’s been the biggest secret in theatre: what will the marmalade-loving, hyper-polite Peruvian look like in Paddington the Musical? As the curtain rises, we speak to the new bear’s creator, a veteran of Star Wars and PG Tips ads

Paddington stands within touching distance. His fur flutters as he turns, his neat button nose sniffs the air, and his eyes soften with a smile. For years, design details of the bear for Paddington the Musical, directed by Luke Sheppard, have been kept top secret. Now here he is, in his blue duffel coat and red hat. A quiet theatrical marvel. “What we’re doing,” says producer Sonia Friedman, “has never been done before.”

Standing around 1.2 metres (just under 4ft) tall, the bear is beautifully round, all belly and sloping shoulders. He is not an exact replica of the Paddingtons we’ve seen in illustrations or movies, but something new. His shaggy, caramel fur has a gentle wave, and his white snout is dotted with a brown nose, ideal for sniffing out trouble. Around his neck sits a label, threaded through an old piece of string, asking for someone to look after him.

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Man killed in South Yorkshire helicopter crash named as Peter Smith

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Seventy-year-old, who died in incident near Bentley, said by family to be ‘a beloved husband, father and grandfather’

A man who was killed in a helicopter crash in Doncaster, South Yorkshire on Thursday has been named by his family as Peter Smith.

The family described Smith, 70, as “a beloved husband, father and grandfather” and said they were “all devastated by this sudden loss”, in a statement released by South Yorkshire police.

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Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana gets driving ban for speeding on hard shoulder

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Footballer pleads guilty to one count of driving dangerously after his offence was caught on camera

A Chelsea footballer who was caught on camera speeding down the hard shoulder of a busy A road in his Lamborghini has been handed a lengthy driving ban.

Wesley Fofana, 24, pleaded guilty at North East Surrey magistrates court to one count of driving dangerously on 20 April along the A3 Esher bypass in Hook, Hampshire. The incident came to light after another motorist captured the footage on a dashcam and reported it to the police.

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Police charge 11 after cannabis worth nearly £14m seized at Birmingham airport

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Officers confiscated more than half a tonne of class B drug in 22 suitcases from air passengers travelling from Thailand

Police have charged 11 people in connection with an attempt to smuggle 22 suitcases packed with cannabis from Thailand to Birmingham worth nearly £14m.

More than half a tonne of the class B drug, described by the National Crime Agency (NCA) as an “enormous amount”, was seized at Birmingham airport in August 2024. The 11 people charged, aged from 21 to 35, all travelled to the UK from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.

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Britain one of least ‘nature-connected’ nations in world – with Nepal the most

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Others languishing near bottom of 61-country study include Canada, Germany, Israel, Japan and Spain

Britain is one of the least “nature connected” nations in the world, according to the first ever global study of how people relate to the natural world.

Britain ranks 55th out of 61 countries in the study of 57,000 people, which looks at how attitudes towards nature are shaped by social, economic, geographical and cultural factors.

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Unregulated sperm donor still advertising services despite court warnings to women

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Exclusive: Behaviour of Robert Albon, or ‘Joe Donor’, described as compulsive by judge who said he targeted vulnerable women

A prolific unregulated donor is still attempting to sell his sperm despite warnings from two family court judges, a Guardian investigation has found.

Robert Albon, who calls himself “Joe Donor”, has appealed to the courts to gain access to at least four of his biological children against their mothers’ wishes. In a rare move, a judge named him in 2023 to warn women of the risks of using his services, which he promotes on social media.

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M&S launches ‘secret support’ pants that offer men a ‘subtle lift’

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Retailer says underwear that could become male equivalent of push-up bra is intended to ‘help men feel their most confident’

For men who lament the decline of the codpiece, or who lack confidence at the office when their pants are not pushing up their genitals all day, Marks & Spencer is riding to the rescue.

The retailer, the UK market leader in selling underwear, has launched what could be considered the male equivalent of the push-up bra.

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Palace’s statement on Andrew is ‘vindication’ for Virginia Giuffre, says her family

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Women’s rights groups say announcement sends important message to survivors of abuse

The historic statement from Buckingham Palace stripping Andrew Mountbatten Windsor of his title is an “acknowledgment” that something happened to the late Virginia Giuffre, her family has told the Guardian.

In its announcement on Thursday, the palace said Andrew Mountbatten Windsor – as he is now known – will also leave his mansion in Windsor, Royal Lodge, as his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein continue to cause controversy.

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UK man who murdered pregnant girlfriend after release from prison jailed for 42 years

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Alana Odysseos, 32, was pregnant with her third child when she was killed by Shaine March in July last year

A man who murdered his pregnant girlfriend after being released from prison on licence has been jailed for 42 years.

Alana Odysseos, 32, was in the early stages of pregnancy with her third child when she was killed by Shaine March last year at her home in Walthamstow, east London. She died at the scene from stab wounds after the attack on 22 July 2024.

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UK politics: Worries about immigration are ‘manufactured panic’ says charity as poll shows issue not a local concern – as it happened

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YouGov poll say only 26% of people say immigration is an issue locally but more than half believe it to be a national issue

There were six council byelections yesterday. Here are the results, from Election Maps UK.

Reform gained two seats, from Labour and from an independent group.

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Ministers’ claims to have helped JLR in doubt as £1.5bn support left untouched

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Exclusive: No cyber-attack assistance cash has gone into carmaker’s accounts or to struggling suppliers

Jaguar Land Rover has not drawn down any of a £1.5bn loan facility guaranteed by the government, with suppliers expressing anger over ministers’ claims to have supported the carmaker’s supply chain after a crippling hack.

Britain’s biggest automotive employer was forced to shut down all of its wholly owned factories from 1 September for more than a month, after cyber-attackers compromised key computer systems.

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Nearly 150,000 aged 90 and above wait 12 hours in England’s A&Es each year

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Older people left in their own excrement and wet beds for hours and forced to watch others die, Age UK report finds

Almost 150,000 people aged 90 and over in England are forced to wait longer than 12 hours in A&E every year, with some experiencing “truly shocking” waits of several days stuck in corridors, a report warns.

Older people are also being left in their own excrement and wet beds for hours, denied pain relief and forced to watch and hear other patients die next to them because they end up waiting so long for care, according to Age UK.

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Lettings agency takes blame in Rachel Reeves licence row

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Agency says staff member offered to apply for licence to allow chancellor to rent out family home, but failed to do so

Keir Starmer appears to have escaped the huge political damage of potentially losing his chancellor weeks before the budget, after 24 hours of intense scrutiny over whether Rachel Reeves broke the law when she rented out her family home.

The Conservatives said Reeves must be sacked if she committed an offence by not obtaining a council licence before letting out her four-bedroom house in south London when the family moved into 11 Downing Street. No 10 was initially unable to explain why Starmer believed an apology from the chancellor was sufficient.

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