Caesareans drive rise in assisted deliveries as experts warn of complex pregnancies linked to age, obesity and other conditions
More than half of women having a baby in Britain now do so with the help of medical intervention, an audit of NHS maternity care has revealed.
Of the 592,594 births that took place in 2023, 50.6% involved either a caesarean section or the use of instruments such as forceps or a ventouse suction cup.
Continue reading...New blow to UK’s key life science sector as industry body says country is losing ground on investment and research
The US drugmaker Merck has scrapped a £1bn London research centre and is laying off 125 scientists in the capital this year, in a big blow to the UK’s important life science sector.
Keir Starmer’s government has described life sciences as “one of the crown jewels of the UK economy” and the previous Conservative government had vowed to turn the country into a “global science and technology superpower” by 2030.
Continue reading...Isaac Herzog says ‘when allies meet they can argue’ after some Labour MPs condemn Downing Street meeting
The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, and the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, had a “tough” set of exchanges over humanitarian aid in Gaza at a Downing Street meeting, amid street protests demanding Herzog’s arrest as a war criminal.
Herzog, speaking to the Chatham House thinktank immediately after the meeting, said he had offered the British government a fact-finding mission to look at the levels of aid entering Gaza. He denied there was any famine and blamed the high civilian death toll on Hamas placing missiles in living rooms.
Continue reading...Education secretary and Manchester MP look destined for face-off as three other candidates struggle for MP nominations
Labour’s deputy leadership contest is set to be a race between the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, and the ousted cabinet minister Lucy Powell, as three other candidates in the race struggled to make nominations.
Phillipson comfortably cleared the hurdle of 80 nominations on Wednesday evening with backing from 116 MPs, but Powell was not yet at the threshold with 77 nominations.
Continue reading...PM was grilled by Kemi Badenoch on suitability of Mandelson for job as US ambassador
Helena Horton is a Guardian environment reporter.
Emma Reynolds, the new environment secretary, had a difficult job this morning: meeting a group of farmers after Labour caused fury in the rural community by introducing a new inheritance tax.
The Treasury reserve, designed to be used for “genuinely unforeseen, unaffordable and unavoidable pressures” has recently been used to fund higher public sector pay and compensation payouts.
In a letter to ministers, the chancellor said Treasury would only consider providing reserve funds to departments that have already maximised their savings …
Continue reading...Data breach at third-party supplier involves contact details and some information about previous journeys
The train operator LNER has urged customers to be wary of unsolicited communications after revealing some passengers’ contact details and journey records have been accessed in a cyber-attack.
The data breach took place at a third-party supplier, and LNER said no bank or payment details or password information had been accessed.
Continue reading...Two leaders have competing visions for Israel’s security and Palestinian self-rule with little chance of finding common ground
A meeting in London between Keir Starmer and the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, could not come at a more difficult time for either leader, and far from easing British-Israeli relations, the encounter risks setting them back yet further.
Once the meeting on Wednesday was in the diary, there was a faint hope within Downing Street that the two men would at least listen to each other about their competing visions for Israel’s future, including a two-state solution to the Palestinian conflict, a vision Herzog once shared.
Continue reading...Carmaker has informed relevant regulators and ‘will contact anyone as appropriate’ as investigation progresses
The cyber-attack on Jaguar Land Rover has affected data held by the carmaker, it has said, as its factories in the UK and abroad face prolonged closure.
JLR, Britain’s biggest carmaker, said on Wednesday that in its investigations into the hack, which first emerged last week, it had now discovered data had been breached.
Continue reading...Number of attempts to cross Channel has been particularly high for several days, say French authorities
Four people including two children have died in two separate incidents while trying to cross the Channel to the UK in the last 24 hours, while three others are missing in a third incident.
On Tuesday night off the coast of Sangatte, France, three people lost their lives while travelling on a dinghy with 38 people onboard. Three others are missing after an incident in Neufchâtel-Hardelot, France, on a boat with 115 people onboard.
Continue reading...More than 1,000 patients to take part in trial to see if the approach leads to faster and more reliable diagnoses
Doctors have launched a clinical trial of a £100 blood test for Alzheimer’s disease in the hope of transforming diagnosis of the devastating condition in the NHS.
More than 1,000 patients with suspected dementia are being recruited from memory clinics across the UK to see whether the test leads to faster and more reliable diagnoses and better care for those found to have the disease.
Continue reading...Andy Cooke says the cases take up little time for forces in England and Wales but create intense controversy
Police should no longer record or investigate non-crime hate incidents, the chief inspector of constabulary has said.
Sir Andy Cooke said handling the incidents took up a minuscule amount of time but drew vehement criticism.
Continue reading...‘Immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages and a huge surge in aid into Gaza’ only route to peace, says PM
Keir Starmer has condemned Israel’s strike on Qatar before a meeting with the Israeli president in London on Wednesday.
The UK prime minister said the military strike, which targeted Hamas leaders stationed in Doha, was a violation of Qatar’s sovereignty and risked “further escalation across the region”.
Continue reading...The new system resembles Tony Blair’s star-rating regime, which was eventually scrapped. Whether naming and shaming leads to improvements remains to be seen
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) was glowing in its description of the league tables by which all of England’s 205 NHS trusts are now being judged: a “landmark” moment, a “pioneering new system” and “a new era of transparency”.
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, said that “sunlight is the best disinfectant” in his zeal to expose, and drive out, poor care.
Continue reading...Loughborough University and ONS study of 1 million school-age children reveals risks increase with longer absence
School absences “significantly contribute” to children’s mental ill health, according to research backed by the Office for National Statistics that shows the risks increase the longer a child is absent.
“Our research shows that the more times a child is absent from school, the greater the probability that they will experience mental ill health,” the authors, from Loughborough University and the ONS, concluded.
Continue reading...Thornberry joins Bridget Phillipson and Bell Ribeiro-Addy in having said she will stand
Kemi Badenoch has just delivered a speech offering to help Labour with legislationg for welfare cuts. I will post key points soon.
She is now taking questions.
Continue reading...Campaigners fear plans to make people wait longer for leave to remain could cost tax-paying skilled workers dearly
Every two-and-a-half years, Uche and her husband pay more than a combined £5,000 for NHS care, on top of the tax and national insurance deducted from their salaries as a care worker and an IT worker.
Now, thousands more skilled workers face having to “pay twice” for services for 10 years or more, campaigners fear, as the government considers extending the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) – and eventually citizenship – in an immigration crackdown.
Continue reading...Those on typical £200,000 mortgages taken out between October 2020 and February 2023 may see costs jump by £3,996 a year this winter
More than 350,000 households who locked in to low-interest fixed-rate mortgages five years ago are expected to see their costs jump this winter as they reach the end of their deals.
Analysis by the bill management app Nous found almost half of mortgages taken out between October 2020 – as the housing market revived after an initial Covid shock – and February 2023 were five-year fixed-rate deals.
Continue reading...Education secretary Bridget Phillipson favourite to win as she is most likely to meet the threshold of MP nominations
Bridget Phillipson, Emily Thornberry and Bell Ribeiro-Addy have thrown their hats in the ring for the Labour deputy leadership contest.
Phillipson, the education secretary, immediately became the favourite to win as she is most likely to meet the threshold of MP nominations.
Continue reading...Johnson’s office sent invoice to hedge fund manager, which was paid, weeks after meeting Venezuelan leader last year
From a private jet somewhere over the Caribbean Sea in February last year, Boris Johnson called his old political adversary David Cameron, then the foreign secretary, to notify him of a visit.
Johnson had taken a day out from a family holiday in the Dominican Republic for an unlikely meeting with the leftwing president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, a man whom Johnson, when in office, had likened to a “dictator of an evil regime”.
Continue reading...The MP said police should be focusing on people who are members of the group, not those who ‘recklessly express support’ for it
Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, used his speech to conference this morning to say that the TUC expected the government to deliver its workers’ rights bill “in full”. He said employment rights were “overwhelmingly popular with voters across the political spectrum”.
And he condemned Reform UK for its stance on employment rights. After saying that Nigel Farage claimed to represent working class people, he went on:
Here’s the truth – there is a world of difference between what Nigel says and what Nigel does.
Every single Reform MP, including Mr Farage, voted against outlawing fire and rehire, against banning zero hours contracts and against day one rights for millions of workers.
Ask yourself this fundamental question. Do you believe in your gut that that Nigel Farage really cares about the people of Clacton when he’s off collecting his speaker’s fees in the United States?
Do you believe that Richard Tice really worries about the people of Skegness while he’s living it up at home in Dubai, or are they just rightwing conmen lining their own pockets?
I just have to say this. No amount of TikToks, or ozempic, or expensive haircuts, will ever hide the eager inner ugliness of Robert Jenrick.
The man who ordered murals painted over in a reception centre for children seeking asylum is indeed a xenophobe, an opportunistic xenophobe hoping to create a political climate that ends up with far right folks laying siege to hotels and black and Asian people being threatened and harassed on our streets.
If we look at the powerful geopolitical push factors, they’re things like regime change. We think Afghanistan, war, civil conflict. And when we look at people crossing in small boats, where do they come from? Well, the top nationalities: Afghan, Eritrea, Iranian, Syrian, Sudanese – just those five nationalities account for almost two thirds of all small boat arrivals, and these individuals are from some of the most chaotic parts of the world.
But there are also some pull factors, and the question is, why not claim asylum in France, why come to the UK? A number of reasons recur there when we speak with asylum seekers. It’s the presence of family members, the English language.
In those circumstances, typically, flagged upon the system, the UK government would be able to issue a speedy refuse refusal and try and effect removal.
As it is, people arrive, we don’t have that record, so we don’t know who they are.
Continue reading...