A 25-year-old and 43-year-old held on suspicion of murder of musician, 48, who was serving 29 years for child sex offences
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after the death in prison of the former Lostprophets singer and convicted child sex offender Ian Watkins.
The 48-year-old was serving a 29-year sentence at HMP Wakefield, with a further six years on licence, after admitting a string of sex offences including the attempted rape of a baby.
Continue reading...Members overwhelmingly endorse leadership motion that majority at next Holyrood election is only route to second vote
SNP members have overwhelmingly backed leader John Swinney’s “clear and unambiguous” independence strategy that a majority election win is the only route to another referendum.
On the first day of the party’s annual conference in Aberdeen, the vast majority of members backed the leadership’s motion that next May’s Holyrood elections should be fought on a “clear platform of national independence” and that winning a majority in the Scottish parliament – by securing 65 seats or more – would be “the only uncontested way to deliver a new vote on Scotland’s future”.
Continue reading...National Archives papers show how then MP pushed for 2002 meeting between PM and ‘young and vibrant’ financier
Sir Tony Blair met Jeffrey Epstein in Downing Street while he was prime minister after a recommendation by Peter Mandelson, newly released papers from the National Archives show.
Epstein visited Blair on 14 May 2002, after the suggestion by Lord Mandelson to the prime minister’s then chief of staff, Jonathan Powell.
Continue reading...Robert Dewar’s widow, Susan, is a leading campaigner over multimillion-pound Norton Motorcycles fraud
The family of a deceased man, who was conned out of his retirement savings after investing in the Norton Motorcycles pension scam, is to lose almost half the subsequent compensation award because of a little-known tax rule.
A long-running battle to win an award from the Fraud Compensation Fund (FCF) meant that Robert Dewar’s pension was not reimbursed until 2024, five years after his death at the age of 64.
Continue reading...Number of endangered butterfly species also surging amid habitat destruction and global heating, finds study
The number of wild bee species in Europe at risk of extinction has more than doubled over the past decade, while the number of endangered butterfly species has almost doubled.
The jeopardy facing crucial pollinators was revealed by scientific studies for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list of threatened species, which found that at least 172 bee species out of 1,928 were at risk of extinction in Europe.
Continue reading...IOPC investigating incident at property in Walthamstow where man reportedly had firearm and made threats to kill
A man was taken to hospital in a “life-threatening” condition after he was shot by police at a home in London on Friday afternoon.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has launched an investigation into the actions of Metropolitan police officers during the incident at a property in Walthamstow, north-east London.
Continue reading...In an attempt to reset the relationship the government is refusing to describe China as a national security threat despite evidence to the contrary
Once, before the election, Labour’s approach to China was forthright. The party promised to declare China’s systematic repression of its Uyghur Muslim minority as a genocide. Its MPs united to support a genocide amendment to a 2021 trade bill, voting with Tory rebels and only failing to defeat Boris Johnson’s government by 11 votes.
But in the past week recriminations have swirled after the prosecution of two Britons accused of spying for China was dropped. A refusal by the government to describe China as a national security threat has reinforced Labour’s already softened approach to Beijing and sharpened focus on the figure at its heart: Keir Starmer’s national security adviser, Jonathan Powell.
Continue reading...Reform deputy leader’s trip, worth £1,400, to Lubov Chernukhin’s property was for ‘discussing gas power in UK’
Reform UK’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, accepted a £1,400 stay at the French Riviera home of Lubov Chernukhin, a Conservative donor and the wife of Russia’s former deputy finance minister, new filings show.
Tice enjoyed accommodation valued at £1,000 and meals worth £400 between 4 and 6 August at the Chernukhins’ property on the Mediterranean coast, listing the purpose as “discussing gas power in the UK”, according to the register of MPs’ interests.
Continue reading...MP says pair have reconciled after bitter dispute as they appear together at Manchester leftwing festival
Zarah Sultana has said she and Jeremy Corbyn have patched up their combustible co-leadership of a new leftwing party, with the MP comparing the duo to Liam and Noel Gallagher.
Speaking alongside Corbyn at The World Transformed political festival in Manchester, the Gallaghers’ home city, Sultana insisted they could cooperate over the organisation still only known, unofficially, as Your Party.
Continue reading...Alfie Franco, 20, stabbed Ahmad Al Ibrahim after taking ‘petty exception’ to teenager brushing past his girlfriend
A man has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years for murdering a teenage Syrian refugee after he brushed past his girlfriend in Huddersfield town centre.
Leeds crown court heard how Alfie Franco, 20, stabbed Ahmad Al Ibrahim, 16, shortly after Ibrahim brushed past Franco’s girlfriend in April. He was found guilty of murder on Thursday.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Leaked files offer a glimpse of the ex-prime minister’s relationship with Christopher Harborne
As he boarded the night train to Ukraine, Boris Johnson had the usual entourage of aides and bodyguards – plus the man who had given him £1m.
Less than a year had passed since Johnson accepted what is thought to be the largest donation ever to an individual MP. It was from Christopher Harborne, one of the UK’s biggest and most private political donors.
Continue reading...Four people have so far been arrested as part of police investigation into attack in East Sussex, which caused ‘significant damage’
Police have made further arrests over an arson attack on a mosque in East Sussex.
The building in Phyllis Avenue, Peacehaven was badly damaged by the fire at about 9.50pm on Saturday. Nobody was injured, but police said “significant damage” was caused to the front of the building and a nearby vehicle.
Continue reading...Commissioner’s review found 87% of cases uncovered physical, psychological or sexual abuse of a family member
Nearly 90% of cases before the family courts in England and Wales show evidence of domestic abuse, a watchdog has disclosed.
Physical, psychological or sexual abuse of a member of the family or household was uncovered in 87% of cases, according to a review ordered by the domestic abuse commissioner, Nicole Jacobs.
Continue reading...Police arrest 30-year-old on suspicion of failing to disclose information about potential terrorist acts
A 30-year-old man arrested over the Manchester synagogue attack has been rearrested at an airport shortly after being released.
Counter-terror police detained the man at Manchester airport on Thursday on suspicion of failing to disclose information about potential terrorist acts. The arrest came within 24 hours of the man being released from custody, where he had been held since the attack at Heaton Park synagogue on Yom Kippur last Thursday.
Continue reading...Police arrest 30-year-old on suspicion of failing to disclose information about potential terrorist acts
A 30-year-old man arrested over the Manchester synagogue attack has been rearrested at an airport shortly after being released.
Counter-terror police detained the man at Manchester airport on Thursday on suspicion of failing to disclose information about potential terrorist acts. The arrest came within 24 hours of the man being released from custody, where he had been held since the attack at Heaton Park synagogue on Yom Kippur last Thursday.
Continue reading...Prince of Wales’s decision welcomed as a means of drawing attention to the event and galvanising talks
The Prince of Wales will attend the crunch Cop30 UN climate summit in Brazil next month, the Guardian has learned, but whether the prime minister will go is still to be decided.
Prince William will present the Earthshot prize, a global environmental award and attend the meeting of representatives of more than 190 governments in Belém.
Continue reading...Competition watchdog agrees requests from Anglian, Northumbrian, Southern, Wessex and South East to raise household bills
Water bills for millions of households in England will increase by even more than expected after the competition regulator gave the green light for five water suppliers to raise charges to customers – but rejected most of the companies’ demands.
An independent group of experts appointed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) provisionally decided to allow the companies to collectively charge customers an extra £556m over the next five years, it said on Thursday. That was only 21% of the £2.7bn that the firms had requested.
Continue reading...Abdallah, 27, and Soha, 31, describe adjusting to their new lives after leaving their war-torn home
The young man emerging from a backstreet accommodation block in a bustling corner of east London looks much like any other student, getting to grips with his studies at the start of a new term. But 27-year-old Abdallah carries more of a burden than most. A qualified doctor, he has recently been evacuated from Gaza to begin his studies at Queen Mary University of London on a fully funded, government-backed Chevening scholarship.
As well as his work in hospitals, he has been striving for months on behalf of the dozens of Palestinian scholars like himself who have been stranded in war-torn Gaza awaiting evacuation by the British government to take up places in UK universities.
Continue reading...Union accuses hospital group of ‘institutional racism’ as cleaners and porters get lower pay than colleagues
Hundreds of NHS hospital workers have voted for strike action after claims that they have lost more than £36m in pay and pension contributions over the last four years.
More than 330 low-paid workers, mainly cleaners, caterers and porters, known as facilities staff, at St George’s, Epsom and St Helier hospital group (GESH) are preparing to go on strike.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Wife of Jihad al-Shamie says he was ‘intimidating, aggressive and controlling’ but did not seem radicalised
The Manchester synagogue terrorist was “intimidating, aggressive and controlling” but showed no sign of extremism before carrying out his lethal antisemitic attack, one of his wives has said.
The woman, who married Jihad al-Shamie in an Islamic ceremony in 2021, said the 35-year-old was “glued to his phone” watching Arabic news channels but did not appear to be on the path to terror.
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