Category Archives: UK news

Labour condemns government for praising Trump Middle East plan

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Emily Thornberry accuses Boris Johnson’s administration of ‘shameful betrayal’

Labour has condemned the government for praising Donald Trump’s vision for Middle East peace, with the shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, calling it a “shameful betrayal” of previous UK support for a viable two-state solution.

In an urgent Commons question on the plan, which has been condemned for granting Israel the bulk of its wishes but only offering a Palestinian state under severe restrictions, Thornberry called it “a monstrosity” and a guarantee of future violence.

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Police sending a third fewer rape cases to prosecutors, figures show

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Call for inquiry into CPS as prosecutions fall by a quarter and convictions by a fifth

Rape victims are finding it increasingly difficult to access justice as police refer fewer cases to the Crown Prosecution Service and fewer allegations of rape are being prosecuted and convicted, according to new figures.

The number of cases referred by the police for charging decisions fell by 32% in the year to September 2019, while prosecutions by the CPS fell 26% and convictions dropped 21%, according to quarterly CPS prosecution data across a range of crimes.

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Murder inquiry launched in case of missing Middlesbrough woman

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Mother appeals for help finding Natalie Jenkins, 32, who was last seen on 10 December

A woman has appealed to the public for help finding her daughter as detectives launched a murder inquiry.

Natalie Jenkins, 32, was last seen in Middlesbrough on 10 December and although she was close to her family, they have not heard from her since. At a news conference in Middlesbrough, DCI Mark Dimelow said the force was treating her disappearance as a suspected murder.

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Huawei ruling will cost us £500m, says BT

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Telecoms group faces big bill for stripping out banned kit from 5G broadband network

Limiting the use of Huawei equipment in BT’s EE 5G mobile and full-fibre broadband networks will cost the telecoms group £500m over the next five years.

BT uses more Huawei equipment in the masts and towers of its mobile network than is allowed under new government rules, meaning it will now have to be stripped out and replaced with hardware from other manufacturers.

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The Crown must handle IRA atrocity with ‘sensitivity’

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Mother of victim urges Netflix to be respectful and truthful as people still grieving today


The mother of a boy murdered by the IRA alongside Lord Louis Mountbatten has appealed to the makers of the The Crown to accurately depict the atrocity in the next season of the Netflix series.

Mary Hornsey said she hoped the drama would show sensitivity in portraying the events of 27 August 1979, when a bomb blew up Mountbatten’s fishing boat off Mullaghmore, a village in County Sligo on Ireland’s north-west coast.

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Britons in EU remain fearful of post-Brexit healthcare and pension provisions

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Guardian callout suggests many are worried about key issues settled with withdrawal agreement

British citizens living in the EU remain confused and worried about their post-Brexit healthcare and pension provision, despite the fact that both issues were settled satisfactorily in the withdrawal agreement, a Guardian callout suggests.

More than 100 of over 600 British nationals on the continent, who responded to the callout, cited fears of shrinking pensions and losing the right to medical treatment.

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Coronavirus: returning Britons could be kept in quarantine for 14 days

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About 200 UK nationals will be barred from boarding plane from China if they do not agree

Hundreds of British nationals brought home from China because of the coronavirus outbreak are expected to be quarantined at a secure NHS facility for a fortnight, it has emerged.

As the last British Airways flights from Beijing and Shanghai returned to the UK after the airline suspended operations in China, about 200 Britons in the vicinity of Wuhan were preparing to leave on an emergency chartered plane.

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Grenfell witnesses threaten to withhold evidence

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People involved in cladding want assurances testimonies will not be used to prosecute them

Witnesses in the Grenfell inquiry who were involved in the tower’s refurbishment have threatened to withhold evidence unless they receive an assurance that their testimony will not be used to mount criminal prosecutions that could land them in jail.

Lawyers for the architects, builders and the client on the works threw the inquiry into confusion on Wednesday when they wrote to its chairman, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, arguing that their clients could claim a privilege against self-incrimination as a reason for not answering questions.

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Brexit: MEPs ratify UK withdrawal agreement

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Politicians join in rendition of Auld Lang Syne after vote confirming UK departure from EU on Friday

Britain’s departure from the EU on 31 January was set in stone in a historic moment for the nation as MEPs in Brussels ratified the withdrawal agreement before breaking out in a rendition of Auld Lang Syne.

As the president of the European parliament, David Sassoli, announced the result of the vote, with 621 in favour to 38 against with 13 abstentions, MEPs stood almost as one to sing the Scottish song.

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The Britons getting out before Brexit ‘drawbridge’ goes up

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UK nationals rush to settle in Spain before they lose their rights as EU citizens on 31 December

Campaigners for the rights of British nationals in Spain have reported a rise in the number of inquiries from people rushing through plans to establish residency in the country before the Brexit “drawbridge goes up”.

Sue Wilson, the founder of campaign group Bremain in Spain, says now that Brexit is “concrete and is happening” they are seeing evidence of Britons “expediting their plans” for retirement or a career move to Spain.

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Wales to ban parents smacking their children from 2022

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Bill passes despite concerns it is ‘stepping into the private lives of families’

A move to ban parents from smacking children has been approved by the Welsh assembly and is expected to come into force in 2022 following a £2m awareness campaign.

Supporters said it was a historic day for Wales and would stop mothers and fathers using physical violence as punishment, but opponents argued it could criminalise loving parents.

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Human rights report to oppose extradition of Julian Assange to US

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European assembly says WikiLeaks founder’s detention ‘sets dangerous precedent’

Julian Assange’s detention “sets a dangerous precedent for journalists”, according to politicians from the Council of Europe’s parliamentary arm, who voted on Tuesday to oppose the WikiLeaks founder’s extradition to the US.

The words of support for Assange and implicit criticism of the UK government will be contained in a final report produced by the Labour peer Lord Foulkes for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which focuses on upholding human rights across the continent.

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Rochdale child sex offender who fled to Pakistan during trial extradited

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Choudhry Ikhalaq Hussain has been returned to UK to serve 19-year jail term

A child sex offender who sexually exploited an underage girl in Rochdale has been returned to the UK to serve a 19-year jail sentence after fleeing to Pakistan halfway through his trial.

Choudhry Ikhalaq Hussain, 42, was extradited on Tuesday after being arrested in January last year in the province of Punjab, Greater Manchester police (GMP) said.

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Disabled man starved to death after DWP stopped his benefits

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MPs call for inquiry into case of Errol Graham, 57, who weighed 28.5kg when he was found dead

MPs and campaigners have called for an independent inquiry after it emerged a disabled man with a long history of mental illness starved to death just months after welfare officials stopped his out-of-work and housing benefits.

Errol Graham, a 57-year-old grandfather, and in his younger days a keen amateur footballer, weighed just four and a half stone (28.5kg) when his emaciated body was discovered by bailiffs who had broken down his front door to evict him for non-payment of rent.

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Manchester cycle network plan could be national blueprint, says Burnham

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Mayor urges backing as report sets out predicted gains from walking and cycling scheme

A joined-up cycling and walking network in Greater Manchester could provide a national blueprint for reducing congestion and air pollution and improving health, a report says.

Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, and Chris Boardman, the region’s cycling and walking commissioner, are calling on the government to back plans for an 1,800-mile network of protected routes for pedestrians and cyclists.

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British man dies in US immigration detention in Florida

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  • Death of man, 39, initially attributed to hanging
  • UK Foreign Office said to be in touch with man’s wife

A British man has died while being held in US immigration detention in Florida, the Guardian has confirmed.

The death was first reported by BuzzFeed News, which said the man was 39 years old and that the cause was initially attributed to asphyxiation due to hanging. The incident was reported to have occurred on Saturday last week.

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Brexit: No 10 insists fishing waters will be under UK control after Varadkar remarks – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen

Here is the Times’s Steven Swinford on the significant of the PMOS’s comments on fishing.

No 10 spokesman suggests access to Britain’s waters for EU fishing boats *will* be the subject of negotiations over future trade deal

‘We are taking back control of our waters

‘It will be for the UK to determine for the best interests of the UK who fishes in those waters’

The PMOS is not talking about some of the post-Brexit Whitehall arrangements.

He says there will be 40 officials working in government taskforce on the EU future partnership.

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Philip Pullman calls for boycott of Brexit 50p coin over ‘missing’ Oxford comma

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Critics fume over the omission of Oxford comma from phrase ‘Peace, prosperity and friendship’ as new coin enters circulation

It is a debate that has torn the nation in two, ripped friends and family apart, and entrenched deep and uncrossable lines throughout the land. Should the Royal Mint have used an Oxford comma on its Brexit 50p piece?

Three million coins bearing the slogan “Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations” are due to enter circulation from 31 January, with Sajid Javid, chancellor of the exchequer, expressing his hope that the commemorative coin will mark “the beginning of this new chapter” as the UK leaves the European Union.

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Sunday People ‘hired detectives to target Milly Dowler family’

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Papers lodged in high court civil case say family was put under unlawful surveillance

Private detectives were hired by the Sunday People newspaper to target the family of the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler in 2002, it has been alleged.

The claims are made in legal papers lodged as part of a civil action being taken by a range of claimants, including Prince Harry.

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Teenager in Cyprus rape case ‘drugged and suffered nightmares’ in prison

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Woman, 19, says she shared cell with eight others and lost 16kg while suffering from PTSD

A British teenager convicted of lying about being gang-raped in Cyprus has said she had nightmares about “being raped again” every night while in prison.

The 19-year-old, who was remanded in jail for more than a month after being charged last July, says she lost 16kg (2st 7lb) and was given Xanax by prison doctors, which made her hallucinate during her ordeal.

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