Category Archives: UK news

Revealed: UK concealed failure to alert EU over 75,000 criminal convictions

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Calls in UK and Europe for inquiries into scandal in which details of crimes by foreigners not passed on

The UK has failed to pass on the details of 75,000 convictions of foreign criminals to their home EU countries and concealed the scandal for fear of damaging Britain’s reputation in Europe’s capitals, the Guardian can reveal.

European trust in the UK on security issues sank to a new low on Tuesday night after details emerged of the apparent cover-up, which prompted calls for an investigation in the UK and a warning from one senior MEP that a Brussels inquiry was inevitable.

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Sussexes decided ‘not necessary’ for Meghan to join royal summit

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As royals including Harry return to engagements, aides counter reports Meghan barred from talks

The Duchess of Sussex did not take part in the Queen’s Sandringham summit to decide future roles for herself and Prince Harry, it has emerged, as the remaining full-time working royals returned to their round of official engagements.

Before Monday’s crisis family meeting, sources had indicated Meghan was likely to be personally involved in the urgent discussions precipitated by the couple’s shock announcement that they intended to “step back” from frontline royal duties.

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Boris Johnson’s Big Ben Brexit bong plan falls flat

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No plan for a public fund to sound bells on UK’s exit from EU, despite PM’s assertions

An energetic if perhaps niche campaign to ensure the chimes of Big Ben sound at the moment of Brexit on 31 January appears doomed after Commons authorities played down the idea, while a funding plan promised by Boris Johnson to pay for it turned out to not exist.

Staunchly pro-Brexit Tories such as Mark Francois and some newspapers have called for lengthy restoration work on the parliamentary clocktower to be paused so the bell can sound at 11pm, marking the moment the UK leaves the EU.

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Trudeau: there will be ‘many discussions’ about Harry and Meghan’s security – video

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Following the shock statement by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex last Wednesday that they want to 'step back' as senior royals and divide their time between Canada and the UK, questions were raised over whether Canadian taxpayers would have to pay for the couple's security during their time in the country. Speaking to Canadian broadcaster Global News on Monday, the country's prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said: 'There will be many discussions to come on how that works'

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Boris Johnson says he wants to see county lines drug gangs ‘totally wound up’ in first interview of 2020 – live news

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Follow all today’s political developments as they happen

There were various news lines in that interview, but perhaps the most surprising line came when Johnson announced that he wanted to end country lines drug dealing. No one will question the merits of his ambition, but he is making a promise that will be very hard to deliver.

This is what he said on the topic.

I want to see crime come down. I want to see the county lines drugs gangs wound up, rolled up. They are reducing the quality of life for people across our country, they are killing young kids. I want to see that thing totally wound up.

Q: Will Ann Secoulas, the US diplomat accused of killing Harry Dunn in a road accident, face justice?

Johnson says the US are unlikely to send her back to the UK. That is not what they do.

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Harry and Meghan: Queen gives reluctant blessing to couple’s plans

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She agreed to a ‘period of transition’ and stressed the Sussexes remain ‘a valued part of my family’

The Queen has given her reluctant blessing to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to split their time between the UK and Canada, making it clear that though she had wanted the couple to remain as full-time working royals, she supported their decision.

After a historic summit of senior royals at Sandringham, details over exactly how Harry and Meghan will carve out the new “progressive” roles they seek remained unclear. The Queen has, however, agreed to a “period of transition” and stressed the couple remain “a valued part of my family”.

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Indonesia: LGBT community faces backlash after Reynhard Sinaga’s rape conviction

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Rights groups voice concern as mayor in Sinaga’s home city instructs police to carry out raids to uncover ‘LGBT behaviour’

The mayor in the home city of an Indonesian man described as Britain’s “most prolific rapist” has ordered raids to uncover members of the LGBT community, prompting fears of a growing homophobic backlash across the country.

The mayor of Depok, a city south of Jakarta, asked residents to report any signs of LGBT activity which he characterised as “deviant behaviour”. Mohammad Idris also called on several agencies to improve efforts to prevent the “spread of LGBT” in order to “strengthen families and … protect the children” and instructed police to carry out raids to uncover “LGBT behaviour”.

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Labour leadership: Thornberry in, Lewis out, leaving five candidates as deadline passes – live news

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

From Business Insider’s Adam Payne

Asked Nandy whether she’d work with the Greens/Lib Dems at future elections. She says she supports working “with the broadest possible alliance” but pours cold water on electoral alliances, telling me: “it’s a bit defeatist to say we can only win power through electoral pacts.”

This transition period stuff is catching. The Queen has just released a read-out of her talks at Sandringham about Harry and Meghan and it turns out that their breakaway is also going to involve a transition period. Doubtless there will be calls for it to get extended too.

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Queen says Harry and Meghan will have ‘period of transition’ in UK and Canada in first statement – live news

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Monarch says she ‘would have preferred’ couple to remain full-time working royals as day of Sandringham talks concludes

Buckingham Palace has just released the following statement from the Queen:

Today my family had very constructive discussions on the future of my grandson and his family.

My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan’s desire to create a new life as a young family. Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working Members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family.

Reports are coming in from correspondents at Sandringham that the royals have left the estate.

The meeting is over. The senior Royals have been seen leaving Sandringham.
We await news ...#HarryandMeghan

Charles, Harry and William have all been photographed leaving Sandringham separately #SandringhamSummit

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EU trade chief foresees ‘financial services for fishing’ Brexit bargain

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Commissioner says Europe will seek fishery access and UK will want concessions for City

The EU’s trade commissioner has suggested there could be a last-minute trade-off with Brussels offering the City of London access to European markets in return for European fleets retaining their fishing rights in British waters.

The UK’s financial services sector will lose its automatic right to serve Europe-based clients at the end of the transition period and the EU will need to negotiate access to UK waters for its fishing boats.

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Half of those charged with knife murders had committed similar offences

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Call for action after police figures show 46% of people charged were reoffenders

Almost half of people charged with knife killings in London over the past three years had previously committed an offence involving a blade, Metropolitan police figures suggest.

The Met charged 379 people with knife crime homicides between the start of November 2016 and the end of October last year. Of those charged, 173, or 46%, had previously committed a knife offence, according to the Met data.

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Johnson hails ‘incredible time’ for region as he visits Northern Ireland

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PM welcomes restoration of power sharing as he and Varadkar meet first and deputy ministers

Boris Johnson has predicted “an incredible time” for Northern Ireland now that the region has a functioning power-sharing government again.

Prior to a trip to Belfast, the prime minister welcomed the historic deal that restored the cross-community coalition at Stormont.

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Mother of UK’s worst serial rapist ‘didn’t know he was gay’

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We are a good Christian family, says Normawati Sinaga. ‘He is my baby’

The mother of a mature student described as “Britain’s most prolific rapist” says she did not know he was gay.

Reynhard Sinaga was sentenced to life with a minimum of 30 years last week after being found guilty of attacking 48 men in Manchester. Videos he recorded on two iPhones suggest that he attacked at least 195 men while they lay comatose in his city centre flat, having spiked their drinks with a date rape drug.

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Prince William: Harry and I are now separate entities

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‘I’ve put my arm around my brother all our lives and I can’t do that any more,’ prince says

The Duke of Cambridge has expressed his sadness over tensions with his brother before Monday’s crisis summit at Sandringham called by the Queen to decide the future of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

The brothers are now “separate entities” but Prince William hopes matters can be resolved so the royal family can once more play as “a team”, according to reports.

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The Observer view on Flight 752 and its political fallout | Observer editorial

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Trump and Pompeo should act with extreme caution in the wake of this terrible incident

The crash of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 over Iran, which killed all 176 people on board, is a tragedy. The human cost should not be obscured by the recriminations that have followed. Many families in Iran, Canada, Britain and elsewhere have suffered a devastating blow. In addition to the lives lost, countless more lives have been irreparably damaged.

The Iranian government’s admission of responsibility is welcome. It should have come sooner. Tehran’s hasty claim, within hours of the disaster, that mechanical problems were to blame provoked immediate suspicion. Within 24 hours, video and other evidence emerged, clearly indicating the airliner was hit by a ground-to-air missile, yet Iranian spokesmen and diplomats persisted with their implausible denials.

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Britain must prepare to fight wars without US help, says defence secretary

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Ben Wallace says US withdrawal from international leadership under Donald Trump ‘keeps me awake at night’

Britain must be prepared to fight future wars without the US as its principal ally, the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, has said.

Wallace said the increasing withdrawal of America from international leadership under Donald Trump meant Britain needed to rethink the assumptions underpinning its defence planning for the past decade.

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Harry and Meghan: Queen calls senior royals to crisis summit

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The Queen, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex to meet at Sandringham on Monday

The Queen has summoned senior royals to an emergency summit at her Sandringham estate in Norfolk on Monday to discuss the future of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

The meeting, to be attended by the Queen, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex, will be the first time the four have met since the Sussex crisis exploded on Wednesday.

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Northern Ireland assembly reopens three years after collapse

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Arlene Foster and Michelle O’Neill stress need for unity as they take up senior roles

The Northern Ireland assembly has reopened for business three years almost to the day after it and the power-sharing executive in the region collapsed.

At an unprecedented Saturday sitting of the regional parliament, assembly members elected Sinn Féin’s Alex Maskey as the chamber’s speaker, the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) leader, Arlene Foster, as first minister and Sinn Féin’s deputy leader, Michelle O’Neill, as deputy first minister.

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Will Northern Ireland’s new power-sharing assembly survive?

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Many stumbling blocks lie in path of government, including referendum on Irish unity

The agreement hinged on the issues of language and culture. Sinn Féin insists on an Irish language act that would put Irish on an equal par with English in Northern Ireland, not unlike the situation with Welsh in Wales. Unionists oppose this but the two governments appear to have hit upon a compromise whereby the rights of Irish speakers are balanced with rights for the Ulster Scots/loyalist tradition.

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