Category Archives: UK news

End of Golden Age: Dutch museum bans term from exhibits

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Debate over Netherlands’ colonial past resurfaces with switch to ‘17th century’ as alternative

One of the Netherlands’ most prestigious museums has fuelled fresh debate over the the country’s colonial past by deciding it will no longer use the term Golden Age to describe the 17th century when it was at its pinnacle as a military and trading power.

The Amsterdam Museum said that in an attempt to be “polyphonic and inclusive”, the common description of the century in which the Netherlands bestrode the world stage would be banned from its exhibits.

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Woodland sounds help relaxation more than meditation apps – study

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National Trust research finds birdsong and rustling leaves increase relaxation by 30%

Gentle woodland sounds such as birdsong and the breeze rustling leaves in the trees are more relaxing than meditation recordings, a new study claims.

Researchers exposed participants to three soundtracks – a woodland, a woman guiding a meditation session and deep silence.

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John Bercow: I’ll stop Boris Johnson breaking the law on Brexit

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Commons Speaker issues direct challenge to ministers threatening to ignore legislation

John Bercow has threatened Boris Johnson that he will be prepared to rip up the parliamentary rulebook to stop any illegal attempt by the prime minister to take the UK out of the EU without a deal on 31 October.

In a direct warning to No 10, the Speaker of the House of Commons said he is prepared to allow “additional procedural creativity” if necessary to allow parliament to block Johnson from ignoring the law.

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Dolphins in Channel carry ‘toxic cocktail’ of chemicals

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High levels of mercury and banned industrial fluids, found in blubber and skin, can impact reproduction

Bottlenose dolphins in the Channel have been found to carry a “toxic cocktail” of chemicals in their bodies, some of which have been banned for decades and which may be harming the marine mammals’ health, scientists have said.

Belgian and French scientists said they detected high accumulations of industrial fluids and mercury in the blubber and skin of dolphins in the waters off the north-west coast of France.

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European parliament to raise alarm over UK’s treatment of EU citizens

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Leaked resolution says it will use veto against any Brexit deal without an insurance policy

The European parliament is to criticise the British government’s treatment of EU citizens living in the UK and insist it will refuse to ratify a deal that fails to include an Irish backstop or provisions that tie the UK into EU standards after Brexit.

A leaked copy of a resolution of the parliament due to be voted on next week lays out a series of concerns about the conduct of Boris Johnson’s government. The parliament has a veto on any deal agreed.

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Alleged drug gang thwarted by giant seal in $1bn Australian drug bust

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Meth, cocaine and ecstasy found stashed under seaweed off Western Australia after yacht used by alleged smugglers ran aground

Three more men have been charged over a massive A$1bn drug haul found on a tiny island off Western Australia after a yacht ran aground and was abandoned, sparking a search for its occupants.

Police launched a raid on Burton Island off the port town of Geraldton last week, finding Frenchman Antoine Dicenta, 51, and British man Graham Palmer, 34, allegedly with 1.087 tonne of methylamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy in dozens of bags that they had attempted to hide under seaweed.

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Kenyans who claim UK drove them from their land seek UN inquiry

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More than 115,000 people allege they were forcibly removed by colonial-era army

Thousands of Kenyans who say they were driven from their homes and abused under British colonial rule and subsequently faced hardship and poverty have called on the UN to launch an investigation into their treatment.

British and Kenyan lawyers submitted a complaint to the UN special rapporteur on the promotion of justice, Fabián Salvioli, on behalf of more than 115,000 people originally from Kericho county, who claim they were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands by the British army.

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Australian and British bloggers arrested in Iran named as Jolie King and Mark Firkin

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Couple left Perth in 2017 and had been documenting their travels as they drove to London before being detained in Tehran’s Evin prison

The Australian couple being held in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison have been named as Jolie King and Mark Firkin, who were reportedly arrested 10 weeks ago near the Iranian capital.

Firkin and King, who also holds a British passport, have been blogging a globe-trotting adventure since 2017 as they endeavoured to drive from Australia to London. Despite diplomatic efforts to keep their cases from public attention, the pair was named overnight on social media.

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Johnson urged to back £3.5bn plan to overhaul railways in Midlands

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Plan aims to boost speed and frequency of existing trains and introduce new services

Politicians and businesses in the Midlands have urged the prime minister to back a £3.5bn plan to overhaul the region’s railways with “long-overdue investment” in better connections between its cities.

Following the success of Transport for the North in securing Boris Johnson’s support for parts of its strategic plan, including significant rail investment, a coalition of local authorities, universities and companies is hoping for a similar endorsement for the Midlands Engine Rail scheme, which would be integrated with HS2 to directly benefit 60 towns and cities in the region.

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Britain-Iran relationship caught up in mutual blame game

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No progress in cases of dual-nationals arrested but catalogue of British failings is also long

The summoning of the Iranian ambassador to the British Foreign Office on Wednesday over broken assurances about the destination of an Iranian oil tanker, and now the arrest of two British-Australian nationals, marks yet another stage in the mutual blame game between Britain and Iran that leaves the relationship stuck deeper in a frustrating rut.

From the British perspective, well articulated by the former Middle East minister Alistair Burt, those in the UK government who would have liked to build a new relationship with Iran in the wake of the 2015 nuclear deal feel very badly let down by Tehran.

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Jeremy Corbyn is wise to emulate Harold Wilson’s pragmatism on Europe | Steve Howell

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Wilson left it late before backing his own deal in the 1975 referendum. Corbyn should keep Labour’s options open too

It is said of Harold Wilson that he epitomised the quip: “If you can’t ride two horses at the same time, you shouldn’t be in the circus.” He was often criticised for putting pragmatism before principle in his 13 years as Labour leader, but it was an attribute that served him well in preventing the party from tearing itself apart on Europe in the 1970s.

When Wilson won a fourth general election on 10 October 1974, he faced the challenge of navigating Labour’s deep divisions on whether or not to reverse the 1972 decision to join the common market. The party’s election manifesto had promised the British people a “final say” on Britain’s membership without committing itself one way or another to a recommendation. “It is as yet too early to judge the likely results of the tough negotiations which are taking place,” it said.

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Scottish judges rule Boris Johnson’s suspension of parliament unlawful

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Court backs MPs who said prorogation breached constitution

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Scottish appeal court judges have declared Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament in the run-up to the October Brexit deadline is unlawful.

The three judges, chaired by Lord Carloway, Scotland’s most senior judge, overturned an earlier ruling that the courts did not have the power to interfere in the prime minister’s political decision to prorogue parliament.

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Hong Kong Stock Exchange makes £32bn move for London counterpart

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Proposal to LSE board will only proceed if deal for Refinitiv is terminated or voted down

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has made a surprise £32bn bid approach to take over the London Stock Exchange Group.

It comes weeks after LSE agreed a $27bn (£22bn) all-share deal to take control of Refinitiv, a move the company said would transform it into a UK-headquartered, global rival to Michael Bloomberg’s financial news and data business.

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Three Australians, two of them dual British citizens, held in Iran

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Two British-Australian women believed to be in prison, while location of Australian man is unknown

Three Australian citizens – two of whom also hold British passports – have been arrested and detained in Iran.

A female British-Australian academic who has been teaching at a university in Australia was arrested several months ago, sources confirmed to the Guardian.

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Justin Welby prostrates himself in apology for British massacre at Amritsar

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Archbishop says sorry ‘in the name of Christ’ over killing of 379 unarmed protesters in 1919

The archbishop of Canterbury has apologised “in the name of Christ” for the 1919 massacre at Amritsar in India, when hundreds of people were shot dead by British forces.

Prostrating himself at the memorial to the Jallianwala Bagh killings, Justin Welby said: “The souls of those who were killed or wounded, of the bereaved, cry out to us from these stones and warn us about power and the misuse of power.

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Senior officer suggests austerity fuelled surge in violent crime

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Superintendent Darius Hemmatpour said that taking 20,000 police of the streets created a void

Funding cuts to police and public services that previously helped stop people, especially the young, from offending has helped fuel the surge in violent crime, a police chief has said.

Supt Darius Hemmatpour of Scotland Yard’s violent crime task force, said stabbings and other life-threatening attacks in London spiked after 2017, and suggested that austerity was a factor.

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No 10 request for user data from government website sparks alarm

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Privacy campaigners question urgency of move and motives of PM and Dominic Cummings

Data privacy campaign groups and Labour have expressed alarm after it emerged Downing Street has ordered departments to centralise the collection and analysis of user information from the government’s main public information website ahead of Brexit.

While officials insist the move to share user data from the Gov.uk website is simply intended to improve the service and that no personal details are collected, campaigners raised concern about the urgency of the task, and the personal involvement of Boris Johnson and his chief adviser, Dominic Cummings.

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Calls for Boris Johnson to withdraw Geoffrey Boycott’s knighthood

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Charities and opposition parties highlight ex-cricketer’s conviction for domestic abuse

Boris Johnson is being urged to withdraw Geoffrey Boycott’s knighthood over his conviction for domestic violence and the former England cricketer’s response to criticism.

Women’s charities and opposition parties made the call after Boycott said he did not “give a toss” about condemnation of his knighthood from a leading domestic violence charity.

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EU looks to Northern Ireland-only backstop to break Brexit deadlock

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EU trade commissioner says he believes ‘penny is finally dropping’ for Boris Johnson

The EU is pinning hopes on British negotiators reverting to the Northern Ireland-only backstop that was previously rejected by Theresa May as a threat to the constitutional integrity of the UK.

With Boris Johnson facing a choice between breaking his word and extending the UK’s EU membership beyond 31 October or bringing back a tweaked deal for a last-gasp vote in parliament, officials and diplomats have expressed hope that the prime minister will make a U-turn.

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Brexit: Boris Johnson poised to suspend parliament – live news

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Last day of parliament also sees prime minister forced to publish no-deal plans

Opposition MPs were holding up signs in parliament saying “silenced”.

pic.twitter.com/Tvtk2yHhMq

“Silent acquiescence in the face of tyranny is no better than outright agreement.”#OurParliamentSilenced pic.twitter.com/DxlVXXWWjR

Bercow was loudly applauded by opposition MPs as he left the chamber. Labour MPs then chanted “shame on you!” to Conservatives as they exited.

Bercow being applauded by the Opposition. Labour MPs screaming “shame on you!” to ministers. These are absolutely extraordinary scenes.

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