Category Archives: UK news

Brexit: Boris Johnson fails in bid to limit debate as MPs start considering early election bill – live news

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Commons debating fresh attempt by government for December ballot

The Labour MP Stephen Doughty says he has tabled an amendment to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote.

I have now tabled my simple and straightforward #VotesAt16 Amendment. Thanks to all colleagues who have signed. The Government have unfortunately tried to make it as difficult to table, select and vote on amendments as possible. pic.twitter.com/xzxkKoDv6n

Ian Blackford, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, is speaking now.

He says the SNP has been accused of trying to obstruct Brexit. “Guilty as charged,” he says.

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Harry Dunn’s family to sue US government over Anne Sacoolas

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Lawyers for family say Trump administration tried to ‘twist’ immunity law for US diplomat

The family of a 19-year-old motorcyclist killed in a crash involving the wife of a US diplomat have announced they are planning to sue the Trump administration for lawless misconduct and a cover-up.

Harry Dunn’s family are also going ahead with previously announced plans to sue Anne Sacoolas for damages in a civil action.

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Police seek Armagh brothers in relation to Essex lorry deaths

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Ronan and Christopher Hughes wanted on suspicion of manslaughter and human trafficking

Detectives have named two people they want to speak to in connection with the deaths of 39 people whose bodies were found in a refrigerated lorry trailer in Essex last week.

Ronan Hughes, 40, and his brother Christopher, 34, both from Armagh, Northern Ireland, were wanted on suspicion of manslaughter and human trafficking, Essex police said on Tuesday.

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Grenfell inquiry accused of focusing on junior firefighters

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Fire chief says inquiry should have centred on cladding and government policy

Firefighters have accused the Grenfell Tower public inquiry of injustice by focusing on the shortcomings of rank and file officers while failing to scrutinise those in power, including the prime minister, Boris Johnson, who oversaw firefighting in London for eight years as mayor.

Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said on Tuesday that it was “unfair and unjust” that firefighters were being publicly scrutinised in the long-awaited report being published this week, while political leaders were not.

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Amelia Bambridge: search focuses on Koh Rong fishing boats

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Cambodian officials say six men have been interviewed about Briton’s disappearance

Cambodian officials looking for a British woman missing on Koh Rong island are focusing their search on fishing boats and have interviewed six men about her disappearance.

Amelia Bambridge, 21, from Sussex, was last seen at a beach party at about 3am on Thursday. Nearly 150 Cambodian officials and seven volunteers continued searching the island and surrounding areas on Tuesday, the fourth day of large-scale searches.

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EU disputes Facebook’s claims of progress against fake accounts

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Commissioner says ‘still some way to go’ in battle against disinformation on social media

Facebook and other major social media platforms have been accused by the European commission of giving a misleading picture of their efforts to remove fake accounts spreading politically motivated disinformation.

The security commissioner, Julian King, told the Guardian on the publication of the sites’ self-assessment reports to the EU’s executive that there remained a “disconnect” between the claims of progress from social media companies and “the lived experience”.

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Risks of cannabis use for mental health treatment outweigh benefits

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New study shows evidence of positive outcomes is scarce while symptoms can be exacerbated

The use of cannabis medicines to treat people with depression, anxiety, psychosis or other mental health issues cannot be justified because there is little evidence that they work or are safe, according to a major new study.

A review of evidence from trials conducted over nearly 40 years, published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry,concludes that the risks outweigh the benefits. And yet, say the authors, they are being given to people with mental health problems in Australia, the US and Canada, and demand is likely to grow.

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Grenfell inquiry finds fire brigade ‘gravely’ ill-prepared for blaze

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Long-awaited report into tragedy that killed 72 people says shortcomings cost lives

The London fire brigade’s readiness for the Grenfell Tower fire was “gravely inadequate” and fewer people would have died if it had been better prepared, a long-awaited public inquiry report into the disaster that killed 72 people has concluded.

The report into the biggest single loss of life in London since the second world war also ruled that the building had been refurbished in breach of safety regulations and that contrary to the evidence so far of the cladding panel manufacturer, Arconic, “the principal reason why the flames spread so rapidly up the building” was its aluminium composite panels and the “melting and dripping of burning polyethylene”.

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Brexit: Government’s no-deal planning operation stood down – as it happened

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Government fails to win two-thirds majority for early ballot needed under Fixed-term Parliaments Act, after EU agrees to delay Brexit

That’s all from us this evening. Here’s a summary of the day’s main events:

Related: Boris Johnson abandons Brexit bill in new push for December election

My colleagues, Rowena Mason and Rajeev Syal, have been looking into what they’ve termed the “meltdown: at the People’s Vote campaign.

It’s embroiled in infighting after the chairman, Roland Rudd, fired two directors by email over the weekend. Today, Peter Mandelson – an Open Britain board member – has said:

Roland Rudd is like the captain of the Titanic demanding the passengers show him more respect as the iceberg carves open the hull and water gushes into the bowels of the ship.

Related: People's Vote set for showdown after directors' sacking

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Boris Johnson abandons Brexit bill in new push for December election

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PM in bid to get Lib Dems and SNP to agree poll date before Christmas

Boris Johnson will abandon attempts to push his Brexit bill through this parliament in a bid to get the Liberal Democrats and the SNP to agree to an election before Christmas, although the parties are still in dispute over the potential date.

The prime minister failed to get the two-thirds of MPs he needed to secure an election under existing laws, after opposition parties largely abstained.

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Lorry deaths: driver was part of global ring of smugglers, court told

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Maurice Robinson, 25, appears in court charged with manslaughter of 39 people

A lorry driver accused of the manslaughter of 39 people was part of a “global ring” of smugglers trafficking people into the UK, a court has heard.

Maurice Robinson, 25, known as Mo, appeared in Chelmsford magistrates court by video link on Monday morning and was read the charges he faces – which include human trafficking – after dozens of suspected migrants were found dead in a refrigerated trailer in Grays, Essex, in the early hours of Wednesday.

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Firefighters braced for criticism in Grenfell inquiry report

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Much anticipated account of fire teams’ actions due in parliament on Wednesday

Firefighters are bracing for strong criticism of their response to the Grenfell Tower fire this week when the public inquiry into the disaster finally publishes its account of the 14 June 2017 blaze which claimed 72 lives.

Firefighters of different ranks who attended the incident have been warned they are facing criticism with the commissioner of the London Fire Brigade (LFB), Dany Cotton, expected to be among a handful of senior officers singled out in the 1,000-page report due to be laid before parliament on Wednesday.

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Brexit: EU prepares to grant UK three-month extension

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Exclusive: UK will have option to leave earlier if deal is ratified, leaked draft shows

The EU is preparing to sign off on a Brexit extension to 31 January 2020 with an option for the UK to leave earlier if a deal is ratified, according to a leaked draft of the agreement seen by the Guardian.

Despite objections raised by the French government, a paper to be agreed on Monday circulated among member states suggests the EU will accede to the UK’s request for a further delay.

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No 10 to explore other routes towards election after Lib Dem proposal

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Downing Street hints at bill-based path if MPs do not back election motion on Monday

The government could try to force a pre-Christmas election via a simple majority for a parliamentary bill, Downing Street has said, following a Liberal Democrat-devised plan to try to end the House of Commons impasse.

While ministers have dismissed a Lib Dem-Scottish National party idea to bring about an election on 9 December by amending the Fixed-term Parliaments Act as a “gimmick”, a Downing Street source said Boris Johnson’s government could consider a similar bill-based route.

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Three people released on bail over Essex lorry deaths

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Maurice Robinson is charged with manslaughter after bodies of 39 people found in Grays

Three people arrested in connection with the investigation into the deaths of 39 people whose bodies were found in the back of a lorry in Essex last week have been released on bail.

The development came after it emerged that investigators are considering the possibility that the lorry in Grays was part of a convoy carrying more than 100 people, and as Vietnamese police took hair and blood samples on Sunday to get DNA from relatives of people feared to be among the dead

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Suits co-star warned Meghan her ‘world is going to be forever changed’

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Wendell Pierce, the Duchess of Sussex’s co-star on the legal drama Suits, feared for her privacy after her engagement

The actor Wendell Pierce reveals today he warned Meghan Markle, his former co-star on the legal drama Suits, that her world would be “forever changed” by her relationship with Prince Harry.

Pierce, 55, who played Robert Zane, a successful lawyer and father to Markle’s character, Rachel Zane, on the show, worked alongside Markle for four years after joining the series in 2013. “It was great,” he recalled. “She’s a really good actress and was always sweet, always kind.”

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We must not ignore children who seek sanctuary in the UK | Alf Dubs

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Offering safe and legal routes into Britain must be at heart of efforts to tackle trafficking

The plight of people who arrive in the UK in refrigerated lorries, or rubber dinghies, or between wheel caps, rarely makes the news. But last week, the discovery of 39 dead people in a container lorry in Essex was a story that made headlines across the world. While their individual stories remain unknown, we can be certain that they have left behind families and friends, who even now may not know the fate of their loved ones.

The deaths of these 39 victims lay bare the perilous dangers facing those who travel to the UK via dangerous routes. I do not know why these 39 people were in that lorry. I do not know if they had climbed inside hoping to reach a place of safety, in this country or elsewhere, or whether they were forced into that journey against their will.

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Number of Britons leaving for Europe hits a 10-year high

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Britons in Europe spoke of the importance of an actively European identity to them

The number of British citizens leaving for European Union countries is at a 10-year high, with the rate of departure accelerating since the referendum, new research has revealed.

According to initial findings of a report on the migration of UK citizens, 84,000 people are expected to leave Britain for another EU nation this year, compared with 59,000 in 2008. It found that about 11,500 people moved from the UK to Germany in 2018, compared with more than 8,500 in 2008.

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‘They accept that they might die’: Vietnamese in Britain recall perilous flight to safety

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Essex lorry tragedy has brought back painful memories for those who made similar decisions in search of a better life

For Loan Hoang, news of the tragedy in Essex brought memories rushing back of how her own brothers risked their lives to help their family flee Vietnam four decades ago.

In 1978, three of them were among 600 people crammed on to a boat made for 400. With the boat barely floating under the weight of its cargo, they set out to sea uncertain whether the voyage would end in safety or death.

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Essex lorry deaths: driver charged with 39 counts of manslaughter

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Mo Robinson, 25, has also been charged with human trafficking and money laundering

The driver of the lorry that contained 39 dead migrants has been charged with manslaughter and human trafficking.

Maurice Robinson, 25, from Co Armagh in Northern Ireland, faces 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and money laundering, Essex police said on Saturday.

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