Category Archives: UK news

Country diary: a house of God open to heaven and house martins

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Segenhoe, Bedfordshire: The birds are stacked in the air above a shallow trench, taking turns to skim insects from it

A flying congregation had assembled by the church gate. We approached on foot, coming on the coffin route, a straight path through fields along which pall bearers had once carried the dead from the nearby village of Ridgmont.

Mourners might have walked through this meadow after the hay had been cut, as we did, and looked down at the grass laid out in strips to dry where it fell. Did a passage from the Bible come to mind? “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall.”

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Judge blocks justice department from changing lawyers in US census case – as it happened

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In what experts called a troubling move, the agency had announced over the weekend that it was appointing a new team of lawyers

Wrapping up tonight’s live politics coverage. Here’s an updated summary of the day’s key developments from today’s bloggers, Lois Beckett and Sabrina Siddiqui.

Early today, billionaire Democratic donor Tom Steyer formally launched his campaign for president.

The reaction from some progressives has not been positive.

if i were a liberal billionaire with a $100 millions to burn i'd spend it on a nationwide voter registration drive instead of a vanity presidential campaign

hiring and training thousands of people to identify and register nonvoters and bring them to the polls is probably the single most effective thing you could do ahead of 2020 but then i'm not a billionaire hedge fund manager

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UK’s preparation for climate crisis ‘like Dad’s Army’

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Government’s official climate advisers say the lack of proper plans to cope with heatwaves and flash floods is ‘shocking’

The government’s own advisers have declared themselves shocked that the UK has no proper plans for protecting people from heatwaves, flash flooding and other impacts of the climate crisis.

The Committee on Climate Change said the UK’s climate crisis preparations were being run like Dad’s Army and left the population at real risk, adding that funding for programmes to tackle problems resulting from global heating had been cut.

The CCC’s annual progress reports, published on Wednesday, also found that just one of the 25 emissions-cutting policies it said were vital in 2018 had been delivered in full. Lord Deben, who chairs the committee, said ministers could be sued in court if the failure to act continued.

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Bitter blue-on-blue as Hunt and Johnson clash on live TV

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Hunt accuses rival Johnson of putting ambition before country in head-to-head Tory leadership debate

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt escalated the blue-on-blue warfare in Tuesday night’s televised debate, trading blows on which potential prime minister could see through a no-deal Brexit, as Hunt repeatedly emphasised his rival’s refusal to answer questions.

The bitter back-and-forth, which will raise questions over whether Hunt could serve in a Johnson government after the aspersions he cast on his rival, saw the foreign secretary accuse Johnson of putting personal ambition above the welfare of the country.

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MPs vote in favour of extending same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland by 383 to 73 – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political news, including the row over the UK ambassador’s leaked memos and latest on Tory leadership contest

Jeremy Hunt, the underdog in the Tory leadership contest, has told President Trump on Twitter his comments about Theresa May “disrespectful and wrong”.

1/2 @realDonaldTrump friends speak frankly so I will: these comments are disrespectful and wrong to our Prime Minister and my country. Your diplomats give their private opinions to @SecPompeo and so do ours! You said the UK/US alliance was the greatest in history and I agree... https://t.co/hNeBWmyyVN

2/2...but allies need to treat each other with respect as @theresa_may has always done with you. Ambassadors are appointed by the UK government and if I become PM our Ambassador stays.

MPs have voted to introduce same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland, unless the power-sharing executive is revived by 21 October, by 383 votes to 73 - a majority of 310.

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MPs vote to extend same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland

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Government has said it will honour resounding result despite ministerial doubts

MPs have voted resoundingly to extend same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland, a plan the government has said it will honour despite ministerial doubts.

The Commons voted 383 to 73 to pass the amendment to a largely technical bill on the stalled Northern Ireland assembly, tabled by the Labour MP Conor McGinn, a longstanding campaigner for equal marriage in Northern Ireland.

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Trump lashes out at ‘foolish’ May as crisis over ambassador grows

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US commerce secretary pulls out of trade talks as president calls envoy ‘very stupid’

Transatlantic tensions over the British ambassador’s leaked criticisms of Donald Trump have grown into a diplomatic crisis after the US president attacked Sir Kim Darroch as “a pompous fool” and his commerce secretary postponed planned trade talks with Liam Fox.

A day after Trump said he would no longer deal with Darroch following the release of UK diplomatic memos calling him “incompetent”, “inept” and “insecure”, he used his Twitter feed to attack the diplomat, who he described as “wacky” and “very stupid”.

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Ambassador row: Donald Trump not in a mood to let this pass

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Danger for Boris Johnson, if he becomes PM, is being portrayed as governor of 51st state

In normal times, the breakdown in relations between Donald Trump and the British ambassador to the US could be readily finessed. Trump would vent his anger, and gain private British assurances that Sir Kim Darroch will be replaced by someone more palatable by the end of the year.

It would create an awkward interlude in the special relationship but every family has bust-ups.

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David Attenborough: polluting planet may become as reviled as slavery

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Naturalist tells MPs radical action needed to tackle crisis but attitude of young people gives him hope

The attitude of young people towards tackling the environmental crisis is “a source of great hope”, David Attenborough has told MPs, as he predicted that polluting the planet would soon provoke as much abhorrence as slavery.

Giving evidence to the business, energy and industrial strategy committee on how to tackle the climate emergency, the naturalist and TV presenter said radical action was required.

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Corbyn says Labour would back remain in Brexit referendum

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Email to members stops short of setting out party’s stance in event of early general election

Jeremy Corbyn has sought to draw a line under Labour’s Brexit travails by announcing a “settled” policy of backing remain in any referendum called on a Conservative deal.

The Labour leader has been under intense pressure to shift to an overtly anti-Brexit stance, but has insisted on consulting the party’s stakeholders in recent weeks, including the trade unions.

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Pelosi: Trump wants to ‘make America white again’ with census question – live

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Pelosi attacks Trump’s 2020 citizenship question as ‘disgraceful’, while Trump says US will no longer deal with UK ambassador Kim Darroch

As House Democrats began issuing subpoenas for President Trump’s financial records, the Justice Department fought a federal judge’s decision to allow the lawsuit accusing Trump of profiting off the presidency to go forward, the Associated Press is reporting:

Justice Department lawyers want an appeals court to take the case instead.

They filed papers Monday seeking to move the case from federal court in D.C. to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. They also want to stop subpoena requests seeking Trump’s business tax returns, and documents from Trump’s D.C. and New York hotels, Mar-a-Lago Club and Trump Tower.

Our climate and environment reporter, Susie Cagle, listened in on President Trump’s speech about “maintaining a healthy environment.” Here are some choice quotes from the speech:

Related: What Trump gets wrong about wildfires, by a fire scientist

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Donald Trump: we will no longer deal with the British ambassador

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In latest tweets, US president also attacks Theresa May for making a mess of Brexit

Donald Trump has launched a scathing attack on Theresa May and said the US would no longer deal with the British ambassador to Washington after the diplomat’s frank assessments of the president as “inept” and “dysfunctional” were leaked to the Mail on Sunday.

In a sign of the damage to the US-UK relationship, Trump hit out at Sir Kim Darroch for a second day in a row, threatening to cut ties over the memos that described him as “radiating insecurity”.

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Unions agree Labour should back remain in referendum on Tory deal

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Party poised to announce move in surprise consensus but will still seek deal if elected in time

Labour is poised to declare it will campaign for remain in a second referendum on any deal put to parliament by a Conservative prime minister, after trade union leaders including Unite’s Len McCluskey backed a change of policy.

The joint position agreed by the unions on Monday would not commit Labour to an explicitly pro-remain position in all circumstances: unions also agreed Labour should seek to deliver a Brexit deal if the party won an election before the UK left the EU.

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Carl Sargeant inquest hears ex-first minister lied under oath

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Carwyn Jones insists he made mistake in telling court he had given Ann Jones formal care role

The former Welsh first minister Carwyn Jones has been accused of lying under oath over the support measures put in place to protect a colleague who was found dead after allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour.

Carl Sargeant died four days after being sacked by Jones from his post in the Welsh government. Family and friends strongly believe the way the dismissal was handled left him in despair.

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Indoor carbon dioxide levels could be a health hazard, scientists warn

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CO2 in bedrooms and offices may affect cognition and cause kidney and bone problems

Indoor levels of carbon dioxide could be clouding our thinking and may even pose a wider danger to human health, researchers say.

While air pollutants such as tiny particles and nitrogen oxides have been the subject of much research, there have been far fewer studies looking into the health impact of CO2.

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Deutsche Bank starts cutting London jobs with 18,000 at risk worldwide

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Some staff in London reported to be in tears after hearing their jobs have gone

Deutsche Bank started slashing thousands of jobs in the City of London and in New York only hours after announcing a drastic plan to reduce its global workforce by 18,000.

Germany’s biggest lender employs almost 8,000 people in the UK, with 7,000 in London, which is one of the main hubs for its global investment bank, where the bulk of the job losses will be focused. The jobs being cut make up about a fifth of Deutsche’s global workforce of 91,500.

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UK ministers challenge court ruling on Saudi Arabia arms sales

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Exclusive: Corbyn says government is risking lives in Yemen by seeking to set aside judgment

Ministers have asked the courts to set aside a landmark ruling that British arms sales to Saudi Arabia are unlawful, a legal manoeuvre that prompted Jeremy Corbyn to accuse the Conservatives of prioritising military exports over civilian lives.

The government has applied for a stay of last month’s judgment pending an appeal, according to Campaign Against Arms Trade, which is fighting the case, at a time when conflict between the Saudis and Houthi rebels in Yemen has intensified.

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Boris Johnson: I’ll make UK ‘match fit’ for no-deal Brexit

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Tory leadership frontrunner pledges to leave the EU by 31 October ‘come what may’

Boris Johnson has pledged to get the UK “match fit for no deal” to ensure it can leave the EU on 31 October “come what may”.

The Conservative leadership frontrunner said there would be “no second chances” as he stressed that the Halloween deadline was real, “not fake”, in a comment aimed at his rival Jeremy Hunt.

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London police launch fourth murder investigation of the weekend

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Met investigate two deaths in Wembley and incidents in Blackheath and Leyton

A fourth murder investigation has been launched in London this weekend after a man in his 20s died just 48 hours after a fatal shooting in the same area.

The man was found dead in Wembley on Sunday night in Brent River Park just two days after another man in his 30s was shot on nearby Harrow Road on Friday night.

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What Kim Darroch is reported to have said about Trump – and what it means

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Private comments by British ambassador to the US published by the Mail on Sunday

This is what Kim Darroch, the British ambassador to the US, is reported to have said in private about Donald Trump.

On Trump’s ‘dysfunctional’ administration

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