Category Archives: UK news

Tree planting ‘has mind-blowing potential’ to tackle climate crisis

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Research shows a trillion trees could be planted to capture huge amount of carbon dioxide

Planting billions of trees across the world is by far the biggest and cheapest way to tackle the climate crisis, according to scientists, who have made the first calculation of how many more trees could be planted without encroaching on crop land or urban areas.

As trees grow, they absorb and store the carbon dioxide emissions that are driving global heating. New research estimates that a worldwide planting programme could remove two-thirds of all the emissions that have been pumped into the atmosphere by human activities, a figure the scientists describe as “mind-blowing”.

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Home Office must help woman unfairly deported to Uganda to return to UK

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High court judge rules that gay asylum seeker who feared persecution in Uganda should have been allowed to remain

The Home Office has been ordered to help a woman deported to Uganda six years ago to return to Britain after a high court judge ruled that the handling of her case was “procedurally unfair”.

If the judgment stands, the woman may become the first deportee whose case was processed through fast-track rules operational between 2005 and 2015 to return to the UK and appeal against the decision to deport her.

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Iran fury as Royal Marines seize tanker suspected of carrying oil to Syria

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Iran summons UK ambassador over incident off Gibraltar as tensions escalate over nuclear deal

Royal Marines have helped seize an Iranian supertanker suspected of carrying oil to Syria off the coast of Gibraltar, escalating tensions between the UK and Tehran as the agreement aimed at halting Iran’s nuclear programme unravels.

A detachment of nearly 30 British troops working with the Gibraltarian police intercepted the vessel, believed to be carrying 2m barrels of oil, in a dramatic manoeuvre Spain said had been conducted at the request of the US.

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Ann Widdecombe likens Brexit to emancipation of slaves

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Widdecombe becomes first Brexit party MEP to speak in new European parliament

The former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe has likened the UK’s departure from the EU to the emancipation of slaves, as she became the first Brexit party MEP to speak in the new European parliament.

With her leader, Nigel Farage, on her right, Widdecombe said the recent negotiations among the EU’s heads of state and government over the leadership of the bloc’s institutions confirmed the need for Britain to leave.

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George Osborne’s ambitions over IMF top job prompt criticism

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Former UK chancellor’s austerity agenda will count against him, say opponents

George Osborne’s interest in running the International Monetary Fund has met immediate criticism because of the former chancellor’s austerity policies and Brexit-related question marks over the UK’s international standing.

Osborne, the editor of the Evening Standard, has signalled to friends that he views himself as a potential candidate to replace Christine Lagarde, the current head of the Washington-based fund, who was nominated to lead the European Central Bank this week.

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Brexit: Starmer tells Johnson MPs will ‘stand in his way’ to stop no deal

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Shadow minister says research shows even a no-deal Brexit would need Commons approval

Keir Starmer has warned Boris Johnson that MPs will “do everything to stand in his way” if he tries to force through a “bad deal or a no-deal Brexit”.

Johnson, the frontrunner in the race to be Britain’s next prime minister, has suggested he will “disaggregate” Theresa May’s “otherwise defunct” withdrawal agreement and implement its less contentious elements.

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Fauvrelle family were in house when pregnant woman killed

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Mother and siblings woken by screams, police say after announcing baby’s death

A woman in the advanced stages of her pregnancy was stabbed to death in her bedroom with her entire family in the home, Scotland Yard has announced.

Her baby son, who was named Riley by the family after being delivered by paramedics via a caesarean section at the scene, died in hospital early on Wednesday morning.

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Ireland to charge suspect for murder of British spy in IRA

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Prosecutors obtain warrant to arrest man over Denis Donaldson shooting in 2006

Irish authorities are preparing to charge a man for the murder of Denis Donaldson, a British spy within the IRA who was shot dead in 2006.

The news emerged on Wednesday when an Irish police officer told an inquest in Letterkenny, County Donegal, that prosecutors had obtained a warrant to arrest and charge the suspect with murder.

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Google accused of ‘flipping the bird’ at New Zealand laws after Grace Millane murder

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Justice minister Andrew Little says tech giant’s contempt for murdered backpacker’s family is unacceptable

Tech giant Google is “flipping the bird” at New Zealand laws by refusing to change any company policy after it broke suppression orders related to the murder case of British backpacker Grace Millane.

Last December, a 27-year-old Auckland man appeared in the city’s high court charged with murdering Millane. His name was suppressed but it appeared in Google’s “what’s trending in New Zealand” email that went out to thousands of subscribers.

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Stonehenge £2bn road tunnel project funding uncertain, MPs warn

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Public accounts committee says plan at mercy of spending review delayed by Brexit

A £2bn project to open a road tunnel beneath the Stonehenge world heritage site in 2026 is being put at risk by uncertainty over how it will be financed, MPs have warned.

Ministers have claimed the scheme is affordable, deliverable and will improve Stonehenge by taking the sight and sound of lorries and cars away from the ancient monument and reducing traffic congestion.

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Aviation security under scrutiny after death of stowaway in London

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Experts suggest heat sensors could help detect people hiding in landing gear compartment

There have been calls for fresh scrutiny of aviation security as efforts continue to identify a man whose frozen body fell into a garden in London from the landing gear of a Kenya Airways plane.

Investigations have centred on Nairobi airport, where the man is believed to have concealed himself in the aircraft, but one aviation expert suggested airlines and plane manufacturers could take steps including fitting heat sensors to detect stowaways.

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Boris Johnson says no-deal Brexit claims ‘wildly overdone’ as Hammond says it would cost Treasury £90bn – live news

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

Boris Johnson has been tweeting from Belfast.

Fantastic to be here in Northern Ireland speaking to our Conservative & Unionist family. I will never accept a deal that seeks to bind us in the EU’s customs union forever, or which divides our United Kingdom. In everything I do as PM, I will strengthen our union of four nations. pic.twitter.com/hI3QLkuxrw

And this is what Boris Johnson said at the Belfast hustings about a no-deal Brexit. (See 12.58pm.) He called it at one point a WTO Brexit (which is what Nigel Farage calls no-deal.) Johnson said:

I think we should be very positive about Brexit, and we should not be terrified of a no-deal Brexit. We should not be terrified of coming out on WTO terms.

We will make sure we look after the agricultural interest ... whatever is necessary to protect farmers. We will make sure that just-in-time supply chains are protected, and I think a lot of the negativity about a WTO Brexit has been wildly over-done.

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In praise of shame: how Trump and Johnson show we need it more than ever

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It has become associated with online mobs and prudishness, but shame can be a powerful tool to change our culture and hold governments and corporations to account

“First holiday snap!” read the faux-cheery caption on the picture Laura Muldoon posted, featuring a bunch of young men on a plane, one flipping the V sign and another giving the finger to the camera.

Muldoon, who was flying on Ryanair with her girlfriend to Spain for a wedding, tweeted that she had just been called a “miserable bitch”, a “dyke” and a “lesbo” after complaining about rowdy behaviour from fellow passengers. The picture went viral and was picked up by newspapers. Before long, some of the alleged perpetrators had been identified publicly, their social media feeds combed for incriminating details, their mothers tracked down for comment – named and shamed, along with the airline whose staff Muldoon accused of failing to intervene sufficiently.

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Home Office to rewrite controversial advice on trafficked Nigerian women

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Claim that victims could return to Africa ‘wealthy and held in high regard’ sparked outrage

The Home Office is to rewrite guidance on handling asylum claims for women trafficked into the UK from Nigeria after it emerged the advice claimed victims could return to the African country “wealthy from prostitution” and “held in high regard”.

The comments were found in an official policy and information note on the trafficking of women from Nigeria, which is used by Home Office decision-makers dealing with protection and human rights claims.

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Donald Trump threatens new tariffs on $4bn of EU products

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Whisky, cheese and olives among items that could be hit in row over aircraft subsidies

Donald Trump has threatened fresh tariffs on $4bn (£3,2bn) of European products including cheese, scotch whisky and olives, ratcheting up pressure on the EU in a long-running row over aircraft subsidies.

The US trade representative’s office released a list of 89 additional items – including olives, Italian and Dutch cheese, Scotch whisky, Irish whiskey, pasta, coffee and ham – that could face tariffs. These join products worth $21bn that were announced as potential targets for tariffs in April, which included roquefort cheese, wine, champagne, olive oil and seafood such as oysters. The latest list also includes a number of copper products and other metals.

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Adidas under fire for racist tweets after botched Arsenal launch

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Company automatically posted pictures of new shirts with offensive Twitter handles on back

Adidas UK has come under fire after a social media gambit backfired spectacularly, leading to the company tweeting out pictures of its shirts with racist and offensive slogans on the back.

The error came as Adidas launched a social media campaign, #DareToCreate, in conjunction with its release of the new Arsenal home kit.

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Angela Smith launches bid to commission report on no-deal Brexit risks

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Labour’s leader in House of Lords at head of cross-party effort to establish joint committee of MPs and peers

Labour’s leader in the House of Lords, Angela Smith, is spearheading a cross-party bid to force the government to set up a powerful new committee to report by September on the risks of a no-deal Brexit.

Both candidates in the race to be Britain’s next prime minister are saying they are prepared to take Britain out of the EU without a deal if they cannot secure concessions from Brussels.

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Northern’s Pacer trains to run into 2020 despite retirement pledge

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Rail firm privately backtracks on vow to MPs that fleet would be retired by end of year

Northern rail promised MPs last week its fleet of hated “buses-on-rails” would be retired by the end of the year, but it has emerged the firm had already privately warned the transport secretary it might have to keep some of them in service well into 2020.

Rob Warnes, the rail firm’s network planning director, told the all-party parliamentary group (AAPG) on rail in the north that all of its antiquated fleet of Pacers would be gone by the end of the year, according to Ian Mearns, the Labour MP who chairs the AAPG.

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Dubai’s ruler battles wife in UK court after she fled emirate

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British government alleged to have been lobbied for return of Princess Haya

A legal battle between two of the most prominent Middle Eastern royals has been launched in the London courts amid claims that the UK government has been lobbied over the case.

Princess Haya bint al-Hussein, daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan, and her husband, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, are understood to have parted. They are now engaged in a formal dispute in the high court. The case began after she fled Dubai and is due to resume later this month.

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Home Office withdraws ‘nonsensical’ limit on support for slavery victims

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‘Cliff-edge drop’ in support after 45 days to be replaced by system tailored to individual needs

The Home Office has withdrawn a “nonsensical” policy that cuts off all support to modern slavery survivors after six weeks and will instead introduce a system individually tailored to victims’ needs.

The existing policy – which under the Modern Slavery Act provides safe housing, counselling and financial support for up to 45 days to people in the UK who have been formally identified as victims of slavery or trafficking – was suspended in April by a high court judge, who ruled that it risked causing “irreparable harm to very vulnerable individuals”.

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