Kent and Sussex worst hit by floods but high temperatures expected later in the week
Flooding and train cancellations have hit parts of England at the start of a week in which temperatures are expected to rise above 30C (86F).
Almost half a month’s worth of rain fell in just a few hours in some areas on Tuesday morning, with Kent and Sussex being the worst hit.
Continue reading...Frontrunner to be PM refuses to comment on picture that emerged in wake of row
Boris Johnson has repeatedly refused to say whether his campaign team passed a photograph of him and his partner to newspapers as a PR strategy during a radio interview which saw the Tory leadership frontrunner quizzed again about his personal life.
Speaking to LBC, Johnson refused at least half a dozen times to comment on the photo of himself and Carrie Symonds seemingly sitting in the garden of a pub. He would not answer when the host, Nick Ferrari, pressed: “This is quite an old picture isn’t it?”
Continue reading...David Duckenfield was South Yorkshire police chief at 1989 cup tie that left 96 people dead
The former South Yorkshire police chief superintendent who was in command of the 1989 FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough, where 96 people were killed, will face a retrial on a charge of gross negligence manslaughter, a judge has ruled.
Sir Peter Openshaw, who presided over the 10-week trial of Duckenfield earlier this year in which the jury failed to reach a verdict, handed down his ruling on Tuesday after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) applied for a retrial. The new trial will be at Preston crown court on 7 October.
Continue reading...Carmaker to have 25 electrified models on sale by 2023 as strict new EU rules loom
BMW is accelerating its push away from the internal combustion engine towards battery technology, as the German carmaker seeks to double the number of electric and hybrid vehicles it sells in the next two years.
The company will have 25 electrified models on sale in 2023, two years earlier than previously planned, it announced on Tuesday. More than half of the vehicles will be fully electric.
Continue reading...Tory leadership frontrunner has faced mounting criticism that he has been dodging public scrutiny
Boris Johnson broke cover on Monday night, vowing he would never reveal the events that led to the police being called to the home of his partner Carrie Symonds last week, after neighbours reported a loud row between the couple.
Amid mounting criticism that the frontrunner in the Conservative leadership campaign has been dodging public scrutiny, Johnson is now understood to be rolling out a “media blitz” for the coming days, beginning with five closely controlled events on Tuesday, in an attempt to defy accusations that he is in hiding.
Continue reading...Heather Cairns says woman ‘masqueraded’ as her daughter Eilidh’s aunt at council meeting
A woman posed as the aunt of a cyclist who was killed in London in order to oppose plans for a new segregated bike lane, according to the victim’s mother.
Eilidh Cairns, a television producer from Alnwick in Northumberland, died aged 30 in 2009 after being hit by a tipper truck while riding in Notting Hill in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Continue reading...Paul Crossley will serve at least 12 years after judge dismisses schizophrenia as ‘excuse’
A man with paranoid schizophrenia who pushed a 91-year-old on to London Underground tracks has been jailed for life by a judge who described him as “a grave and enduring risk to the public”.
Paul Crossley shoved Sir Robert Malpas on to the rails at Marble Arch station on 27 April last year, minutes after attempting to do the same to another man at Tottenham Court Road.
Continue reading...Visa decision overturned for British resident Nina Saleh, 48 hours after Guardian and others published her story
A woman who was refused a visa to return to London after travelling to Pakistan to adopt a baby has been told she can come home.
Nina Saleh has a Norwegian passport but full UK residency rights after living in London for 20 years. She was refused a visa to return home with baby Sofia three times, despite going through a stringent and lengthy adoption process in the UK with British authorities’ involvement.
Continue reading...Exclusive: FoI request reveals proposal was at advanced stage after lobbying by Tottenham Hotspur football club
The public will be given a say on controversial plans to rename a train station near Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium after it was revealed the proposal was at an advanced stage after intensive lobbying by the club.
The Guardian reported in March that White Hart Lane station was to be rebranded after the football club lobbied the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, and Transport for London (TfL). The transport body had been insisting the club should pay more than £14.7m for the privilege, in the face of vigorous resistance from Spurs.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Special rapporteur on health says social justice more important for mental health than therapy and medication
Austerity, inequality and job insecurity are bad for mental health and governments should counteract them if they want to face up to the rising prevalence of mental illness, the UN’s top health envoy has said.
In an exclusive interview with the Guardian to coincide with a hard-hitting report to be delivered to the UN in Geneva on Monday, Dr Dainius Pūras said measures to address inequality and discrimination would be far more effective in combatting mental illness than the emphasis over the past 30 years on medication and therapy.
Continue reading...Report on keeping border open, backed by Nicky Morgan and Greg Hands, suggests special economic zones
Alternative arrangements for keeping the Irish border open in the event of a no-deal Brexit or the collapse of future trade talks with the EU could be up and running within three years, a report concludes.
The interim report by a non-government organisation calling itself the Alternative Arrangements Commission will be unveiled at a special conference on the Irish border in London on Monday.
Continue reading...Serious Fraud Office says those held have been questioned over alleged fraud at cafe chain
Five people have been arrested and questioned over alleged accounting fraud at Patisserie Valerie, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has said.
The arrests took place last Tuesday after a joint operation with the Hertfordshire, Leicestershire and Metropolitan police services.
Continue reading...Tory leadership candidate says his rival ‘needs to show he can answer difficult questions’
Jeremy Hunt has joined calls for Boris Johnson to explain why police were called to his home after an argument with his partner by warning that his Conservative leadership rival “needs to show he can answer difficult questions”.
The foreign secretary followed cabinet ministers, backbenchers and a major party donor in demanding that the frontrunner to succeed Theresa May speak out about the loud, late-night altercation with his partner, Carrie Symonds, which was heard by several neighbours.
Continue reading...Airline said ‘extremely disruptive passenger’ forced RAF jets to escort plane back to airport
A 25-year-old woman has been arrested after two RAF jets were scrambled to escort a plane back to Stansted Airport.
Jet2 said there had been an “extremely disruptive passenger” on board its flight from Stansted to Dalaman in Turkey on Saturday, forcing the aircraft to return to the London airport.
Continue reading...Conservative voters regard the favourite as better at making decisions and negotiation
Boris Johnson is more trusted by Tory members to make big decisions and negotiate with the EU than Jeremy Hunt – as well as being regarded as more competent than the current foreign secretary – according to the latest Opinium poll for The Observer.
The findings reinforce Johnson’s position as the strong favourite to succeed Theresa May when Tory party members vote on who should be the next prime minister in the coming weeks. Last week Conservative MPs voted to send Johnson and Hunt into the final round of the contest.
Continue reading...Leadership campaign falters as he refuses to respond to questions at hustings about late-night argument with Carrie Symonds
Boris Johnson was struggling to keep his campaign to become prime minister on course on Saturday night as he repeatedly refused to explain why police had been called to his home after a loud, late-night altercation with his partner.
Senior Tories were quick to raise fresh concerns over the former foreign secretary’s suitablity for No 10 as the favourite to succeed Theresa May stonewalled question after question about the incident at the first hustings of the leadership contest in front of party members.
Continue reading...Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, has warned MPs and peers that an analysis of the party’s losses in recent local and European elections that was presented to the shadow cabinet last week dangerously underestimated the crisis it will face if it fails to back another Brexit referendum.
In a briefing document circulated to more than 100 Labour MPs and peers yesterday, Watson says sections of the analysis leaked to the media have “skewed” understanding of the party’s plight. He warns that if Labour does not face the actual lessons and become a Remain party, it risks electoral disaster.
Continue reading...Advisers worked to keep him on message all week, but Friday night underlined why he remains a ‘grade one liability’
It was the moment the “Back Boris” team had dreaded but half-expected – when months of careful campaign planning were thrown off course by revelations about their man’s private life. As votes were being counted on Thursday afternoon in the final ballot of MPs for the Tory party leadership, a member of Johnson’s inner circle was upbeat but still on edge. As he paced the Commons corridors he knew Johnson would come top by a mile and reach the final two candidates – but there was no way he would lower his guard.
Asked how it was all going, he replied: “Yes, well, thanks. But you never know what can happen next, do you?”
Continue reading...CBI among industry groups to sign open letter amid concerns over project’s future
Business leaders are calling on the next prime minister to commit to completing HS2, adding that if they do not they risk blocking future investment in the north.
In an open letter, more than 20 figures from industry and commerce have called for the next Tory leader to back the project in full.
It comes amid speculation that the next prime minister – with Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson now the final two MPs vying for the position – could decide to axe the second phase of the project due to concerns over spiralling costs.
Johnson is reported to have asked a former boss of the £56bn scheme to carry out a review if he is made prime minister, while Hunt has said HS2 is “absolutely vital” and he would not scrap the project in its entirety.
Signatures of the letter include the Confederation of British Industry, the Institute of Directors, the British Chambers of Commerce, the Federation of Small Businesses and London First, the BBC reports.
Continue reading...The onus is on MPs to ensure the government respects a legal ruling criticising the export of weapons used in Yemen
This week’s legal decision by the appeal court that UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia are unlawful finally opens the door to accountability for Britain’s role in the war in Yemen and the humanitarian disaster it has caused.
But while Thursday was a day of celebration for campaigners, now the hard work begins of trying to get the government to respect the decision.
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