Time likely to be too tight for referendum before end of October, says chancellor
Philip Hammond has played down the possibility that the UK could use the delay to Brexit to hold a second referendum and stressed that he still expects Britain to leave the European Union.
Speaking in Washington, the chancellor said time would be too tight to hold a confirmatory vote before the new deadline of the end of October unless it was triggered over the coming weeks.
Continue reading...Masked men stole the ATM from a garage in Dungiven, Northern Ireland, in the early hours of the morning on 7 April, tearing the machine out of the wall using a digger stolen from a nearby construction site before vanishing into the night. The audacious heist took less than four and a half minutes. It's the eleventh time the gang have struck in recent months
Jimmy Carr and Katy Brand among those to pay public respect to ‘fearless’ comic who fell suddenly ill during Bicester gig
Tributes have been paid to the anarchic comedian Ian Cognito, who died on stage during a gig on Thursday night. The cult standup was performing at the Lone Wolf Comedy Club night at the Atic bar in Bicester when he fell ill and took a seat. Some members of the audience reportedly thought that it was part of the act but paramedics were called to the venue and he was pronounced dead.
Katy Brand was among those to pay homage to Cognito, a Time Out comedy award-winner who was known as “Cogs” on the circuit. “I hung with him a good few times in the past,” she said. “He was always fascinating and hilarious company. RIP Cogs.” Paul Sinha said he had “deeply envied” Cognito’s fearlessness, calling him “a gentleman – a terrifying gentleman”. Luisa Omielan said he was “as epic as his reputation. Rebellious and brilliant.”
Continue reading...Thieves have raided 11 times, using stolen diggers to rip cash machines out of the wall
The thieves have honed their modus operandi in audacious raids across Northern Ireland and just across the border with Ireland.
Under cover of night they steal a digger, trundle into town and smash open a wall containing an ATM. The digger scoops out the cash machine and lowers it into a waiting vehicle. The thieves abandon the digger and vanish into the darkness.
Continue reading...Habib Bazaboko, who has lived in the UK since childhood, was due to fly on Friday
A judge has halted the removal of a man who has lived in the UK since childhood just hours before he was due to be deported to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a country with one of the worst human rights records in the world. It is the second time he has been within hours of deportation within a week.
Habib Bazaboko, 39, a stonemason, fled to the UK at the age of 11 after his father was murdered in his home country. He witnessed the murder and was left deeply traumatised.
Continue reading...Anna Florence Reed was found dead after reports of noisy disturbance in middle of night
Police in Switzerland are investigating how a 22-year-old British woman died in a hotel room she was allegedly sharing with her boyfriend.
Anna Florence Reed was found dead on Tuesday at the four-star La Palma au Lac hotel near Locarno, on the banks of Lake Maggiore, after reports of a noisy disturbance in the room during the middle of the night.
Continue reading...Owen Jones speaks to Mary Lou McDonald about Brexit, the implications for the peace process and the possibility of a united Ireland, and tries to answer once and for all why her party will never take its seats in the British parliament
Continue reading...Academics and fans say groundbreaking fantasy series has paved way for future shows
It brought us dragons, a red wedding, nudity and sudden death. The final season begins on Monday, but Game of Thrones and its memorable scenes will have a lasting impact on the broader TV landscape, according to industry experts and fans.
Related: Tyrion, Daenerys ... Hot Pie? The greatest Game of Thrones characters
Continue reading...New party has had ‘teething problems’ and will rely on small donations, says ex-Ukip leader
Nigel Farage has said he hopes his new Brexit party will be largely funded by small donations, and would not take any money from Arron Banks, the millionaire who bankrolled Ukip.
Speaking before the party’s launch on Friday, the former Ukip leader said: “In the first 10 days of the Brexit party, we’ve raised £750,000 in donations online, all in small sums of less than £500. I’ve never in my 25 years in British politics seen anything like it. And we’ve done that before we’ve even launched.”
Continue reading...WikiLeaks founder’s removal from London embassy brings seven-year diplomatic stalemate to an end
Julian Assange is facing extradition to the United States and up to five years in prison after he was forcibly dragged from the Ecuadorian embassy in London on Thursday, bringing an extraordinary seven-year diplomatic stalemate to an end.
After 2,487 days in the embassy, the 47-year-old was arrested after Ecuador revoked his political asylum and invited Metropolitan police officers inside their Knightsbridge premises, where he has stayed since 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over sexual assault allegations which Assange has always denied.
Continue reading...Rapper cancels headline slot at Snowbombing hours before he was due to go on stage
Stormzy has pulled out of his headline slot at Snowbombing festival just hours before he was due to perform, after accusing its staff of racially profiling his manager.
The Brit award-winning rapper, 25, said his friends had been targeted by security at the event in Mayrhofen, Austria, on Thursday looking for someone carrying a weapon, “despite no one [in their party] fitting the description”.
Continue reading...Minister lists reasons for Assange’s eviction from London embassy, including threats, skateboarding and health concerns
Ecuador’s decision to allow police to arrest Julian Assange inside its embassy on Thursday followed a fraught and acrimonious period in which relations between the government in Quito and the WikiLeaks founder became increasingly hostile.
In a presentation before Ecuador’s parliament on Thursday, the foreign minister, José Valencia, set out nine reasons why Assange’s asylum had been withdrawn. The list ranged from meddling in Ecuador’s relations with other countries to having to “put up with his rudeness” for nearly seven years.
Continue reading...Civil service to stand down its no-deal contingency plans in light of new departure date
The government has stood down an army of 6,000 civil servants who had been preparing for a no-deal Brexit, at an estimated cost of £1.5bn.
The civil servants who had been seconded from elsewhere will now return to their normal duties, but there is no clear role for an estimated 4,500 new recruits after article 50 was extended until Halloween.
Continue reading...Firm that supplied major UK supermarkets ordered to compensate trafficking victims forced to live and work in inhumane conditions
Eleven Lithuanian trafficking victims who suffered severe exploitation while working as chicken catchers on British farms have won a high court case against “the worst gangmaster ever”.
Three of the Lithuanian workers told the court about the brutal conditions experienced by workers between 2009 and 2012 while under the control of DJ Houghton Chicken Catching Services, a Kent-based gangmaster firm.
Continue reading...French president compared to De Gaulle as he seeks to get on with mission to change EU
Emmanuel Macron’s tough-guy stance at the EU summit – refusing the UK a much longer Brexit extension – was partly down to the French president’s personality, but his reasoning was political.
The 41-year-old, who stood for president without ever having run an election campaign then promised a grand plan to reform the European Union, is known for his impatience. He wants action. He likes to be centre stage.
Continue reading...After marathon Brexit talks, EU leaders have offered delay, with Donald Tusk warning Britain: ‘Please do not waste this time’
Theresa May is now making a statement about last night’s EU summit.
She says she asked for an extension until 30 June. But she says she also asked for an assurance that, if the UK passed the deal before then, it could leave immediately.
Here’s a question from BTL.
Does the Yvette Cooper bill rule out a no-deal Brexit for good?
Andrew - factual question. Does the Yvette Cooper Bill protect us indefinitely from a No Deal Brexit? (In October, if we're still in an impasse, would May or any PM have to come back to Parliament and be forced to request another extension? If the answer is that we're not protected indefinitely, presumably Cooper and co could re-run this week's exercise. I.e. The fact that there's a majority against No Deal, in both the Commons and the Lords, does give us lasting protection - unless the EU itself eventually chucks us out?).
Continue reading...Assange arrested following the withdrawal of asylum by the Ecuadorian government
Assange gave photographers a thumbs up as he was driven a way in a police van from the embassy.
A scuffle broke out outside the Ecuadorian embassy between embassy security and a reporter from Chile’s el Ciudadano who tried to challenge the ambassador as he was taken into a car.
Patricio Mary, the reporter, said he had wanted to ask ambassador, Jaime Martín, about promises he had made to respect Assange’s asylum.
Continue reading...Experts say Alesha’s killer, Aaron Campbell, is ‘not a one-off’ – and more can be done to prevent similar crimes
Since Aaron Campbell received a life sentence last month for the brutal rape and murder of six-year-old Alesha MacPhail, the reverberations from his crimes have continued as the public and professionals struggle to come to terms with what the trial judge, Lord Matthews, described as “some of the wickedest, most evil crimes this court has ever heard”.
Related: Why was Alesha MacPhail killed? Perhaps we should stop asking | Libby Brooks
Continue reading...France blocked draft EU resolution condemning warlord and calling for his retreat from Libyan capital
European divisions over how to respond to General Khalifa Haftar’s violent assault on the Libyan capital, Tripoli, have been exposed after France blocked a draft EU resolution that would have condemned him and called for him to retreat.
France, a supporter of the warlord over the past two years, blocked the draft despite new UN figures showing 56 reported dead, hundreds injured and more than 6,000 displaced by the fighting.
Continue reading...Duke and Duchess of Sussex rule out copying Kate and William with immediate photo call of newborn
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are to keep the arrangements for their birth of their first child private, Buckingham Palace has said.
Harry and Meghan’s household said in a statement: “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very grateful for the goodwill they have received from people throughout the United Kingdom and around the world as they prepare to welcome their baby.
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