Category Archives: UK news

Travellers’ challenge to ban on camping on public land succeeds

Posted on by

Bromley decision could have implications for other UK authorities seeking injunctions

A high court judge has refused to grant a final injunction banning Travellers from stopping on vast swathes of public land, in a ruling that could have major implications on whether other local authorities are allowed such orders.

The London borough of Bromley obtained a de facto borough-wide injunction preventing people from camping on 171 parcels of land in August 2018. The campaign group London Gypsies and Travellers challenged this injunction, arguing it was a disproportionate and discriminatory response to the accommodation crisis of Gypsies and Travellers.

Continue reading...

‘Punches, attacks, milkshakes’: inside the Tommy Robinson campaign

Posted on by

As the far-right activist fights to become an MEP, the Guardian learns new details of his modus operandi and support network

A drone hovers high above the crowd on a Wigan housing estate. About 300 men, women and children are gathered before a mobile billboard on a sun-drenched spring evening. A cheer erupts when the main speaker arrives.

Waving a St George’s flag, Tommy Robinson wants the crowd to send a deafening message to “treacherous politicians” and vote him into the European parliament on 23 May. “I am one of you,” he shouts across the estate. “They don’t breathe the same air as us. They do not care about us. But I can guarantee you: I am one of you.”

Continue reading...

Survey finds 70% of LGBT people sexually harassed at work

Posted on by

Study shows ‘hidden epidemic’ with BME women and those with disabilities most affected

Nearly seven in 10 lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people have been sexually harassed at work, according to research for the Trades Union Congress revealing a “hidden epidemic”.

The survey, published on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia on Friday, found that more than two in five LGBT people (42%) said they had experienced colleagues making unwelcome comments or asking unwelcome questions about their sex life. More than a quarter (27%) reported receiving unwelcome verbal sexual advances.

Continue reading...

Iran tells Middle East militias: prepare for proxy war

Posted on by

Exclusive: Top military leader delivers message at Baghdad meeting as tensions rise

Iran’s most prominent military leader has recently met Iraqi militias in Baghdad and told them to “prepare for proxy war”, the Guardian has learned.

Two senior intelligence sources said that Qassem Suleimani, leader of Iran’s powerful Quds force, summoned the militias under Tehran’s influence three weeks ago, amid a heightened state of tension in the region. The move to mobilise Iran’s regional allies is understood to have triggered fears in the US that Washington’s interests in the Middle East are facing a pressing threat. The UK raised its threat levels for British troops in Iraq on Thursday.

Continue reading...

May averts Tory mutiny by agreeing to set her exit date after Brexit bill vote

Posted on by

1922 Committee agrees to let PM wait until after vote on withdrawal agreement bill in early June

Theresa May has agreed to set a timetable for her departure as prime minister in the first week of June, leading MPs to believe she will trigger a leadership contest before the summer.

Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers, said she would agree a timetable for the election of a new leader after her Brexit legislation returned to parliament for a final attempt in the week of 3 June.

Continue reading...

Prince Harry paid damages over pictures of his Oxfordshire home

Posted on by

Duke and Duchess of Sussex forced to move out of house after ‘security threatened’

Prince Harry has accepted substantial damages and an apology from a news agency which took aerial photographs of his Cotswold home, forcing him and his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, to move out.

In a high court statement, lawyers for the Duke of Sussex said Splash News and Picture Agency, described as a well-known paparazzi agency, flew a chartered helicopter over the Oxfordshire property, photographing “the living area and dining area of the home and directly into the bedroom”.

Continue reading...

Diner accidentally gets £4,500 bottle of wine in Manchester restaurant

Posted on by

Hawksmoor steakhouse tweets ‘chin up!’ to staff who served it, adding: ‘mistakes happen’

A lucky diner was accidentally given a £4,500 bottle of red wine at a steakhouse in Manchester .

A member of staff at the Manchester branch of Hawksmoor, an upmarket chain specialising in steaks and seafood with nine sites across the UK, apparently served the luxury wine unknowingly in what the restaurant management described as a “one-off mistake”.

Continue reading...

Titian masterpieces to be displayed together for first time since 1704

Posted on by

The 16th-century paintings will be shown as a series in London, Edinburgh, Madrid and Boston

One of the most important groups of high Renaissance paintings is to be brought together for the first time in more than 300 years.

A partnership between galleries in London, Edinburgh, Boston and Madrid was announced on Thursday which will allow five of Titian’s greatest paintings to be seen as they were intended – together as a series.

Continue reading...

Jean-Claude Juncker: I regret not challenging ‘£350m a week’ claims

Posted on by

EU commission president says he should have spoken out on Vote Leave’s Brexit campaign

Jean-Claude Juncker has said he regrets failing to rebut claims made in the run-up to the Brexit referendum about the hundreds of millions of pounds the UK would save each week if it left the EU.

In an interview in which the European commission president also criticised the Austrian chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, over his recent Brussels-bashing, Juncker said he could not understand why he had failed to speak out.

Continue reading...

Trump pardons fraudster Conrad Black after glowing biography

Posted on by

Former media mogul who owned Daily Telegraph spent more than three years in prison

Conrad Black, the former media mogul who owned the Daily Telegraph and the Spectator before being jailed for fraud, has been pardoned by Donald Trump – shortly after writing a book praising the US president.

The Canadian-born British citizen was once known for his extravagant lifestyle as he ran an international newspaper empire that included the Chicago Sun-Times and the Jerusalem Post. But he ended up serving three and a half years in prison after being convicted in 2007 of siphoning off millions of dollars from the sale of newspapers owned by the company he controlled.

Continue reading...

Tax authorities mount raids on 19 German banks and homes

Posted on by

Investigation is linked to Panama Papers and part of money laundering allegations

Eleven banks and eight private homes and offices across Germany have been raided by police and tax investigators as part of a wide-ranging investigation into tax evasion.

The raids, which began at dawn on Wednesday and went on into the afternoon, were part of the same investigation started last November over money laundering allegations linked to the so-called Panama Papers scandal, alleged to involve Deutsche Bank.

Continue reading...

Cambridge scientists create world’s first living organism with fully redesigned DNA

Posted on by

Researchers create altered synthetic genome, in move with potential medical benefits

Scientists have created the world’s first living organism that has a fully synthetic and radically altered DNA code.

The lab-made microbe, a strain of bacteria that is normally found in soil and the human gut, is similar to its natural cousins but survives on a smaller set of genetic instructions.

Continue reading...

London Bridge survivor hid near victim during attack

Posted on by

Andrius Vorobjovas tells inquest of cowering in alleyway by James McMullan

A man has told an inquest into the London Bridge terror attack that he cowered in an alleyway by the body of a stabbing victim as he feared the attackers were coming for him.

Andrius Vorobjovas said he had hidden beside James McMullan, 32, the only British person to have been killed in in the attack, who was lying in the corner of an alleyway close to Boro Bistro, where Vorobjovas had been drinking with friends on the evening of 3 June 2017.

Continue reading...

Cannes festival in row after director and baby blocked from Palais entry

Posted on by

British film-maker claims she was denied access to Marché du Film, then told to pay fee for baby and wait two days for it to be processed

The Cannes film festival has been criticised for its treatment of mothers and babies after a female director claimed she and her child were prevented from entering the festival site.

British director Greta Bellamacina, whose film Hurt By Paradise is screening in the market section of the festival, said the festival had displayed an “outrageous” attitude after she attempted to enter the festival with her four-month son.

Continue reading...

London warehouse fire: rush-hour warning after North Circular closed

Posted on by

Dozens of firefighters tackle blaze in Neasden as police warns drivers to avoid area

A large warehouse fire has forced the closure of a major route in north London, threatening to cause severe rush-hour disruption on Wednesday.

The blaze at a commercial building on the North Circular in Neasden halted traffic on the ring road in both directions between Neasden Lane North and Staples Corner, where the key route meets the M1, in the early hours of Wednesday.

Continue reading...

No increased Iran threat in Syria or Iraq, top British officer says, contradicting US

Posted on by

Deputy commander of anti-Isis coalition rebuts White House justification for sending troops

The top British general in the US-led coalition against Isis has said there is no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces in Iraq or Syria, directly contradicting US assertions used to justify a military buildup in the region.

Hours later however, his assessment was disowned by US Central Command in an extraordinary rebuke of an allied senior officer. A spokesman insisted that the troops in Iraq and Syria were on a high level of alert due to the alleged Iranian threat. The conflicting versions of the reality on the ground added to the confusion and mixed signals in a tense part of the Middle East.

Continue reading...

May vows to put Brexit deal to MPs in early June

Posted on by

Prime minister hopes to forestall leadership challenge as talks with Labour continue despite lack of progress

Theresa May has pledged to give MPs another opportunity to vote on Brexit early next month, with or without Labour’s backing, after Jeremy Corbyn raised concerns about her ability to deliver on a cross-party deal.

The prime minister called a meeting with the Labour leader on Tuesday night to take stock of the Brexit negotiations, as the government sought to inject fresh urgency into the process. The pair held an hour-long meeting alongside the two parties’ chief whips.

Continue reading...

London Bridge survivor went to check on van occupants after crash

Posted on by

Richard Livett tells inquest he dived out of van’s way and was then stabbed in the back

The London Bridge attackers stabbed a man when he unknowingly went to check they were OK after their van crashed into railings, an inquest has heard.

Richard Livett, one of the first people to be knifed by the assailants, said he had been looking for a place to get a drink or food in the London Bridge area after watching the Champions League final in a pub on 3 June 2017.

Continue reading...

Police take legal action against former officer who had child with activist

Posted on by

Bob Lambert may have to pay compensation to son who is suing Met after discovery father was undercover officer

Police chiefs are taking legal action against one of their former undercover officers who fathered a child during his covert infiltration of leftwing groups and then abandoned him.

The son of the former officer is already suing the Metropolitan police alleging that he has suffered psychiatric damage after discovering at the age of 26 that his father was not a radical protester he claimed to be, but was instead a police spy.

Continue reading...

UK politicians accused of racist rhetoric against Travellers

Posted on by

MPs and councillors have branded group illiterate and violent over past two years

Politicians have been accused of using racist rhetoric against Travellers to help push through sweeping bans against unauthorised encampments.

In a range of documents and speeches, Travellers have been branded illiterate, violent and lawless by MPs and councillors over the last two years, as a deepening housing crisis has led to an increase in roadside encampments.

Continue reading...