Seventy-one Labour MPs and MEPs have accused the Home Office of “digital discrimination” for creating an Android-only app for EU citizens to apply for settled status.
In an open letter to home secretary Sajid Javid, frontbenchers including Luke Pollard, shadow environment minister, and Paul Blomfield, shadow Brexit minister, say the system “flies in the face of fair treatment of EU nationals”.
Continue reading...For 300,000 UK citizens in Spain, which does not allow dual citizenship, pension and healthcare worries are hard to resolve
A couple of years ago, Michael Soffe seemed to have a charmed life. A gourmet tour guide and wedding planner, he’d made a home and built a business in sun-soaked Málaga, the increasingly hip city at the heart of Spain’s southern coast.
Now he fears that everything he’s worked for is hanging in the balance as heedless politicians push Brexit negotiations to the brink. His biggest worry is that his partner, a two-time cancer survivor still in treatment, could lose his right to public healthcare.
Continue reading...Chillingham Barns in Northumberland reaches a low of -11.7C while Braemar in the Scottish Highlands falls to -12.6C
England has seen its coldest night of the winter so far as temperatures tumbled across the UK. A low of -11.7C (10.9F) was recorded at Chillingham Barns in Northumberland in the early hours of Sunday morning, the Met Office said.
In Scotland a low of -12.6C (9.3F) was seen at Braemar in the Highlands, although it was a few degrees off the -15.4C seen there on Thursday. Elsewhere on Sunday morning the coldest spot in Wales was at Swyddffynnon in Dyfed, where -6.5C (20.3F) was seen, while in Northern Ireland the lowest temperature recorded was -2.6C (27.3F) in Katesbridge, Co Down.
Continue reading...Cold war plans revived to move royals to safe locations away from London if unrest follows no deal
British officials have revived cold war emergency plans to relocate the royal family should there be riots in London if Britain suffers a disruptive departure from the European Union, two Sunday newspapers have reported.
“These emergency evacuation plans have been in existence since the cold war but have now been repurposed in the event of civil disorder following a no-deal Brexit,” the Sunday Times said, quoting an unnamed source from the government’s Cabinet Office, which handles sensitive administrative issues.
Continue reading...About 13,000 people are kept in slavery in the UK. Amy Romer’s book The Dark Figure* reveals the terrifying ordinariness of the sites of their captivity
In 2013, a 22-year-old Hungarian woman responded to an online ad for a babysitting job in London and, after a telephone interview, was offered the post. When she arrived in Budapest to travel to London, she was met by three men who confiscated her mobile, drove her to Slovakia and forced her on to a coach bound for Manchester.
There was no babysitting job. Instead, the woman had been “bought” for £3,500 by a Pakistani man and was told to prepare for marriage. After being held captive at various Manchester addresses, she finally alerted the police from a house in Cunliffe Street, Chorley, where she was rescued and later repatriated home.
Continue reading...Firm plans to move production claims Sky News, raising concerns about Brexit impact
Nissan has refused to comment on reports that it is abandoning plans to build a new model of one of its flagship vehicles at its Sunderland plant.
The Japanese car manufacturer said in 2016 it would be building the new version of the X-Trail SUV at the factory along with its next-generation Qashqai, prompting claims that Nissan and the government had struck a “sweetheart deal” to protect the company from any post-Brexit EU tariff wall.
Continue reading...At Hay Cartagena festival author questions role of social media in policing personal development
The writer Zadie Smith laid into identity politics in a headline session at the 14th Hay Cartagena festival, insisting that novelists had not only a right, but a duty to be free.
Asked how she felt about cultural appropriation, she told an audience of nearly 2,000 at the festival in Colombia on Friday: “If someone says to me: ‘A black girl would never say that,’ I’m saying: ‘How can you possibly know?’ The problem with that argument is it assumes the possibility of total knowledge of humans. The only thing that identifies people in their entirety is their name: I’m a Zadie.”
Continue reading...Police tell drivers to take care, as one stranded motorist resorts to eating snow from roof of car
Motorists were stranded for a second night as freezing temperatures brought traffic to a standstill in some areas, and one driver resorted to eating snow off the roof of his car.
Sleet and snow continued during the early hours of Saturday morning, causing treacherous conditions on highways across Kent and Hampshire.
Continue reading...Shadow chancellor criticises May over reports she pledged extra cash for leave-voting areas if MPs back Brexit deal
John McDonnell has criticised Theresa May’s rumoured approach to persuading Labour MPs to vote for her Brexit deal as “pork-barrel” politics, saying: “If there is money there to spend on our constituencies, it should be done anyway.”
The shadow chancellor’s accusation follows reports that the government is preparing to plough extra funding into deprived areas that supported leave, with the Nottinghamshire MP John Mann claiming that a set of job-creation measures targeted at former industrial towns would make it “very difficult for Labour MPs in leave areas to vote against the deal unless they want a second referendum”.
Continue reading...Emma Hughes tells of her fears as group await sentence for halting deportation flight
One of the 15 activists convicted of a terrorism offence for blocking the takeoff of a deportation charter flight from Stansted has spoken of her anguish before the group’s sentencing this week, saying she fears a “horrific” separation from her newborn son.
The Stansted 15, who were convicted at Chelmsford crown court in December of endangering the safety of an aerodrome, hope they will be given non-custodial sentences, though the offence carries a maximum of life imprisonment. Their convictions under the Aviation and Maritime Security Act 1990, were condemned as a “crushing blow for human rights” by Amnesty International. Their lawyers have lodged an appeal.
Continue reading...Motorists stranded and air and rail services cancelled as temperatures plunge
Thousands of people have been trapped, delayed and had their journeys disrupted by heavy snow that swept across parts of the UK, as forecasters warned more severe weather was on the way over the weekend. Scotland could see lows of minus 16C (3.2F) over Saturday night into Sunday as the cold snap continues, the Met Office said.
Hundreds of motorists were stranded on Friday, while air and rail passengers faced cancellations or difficult journeys and more than 1,000 schools were closed. Some householders experienced power cuts and sporting fans had events cancelled or travel plans wrecked.
Continue reading...Exclusive: leaked emails show officials planning crisis centres to manage halt in waste exports to EU
Government officials are preparing to deal with “putrefying stockpiles” of rubbish in the event of a no-deal Brexit, according to documents leaked to the Guardian.
If the UK leaves the EU without a deal on 29 March, export licences for millions of tonnes of waste will become invalid overnight. Environment Agency (EA) officials said leaking stockpiles could cause pollution.
Continue reading...Proposals by the international development secretary, Penny Mordaunt, to refocus UK aid towards for-profit investment risks weakening support for the people who need our help the most, and compromising the work Britain does to make the world a safer, healthier and more just place to live in (Report, 30 January). The Department for International Development has a long-standing history and reputation as a world leader in helping millions of people worldwide to access clean water, healthcare, better jobs and education. DfID’s focus on ending extreme poverty has secured a global reputation that Britain is proud of and one which we continue to champion. Any move to expand the role of private investment in international development must reflect the basic and shared human values underlying charity, humanitarian aid and development, and not prioritise the pursuit of profit over tackling poverty.
Claire Godfrey
Head of policy and campaigns at Bond, which represents over 400 UK NGOs working in humanitarian aid and development
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
Continue reading...Follow live updates on the disruption in the UK after the Met Office issues a warming for continuing snow
Wiltshire Health and Care, a partnership formed by the three NHS foundation trusts that serve Wiltshire to deliver adult community health services, is looking for volunteer 4x4 drivers to help nurses get to work.
We still urgently need 4x4 volunteer drivers in North #Wiltshire to help get nurses to and from work today. If you can help please call Sarah on 07514-323303. Please share. @wiltscouncil @Chippenhamtcl @MTCwilts @malmesburyteam @ChippenhamCEM
Welsh rugby fans trying to get to Paris for the opener of the Six Nations kept themselves entertained at Bristol airport after flights were cancelled.
Some of our amazing passengers choosing a singalong to keep upbeat during the snowy weather ❄️ pic.twitter.com/OoMigFLcJV
Continue reading...Footnote attached to EU regulation on insistence of Spain
A straightforward change in EU law guaranteeing visa-free travel for Britons in Europe after Brexit has sparked a diplomatic row after Brussels described Gibraltar as “a colony of the British Crown” in its no-deal legislation.
The footnote containing the contentious description of the Rock has been attached to the EU’s regulation on the insistence of Spain, with whom the UK has been in dispute over Gibraltar for three centuries.
Continue reading...Weyand, who this week shot down UK hopes of reopening talks, has a reputation for being ‘direct, quick, with no bullshit’
MPs voted this week to send Theresa May back to Brussels to restart Brexit talks, but the Commons apparently missed the message delivered in crisp English one day earlier: the talks were over.
The messenger was the EU’s deputy Brexit negotiator, Sabine Weyand: the German official with a British sense of humour who loves Shakespeare comedies and Harry Potter, and has been known to describe any outlandish idea as “bollocks”.
Continue reading...Men allowed back on campus early after University of Warwick reduces suspension
Women discussed as rape targets by a group of male students at the University of Warwick say they are terrified of seeing the men return to campus after the university reduced the length of their suspension.
Last year five men were barred or suspended by the university over their membership of a long-running group chat that discussed rape and sexual assault of women, including individual students, as well as racism, antisemitism and homophobia.
Continue reading...Judge urges jurors not to dwell on comments made in court about quality of food and sex
The judge overseeing a historic case against former Barclays bosses has instructed the jury not to dwell on “soundbites” in which defendants joked about food and sex in prison, adding that the prosecutor’s allegations implicate individuals connected to the bank’s Qatari investors.
In what is considered a rare move so early in a trial, Mr Justice Robert Jay addressed the jury in Southwark crown court on Thursday. It came after the prosecution concluded its opening statement, which lasted six days, outlining its case over the bank’s 2008 cash call.
Continue reading...Study questions lack of detail surrounding scale and quantity of weapons sales
A highly critical report has found extensive flaws in the British government’s arms sales strategy.
Based on analysis of the Yemen conflict, the study urges a reduction in weapons exports to conflict zones and states involved in human rights abuses.
Continue reading...Exclusive: pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson fears border delays could disrupt flow of vital medical supplies
Emergency “trauma packs” flown into the UK during terrorist attacks are being stockpiled in Britain by the pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson over concerns of a risk to life from border delays in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
The company said the move was being made due to the danger posed to the “routine and rapid” provision of the vital emergency equipment it provides to the NHS in times of emergency from a distribution plant in Belgium.
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