Category Archives: UK news

All new UK cars to have speed limiters by 2022 under EU plans

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Road safety measure part of package of reforms likely to be adopted despite Brexit

All new cars sold in the UK and Europe are to be fitted with devices to automatically stop drivers from exceeding the speed limit under sweeping changes to vehicle safety rules provisionally agreed by the EU.

Although Britain may no longer be part of the EU when the rules come into effect, the UK regulator, the Vehicle Certification Agency, has said it will mirror safety standards for vehicles in the UK.

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Tory Brexiters want May resignation date in order to back deal

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Prime minister under pressure to say publicly she will hand over next stage to new leader

Theresa May is under intense pressure to set out a timetable for her departure from Downing Street to seal the support of Brexit hardliners for her twice-rejected deal.

The prime minister will address Conservative MPs at a meeting of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers on Wednesday as the House of Commons prepares to vote on alternatives to her Brexit deal.

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Brexit: DUP says one-year delay better than May’s deal – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including reaction to the Commons voting to try to take control of the Brexit process

The government has responded to the “Revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU” petition and has announced that it will debate it in Westminster on Monday.

The petition has so far garnered more than 5.7m signatures.

This government will not revoke article 50. We will honour the result of the 2016 referendum and work with parliament to deliver a deal that ensures we leave the European Union.

It remains the government’s firm policy not to revoke article 50. We will honour the outcome of the 2016 referendum and work to deliver an exit which benefits everyone, whether they voted to leave or to remain.

A motion Conservative MP Nick Boles will table tomorrow has appeared. Here the full text from The Telegraph’s Anna Mikhailova, for those who fancy a headache:

Here it is:

The Nick Boles Common Market 2.0 motion for tomorrow pic.twitter.com/9UTgr9HcPc

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Shrewd rebranding of stations and bus stops | Letters

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Renaming Bicester Village was a canny move, says NIck Chadwick, while Edward Smith wonders why some bus stops have shop names

I enjoyed Ian Jack’s article on the branding of railway station names (From Singer to IBM, branding the railways is nothing new, 23 March). He might also have mentioned Chiltern Railways’ renaming of Bicester Town station, on the opening of the Oxford to Marylebone service, as Bicester Village in recognition of its proximity to the shopping outlet of the same name. Locals were furious, but it was canny, ensuring trains were well used throughout the day.
Nick Chadwick
Oxford

• I have often wondered why some bus stops are named after stores and others not. On the number 94 route, which goes down Oxford Street and Regent Street in London, there are stops called Selfridges and Hamley’s Toy Store. Do these pay Transport for London for this exposure?
Edward Smith
London

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Iran TV station did not break rules over interview praising attack – Ofcom

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UK-based Iran International broadcast a separatist who spoke in support of the Ahvaz terrorist attack in 2018

Iran International did not breach the broadcasting code by interviewing a spokesman for a separatist group who praised last September’s terrorist attack in the Iranian city of Ahvaz, the British regulator Ofcom has ruled.

The news channel, which broadcasts in Farsi but is based west London, interviewed Yacoub Hor al-Tostari, a spokesman for the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz in the immediate aftermath of the attack on a military parade which left 30 people dead, and which was later condemned by the UN security council as a “heinous and cowardly terrorist attack”.

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Opera singer asked to change pro-EU dress for London concert

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Anna Patalong, performing at Royal Albert Hall, says free movement ‘essential’ for musicians

An opera singer who was asked to change her EU-themed dress for a concert at the Royal Albert Hall, in London, has described her choice of attire as a “subtle nod” to Europe at a time when she and other musicians fear for their livelihoods.

The British soprano Anna Patalong donned the yellow-and-blue outfit, along with a necklace of gold stars redolent of the EU flag, for a Classical Spectacular performance on Saturday after taking part in the anti-Brexit march in London earlier in the day.

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European parliament votes to scrap daylight saving time from 2021

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Directive would apply to UK if it stayed in EU, and also during Brexit transition period

The European parliament has voted to scrap the twice-a-year custom of changing the clocks by an hour in spring and autumn by 2021, leaving only national governments to now give their assent.

The change would apply to the UK if it stays in the EU, and also during an extended transition period that is part of Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

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Tory rebels asked by No 10 if they would back Brexit deal if May quit

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Downing Street aides put question to hard Brexiters at Chequers summit last weekend

Downing Street aides directly asked hard-Brexit Conservatives at Chequers on Sunday whether Theresa May’s resignation as prime minister would be enough to get them to endorse finally the exit deal struck with the European Union, it has emerged.

The afternoon summit at the prime minister’s country retreat was carefully choreographed so that Boris Johnson, Iain Duncan Smith, Jacob Rees-Mogg and other Tory rebels present ended up in one-to-one chats with key No 10 staffers when the main meeting periodically broke up.

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Brexit: Three ministers resign to join 29-strong Tory revolt on indicative votes – as it happened

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MPs vote by 329 to 302 for Letwin amendment, despite Theresa May saying government would not be bound by result

As not much has happened in the past hour, I’m going to close the blog by republishing my colleague Andrew Sparrow’s excellent snap analysis for those who missed it an hour or so ago. Thanks and goodnight.

Sky’s Lewis Goodall seems chirpy:

I’m going to bed and finally having a day off tomorrow. But in conclusion: something actually happened tonight.

No, really. I can’t believe it either.

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Warning of legal limbo for 3m EU citizens living in UK after Brexit

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Free movement, housing and social security rights at risk, says parliamentary report

EU citizens living in the UK would be stripped of their freedom of movement, housing and social security rights by Home Office legislation introduced to regulate immigration following Brexit, a parliamentary report has warned.

Despite repeated government reassurances that their privileges will be protected, a study by the joint committee on human rights (JCHR) concludes that more than 3 million Europeans living in Britain would be left in legal “limbo”.

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MPs seize control of Brexit process by backing indicative votes amendment

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Amendment giving MPs a series of votes on alternatives to May’s Brexit deal passes 329 votes to 302

MPs have inflicted a fresh humiliating defeat on Theresa May, voting to seize control of the parliamentary timetable to allow backbenchers to hold a series of votes on alternatives to her Brexit deal.

An amendment tabled by former Tory minister Oliver Letwin passed, by 329 votes to 302 on Monday night, as MPs expressed their exasperation at the government’s failure to set out a fresh approach.

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First slavery ‘super-complaint’ accuses police of fuelling victims’ trauma

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Report into police response in England and Wales found failure to handle cases sensitively hinders prosecution of traffickers

Categoric police failings are hindering the prosecution of human traffickers and barring victims of modern slavery from the support they are legally entitled to, according to a new super-complaint to the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services.

The super-complaint – the first on modern slavery – has been submitted by London-based charity Hestia. It outlines how some police officers are not reporting cases of modern slavery to the Home Office and that a failure to sensitively handle cases of modern slavery is discouraging victims across England and Wales from supporting criminal investigations against their exploiters. The super-complaint system allows organisations to raise concerns on behalf of the public and confront fundamental issues.

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The week ahead for Brexit: third time lucky for May?

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With more than 120 MPs backing an amendment in support of indicative voting, it’s going to be a fraught five days

Many weeks have so far been billed as crunch weeks for Brexit. But with the revised departure date looming, Theresa May’s proposal looking all-but doomed and the prime minister’s own position openly questioned, the next days really do appear crucial. Here is what could happen and when.

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Five opposition parties call on UK to end arms sales to Saudi Arabia

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Corbyn, Cable and other leaders write to Jeremy Hunt about ‘morally reprehensible’ policy

Five opposition parties in Westminster have called on the UK to end arms sales to Saudi Arabia on the fourth anniversary of the Yemen civil war, saying it has contributed to a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

The letter signed by leaders of the Labour party, Scottish National party, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Green party, comes as a fragile truce negotiated in December hangs by a thread.

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Isleworth stabbing: teenager killed in west London

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Paramedics unable to save Abdirashid Mohamoud, who police say was chased by a group of men

Residents in a block of flats in west London have spoken of their horror at seeing a teenager stabbed to death on Friday night.

The boy, named as 17-year-old Abdirashid Mohamoud, was discovered with stab injuries outside a block of flats in Isleworth at about 10.35pm.

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Gangs using dead rats to smuggle drugs into Dorset prison

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Ministry of Justice says criminals are stuffing rodents with drugs and mobile phones

  • Warning: this article includes graphic images some readers may find disturbing

Related: ‘It’s not just you who does the jail sentence, it’s the whole family’ | Clare Horton

Criminal gangs are using dead rats to smuggle contraband material such as drugs and mobile phones into jail, the Prison Service has said.

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Brexiters pile on pressure as May’s deal drifts away

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High-stakes Chequers summit breaks up without agreement

Theresa May’s prospects of getting her Brexit deal through parliament this week dramatically receded on Sunday night after a high-stakes summit with Boris Johnson and other leading hard-Brexiters at her country retreat broke up without agreement.

Tory rebels present said that the prime minister repeated “all the same lines” about her deal and that nothing new emerged during the three-hour meeting, at which Jacob Rees-Mogg, Iain Duncan Smith and Dominic Raab were also present.

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Once more Balmedie prepares to fight Trump on the beaches | Kevin McKenna

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A record number of locals objected to the US president’s development near his Aberdeenshire golf course – to no avail. But the struggle goes on

The word “douce” sits easily alongside a place like Balmedie, but would never be seen within a million miles of Donald Trump or any of his enterprises. Yet this pleasant coastal village a few miles north of Aberdeen is at risk of forever being associated with America’s pantomime president and the locals are aghast at the prospect.

Last week planning officials at Aberdeenshire council signalled their assent for plans by the Trump Organisation to build a sprawling housing estate comprising 550 homes and golfers’ chalets on farmland adjacent to the US president’s exclusive golf facility a little further down the coast. The plans will now go before a full meeting of the council in April.

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Theresa May has failed to offer sound leadership in this toxic Brexit phase | Phillip Lee

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The PM has brought us to this crisis with a series of calamitous decisions

How has it come to this? Theresa May and her husband, Philip, have long been friends of mine and I have in the past admired her sense of duty and commitment to her party and her country. So it grieves me that her stubborn choices have left both in peril.

At a time when our politics needs statesmanship, not brinkmanship, when our divided people need time to heal and come back together, and when our country needs honest leadership rooted in reality not ideology, Mrs May has embraced division. Rather than providing the calm, compassionate and unifying leadership we so desperately needed after a divisive EU referendum campaign, she rushed to own Brexit. She has clung to power in the process, but she is letting us all down.

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