Category Archives: UK news

‘Surprising’ choice: police chief Sara Thornton tipped to be anti-slavery tsar

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MPs raise fears over unconfirmed appointment that reflects focus on law enforcement rather than victims

MPs have expressed surprise over the appointment of one of Britain’s most senior police officers as Theresa May’s anti-slavery commissioner, eight months after the previous postholder resigned citing government interference.

Sara Thornton, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, will take up the post later this year, the Sunday Times reported, although the Home Office did not confirm the appointment. A candidate would be “announced shortly” it said.

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Emiliano Sala search: investigators spot body in plane wreckage

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Underwater search reveals one occupant visible amid wreckage

One of the occupants of the plane that crashed carrying the footballer Emiliano Sala has been spotted by air investigators who have been carrying out underwater searches.

The UK’s Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) said it was considering its next steps in consultation with the families of Sala and the pilot, David Ibbotson, and the police.

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Emiliano Sala: missing Premier League footballer’s plane found

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The plane carrying the missing Cardiff City player and pilot David Ibbotson has been found

The wreckage of the plane that vanished with the footballer Emiliano Sala on board has been found within hours of a search starting in the sea off the Channel Islands.

A search boat hired privately by Sala’s Argentinian family – thanks partly to a crowdfunding appeal – located the wreckage on Sunday morning.

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Many people in mostly Christian countries believe values clash with Islam – poll

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Almost one-third in UK see rift, finds survey ahead of pope’s visit to Arabian peninsula

Large numbers of people in Christian-majority countries in the west see a fundamental clash between Islam and the values of their nation, according to a survey.

However, significantly fewer people in the Middle East and North Africa view Christianity in the same way.

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Man dies after small plane crashes in Essex field

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Police say man in his 50s was found dead at the scene in Belchamp Walter, near Suffolk

A man in his 50s has died after a small plane crashed in a field in Belchamp Walter in Essex, police have said.

Emergency services were called to the village near the border with Suffolk just before noon on Sunday after reports that a light aircraft had come down in a field.

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European nations set to recognise Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s leader

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UK among countries set to back Guaidó as interim president unless Nicolas Maduro calls election

The UK, France, Germany and other European countries are expected to recognise Juan Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela on Monday if the current president, Nicolás Maduro, has not set a date for fresh elections by then.

EU leaders, including the Austrian chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, started expressing their support for Guaidó before the midnight deadline Sunday night.

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MPs slam Android-only app for EU citizens to apply for settled UK status

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Labour MPs and MEPs call on home secretary Sajid Javid to act over ‘digital discrimination’

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”.

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Fear and anger stalk thousands of Britons living on Costa del Sol

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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.

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Weather: England records its coldest night this winter

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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.

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Queen to be evacuated if Brexit turns ugly – reports

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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.

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Slavery in Britain: the photographer documenting the streets where people have been held

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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.

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Nissan shelving plans to build new X-Trail in UK, claims report

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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.

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‘Identity is a pain in the arse’: Zadie Smith on political correctness

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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.”

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UK weather: ice and snow bring traffic to a standstill

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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.

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McDonnell accuses PM of ‘pork-barrel’ politics with Brexit ‘bribery’

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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”.

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Stansted 15 activist: ‘Jail separation from my baby would be horrific’

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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.

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UK weather: heavy snow closes schools and disrupts travel

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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.

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Officials warn of putrefying piles of rubbish after no-deal Brexit

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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.

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UK aid funding must not be privatised | Letter

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Proposals to refocus aid as private investment could weaken support for vulnerable people worldwide, says Claire Godfrey

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

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UK weather: snow and ice warnings amid travel chaos – live updates

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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

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