Category Archives: UK news

Falling glass and ‘decapitated’ plants: the race to protect Edinburgh botanic garden’s plants

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After five years of work, 5,750 panels of toughened glass will help keep hundred of plants safe from Scottish winters – but more work needs to be done

In the early autumn sunlight, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s extensive plant collection appears safe in their glass enclosures. But danger lurks from above for the tropical ferns, cycads and rare alpine heathers.

Soon the September sunshine will give way to the storms and gales of the Scottish winter, which can bring hundreds of glass panels crashing to the greenhouse floor on the windiest days. Nobody is allowed inside when the wind is above 30mph.

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UK airlines to be banned from charging parents to sit with children

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Planned rule change forms part of Burnham’s bid to crack down on the ‘little charges that add up’

Airlines will be blocked from charging parents extra to sit with their children on planes, according to government plans.

The new rule would require airlines to seat passengers aged under 14 next to their parents or an accompanying adult free of charge. Passengers will also no longer need to pay to tweak the name on their flight booking if they need to correct a mistake.

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How success of Manchester City helped put Andy Burnham in power

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PM has praised Abu Dhabi group as ‘huge partner’ in reshaping Manchester, but critics say this ignores public cost of city’s transformation

In July 2016, the Manchester City player Yaya Touré ambled into a small bar near Beijing’s Workers’ Stadium and offered a bemused smile as dozens of Chinese fans rushed towards him.

Manchester City had just won their sixth trophy under the big-spending ownership of Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group and the blues were international megastars. They were also magnets for investment.

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Britain in talks with European allies over release of emergency diesel stockpiles amid Trump pressure

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Ministers discuss drawing down EU countries’ reserves after Donald Trump threatens to cut off US supplies

Britain is in talks with European allies over releasing emergency diesel stockpiles after Donald Trump threatened to cut off US supplies of the fuel.

Ministers held calls with counterparts from the European Commission (EC), Germany, France, Italy and Ireland on Thursday to discuss whether to draw down reserves after the Trump administration told Germany and France to release their stockpiles to help ease soaring global energy prices or face a US export ban.

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Burnham’s reopening of Brexit debate is ‘biggest boost in my career’, says Farage

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Reform UK leader tells supporters PM’s move has ‘opened up a huge flank to us’

Nigel Farage has claimed that Andy Burnham has given him “the biggest boost in my career” by reviving the Brexit debate, which the Reform UK leader said had reopened a “huge flank” to his party.

The prime minister’s pledges to the Labour conference and admission on Wednesday that rejoining the EU was among options the government would look at had put “put me back into the debate”, he said.

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Global bond sell-off intensifies, as UK long-term borrowing costs pass 6%

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Fears that US deficit is unsustainable drive yields on Treasury bills and UK gilts to multi-decade highs

The turmoil in global bond markets has intensified amid fears the US deficit is reaching unsustainable levels, helping drive UK long-term borrowing costs to a 28-year high.

The threat of a renewed round of inflation from the persistently high cost of oil has spooked investors, who believe central banks will be forced to raise interest rates in the coming months to prevent price increases from becoming embedded.

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Tourette syndrome campaigner John Davidson to watch Bafta Scotland awards in separate ‘relaxed’ space

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Decision follows independent review into handling of February ceremony, where his involuntary tics caused a BBC crisis

John Davidson, the Tourette syndrome campaigner whose outburst at the British Academy film awards in February led to a crisis for Bafta (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) and the BBC, will attend the Bafta Scotland awards and watch the ceremony from a separate “relaxed” space.

In a letter sent to Bafta members on Thursday, the organisation’s chair Sara Putt and CEO Jane Millichip said that, after an independent review, Bafta had “strengthened and centralised our safeguarding, risk assessment and compliance processes” and had made arrangements in consultation with “safeguarding and inclusion experts” for Davidson’s attendance at the awards ceremony organised by Bafta’s Scottish branch, which is due to take place in November.

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British Sikh activist released from Delhi jail after nine-year detention

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Indian government issued with warning it would be in contempt of court if it failed to release Jagtar Singh Johal

The British Sikh activist Jagtar Singh Johal has been released from a Delhi prison after the Indian high court warned the government it would be found in contempt of court if it continued to attempt to keep him in jail despite an 18 September court order releasing him on bail. Johal has been incarcerated for nine years without any full trial.

The court order was issued after Johal’s lawyers issued a writ of habeas corpus alleging he was being detained against the express direction of the court.

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Tech in cars can be used to snoop on you, Dutch spy chiefs warn

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Hostile states could access cameras, microphones or GPS, says intelligence agency amid concerns over Chinese imports

Drivers have been warned that the smart features built into modern cars such as microphones, cameras and GPS trackers could be used by hostile states to spy on them.

The Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) called for “awareness of espionage risks around modern vehicles”, including microphones that can by switched on remotely to listen to conversations.

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Floating scarecrows: how Cornish fishers are stopping seabirds drowning in their nets

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Simple deterrents can slash the number of razorbills and guillemots being trapped underwater, two-year study shows

Bird-shaped kites and a floating scarecrow are being tested to try to stop endangered seabirds drowning in fishing nets.

Every year an estimated 95,000 diving birds, including razorbills and guillemots, are accidentally caught in nets off European coasts.

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‘Hugely exciting’ finds on tiny Scottish island shed light on spread of Christianity

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Community-funded archaeological excavations of ‘really important’ sixth-century monastery also rewrite story of Lismore

To the residents of the Scottish island of Lismore, population 190, history is never very far away. The tiny island near Oban in Argyll has no row of shops or even a pub – if islanders want to meet for a coffee, the only place to do so is in the lively Gaelic heritage centre that records the many centuries of community life on the island.

This quiet place, documentary evidence records, was home to a monastic settlement in the sixth century AD, when missionaries from Ireland were first moving into northern Britain to spread Christianity. But apart from a few fragments of an early carved cross, there was almost nothing to see from this period of history.

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Stella McCartney makes waves with ‘sea life, not sea food’ theme in zero-wool Paris show

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Designer showcases wool alternatives and ocean-inspired clothes and says ‘kindness requires real work’

Stella McCartney has been talking about animal rights at fashion week for 30 years. She is usually a lone voice, but the issue is back in the headlines this season. Outcry over the physical restraining of a Peta protester at a catwalk show by Steven Kolb, the president of New York fashion week’s governing body, has put cruelty in wool production – previously considered niche compared to the hot button topic of fur – on the news agenda.

“There is no wool on the runway this season, and I’m proud of that,” McCartney said after her show. She has been working on wool alternatives, including Brewed Protein, a fermented alternative to cashmere and wool developed in collaboration with the Japanese biotech firm Spiber, which was first used in her collections a year ago.

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Grenfell police hand files on 20 organisations and 54 people to CPS

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Met calls move ‘milestone’ moment that paves way for ‘very best possible evidence for charging decisions’

Police investigating the Grenfell Tower fire have asked prosecutors to consider charges including manslaughter and fraud against a range of companies and individuals.

The Metropolitan police announced they had given prosecutors evidence relating to 20 companies and organisations and 54 individuals ahead of charging decisions, in what the force described as a “milestone moment”.

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Scottish screen sector boom brings questions over jobs and overtourism

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The Traitors and big film shoots help boost economy but some highlight lack of opportunities for local talent

Scotland’s striking Ardross Castle, the oldest star of The Celebrity Traitors, which kicks off on Thursday night, is just one of the stops on the Scottish tourist board’s “screen tourism” trail. From Outlander and The Odyssey filming in the Highlands and islands, to Glasgow city centre standing in for New York and Gotham City in the latest instalments of Indiana Jones and Batman respectively, film and TV is increasingly big business in Scotland.

The country’s screen sector, growing year on year, is projected to be worth £1bn to the economy by 2030. But while some have celebrated the upsides of a booming production sector, others highlight a lack of opportunities for Scottish talent and the challenges of excessive tourism in areas featured on screen.

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Macron says ‘welcome back’ to Burnham suggestion UK could rejoin EU

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French president, speaking alongside Spanish counterpart Pedro Sánchez, says EU bid would be good news for UK and Europeans

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has reacted warmly to Andy Burnham’s suggestion that the UK could rejoin the EU.

“Welcome back,” the French leader said in English with a smile at a news conference in Madrid on Wednesday. Macron continued in French: “If the British want to come back and if the prime minister is moving in that direction, I think that is very good news, both for his country and for the Europeans.”

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French court jails six men for manslaughter over mass drowning in Channel

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Seven others found guilty of lesser charges in connection to incident in 2021 when inflatable dinghy sank killing at least 27 people with four more still missing

A Paris court has jailed six ⁠men for manslaughter over the deaths of at least 27 people in the worst mass drowning on record from a small-boat crossing in the Channel.

Seven other men were ⁠found guilty of lesser smuggling charges with varying degrees of seriousness, including facilitating illegal immigration as part of ⁠an organised gang and criminal conspiracy.

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MI5 China alert will send chill through UK’s cash-strapped universities

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Institutions have for years turned to China for funding opportunities but national security concerns are mounting

The security alert issued by MI5 regarding a Chinese state-owned conglomerate accused of conducting espionage in the UK reveals the extent to which British intelligence remains concerned about Beijing’s influence, and risks casting a shadow over UK-China cooperation at a time when the bilateral relationship is enjoying a revival.

The UK’s domestic security service on Wednesday warned researchers and academics to cease work with the China Academy of General Technology (CAGT), an organisation MI5 described as a “significant threat”.

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Voters back Burnham’s plan to cut back triple lock to fund social care reform by 48% to 28%, poll suggests – UK politics live

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The data suggest Burnham may be able to win the argument with the public amid lobbying efforts

Andy Burnham has suggested that it would not be legitimate for a party to form a majority government with less than 30% of the vote.

In his Today interview, asked why he wanted electoral reform and a move towards proportional representation, Burnham replied:

I found it better being elected under a different system as mayor of Greater Manchester, where people had one or two, they could put that on the ballot paper.

Because you had a reason to stop on every doorstep and chat to people who might not always support your party and try and get their second preference.

No, it could happen with any political party. It’s whether that would be a legitimate government.

I think you’ve got it completely wrong really, if you don’t mind me saying, to put it like that, because I have put out … a vision for a national care service.

There are pensioners out there who watch your programme who are paying for care costs from their basic state pension. Now, is that right or fair?

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We need ‘right to intervene’ in AI amid growing threat, says Bank of England boss

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Andrew Bailey’s comments come as fears grow that rogue models could take financial system hostage

The governor of the Bank of England has said authorities must retain the “right to intervene” in the AI industry amid growing fears that rogue models could take the financial system hostage.

Andrew Bailey said the risks posed by the rapid advancement of frontier AI models – a number of which have gone rogue in recent months – were “real and increasingly significant” and reduced the ability of society to supervise and intervene when things went wrong.

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UK-France ‘one in one out’ deal to expire on Thursday, say sources

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Deal aimed at deterring small boat arrivals set to end as talks stall over French demand for EU-wide scheme

The UK government’s “one in one out” deal with France, which was supposed to help deter small boat arrivals, is expected to expire on Thursday, government sources have said.

It is understood that negotiations have stalled over French demands for a Europe-wide deal instead, and a reluctance to scale up the numbers of people exchanged between the two countries.

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