Category Archives: UK news

UK ministers to meet bank bosses over lending to small businesses

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Rachel Reeves concerned that lenders’ restrictions are holding back growth in the SME sector

Ministers will meet bank bosses on Tuesday to discuss how big lenders can support the government’s growth strategy as concerns mount inside Whitehall that small businesses are struggling to access the funds needed to make vital investments.

Senior executives from HSBC, NatWest and Lloyds are expected to explain how they will meet the government’s mission to increase lending after criticism from business groups about the lack of credit available after the pandemic.

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Man arrested on suspicion of murder after death of man on UK cruise ship

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Police detained 57-year-old from Exeter as MSC Virtuosa returned to Southampton after ‘altercation’

A 57-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the death of a 60-year-old man on a cruise ship.

The man died in what police said was an “isolated incident” after an altercation that took place two and a half hours after the cruise began while the vessel was still in British waters.

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UK access to EU crime and illegal migration data reportedly denied

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Blow to Starmer’s hopes of post-Brexit reset and efforts to clear asylum claims amid rise of populist right

A UK request for access to shared European Union crime and illegal migration data has reportedly been rejected in a blow to Keir Starmer’s hopes of a post-Brexit relations “reset”.

British negotiators have been hoping to reach a deal on gaining access to the Schengen Information System (SIS), a vital tool for sharing police alerts across borders within the area where 29 countries have abolished passport controls.

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UK marks VE Day 80th anniversary with large crowds and military pomp

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Royal family and war veterans watch 1,300-strong military procession in London while street parties held around UK

As Big Ben chimed at noon and with the Cenotaph, the symbol of sacrifice, draped in the union flag for the first time since its unveiling in 1920, the UK marked the 80th anniversary of VE Day with military pomp before large crowds who had gathered in central London.

Buckingham Palace may have served as the centrepiece of Monday’s spectacle before Thursday’s anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. At the event’s heart, however, were the VVIP second world war veterans, those remaining few who bore actual witness then and who today serve to remind.

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UK offshore havens miss deadline for transparency plans

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British Virgin Islands criticised for launching financial crime-fighting cartoon mascot before new legislation

UK offshore havens have missed a deadline to publish their plans to improve corporate transparency, as MPs criticised the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in particular for launching a financial crime-fighting cartoon mascot before new legislation.

Jurisdictions including the BVI and Bermuda pledged last year to approve laws allowing access to company ownership data to those with a “legitimate interest” by April 2025, with implementation to follow in June.

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MPs warn social care needs substantial investment to fix ‘broken’ system

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Cross-party group’s report emphasises risk of failure after finding 3.5 million people not getting care they need

A cross-party group of MPs has warned attempts to reform adult social care are doomed to fail unless ministers accept major investment is needed to overhaul a “broken” system that was failing millions of people.

Reform of social care was typically seen by governments as a “burden” on the taxpayer, and a “drain on resources” rather than a positive boost to people’s lives, the NHS and the economy, said the health and social care select committee.

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Starmer praises ‘selfless dedication’ of armed forces before VE Day anniversary

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PM writes of ‘debt that can never be fully repaid’ in letter marking 80 years since end of second world war in Europe

Keir Starmer has praised the “selfless dedication” of those who have served in the military before the anniversary of VE Day as the government unveiled a new £50m support system for veterans.

In an open letter to mark 80 years since the end of the second world war in Europe, the prime minister said the sacrifice made by members of the armed forces was a debt that could “never fully be repaid”.

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Tributes paid to ‘much-loved’ boy killed in Gateshead industrial estate fire

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Death of Layton Carr, 14, has left community ‘heartbroken’ as police arrest more than a dozen children

A 14-year-old boy whose body was found after a large fire in Gateshead was “valued and much loved”, his headteacher has said.

Fourteen children have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter over the death of Layton Carr, from South Tyneside.

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Reform UK to resist housing asylum seekers in its council areas, chair says

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Echoing comments by Nigel Farage, Zia Yusuf says judicial reviews, injunctions and planning laws will be used

Reform UK has vowed to use “every instrument of power” to resist housing people seeking asylum in areas where it now controls councils, its chair has confirmed.

Zia Yusuf, the party chair and a major donor, acknowledged Reform may not be able to stop people seeking asylum being put up in hotels where the Home Office has contracts with accommodation providers.

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NHS in England urged to become ‘early intervention service’ on cancer

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Exclusive: Too many people at risk of becoming ‘martyrs’ by not getting symptoms checked as they do not want to burden health service, report warns

Too many people are at risk of becoming “martyrs” by not getting symptoms of cancer checked out because they do not want to burden the NHS, warns a report, which calls for earlier testing to diagnose those at higher risk.

The report, by the health consultancy Incisive Health, sets out ways in which the NHS in England can catch more cancers early and thus save lives by becoming more of an “early intervention service”. It comes as the government draws up its first dedicated cancer strategy since 2015.

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Lewis Capaldi makes surprise return to live performance at charity gig

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The Scottish musician breaks health-related hiatus with gig in support of the suicide prevention charity Calm

Lewis Capaldi performed on stage for the first time in two years after making a surprise appearance at a charity gig in Edinburgh to raise funds for suicide prevention.

He appeared on Friday night at the concert – headlined by Tom Walker and Nina Nesbitt– at Edinburgh Assembly Halls, in aid of the charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (Calm).

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UK politics: New Reform mayor suggests 10% cut to council workforce – as it happened

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Andrea Jenkyns says she wants a ‘lean, mean local government’ and says she is ‘up for a fight’ with unions

The Conservatives will come back from their poor results in the local elections but it will have to be a “slow and steady” effort, party leader Kemi Badenoch has said, PA reports.

She told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “I am sorry to all of those councillors who’ve lost their seat”.

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Badenoch says more children, not immigration, will help with ageing population

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Conservative leader’s remarks to BBC suggest she may develop policies that encourage women to have more children

People should be having more children rather than the UK relying on immigration to deal with an ageing population, Kemi Badenoch has suggested.

The Conservative leader said the UK needed to answer the question of how we “make sure we can deal with [an] ageing society, people not having enough children”.

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Eight men including seven Iranians arrested in two England anti-terrorism operations

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Residents tell of their fear as raids carried out in London, Swindon and Greater Manchester amid rising concern about Iran-backed plots

An alleged terrorism plot was foiled by police after four Iranian men were arrested in armed raids amid growing concern about Tehran-backed plots in the UK.

Eight men, including seven Iranian nationals, were detained in two separate counter-terrorism operations across England on Saturday.

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NHS England aims for faster cancer treatment with new data tool

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Cancer 360 will help collate patient information from spreadsheets, emails and records into single digital system

Millions of cancer patients have been promised faster diagnosis and treatment, with the rollout of a new technology across the NHS in England.

The tool, called Cancer 360, is designed to bring cancer patients’ data into one central system in order that doctors and nurses can prioritise those most in need and see them more quickly.

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Gateshead: 14 children arrested after boy dies in fire

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Three girls and 11 boys, all aged 11-14, arrested by Northumbria police on suspicion of manslaughter

Fourteen children aged between 11 and 14 have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after the death of a boy following a fire in Gateshead, Northumbria police said on Saturday.

The children – 11 boys and three girls – were all under arrest and in custody, police said.

Anyone who has information that could help the investigation has been urged to contact Northumbria police by sending a direct message on social media or by using the “live chat” or “report” functions on the force’s website.

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‘This is your victory’: Churchill’s VE Day radio address to be broadcast by Timothy Spall

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Actor joins four days of national events including concerts, church services and a military procession in London

Eighty years after Winston Churchill addressed the nation from Downing Street with the words “This is your victory!” a recitation of his famous VE Day speech will be broadcast as the nation commemorates the day the Allies formally accepted Germany’s surrender in 1945.

Events across four days of national UK commemorations include a military procession through central London on Monday, with tens of thousands expected to line the route from Parliament Square to Buckingham Palace, and a service at Westminster Abbey on the 8 May anniversary on Thursday.

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Driver arrested after four people injured in two collisions in Rochdale

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Man detained on suspicion of attempted murder following two incidents about two miles apart

A driver has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after four people were injured in two separate collisions in Rochdale, police have said.

A woman was airlifted to hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries after she was hit by a car in Whitworth Road and three pedestrians, including a child, were injured in Woodgate Avenue, about two miles away.

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MP calls for trials of lifting drinking ban in English football stands

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Labour’s Luke Charters says allowing alcohol in the top five tiers of the men’s game would be the ‘modern approach’

A Labour MP has called for trials to assess the impact of lifting a decades-long ban on drinking alcohol in football stands.

York Outer MP Luke Charters said football needs to take a “modern approach” to the issue in a debate on the football governance bill earlier this week.

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Now Farage not Starmer is feeding public’s appetite for change

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The Reform UK leader has somehow dodged responsibility for the economic damage of Brexit and is winning over disaffected Labour voters

There was a time when any election campaign featuring the name Nigel Farage would have featured the word “Brexit” just as prominently.

And yet, almost a decade after Farage orchestrated Britain’s great EU schism, and with the Reform leader emerging as a bigger political threat than ever, at this week’s local elections Brexit was not a word on the lips of voters.

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