Douglas Alexander’s unpublicised trip to talk with counterparts coincides with that of Adm Sir Tony Radakin
A trade minister has travelled to China for an unpublicised visit this week at the same time as the head of the British military, the Guardian has learned.
Douglas Alexander, the minister for trade policy and economic security, is paying a visit to Beijing this week for talks with Chinese counterparts. He is also due to visit Hainan and Hong Kong.
Continue reading...Sarah Breedon says too early to judge impact on inflation of ‘most significant change in trade policy in a century’
UK economic growth will be hit by US tariffs, which are the biggest trade policy change in a century, a senior Bank of England official has warned.
Sarah Breeden, the Bank’s deputy governor for financial stability, said on Thursday that business activity was likely to be adversely affected by Donald Trump’s tariff regime, dragging down the UK’s already weak growth rate.
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During her BBC Breakfast interview Kemi Badenoch claimed that the government has dropped the plans for five local inquiries into grooming gang, or child rape scandals, that were announced in January. As she was trying to fend of the questions about Adolescence, she said:
One of the things that I’m more bothered by is the fact that just yesterday, we had Labour telling us that they’re not going to be investigating the rape gang scandal, something which had happened all across the country. That’s real. That’s happening right now. We’re not talking about that.
I am absolutely astonished that Labour has dropped what it said it would do in January. And, as I said to Keir Starmer at prime minister’s questions, if he did not have a full national inquiry, people will start to think that there is a cover-up.
They are clearly uncomfortable with having inquiries that are looking into this issue.
As a rule I believe in mess ups rather than conspiracy.
But if true that Labour have shelved even the most limited public enquiries into grooming gangs, it does suggest that powerful Labour politicians have something to hide.
We are developing a new best practice framework to support local authorities that want to undertake victim-centred local inquiries or related work, drawing on the lessons from local independent inquiries such as those in Telford, Rotherham and Greater Manchester. We will publish the details next month.
Alongside that, we will set out the process through which local authorities can access the £5m national fund to support locally-led work on grooming gangs. Following feedback from local authorities, the fund will adopt a flexible approach to support both full independent local inquiries and more bespoke work, including local victims’ panels or locally led audits of the handling of historical cases.
There’s a huge information about this. This is completely wrong. We’re actually increasing, not reducing, the action being taken on this.
Child sexual exploitation, grooming gangs – these are some of the most vile crimes, things like rape or exploitation, coercion. We’re increasing the action against that.
I think that those are all important issues, and those were issues that I’ve been talking about for a long time.
But in the same way that I don’t need to watch Casualty to know what’s going on in the NHS, I don’t need to watch a specific Netflix drama to understand what’s going on. It’s a fictional series. It is not a documentary.
I’m saying very clearly that my job is not to watch lots of TV. My job is to get out there and make sure that I’m talking about the issues that are happening in the country right now.
Badenoch in the right. Stop basing public policy on telly
Continue reading...Camilla Hempleman-Adams, who says she is first woman to traverse Canada’s Baffin Island solo, accused of ‘privilege and ignorance’
A British adventurer has apologised after her claims to be the first woman to traverse Canada’s largest island solo were dismissed by members of the Inuit population who criticised her dangerous “privilege and ignorance”.
Camilla Hempleman-Adams, 32, covered 150 miles (240km) on foot and by ski while pulling a sledge across Baffin Island, Nunavut, in temperatures as low as -40C and winds of 47mph during the two-week expedition last month.
Continue reading...Former PM says it is also the moment for the UK to go even further in renewing ties with the EU
Gordon Brown has called for an “economic coalition of the willing” to respond to Donald Trump’s tariffs with coordinated economic policies, including a reduction of interest rates.
The former prime minister also said it was a moment for the UK to go even further in renewing ties with the EU, suggesting it should mean “collaboration that is even more extensive than removing post-Brexit trade barriers”.
Continue reading...Poorer households shut out of heat pump market and grants should be increased to speed up rollout, thinktank says
Gas boiler fittings outnumbered new heat pump installations by more than 15 to one last year, and only one in eight new homes were equipped with the low-carbon alternative despite the government’s clean energy targets.
Poorer households are also being shut out of the heat pump market as the grants available are inadequate and should be increased, according to a report by the Resolution Foundation thinktank.
Continue reading...Investigators find coordination failures between NHS and care bodies causing delays, distress and burnout
Navigating England’s “complex” health and care system is “extremely difficult” and carers and patients are experiencing burnout, distress and harm as a result, a damning report says.
There were frequent failures by NHS and care organisations in coordinating care for people with long-term health conditions, the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) found. Figures show 41% of adults and 17% of children have at least one long-term health issue.
Continue reading...AA says ‘cash-guzzling’ councils are adding clean-air levies to parking tariffs and resident parking permits
Drivers are being caught out by hefty price rises to park their cars, as councils across England impose parking surcharges on petrol and diesel vehicles.
An estimated one in five councils now add clean-air levies to parking tariffs and resident parking permits to deter polluting vehicles.
Continue reading...Head of National Education Union calls for statutory ban on phones in schools and social media ban for under-16s
Almost all schools in England have banned mobile phone use by pupils, according to the first national survey conducted, as the leader of the largest teaching union called for a statutory ban owing to the “damaging impact” on young people.
The national survey, ordered by Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, showed that headteachers have swiftly instituted bans on smartphone use during school hours. The survey of more than 15,000 schools found that 99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools have some form of ban.
Continue reading...With white paper imminent, Institute for Government urges ministers to abandon ‘reactive, kneejerk’ decisions
Ministers should introduce an annual migration plan to put an end to decades of “incoherent, disconnected and unpredictable” policies around work visas, according to a Whitehall thinktank.
The Institute for Government (IfG) said that successive governments have put forward “reactive, kneejerk policies” formulated when politicians have been questioned by broadcasters over net migration figures.
Continue reading...British royals wish pontiff well in recovery from pneumonia during their state visit to Italy
King Charles and Queen Camilla paid a surprise private visit to a convalescing Pope Francis on Wednesday afternoon during their four-day state visit to Italy.
The royal couple visited Francis, 88, at his home in Casa Santa Marta in Vatican City, where he is recovering from a serious bout of pneumonia in both lungs. An official audience had previously been removed from the royals’ schedule due to the pontiff’s ill health.
Continue reading...The Palestinian Islamist organisation, which launched deadly 7 October attacks on Israel, says it is a ‘resistance movement’ and no threat to Britain
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has submitted a legal filing saying it should be removed from the UK government’s list of proscribed terrorist groups.
Hamas, which carried out the 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel, in which more than 1,200 people, mainly civilians, were killed and a further 250 taken hostage, is arguing that it is not a terrorist group but “a Palestinian Islamic liberation and resistance movement whose goal is to liberate Palestine and confront the Zionist project”.
Continue reading...The PM doubled down on his insistence the government won’t change its fiscal rules, describing them as ‘ironclad’ and ‘non-negotiable’
One person probably more enthusiastic than most about the prospect of Universal opening a theme park in the UK is the Lib Dem leader Ed Davey. He is a great fan of outdoor activity-related photocalls, and he’s been at it again today, and the Gloucester Ski and Snowboarding Centre in Matson, Gloucestershire.
Almost 40 MPs and peers have signed a letter organised by Jeremy Corbyn calling for an independent inquiry into the government’s role in the war in Gaza.
Many people believe the government has taken decisions that have implicated officials in the gravest breaches of international law.
These charges will not go away until there is a comprehensive, public, independent inquiry with the legal power to establish the truth.
Last month, I wrote to the Prime Minister calling for an independent inquiry into the UK’s involvement in Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Today, more than 30 MPs have supported that call.
Continue reading...The former world snooker champion Graeme Dott has been accused of sexually abusing children. The 47-year-old is facing charges of sexual abuse against a boy and a girl.
Court papers allege he abused the girl in Glasgow between 1993 and 1996.
Continue reading...World Cancer Research Fund goes further than UK and WHO advice on alcohol after review of evidence
Women should avoid alcohol altogether to reduce their risk of breast cancer, a charity has warned.
The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) has published a review of evidence on how diet and lifestyle factors can play a role in the development of the disease.
Continue reading...A1 closed and man and woman arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and abetting dangerous driving
Seven police officers have been treated in hospital and five police vehicles badly damaged after an early morning car chase on one of the busiest roads in the north-east of England.
Police were pursuing a dark grey BMW M Sport when the collision happened just before 2.30am on Wednesday on the northbound carriageway of the A1, near junction 75, and the Denton Burn roundabout, near Newcastle.
Continue reading...Brooklyn Forrester-Hayes threatened co-worker after reporting ‘finger-sized holes’ in his sandwiches
A garage apprentice who threatened a colleague he thought had pranked him by poking “finger-sized holes through his sandwiches” has lost an unfair dismissal claim.
Brooklyn Forrester-Hayes accused a fellow apprentice of “tampering with his lunch” as well as “smashing his crisps”, an employment tribunal was told.
Continue reading...Foreign ministers will gather in London and seek to exert diplomatic pressure demanding a ceasefire
The British government is bringing together foreign ministers from nearly 20 countries and organisations in an attempt to establish a group that can drive the warring factions in Sudan closer towards peace.
The conference at Lancaster House in London on 15 April comes on the second anniversary of the start of a civil war that has led to the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis, but has been persistently left at the bottom of the global list of diplomatic priorities. Half of Sudan’s population are judged to be desperately short of food, with 11 million people internally displaced.
Continue reading...Home Office issues guidance hours before legal challenge on behalf of asylum seekers who were left in limbo
Thousands of people left in limbo since plans to deport them to Rwanda were axed will now have their asylum claims processed in the UK, Labour has confirmed.
More than 5,000 asylum seekers were on an initial list drawn up by the previous government to be sent to Rwanda under a deal between the two countries.
Continue reading...Chancellor rules out rejoining customs union but says Britain must bolster post-Brexit trade with partners
Donald Trump’s unfolding trade war makes it even more “imperative” for the UK to improve its post-Brexit trading relations with the European Union, Rachel Reeves has said.
The government has ruled out rejoining the EU customs union, but the chancellor has insisted the UK wants to improve its trade relationship with “partners in Europe”, given the difficulties British firms have found in exporting their products around Europe.
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