Category Archives: UK news

‘I only want justice’: bereaved families seek closure one year on from Air India crash

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Relatives of those killed on flight AI171 are still struggling to obtain answers about what happened

When Sagar Patel’s mother boarded Air India flight AI171 on 12 June last year, she called her son as she always did before takeoff. The flight was due to leave Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel airport in Ahmedabad, in the western Indian state of Gujarat, and was destined for Gatwick.

“We always had a little traditional thing,” said Patel, a business manager from London. “Once she got on the flight, she would sit down and call me. She’d tell me: ‘Yep, I’m on the flight. See you later.’”

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Pro-Palestine activists believe ‘sea change’ coming in Labour’s approach to Middle East

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Green surge in local elections and recent polling of Labour members may cause government to toughen stance on Israel

Pro-Palestine activists believe there could be a “sea change” in the Labour party’s approach to the crisis in the Middle East which could result in the government taking a tougher stance on Israel.

Campaigners have pointed to the threat posed to Labour by the Green surge in the local elections, the likely departure of Keir Starmer from No 10, and new polling which shows an appetite among Labour members for a ban on all arms shipments to Israel.

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Lupus patients in England in remission after pioneering NHS trial of GM therapy

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Doctors say therapy that genetically modifies person’s T-cells could offer cure for chronic autoimmune disease

Five lupus patients in England are in remission after being treated with a revolutionary therapy that genetically modifies their own cells, in a medical breakthrough that could offer people a cure, doctors have said.

CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T-cell therapy involves removing a type of white blood cell also called T lymphocytes, which are crucial for hunting out infected or damaged cells, and engineering them to spot and destroy disease. The T-cells are then fed back into the patient via an infusion to reset their immune system.

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Record number of young people fear long-term unemployment

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Report says confidence among 16- to 21-year-olds has fallen sharply as they doubt hard work will be rewarded

Young people in England are increasingly “losing faith in their futures” according to a report, as record numbers fear long-term unemployment.

Analysing survey data, including from the Office for National Statistics, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said 16- to 21-year-olds were less confident about being successful than a decade ago.

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UK school leavers and new students to be offered meningitis B vaccine

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One-off programme to begin in July after recent MenB outbreaks in Kent, Dorset and Berkshire killed three people

Teenagers in their final school year and young people starting university will be offered two doses of a vaccine to protect them against meningitis B, the government has announced.

The one-off vaccination programme, which will begin in late July, comes after an unprecedented outbreak of meningitis B in Kent earlier this year along with clusters of cases in Dorset and Berkshire that, together, led to the deaths of three young people.

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UK defence funding crisis has been a long time coming

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John Healey’s complaint is that Starmer sat on this problem for months before making a derisory offer

John Healey’s resignation as defence secretary on Thursday was a long time brewing, though in the end the denouement was swift. It leaves an already weak Keir Starmer without a defence strategy less than a month before a Nato summit and an unresolved row about spending as Donald Trump threatens to restart the bombing of Iran.

On Monday, No 10 finally told Healey how much more money it was prepared to give the Ministry of Defence to fund major projects as part of the defence investment plan (Dip).

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Helen Mirren speaks out about being called ‘evil Zionist’ on the street in London

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Responding to an incident in which she was verbally abused, the actor said that ‘evil forces are rising everywhere’, as well as expressing support for MobLand co-star Tom Hardy

Helen Mirren has commented on being called an “evil Zionist bitch” while being harassed in the street in London, saying she was “attacked by mistake by a man who was maybe a little over passionate or maybe mentally not quite stable”.

Footage circulated last month of an incident, believed to have taken place last year, while Mirren was walking with her husband, film-maker Taylor Hackford. They were approached and filmed by an unidentified person, who commented on Mirren’s support of Israel and then launched a volley of abuse at her.

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Ryanair investigated over charging parents to sit with their children

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Budget airline describes inquiry as ‘bogus’ as watchdog says it is only large carrier flying from UK to impose charge

Europe’s biggest low-cost airline, Ryanair, is facing an investigation over the mandatory fee it charges a parent to sit with their child.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the Irish carrier’s terms and conditions require at least one parent to sit with their children, including those with disabilities, and bills them about £8 a flight to do so.

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Thursday briefing: What would it take for streets to be safe for all?

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In today’s newsletter: With violent crime declining but hate crime increasing, a look at what we can all do to make our shared spaces safer

Good morning. Who is safe on Britain’s streets? Two acts of gross violence – the murder of Henry Nowak in Southampton and the stabbing of Stephen Ogilvie in Belfast – have been ruthlessly exploited by the far-right and now the spaces we all share are contested.

It is an entirely human response to feel unsafe when we watch a clip of an assailant wielding a knife over his victim, or police officers handcuffing a distressed, dying young man. Much as it is when we see ethnic minority families fleeing burning homes in Belfast, or a menacing crowd in Glasgow setting about black people as they pass.

Middle East | The US launched new strikes against targets in Iran for the second consecutive day after Donald Trump promised to “hit them hard again” as a two-month-old ceasefire appears close to collapse.

UK politics | Keir Starmer’s closest aides are “war-gaming” how to win a leadership contest ahead of Andy Burnham’s much-anticipated return to Westminster if he wins the Makerfield byelection, the Guardian understands.

Belfast | Elon Musk’s X will face no action to remove a mass of posts inciting violence in Northern Ireland for at least two months, despite widespread condemnation of the platform and its billionaire owner.

Environment | Temperatures in the Antarctic climbed above 15C this month, shattering the previous winter heat record for the usually frozen region and raising concerns about the speed of climate breakdown.

UK news | One of the government’s key contractors has launched an investigation into allegations of racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia and hate speech among staff working in immigration removal centres, the Guardian has learned.

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Home Office contractor investigates claims of staff racism and hate speech

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Whistleblowers from Mitie allege some employees have made offensive remarks or liked abusive social media posts

One of the government’s key contractors has launched an investigation into allegations of racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia and hate speech among staff working in immigration removal centres, the Guardian has learned.

Whistleblowers from the company, Mitie, have alleged that some staff members working in immigration removal centres and deporting migrants have made offensive comments at work and in social media posts.

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Millions of homes in London, Essex and Kent at risk of sinking as climate crisis worsens

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Analysis pinpoints areas most vulnerable to hotter, drier weather causing ground to shrink and drag foundations down

Millions of homes are at risk from climate-related subsidence, according toan analysis by the British Geological Survey (BGS).

As hotter, drier summers driven by global heating become more frequent, the ground under houses can shrink and drag down a property’s foundations. The most vulnerable areas include London, Essex, Kent and a tranche of land from Oxford up to the Wash on England’s east coast, according to scientists, who say mitigation measures will be needed.

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How the Belfast stabbing was the spark to a fuse loaded with grievance and provocation

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Politicians, social media and far-right agitators convinced people that migrant-targeting violence would solve all their problems

Within minutes of the footage going online – of a Black man stabbing a white man – there was a sense of inexorability to what came next in Northern Ireland.

The grievances, the social media platforms, the politicians’ doublespeak and the international cheerleaders all provided a fuse. On Monday night came the spark.

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Children hit by parents more likely to bully others, research finds

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The UCL study also found physically punished children were more likely to struggle in school

Children smacked by their parents struggle to get good exam results and are more likely to bully others, causing a negative impact on society, according to new research calling for smacking to be banned.

The study by University College London (UCL) found that children in England who were physically punished at the ages of three, five and seven were significantly less likely to pass GCSE exams compared with other children, even after factors such as family background were taken into account.

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Musk rejects claim he has incited disorder in Belfast – UK politics live

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X owner retweets post by Reform’s Matt Goodwin saying it is ‘not social media that’s inflaming tensions’

Hadi Alodid refused legal representation and made no reply to charges which were put put to him through an Arabic interpreter as he appeared in court charged with attempted murder following the Belfast knife attack, the Press Association reports.

The 30-year-old, with an address at Duncairn Avenue in Belfast, appeared before the city’s magistrates’ court on Wednesday morning.

He is charged with the attempted murder of Stephen Ogilvie on Monday, with threatening to kill an NHS radiographer on the same day and with the possession of a knife.

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Toby Carvery to pay for orchard planting after causing outrage by felling 500-year-old oak

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Restaurant chain took chainsaw to ancient oak tree in Enfield without permission

The restaurant chain Toby Carvery has settled a legal dispute after taking a chainsaw to an ancient oak tree without permission by agreeing to pay for the restoration of a lost orchard.

The unauthorised partial felling of the 500-year-old oak next to a Toby Carvery car park in Whitewebbs Park, Enfield, in April last year, prompted widespread public outrage and questions in parliament.

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WH Smith raises £100m as it warns on profits due to Iran war

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Retailer plans to shut unprofitable stores as falling US airport traffic due to Middle East conflict hits trading

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WH Smith has issued a profit warning after shopper numbers at its stores in US airports fell as a result of the war in the Middle East, prompting the company to raise fresh capital from investors.

The retailer, which operates 1,200 outlets globally in airports, railway stations and hospitals, raised £102m through a share sale on Wednesday to strengthen its balance sheet, pay down debt, invest in technology and shut down unprofitable stores after “a downturn in trading conditions”.

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Weight-loss drug users save more than £400 a year on food as take-up triples

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Research suggests households that include a GLP-1 user collectively spent £780m less on grocery bills

Weight-loss drugs are saving users’ households more than £400 a year on grocery bills, according to a survey, which found use of GLP-1s has nearly tripled in the past two years to 1.9 million adults.

More than 6.3% of households in Great Britain now include at least one GLP-1 user, according to the research by Worldpanel by Numerator. This marks a sharp rise from 4.1% of households in 2025 and 2.3% in 2024.

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Charities in England and Wales ‘donate millions to illegal Israeli settlements’

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MP Melanie Ward calls on Charity Commission to look into 32 organisations she says have given at least £28m

Thirty-two charities in England and Wales have donated at least £28m to Israeli settlements that are illegal under international law, an MP has said.

Labour’s Melanie Ward said that if gift aid were claimed against the donations in the usual way, it would mean taxpayers had subsidised illegal settlements to the tune of £5.6m, a situation she described as deplorable. The foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, announced on Tuesday that the Charity Commission has been tasked with investigating UK charities’ links to settlements.

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Two men jailed for violence at protest over police treatment of Henry Nowak

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Leon O’Leary threw a smoke grenade and Connor Bishop a traffic cone at officers during disturbance in Southampton

Two men who threw a smoke grenade and traffic cone at police during the violence in Southampton that followed the sentencing of Henry Nowak’s killer have been jailed.

Leon O’Leary, 41, from Basingstoke, Hampshire, was sentenced to three years and one month after throwing a smoke grenade at officers.

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‘You can never be safe’: Belfast’s Sudanese community hunkers down after grisly attack

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Fears grow over anti-immigration protests after asylum seeker charged with attempted murder in Northern Ireland

The Sudanese barber shop owner was at his cash register and smiling at the question, “Did he feel safe in Belfast?”, when two men strolling down the street paused at his open doorway and unleashed a sudden, shrieking howl.

It ended as abruptly as it began and without saying a word the two men, white, in their 20s, wearing grey tracksuits, resumed their stroll.

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