Category Archives: UK news

Up to 30 MPs who backed assisted dying bill could withdraw support at next vote

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Several MPs preparing to suggest amendments on key concerns including coercion and role of medics

Up to 30 MPs who backed assisted dying could withdraw support at the next parliamentary vote, MPs have said, as several prepare to suggest amendments on coercion and the role of medics.

The committee that will examine the next stage of Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill will begin hearings in the new year, with MPs coalescing around several demands for changes to the legislation.

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City regulators to start oversight of tech firms that provide ‘critical’ services to UK

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New powers come amid concerns that cyber-attacks and outages could put the country’s financial stability at risk

City regulators will begin cracking down in the new year on tech firms providing “critical” services to UK banks amid concerns that cyber-attacks and outages at companies such as Google or Amazon could put the country’s financial stability at risk.

From 1 January, the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority will be handed powers to regulate companies that are becoming a crucial part of the day-to-day operations of the increasingly digital banking and payments sector.

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Met police pays out after arrest of teenager wrongly linked to protest

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Exclusive: Force reaches out-of-court settlement with Xanthe Wells, who was accused of being at pro-Palestine demonstration

Scotland Yard has paid £5,000 in an out-of-court settlement after allegedly unlawfully imprisoning a 17-year-old who was wrongly accused of being at a pro-Palestine protest where a building was spray-painted.

The case is said by civil liberties campaigners to be compelling evidence of a heavy-handed approach by the Met to the policing of demonstrations over the last year.

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Councils failing to take homeless young people into care

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Exclusive: UK teenagers placed in temporary housing until they are adults as there are fewer obligations to support them if they are not care leavers

Councils are treating teenagers like homeless adults and placing them in unsuitable temporary housing rather than taking them into care, new research has shown.

Local authorities are “waiting out the clock” when assessing vulnerable 16- and 17-year-olds until they can be classed as adults. The teenagers were kept in the dark about their rights after escaping “harrowing” family situations involving physical and emotional abuse, addiction and mental health problems, according to research by the Coram Institute for Children charity.

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‘Authoritarian and heavy-handed’: call for investigation into vetting of experts by UK civil servants

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Speakers banned after criticising government in social media posts

The information watchdog has been asked to investigate “authoritarian” government vetting that caused speakers to be banned from official events for criticising ministers.

Two experts, who discovered that civil servants had combed through years of social media posts to judge them “unsuitable” to address conferences, believe the practice was covert and unlawful.

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London museum security guards urge public to stay away in strikes over pay

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More walkouts planned in 2025 at V&A, Natural History and Science museums as workers demand living wage

Three of the UK’s biggest museums face the threat of strike action in 2025 by security guards over pay and conditions.

Guards at the Science Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Natural History Museum are in dispute with the external contractor, Wilson James. They want a basic pay rate of £16 an hour to cope with the cost of living crisis.

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Third person arrested after man fatally hit by car in Blackburn on Christmas Day

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Kirk Marsden, 37, died after being struck by vehicle outside Gate Street Bar and Grill after reports of incident at venue

Police have arrested a third person suspected of murder after a man was fatally hit by a car outside a pub on Christmas Day.

Officers were called to reports of an incident at the Gate Street Bar and Grill in Blackburn, just before 4.50pm, after an argument in the venue.

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Thick fog expected to continue causing disruption at UK airports on Sunday

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Many flights at Heathrow and Gatwick cancelled or delayed on Saturday as murky conditions persist

Disruption caused by thick fog is expected to continue until Sunday at some of the UK’s busiest airports.

Flights at Stansted airport were affected by the weather conditions on Saturday, while live departure boards showed delays at Heathrow, Luton and Manchester airports.

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Driver in 80s arrested after pedestrian dies following collision in Bedfordshire

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Police say man in 40s died at scene in Dunstable after incident at about 4pm on Friday

A man in his 80s has been arrested after a pedestrian died following a road collision in Bedfordshire, police said.

Officers were called just before 4pm on Friday to reports of a collision between a blue Saab car and a pedestrian in West Street, Dunstable.

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Labour donor Dale Vince urges ‘rigorous financial scrutiny’ of Sizewell C costs

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Green energy entrepreneur voices concerns over project’s funding and ‘spiralling costs’ of UK’s other nuclear plants

The government’s new value for money tsar has been challenged to examine the costs of a nuclear power station to be given final approval next year, as ministers attempt to shore up private investment for the project.

New nuclear plants are a key part of the government’s plan to have clean power by 2030. The Sizewell C reactor, billed as generating enough energy to power 6m homes, is expected to be given the final go ahead in June’s review of public spending. Its projected costs are in excess of £20bn.

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‘Dubious’ use of the Freedom of Information Act stopping access to files on Prince Andrew, researchers say

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Biographer says government departments give contradictory refusals to requests and accuses them of ‘cover up’

Researchers have called for greater transparency from the Foreign Office over the files it holds on the Duke of York. Officials responding to freedom of information requests have given a variety of reasons why the files cannot be released.

Andrew Lownie, an author who is researching a biography of Prince Andrew, was told that the files could not be made public until 2065, and implied there was a general rule that papers relating to members of the royal family must remain closed until 105 years after their birth.

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Trump versus trade: the global economic outlook for 2025 in five charts

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Unpredictable change will sweep through America, while old problems, from war to inflation, are likely to afflict other countries

The global economy is entering the new year with rising geopolitical tensions looming over its prospects, as the world’s leading central banks attempt to cut interest rates after the worst inflation shock in decades.

Donald Trump’s second term in the White House is expected to dominate the economic agenda. Global trade tensions are on the horizon as the president-elect threatens to impose sweeping tariffs on US imports.

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Former world’s tallest man calls for more compassion for vulnerable in UK

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Hussain Bisad, who has had health problems, says government should do more for people with physical or mental illness

When Hussain Bisad first settled in north London as an asylum seeker after fleeing from war in Somalia 23 years ago, he did so in the hope of a new and more settled life. Little did he know that shortly after arriving he would be at the centre of the media spotlight, not for his story of escaping conflict but for something altogether different: his height.

Bisad had been in the UK for five months when Guinness World Records measured his height as 2.3 metres (7ft 6.5in), making him then the world’s tallest living man.

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Blair proposed SDLP Irish nationalists support England at World Cup, papers show

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Unsealed documents show British PM’s idea in 2002 did not go down well with Northern Ireland politician

The 2002 World Cup had been a gruelling rollercoaster for the Republic of Ireland. Nine days before the team’s first match in the tournament, hosted by Japan and South Korea, its captain and talisman Roy Keane was on his way home before a ball had been kicked, after publicly berating his manager, Mick McCarthy.

Two draws and a victory against Saudi Arabia had taken Ireland through the group stages, but after a dramatic penalty shootout against Spain, they were knocked out of the competition.

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‘Illegally smuggled’ cannon at Tower of London subject of dispute with Ireland

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Newly released documents show Irish officials sought return of cannon sold by ‘gang of British treasure hunters’

Rare cannon allegedly smuggled out of Irish waters by a gang of British treasure hunters and acquired for a knockdown price by a Tower of London official were at the centre of a decades-long dispute between British and Irish officials, according to newly released records.

Irish officials made extensive efforts to convince UK authorities to return the bronze cannon after claiming they were “illegally smuggled” from a Waterford shipwreck and sold to the Tower of London.

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Man charged over Christmas Day collision in London’s West End

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Anthony Gilheaney, 30, charged with attempted murder after four pedestrians were hit by a car

A man has been charged with four counts of attempted murder after allegedly driving into four pedestrians in the West End of London on Christmas Day.

Anthony Gilheaney, 30, was also charged with causing serious injury by driving while disqualified, driving a motor vehicle dangerously, and possession of a bladed article in a public place.

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Man charged over Christmas Day collision in London’s West End

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Anthony Gilheaney, 30, charged with attempted murder after four pedestrians were hit by a car

A man has been charged with four counts of attempted murder after allegedly driving into four pedestrians in the West End of London on Christmas Day.

Anthony Gilheaney, 30, was also charged with causing serious injury by driving while disqualified, driving a motor vehicle dangerously, and possession of a bladed article in a public place.

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Keir Starmer pays tribute to brother who died on Boxing Day

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Nick Starmer, 60, who had cancer, ‘met all the challenges life threw at him with courage and good humour’, says PM

Keir Starmer has paid tribute to his brother Nick, who had cancer and died on Boxing Day aged 60.

Starmer said in a statement: “My brother Nick was a wonderful man. He met all the challenges life threw at him with courage and good humour. We will miss him very much.

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Keir Starmer pays tribute to brother who died on Boxing Day

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Nick Starmer, 60, who had cancer, ‘met all the challenges life threw at him with courage and good humour’, says PM

Keir Starmer has paid tribute to his brother Nick, who had cancer and died on Boxing Day aged 60.

Starmer said in a statement: “My brother Nick was a wonderful man. He met all the challenges life threw at him with courage and good humour. We will miss him very much.

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Number of UK retailers on brink of collapse soars by 25%

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Report for final three months of year shows pressure driven by rising costs and weak consumer confidence

The number of UK retailers on the brink of collapse soared by a quarter in the final three months of the year, driven by a combination of rising business costs and weak consumer confidence, according to a report.

The proportion of retail businesses classed as being in “critical” financial distress jumped 25% to 2,124 in the fourth quarter compared with the third, the insolvency specialists Begbies Traynor said.

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