Category Archives: UK news

UK copyright law consultation ‘fixed’ in favour of AI firms, peer says

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Exclusive: Beeban Kidron says plans will lead to ‘wholesale’ transfer of wealth from creative industries to tech sector

A consultation on changes to UK copyright law is “fixed” in favour of artificial intelligence companies and will lead to a “wholesale” transfer of wealth from the creative industries to the tech sector, according to a crossbench peer campaigning against the mooted overhauls.

Beeban Kidron said the government was undermining its own growth agenda with proposals to let AI companies train their algorithms on creative works under a new copyright exemption.

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Court rules against Metropolitan police crackdown on officers

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Force faces having to reinstate officers and staff removed under scheme launched in wake of Sarah Everard case

The Metropolitan police have lost a high court case over whether they can oust officers and staff deemed unsuitable through enhanced vetting procedures.

Scotland Yard had used the scheme, which effectively dismisses officers by removing their vetting clearance, to get rid of scores of staff, some of whom had faced allegations of sexual assault.

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Bank of England’s Mann backed rate cut as she sees inflation ‘hump’ easing

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Downturn in jobs market will mean workers will be unlikely to be able to bid up their wages, says policymaker

The Bank of England policymaker Catherine Mann has said she backed a half-point cut in UK interest rates last week because she believes the downturn in the jobs market will make the inflation “hump” this year short-lived.

Mann surprised financial markets last week by switching from voting against the Bank’s last cut, in November, to supporting a half-point reduction.

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Patti Smith to perform Horses in full on 50th anniversary tour

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Singer will visit US, UK and Europe later this year alongside members of the original band who recorded the classic punk text

Patti Smith is to perform her classic album Horses in full on a tour to mark the album’s 50th anniversary.

Playing gigs across the US, UK and Europe, Smith’s band will feature guitarist Lenny Kaye and drummer Jay Dee Daugherty, each of whom played on the original recording. The tour includes two UK dates, at London’s Palladium on 12 and 13 October, with Dublin, Madrid, Bergamo, Brussels, Oslo and Paris also featuring on the European run. The US tour will visit Seattle, Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Boston, Washington DC and Philadelphia.

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Second Labour MP suspended by Labour amid offensive messages on WhatsApp group – UK politics live

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Burnley’s Oliver Ryan suspended as details emerge about Trigger Me Timbers group

Downing Street has announced a mini-reshuffle following the sacking of Andrew Gwynne as a health minister over the weekend.

Ashley Dalton is replacing Gwynne as a health minister. Dalton was a backbencher.

Forcing those whose asylum applications have been rejected or who have overstayed their visas on to planes has never been the most effective way to return people and never will be. Being punitive just scares people into hiding. They lose contact with the authorities, living a life on the margins.

Voluntary returns are far more effective, and the government should know this because it was the last Labour administration that commissioned independent agencies to run a voluntary programme that saw numbers increase. Building trust with refugee and migrant communities and treating people with dignity and humanity was far more successful than an enforcement approach.

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Burnley MP Oliver Ryan suspended by Labour over messages on WhatsApp group

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Ryan is second MP to face sanctions after emergence of details of Trigger Me Timbers group

The Labour MP Oliver Ryan has been suspended by the party over his membership and comments on a WhatsApp group that featured offensive messages, including alleged racism and sexism.

The party took action against the Burnley MP after the emergence of details about the Trigger Me Timbers group, mainly involving a group of councillors and party activists in Greater Manchester.

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British soldier who took own life was scared of ‘psychotic and possessive’ boss

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Ryan Mason sent Jaysley Beck, 19, thousands of WhatsApp texts in a month, inquest hears

A 19-year-old soldier found dead in her room at an army camp had become frightened at the “psychotic and possessive” behaviour of her boss, who had sent her thousands of WhatsApp messages and expressed his love for her, an inquest heard.

Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck, who died at Larkhill camp in Wiltshire, was concerned Bombardier Ryan Mason had hacked her phone because he seemed to know where she was, the inquest was told.

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Labour shelves plans to make it easier for people to legally change gender

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Ministers mothball promised reforms to simplify the process amid fears over rise of Reform UK

Labour has quietly shelved plans to make it easier for people to legally change their gender amid concerns about the rising popularity of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

Ministers have mothballed their promised reforms to simplify the process whereby anyone seeking to change gender in the UK must get approval from a panel of doctors and lawyers.

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Cockatoos show appetite for dips when eating bland food, find scientists

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Birds observed going to lengths to flavour food, with particular penchant for blueberry-flavoured soy yoghurt dip

Whether you savour Ottolenghi’s recipes or prefer a feast from Nigella’s cookery books, humans enjoy mixing flavours and textures when preparing food. Now research suggests some cockatoos do too.

Researchers have previously discovered that some of the birds dunk dry rusks in water before eating them, just as some people enjoy dunking a biscuit in tea, apparently reflecting a penchant for a soggy texture.

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Leeds student jailed in Saudi Arabia for 34 years over tweets is released

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Salma al-Shehab was arrested in 2021 during holiday in Saudi Arabia

A Saudi student at Leeds University who was sentenced to 34 years in prison over her use of Twitter, now X, has been released after her sentence was dramatically reduced.

Salma al-Shehab, a mother of two who was arrested in 2021 during a holiday in Saudi Arabia, was convicted in 2022 over her tweets.

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Police in India stop Ed Sheeran busking on street before concert

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Local channels show police officer walking up to star as he sings Shape of You and unplugging microphone

Ed Sheeran has been stopped by police from busking in India after he was told he lacked permissions.

The songwriter was seen singing the hit single Shape of You on a pavement in the southern city of Bengaluru before his concert on Sunday night.

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Ex-supreme court judge says ‘arguable case’ Israel’s conduct in Gaza is genocidal

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Lord Sumption says Israel’s actions ‘grossly disproportionate’ and in new book points to suppression of free speech over Palestinian cause

A former UK supreme court judge has described Israel’s assault on Gaza as “grossly disproportionate” and said there was “at least an arguable case” that it was genocidal.

Lord Sumption, who served on the UK’s highest court from 2012 to 2018, was one of the highest profile signatories of a letter last year warning that the UK government was breaching international law by arming Israel.

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Keir Starmer takes public HIV test in push to destigmatise testing for virus

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Prime minister takes home test at No 10 with soul singer Beverley Knight to promote HIV Testing Week

Keir Starmer has taken a public HIV test in an effort to destigmatise testing for the virus and to highlight HIV Testing Week.

The prime minister took a home test at 10 Downing Street alongside the soul singer Beverley Knight. “It’s really important to do it and I’m really pleased to be able to do it. It’s very easy, very quick,” he said.

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UK tax administration costs spiralling due to complex system, says watchdog

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Businesses pay hundreds of millions of pounds more and losing trust in HMRC, reports National Audit Office

An increasingly complex tax system is burdening the government and businesses with hundreds of millions of pounds more in administration costs, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has warned.

The report by the National Audit Office (NAO) also said “poor levels of service” meant some taxpayers and their representatives were “finding it more difficult to deal with their tax matters and are losing trust in HM Revenue & Customs [HMRC]”.

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Campaign launched to make public toilets a legal requirement in Britain

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Legalise Loos initiative intended to halt slump in number of conveniences in town centres, parks and other locations

It will involve spending more than a penny, but it’s a call that is likely to be viewed sympathetically by anyone who has ever been caught short while out and about.

A campaign has been launched to make the provision of public toilets a legal requirement for central government and local authorities after a slump in the number of loos in town centres, parks and other locations.

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Freed Israeli hostage did not know of wife and daughters’ deaths, British family confirms

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An Israeli soldier broke the news to Eli Sharabi on Saturday, after almost 500 days in captivity

The freed Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi did not know his wife and two teenage daughters were killed in the 7 October attack until after his release, his British family have confirmed.

An Israeli soldier broke the news about what had happened to his wife, Lianne, who grew up near Bristol, and their two British-Israeli children Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, after Sharabi and two other hostages were released by Hamas in exchange for 183 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday.

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Essex police officer sacked after admitting ‘tragedy chanting’ at Anfield

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Misconduct hearing found Tyler Coppin had breached standards of professional behaviour over offence

An Essex police officer has been sacked after admitting “tragedy chanting” at Liverpool fans during a Premier League match last year.

Essex police instigated misconduct proceedings against Sgt Tyler Coppin after he pleaded guilty to the public order offence during the Liverpool game against Chelsea at Anfield last October.

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Church of England refuses call for gluten-free wafers and non-alcoholic wine

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Synod was asked to bring in alternatives for Eucharist, but says believers can still take part without consuming both

It’s the ancient ritual that unites millions of Christians in faith – but the Church of England is facing accusations that holy communion excludes non-drinkers or worshippers with dietary intolerances.

C of E guidance determines the type of bread and wine that can be consecrated as part of the Eucharist ritual, which symbolises Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, death and resurrection and commemorates the Last Supper.

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Britain’s system for controlling arms exports is broken, former diplomat claims

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Ex-Foreign Office official says he saw conduct that ‘crossed the threshold into complicity with war crimes’

Britain’s system for controlling arms exports is broken, subject to political manipulation and has seen conduct that crossed the threshold into complicity with war crimes, a former UK diplomat has claimed.

Writing for the Guardian, Mark Smith, who resigned from the Foreign Office in August, said officials were instructed to manipulate findings on the misuse of UK arms by allies, and if they did not do so, their reports were edited by senior colleagues to give the impression that the UK was in compliance with the law.

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NHS staff barred from workplace for considering Palestine demonstration

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An investigation found the pair had no case to answer and that the trust had breached its own disciplinary policy

Two NHS professionals were investigated and barred from their workplace for expressing interest in organising a peaceful protest in support of Palestine during their lunch break.

The therapist and nurse were accused of posing a threat to the “personal safety” of the staff at Kensington and Chelsea child and adolescent mental health service, and of “bringing the trust into disrepute” for considering the demonstration.

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