Pop-up Frakta shop offering blue candy floss and mirrored room opens on site of delayed larger store
Glass cases house beautifully displayed arm-candy at the latest new entry on a reviving Oxford Street in central London.
This is not a designer handbag purveyor but a store dedicated to Ikea’s signature bright blue Frakta carrier bag – a pop-up shop paving the way for the home furnishing retailer’s delayed move into a larger store on-site, which is due to open next year.
Continue reading...London-listed company strikes deal with Fortress Investment Group, although shareholder approval needed
The cafe bar business Loungers has agreed to be bought by a US investment group in a deal that values it at about £338m.
Fortress Investment Group said it had made an offer for the UK hospitality group through a newly formed investment vehicle.
Continue reading...Discussion platform takes fifth place in rankings and is the fastest growing large social media platform in the UK
Reddit, the American online discussion platform, has overtaken X to become the fifth most popular social media platform in the UK, according to the communications watchdog.
Ofcom said Reddit, where users post on discussion threads within topic-based communities, was visited by 22.9 million UK adults in May this year, compared with 22.1 million on X.
Continue reading...Health Services Safety Investigation Body reveals difficulties inmates have when they leave jail for treatment
A female inmate remained handcuffed to a male prison officer while she had a mammogram, in an example of prisoners being denied their dignity while receiving NHS care, a watchdog has revealed.
The incident is highlighted in a report by the Health Services Safety Investigation Body (HSSIB) into the difficulties prisoners can face when they leave jail to see a GP or visit a hospital.
Continue reading...Kurdish Community Centre in Haringey among properties being searched by officers investigating banned group
UK-based Kurdish advocacy groups have condemned the arrest of seven people by counter-terrorism police in London as part of an investigation into the banned Kurdistan Workers’ party, known as the PKK.
Four men aged 23, 27, 56 and 62, and two women aged 31 and 59, were arrested at separate addresses during dawn raids in the capital on Wednesday and remain in custody, the Metropolitan police said. A 31-year-old man was arrested Wednesday afternoon in west London. All are yet to be charged.
Continue reading...Results of trial of benralizumab injection could be ‘gamechanger’ for millions of people around the world
Doctors are hailing a new way to treat serious asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease attacks that marks the first breakthrough for 50 years and could be a “gamechanger” for patients.
A trial found offering patients an injection was more effective than the current care of steroid tablets, and cuts the need for further treatment by 30%.
Continue reading...Scale of the criminality would make Fayed, who died last year at the age of 94, one of Britain’s most notorious sex offenders
Police believe Mohamed Al Fayed may have raped and abused more than 111 women over nearly four decades, with his youngest victim said to have been just 13 years old.
The scale of the criminality would make Fayed, who died last year at the age of 94, one of Britain’s most notorious sex offenders, and raises urgent questions about how he got away with his crimes.
Continue reading...Exclusive: absence of good transport links now an emblem of areas that feel ‘left behind’ and failed by major parties, report claims
Every constituency that elected a new Reform UK candidate at the general election has experienced long delays to road improvement schemes and resulting congestion, a report has found, in a possible clue to the growing appeal of populist parties.
A series of other places where Nigel Farage’s party is now polling well are also lacking transport infrastructure, the report added, as well as a perception among locals that decisions were being made in London that made their lives more difficult could push them to abandon major parties.
Continue reading...Intelligence agency has been trying to entice Russians disaffected by invasion of Ukraine but president-elect is likely to want to make an ally of Kremlin
For the past three years, the CIA has run an unusually bold outreach programme. It targeted Russians within the country’s government and security services, attempting to turn them into double agents.
Slickly produced recruitment videos portrayed cooperation with the US secret agency as the patriotic choice for officials disaffected with Vladimir Putin’s regime and the war in Ukraine. The videos ended with instructions on how to contact the CIA in a secure manner.
Continue reading...Sales of Christmas pet lines up 964% year-on-year at Waitrose online as people spend more on pet care
Unlike buying a present for a fussy father-in-law or an awkward aunt, a dog won’t complain if their treats aren’t the latest, and a cat is not likely to turn its nose up at a Christmas tree-shaped scratch tree.
Perhaps that’s why Britons are so happy to spend on their pets this Christmas, with sales of seasonal pet treats, toys and food booming.
Continue reading...National Audit Office finds ‘significant uncertainty’ as to whether pledge for extra 1.5m treatments will be fulfilled
Plans to end the deepening crisis in access to NHS dental care are failing, leaving patients unable to get treatment, according to a warning from the government’s spending watchdog.
The National Audit Office’s (NAO) damning verdict on the “dental recovery plan” prompted patient groups to voice alarm that people’s struggles with decayed teeth represents “a serious public health concern”.
Continue reading...Gambling minister says measures will be ‘instrumental’ in helping those most at risk of addiction
Bookmakers and casinos will be forced to fund NHS services that tackle problem gambling, after Labour rubber-stamped the previous government’s plans, which also include a cap of as little as £2 on the sums that can be staked on online slot machines.
The Guardian revealed on Monday that the government was poised to approve the new “statutory levy”, using proceeds of around £100m a year to fund research, prevention and treatment of gambling harms.
Continue reading...Stellantis says it will shift production from Bedfordshire to plant at Ellesmere Port, Cheshire
The owner of Vauxhall has announced that it plans to close its van factory at Luton, in a decision that will put 1,100 jobs at risk of being cut or moving location despite the UK government preparing to relax rules on electric cars.
Stellantis said it would shift van production from Luton, Bedfordshire, to another factory at Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, blaming the UK’s economic conditions and the government’s zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate.
Continue reading...Members’ venue in central London popular with the media and arts world closes as police inquiry explores recent crime
The Groucho Club has been forced to close as police investigate whether the venue was the scene of a serious criminal offence.
On Tuesday Westminster council ruled that the licence of the club, which counts many A-list celebrities among its members, should be immediately suspended for 28 days. A full hearing will then take place.
Continue reading...Kiena Dawes left note saying she was ‘murdered’ by Ryan Wellings, who is standing trial for her manslaughter
A young mother killed herself and left a note saying “I was murdered” after suffering years of abuse at the hands of her ex-boyfriend, a court has heard.
Kiena Dawes, 23, a hairdresser, said in her note that “Ryan Wellings killed me”, a jury heard.
Continue reading...Moscow bans Labour figures including Angela Rayner, Yvette Cooper and Rachel Reeves under new sanctions
Russia has banned cabinet ministers including Angela Rayner, Yvette Cooper and Rachel Reeves from entering the country under new sanctions announced by Moscow’s foreign affairs ministry.
More than a dozen other senior Labour politicians are among the 30 British citizens on the Russian “stop list” after tensions between London and Moscow rose following Ukraine’s recent use of British missiles to strike deeper into Russia.
Continue reading...Kremlin bans UK cabinet ministers including Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Yveette Cooper from entering country
The Federation of Small Businesses applauds the ambition in the government’s Get Britain Working, but says that overcoming the “pervasive poverty of ambition” about employment in the public sector won’t be easy. This is from Tina McKenzie, the FSB’s policy chair.
This is a start – but only a start – in fixing the pervasive poverty of ambition in the Jobcentre, health and other state systems when it comes to getting people back into work. Increasing employment is ultimately the most sure-fire way to drive up living standards and economic growth.
Ministers have a huge job to persuade public institutions that work is good for health and that everyone who needs work should be helped to get a job or start-up in self-employment – not least getting rid of the idea that the only good work is in graduate jobs, the public sector or volunteering.
The ambition behind the 80 per cent employment target is both clear and important ..
To deliver on this policy agenda, government and small businesses must work in partnership to drive real change through the whole employment system and make sure the country is helping those who most need work.
It is right to ensure that young people who are seeking work are helped to find a job or training. Positive early experiences in the jobs market are vital for young people’s future life chances. They must be supported to take part, not faced with self-defeating sanctions.
Success will also depend on ministers making the investment that’s needed in health services and quality training. Jobcentre staff must have a central role in redesigning their services, and devolution must never come at the cost of staff terms and conditions.
Continue reading...City of London Corporation rejects plan for new Dagenham site and will offer traders about £300m in compensation
London’s historic Smithfield meat market is to close for good after the City of London Corporation voted to pull out of plans to relocate it and Billingsgate fish market to Dagenham.
The corporation, which owns and operates the central London site of the centuries-old market, had earlier this month put on hold relocation plans to a new £1bn site in Dagenham, east London, to review the “financial sustainability” of the planned move.
Continue reading...Leanne Lucas, who was seriously injured trying to protect children, says she plans to speak out more after trial
A dance teacher who survived the knife attack in Southport where three children were killed has said she is hoping her voice “will get louder and louder” after the trial of her alleged attacker.
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Bebe King, six, were killed in an attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on 29 July, and 10 other people were injured, eight of them children.
Continue reading...Most claims from 400 men on vessel moored in Portland, Dorset have been processed, with majority accepted
The final asylum seekers housed on the Bibby Stockholm barge left the boat on Tuesday and crew members are set to leave on Wednesday, with the controversial vessel’s final day in port expected to be 8 January.
The accommodation on the barge, moored in Portland, Dorset, will now be dismantled after the Labour government decided to discontinue the previous government’s contract to house asylum seekers on the vessel.
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