New figures show nearly 80% of businesses in some parts of England have been denied support
Ministers are being urged to overhaul the “nightmare” compensation scheme for flood victims after it emerged that nearly 80% of businesses in some parts of England had been denied support.
After heavy downpours caused chaos across much of England and Wales this week, new figures laid bare the “opaque” and inconsistent level of help available to those whose properties lay in ruin.
Continue reading...Phillips, who the court of final appeal said was stepping down for ‘personal reasons’, is fifth foreign judge to leave city’s judiciary this year
The British judge Nicholas Phillips has stepped down from Hong Kong’s top appeals court, the fifth overseas judge to leave the city’s judiciary this year.
Phillips, 86, is leaving Hong Kong’s court of final appeal (CFA) after 22 years for “personal reasons” after his fourth term ended on Monday and he said he did not wish to extend it, the court said.
Continue reading...Warwickshire police appeal for help to find Akashdeep Singh, who they believe left scene near Banbury
Police are searching for a man in connection with a fatal six-vehicle motorway collision.
Warwickshire police believe Akashdeep Singh, 23, may have information about the incident on the M40 which involved five cars and a Peugeot boxer van.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Former Australian PM witnessed ‘shocking act of perjury’ and says MI5 are still trying to hide something
The former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has accused the UK government of hypocrisy and concealment over the way it continues to block the release of secret files about the Spycatcher affair.
Before entering politics, Turnbull was a barrister for Peter Wright, a retired senior MI5 intelligence officer who revealed a series of illegal activities by the British security services in his memoir Spycatcher.
Continue reading...With the leadership contenders vying to out-crazy each other, it was Boris – well it would be, wouldn’t it – who outdid them all
See it from the point of view of the Fearless Four. You’ve already seen off the mighty challenge of Priti Patel and Mel Stride, latter-day Tory titans both, so now you’re through to the Birmingham eliminator.
You’ve disappeared through the wormhole into the mephitic swamp where any intelligent life comes to die. Where only the clinically deranged and terminally deluded are to be found. Where the sanest voice is Michael Fabricant’s rug pleading with its owner to be allowed to go home. Welcome to the Tory party conference.
Continue reading...Conservative leadership contenders Jenrick, Cleverly and Tugendhat reject rival’s comments, while Rosie Duffield criticises Keir Starmer
Q: Do you agree with Kemi Badenoch that some cultures are less valid than others?
Jenrick says culture matters. But he says he disagres with Badenoch on immigration numbers. He says he thinks you have to have a cap on numbers. And he also says he believes the UK has to leave the European convention on human rights. He says Badenoch is just talking about developing a plan in a few years time, and that’s “a recipe for infighting and for losing the public’s trust”.
Continue reading...Leadership contender’s team in damage control mode after she is criticised for saying burden on business is ‘excessive’
Kemi Badenoch’s campaign was in damage control mode on the first day of Conservative party conference, as rival candidates criticised comments she made on maternity pay, saying the burden on business was “excessive” and that people should exercise more “personal responsibility”.
Badenoch, the frontrunner among party members in the four-way contest, was forced to twice clarify the comments and emphasise that she “of course” believed in maternity pay. But the comments were seized upon by other candidates, who distanced themselves from Badenoch’s words.
Continue reading...Jamie Pearson, 27, had waited nearly 24 hours to see an NHS mental health worker after taking an overdose in August
A 27-year-old man who killed himself in a hospital toilet after waiting nearly 24 hours to see a mental health professional was badly failed by the NHS, his mother has said.
Jamie Pearson was admitted to Blackpool Victoria hospital’s A&E department after taking an overdose of high-strength painkillers on 17 August.
Continue reading...Two weather warnings for wind and rain, with river levels already high and ground saturated in some places
England and Wales are braced for heavy rain and strong winds just days after homes and businesses were flooded.
Two fresh weather warnings came into force on Sunday for wind and rain that will hit areas already saturated by downpours earlier in the week.
Continue reading...A surge in claims for pension credit will make thousands more people eligible for the payments and other benefits
Rachel Reeves has been warned that her cut to pensioner winter fuel payments risks saving hundreds of millions less than anticipated, in a new blow to her attempts to close the hole in Britain’s finances.
The chancellor and her Treasury team are already re-examining parts of a plan to crack down on non-dom tax status over concerns that it may not raise any money.
Continue reading...Prime minister hopes to use talks with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen this week to prepare for a reset in the spring
Keir Starmer will use a meeting with the European Commission president this week to pave the way for a springtime overhaul of Britain’s Brexit deal, amid warnings that closer ties will be essential in his government’s desperate search for growth.
The prime minister will meet Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on Wednesday. However, it comes with home secretary Yvette Cooper still vehemently opposed to an agreement that would allow young people to move more freely between Europe and the UK – a measure that EU diplomats regard as key to unlocking more serious talks in the spring.
Continue reading...Thanks to the city’s famously rainy climate, trees suffering in the south can be moved, says the Royal Horticultural Society
The climate is changing British gardens everywhere. Well, almost everywhere. The Royal Horticultural Society has modelled how global heating will affect its property until 2075 and discovered that summers will be hotter and drier in all its gardens – except in Manchester.
Greater Manchester’s renown as a rain trap – there is even a website tracking rainfall, called Rainchester – means that the RHS Bridgewater garden in Salford is being earmarked for species that thrive in a cooler, wetter climate.
Continue reading...‘Economically illiterate’ Defra letter sent to anti-sewage groups cites 2018 report commissioned by water companies
Labour used “economically illiterate” analysis paid for by water companies in order to argue against the nationalisation of the sector, the Guardian can reveal.
In an official letter recently sent to anti-sewage groups, civil servants cited a paper by the Social Market Foundation as a reason to avoid nationalisation as part of its review of the sector. The report from 2018 was commissioned by United Utilities, Anglian Water, Severn Trent and South West Water.
Continue reading...Mechanical thrombectomy can save a patient from permanent disability or death, but its availability depends on where they live
Most stroke patients in England suitable for treatment that can save them from serious disability or even death cannot access it, new figures reveal.
It is estimated that at least 10% of stroke patients can benefit from a treatment known as mechanical thrombectomy. Under the procedure, a wire and stent is manoeuvred towards the brain to pull out the clot blocking the blood flow. The treatment reduces the adverse effects of a stroke and in the best outcomes a patient could walk out of hospital the next day.
Continue reading...British government says it has been securing extra flights as it asks UK nationals to register their presence
The British government has been securing extra flights for UK nationals to make their way out of Lebanon, as ministers continued to urge citizens still in the country to “leave now”.
Official advice has been warning British nationals to leave the country for months. But with the escalation of tension following the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, there have been fresh appeals to Brits to urgently secure a place on a flight.
Continue reading...Latest Opinium poll for the Observer shows Labour leader got the opposite of a ‘bounce’ from Liverpool party conference
Keir Starmer’s personal ratings dropped further during his first Labour conference as prime minister, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.
While party leaders hope for a conference bounce as a result of wall-to-wall media coverage, Starmer suffered the reverse effect, as his ratings plunged to their lowest ever level, and well below those of Rishi Sunak.
Continue reading...Politician cites ‘cruel and unnecessary policies’ as she lambasts prime minister’s ‘managerial and technocratic approach’
A Labour MP has resigned from the parliamentary party after criticising Keir Starmer’s “cruel and unnecessary” policies and lambasting the prime minister’s “managerial and technocratic approach” to politics.
In a furious letter announcing her decision, Rosie Duffield, the Canterbury MP, said she felt relief in making the decision. She said the row over freebies handed to Starmer and his top team demonstrated that “sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice are off the scale”.
Continue reading...Sana Chamseddin’s uncle, his wife and their three daughters died in IDF bombing of Tyre
A British woman returning to the UK from Lebanon has said Israeli airstrikes killed five members of her family.
Sana Chamseddin’s uncle, his wife and their three daughters, all in their 20s, were killed when their home in the city of Tyre was bombed by the Israel Defense Forces, she told the PA news agency.
Continue reading...Conservative grandees at the conference in Birmingham fear that none of the candidates can unite the party’s factions
Senior Tories are already predicting that whoever wins the Conservative leadership race is unlikely to survive until the next election, amid criticisms of a “B-list” contest that risks taking the party farther to the right.
Some veteran figures have decided to give this weekend’s conference in Birmingham a miss, fearing the party has learned little from the complete loss of discipline that characterised its final years in government.
Continue reading...Days after floods hit, further heavy rain likely to cause travel delays and flooding from late Sunday afternoon
Weather warnings have been issued as strong winds and heavy rain approach the UK, days after some areas were hit by flooding.
The Met Office issued a yellow rain warning – meaning further heavy rain is likely to cause some travel delays and flooding – covering much of southern England and south Wales between 4pm on Sunday and 9am on Monday.
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