Category Archives: UK news

David Miliband: Europe and US need ‘separate bedrooms’ but not divorce

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Former Labour minister says complete disengagement has potential ‘for us to end up in a very, very difficult position’

David Miliband has said Europe should have “separate bedrooms” from the US, but not seek a “divorce” from its traditional alliance, despite the Trump administration’s impact on the relationship.

The former Labour foreign secretary, who has served as the president of the International Rescue Committee since 2013, said at the Hay literary festival on Sunday: “You can see the argument that strategic autonomy for Europe means divorce from the United States. I really counsel the dangers of that.

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UK records hottest day of year as forecasters warn of more extreme heat

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Temperature reaches 30.5C in Kent as amber health alerts issued before bank holiday temperatures rise

The UK has recorded its hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures reaching 30.5C in Kent as forecasters warned more extreme heat could follow over the bank holiday weekend.

The temperature in Frittenden also marked the first time since 2012 the UK has reached 30C in May, according to the Met Office.

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New breed of political prisoner arises in Britain as anti-protest sentences rise

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More people are being jailed in England and Wales as a result of acting to prevent climate breakdown and the war in Gaza, research reveals

Britain has created a new breed of political prisoners through the systematic incarceration of people acting to prevent climate breakdown and the annihilation of Gaza, a report claims.

The research by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and the protest group Defend Our Juries says that custodial sentences for acts of direct action or civil disobedience were once rare but are now being imposed with increasing length and frequency.

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GLA considering investigation into Zack Polanski over houseboat council tax

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Official assessing formal complaint into Green party leader’s potential ‘breach of conduct’ as assembly member

London assembly officials are weighing up whether to launch an investigation into Zack Polanski after he admitted he may have failed to pay the correct council tax while living on a houseboat in the capital.

The Green party leader has faced questions over whether the houseboat, moored in east London, was his primary residence. A spokesperson for his party had described the situation as an “unintentional mistake” and said Polanski had “immediately taken steps” to pay any tax owed.

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Extra EU border checks suspended at Dover as travellers face delays in heat

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Wait times of more than two hours reported at terminal for cross-Channel ferry to France

French police have temporarily suspended extra EU border checks at the port of Dover as thousands of holidaymakers face long delays in the hot weather.

Waiting times of more than two hours were reported at the terminal in Kent for the cross-Channel ferry to France.

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UK needs ‘national consensus’ over rejoining EU, David Miliband says

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Ex-foreign secretary urges reset at ‘higher dosage’ after officials revealed to have pitched single market for goods

Britain needs a “national consensus” about rejoining the European Union, David Miliband has said, in response to revelations that the UK government pitched the creation of a single market for goods with the EU to the bloc.

The former foreign secretary, who is now president of the International Rescue Committee, said he thought the UK needed a reset of its relations with the EU at “a much higher dosage” than the government was planning.

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Reeves’s tax cut on children’s meals a political ‘soundbite’, say restaurateurs

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Chancellor’s measure to help families save money during summer holidays ‘won’t make any difference’

Cutting tax on children’s meals is a political “soundbite” that will make little difference to families or businesses, restaurateurs have said.

This week, Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, announced a temporary reduction in VAT on the children’s menu in restaurants from 20% to 5% between June and September, in order to help families with the cost of living crisis and offer a boost to the hospitality sector.

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Fraudster trying to sell fake ancient statues to Sotheby’s foiled over bogus invoices

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Paperwork supplied by Andrew Crowley, 46, found to be made using printing methods 25 years too modern

A fraudster who tried to sell fake ancient statues to Sotheby’s was foiled when his bogus accompanying paperwork was found to be written with printing methods that were 25 years too modern, a court has heard.

Andrew Crowley, 46, asked the auctioneers to value three Cycladic figures and one Anatolian stargazer statuette that he had inherited from his grandfather, Southwark crown court in London was told on Friday.

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Stephen Hawking’s father worried his son ‘does not study much’, diaries reveal

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Exclusive: New biography uncovers Frank Hawking’s papers in which he lamented that his son had ‘little initiative’

In exploring the physics and geometry of the universe, Stephen Hawking became a world-renowned pioneer of black hole theory, writing the bestselling book A Brief History of Time, which has sold more than 13m copies, and inspiring people to “look up at the stars and not down at your feet”.

But, during Hawking’s student years and as he approached adulthood, his father was deeply concerned about how his son would turn out. Frank Hawking lamented that “he hangs round the house with little initiative and does not study much”, according to previously unknown diaries that he had written partly in code.

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Soft power sell-off: anger as British Council announces sale of historic Madrid building

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Backlash grows among European staff against radical cuts to pay off Covid-era debt, with some accusing council of ‘colonial attitude’

The historic Palacete building at 31 Paseo del General Martínez Campos in Madrid’s upmarket Chamberí district has been home to the British Council in Spain for about 70 years.

About 5,000 students each year pass through its 35 classrooms, learning English, attending exams, and forging cultural ties with the UK. Over the years that is hundreds of thousands of Madrileños (people from Madrid), while it also serves as a centre for the expat community.

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Health alerts for bank holiday weekend as record May heat forecast in UK

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Temperatures expected to reach as high as 33C in southern England or Midlands on Monday

Amber heat health alerts have been issued for the bank holiday weekend as record-breaking May temperatures as high as 33C (91F) are expected in parts of the UK.

The alerts – which indicate a possible risk to life as well as potential damage to properties, significant travel delays and power cuts – were announced for the East Midlands, West Midlands, the east of England, London and the south-east, and will be in effect from 2pm on Friday until 5pm on Wednesday.

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Mind the drone gap: war games begin inside secret Nato bunker in London tube station

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British army is 80-90% short of drones as military exercise aims to build on European defence strategy

Deep in Charing Cross underground station, in the disused terminus of the Jubilee line, a secret Nato command bunker has this week been discreetly at work. Dozens of mostly British soldiers were engaged in a war game defending Estonia from a Russian invasion in 2030, unbeknownst to commuters and tourists bustling above.

The secret chambers are behind two sets of normally locked, metal double doors. A red glow at the bottom of the escalator beyond is the first sign of troops below; next are mocked up newspaper covers pasted over ageing adverts. A British Nato force has deployed to Estonia they blare, in response to a Russian massing of troops on the border.

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Jury discharged at trial of men accused of murdering child abuser Ian Watkins

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Judge says it is ‘disappointing’ there will have to be retrial of prisoners accused over Lostprophets singer’s death

The jury in the trial of two prisoners accused of murdering the paedophile Lostprophets frontman, Ian Watkins, has been discharged for legal reasons.

The disgraced singer was stabbed to death in his cell at high-security HMP Wakefield by Rico Gedel, 25. Watkins was serving a 29-year sentence for child sexual offences.

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Standard Chartered boss apologises for ‘lower-value human capital’ comments amid job cuts

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Bill Winters faced backlash over remarks about some of near 8,000 staff set to lose roles to AI

The chief executive of Standard Chartered has apologised for referring to some of the almost 8,000 staff that are set to lose their jobs to artificial intelligence as “lower-value human capital”.

Bill Winters offered the apology after a backlash over comments he made earlier this week as the London-headquartered lender became one of the first major global banks to lay out plans to cut about 7,800 back-office roles, primarily in response to AI.

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‘Full-on summer heat’: western Europe braces for unusually high temperatures

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Portugal, Spain, France and UK expected to exceed 30C on Friday and into next week, with new May records predicted

A large swathe of western Europe is bracing for the first significant heat event of the summer, with temperatures forecast to rise to more than 10C above the norm and new monthly records for May expected to be set in possibly hundreds of places.

Temperatures across Portugal, Spain, France and the UK were expected to exceed 30C (86F) on Friday and into next week, reaching 32C in Paris and London and 35C in south-west France, with highs of up to 38C in the Guadiana and Guadalquivir regions of Spain.

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David Lammy chairs first meeting of board set up to improve diversity among judiciary

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Exclusive: Move to establish board comes after criticism that Lammy’s plan to slash jury trials will lead to increase in racial and class bias

David Lammy and the most senior judge in England and Wales are drawing up plans to accelerate the recruitment of minority ethnic and working-class solicitors into the judiciary.

A new judicial and legal diversity board, chaired by Lammy, who is the first black lord chancellor, and Sue Carr, the lady chief justice, has met for the first time to discuss removing barriers for diverse candidates attempting to join the judiciary.

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Boys convicted of rape get non-custodial sentences as judge says they should not be criminalised unnecessarily

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Boys physically overpowered and then filmed attacks on teenage victims in separate incidents in Hampshire

Three teenage boys convicted of knife-point rape and other serious sexual offences against two teenage girls in Hampshire have not been given custodial sentences because the judge said he “should avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily”.

The boys, who were aged between 13 and 14 at the time of their offences, physically overpowered and sexually assaulted the girls, who were aged 14 and 15, in separate incidents two months apart.

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Single-sex toilets must exclude transgender people, says EHRC

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Updated code of practice covering England, Wales and Scotland also relates to changing rooms and follows supreme court ruling

Single-sex toilets and changing rooms in England, Wales and Scotland must exclude transgender men and women, according to a new code of practice from the equalities watchdog.

But the long-awaited guidance also says that businesses and service providers have to offer practical alternatives such as gender-neutral toilets for people who do not wish to use services for their biological sex.

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Thursday briefing: How ​English football ​is ​pricing ​out ​its ​own ​supporters

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In today’s newsletter: Behind the packed stadiums and record revenues lies a growing tension​ of a sport thriving financially while the supporters who built it ​are increasingly ​left behind

Good morning. The men’s football season is reaching the sharp end. This week, Arsenal were crowned Premier League champions and last night Aston Villa won the Uefa Europa League. The men’s Fifa World Cup is just around the corner.

But fans in England are also at the sharp end: rising prices inside and outside grounds, kick-off times being altered on the whim of TV channels, and a creeping sense that some clubs are desperate to replace the “legacy fan” with a premium-paying “high-yield customer”.

UK politics | Andy Burnham is backing Shabana Mahmood’s controversial changes to the immigration system, his allies have said, in a blow to those in Labour who hope to soften them.

AI | The Electoral Commission has called for new legal controls over misinformation from AI chatbots, after a thinktank found they had made serious mistakes during the recent Scottish election.

Ebola | Doses of a potential vaccine against the Bundibugyo virus that is causing an Ebola outbreak in central Africa will not be available for six to nine months, the World Health Organization said.

Middle East | Israel’s far-right national security minister has sparked a diplomatic crisis by publishing footage of Israeli security forces abusing international activists who were detained as they tried to sail to Gaza with aid.

UK news | Rainwater harvesting, the use of grey water in homes and an urgent campaign to reduce water usage across society are vital to prevent water shortages of 5bn litres a day by 2055, the government has been told.

In the weeks leading up to the World Cup, soccer writer Jonathan Wilson will explain how the tournament became a global phenomenon with cultural, social and political weight that extends far beyond each game. Sign up for the newsletter here.

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England must harvest rainfall and take action on water usage, Lords warn

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Without urgent intervention England faces water shortages of 5bn litres a day by 2055, peers tell government

Rainwater harvesting, the use of grey water in homes and an urgent campaign to reduce water usage across society are vital to prevent water shortages of 5bn litres a day by 2055, the government has been told.

Without intervention, England will face severe water shortages in the coming decades, as climate change-induced weather patterns, population growth and the expansion of industries such as water-intensive datacentres put excessive demand on supplies and endanger life, according to a House of Lords report published on Thursday.

Changes to building regulations to require new homes to achieve a maximum water usage of 105 litres a person a day and accelerated grey water reuse.

Nature-based solutions such as restoring peat bogs and reconnecting rivers to their natural flood plains to enhance water retention.

An urgent awareness campaign for the whole of society to reduce water usage.

A full environmental and economic assessment of drought to weigh the cost of inaction against the value of resilience.

The rolling out of nature-based solutions more widely in urban and rural settings.

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