Manslaughter inquiry launched after 14-year-old went into anaphylactic shock after dining with her family at pizzeria
Prosecutors in Rome have opened a manslaughter investigation after a British girl with a peanut allergy died during a holiday with her family.
The 14-year-old had dined at a pizzeria in the Gianicolense district and went into anaphylactic shock about 15 minutes later after the family returned to their hotel.
Continue reading...Health secretary says measures to be announced on Wednesday would ‘arrest the decline’ amid significant NHS reform
Kemi Badenoch, who is the bookies’ favourite to be the next Conservative leader, has told Times Radio that the contest is poised “neck and neck”.
Interviewed by Kate McCann, Badenoch told listeners:
People are tired of the party looking like it is not out working for the people out there. That is what I want to bring: integrity, and a focus on conviction and conservative values.
There is something very significant that is going on, we are picking a leader of the opposition. People have a choice.
This is a sacrifice, because I worry about the direction of the country.
I worry about a lot of decisions we make, and us not being honest with the public about the serious trade-offs that are going to be required, and not saying enough about how the world is becoming a more dangerous place.
Continue reading...Tory leadership candidate wades into reparations debate, arguing empire brought democratic institutions
Britain’s former colonies should be thankful for the legacy of empire, not demanding reparations, according to the Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick.
In comments that were described by a Labour MP as “deeply offensive”, the former minister said countries that were part of the empire “owe us a debt of gratitude for the inheritance we left them” in the form of legal and democratic institutions.
Continue reading...Parliamentary watchdog rules Aaron Bell ‘abused his position of power’ by touching woman in Commons bar
A former Conservative MP has been reprimanded for “brazen and drunken” sexual misconduct in one of parliament’s bars.
Aaron Bell, who was the Tory MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme until July, was found by a parliamentary watchdog to have “abused his position of power” by touching a woman “on her left thigh, waist and bottom inappropriately and without her consent”.
Continue reading...Department’s finances were slashed during austerity and campaigners say more cuts will stall progress to meet nature and climate targets
Rachel Reeves has been urged not to cut the government’s environment funding in the budget as analysis shows the department’s finances were slashed at twice the rate of other departments in the austerity years.
Between 2009/10 and 2018/19, the environment department budget declined by 35% in monetary terms and 45% in real terms, according to Guardian analysis of annual reports from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Environment Agency and Natural England. By comparison, the average cut across government departments during the Conservative austerity programme was about 20%. During the first five years of austerity, it was the most cut department.
Continue reading...Downward trend in oil price from higher production, falling demand in China and clean energy to continue
Petrol and food prices will fall over the next two years thanks to a glut in oil production, the World Bank has said, offering hope to consumers that the cost pressures of the past three years could start to ease.
Its analysis found that this year’s downward trend in the oil price resulting from increased production, falling demand in China and the transition to clean energy is set to continue even if the conflict in the Middle East worsens.
Continue reading...London-headquartered bank says profits beat forecasts as it prepares to split eastern and western operations
The boss of HSBC has said moves to separate its eastern and western operations are not part of a plan to break up the banking group, as he announced a $3bn share buyback amid better-than-expected profits.
Georges Elhedery pushed back against rumours that a huge restructuring plan announced last week was a sign he was considering hiving off parts of the banking group, which had been under pressure to do so by its largest shareholder, the Chinese insurer Ping An. Investors last year rejected Ping An’s proposals.
Continue reading...Far-right activist sentenced over false claims about refugee and ordered to pay costs of £80,350.82
The far-right activist Tommy Robinson has been jailed for 18 months for contempt of court for repeating false allegations against a Syrian refugee, in breach of an injunction.
He was told that “nobody is above the law” by a judge who said the “flagrant” breaches had been done in a “sophisticated” way to ensure the false claims would achieve “maximum coverage”, reaching tens of millions of people.
Continue reading...Witness reportedly says Runcorn and Helsby MP and second man were arguing about temporary bridge closure
The Labour MP who punched a constituent in the early hours of Saturday morning has been urged to resign, as it was reported that the pair rowed over the closure of a local bridge.
Mike Amesbury was suspended from the party over the weekend and has had the whip withdrawn after videos emerged of the altercation in Frodsham, in his constituency in Cheshire.
Continue reading...Speaker of the House of Commons says it is ‘evident’ Reeves made significant policy announcements in the media, rather than parliament
Jeremy Corbyn and the independent alliance of MPs have issued a letter ahead of the budget with five things they are asking Chancellor Rachel Reeves to implement.
Saying “We have the means to end poverty, we just need the political will”, Corbyn listed five priorities:
Scrap the two-child benefits cap
Reverse cuts to winter fuel
Tax wealth
Protect welfare
Invest in a greener future
It is a national scandal that 4.2 million children and 2.1 million pensioners are living in poverty in the sixth richest country in the world.
You have previously told the British public to prepare for “difficult decisions” to repair this nation’s finances.
Continue reading...Owners of Neal’s Yard Dairy say they have heard from ‘a lot of incredible people’ since losing 950 wheels of cheddar
The owners of Neal’s Yard Dairy have said they have had an “overwhelming” response after it emerged that more than 22 tonnes of cheddar had been stolen from the London cheese specialist.
The company delivered 950 wheels of cheddar – reported to be worth as much as £300,000 – to an alleged fraudster posing as a wholesale distributor for a major French retailer. The cheese is believed to have been spirited away to Russia or the Middle East, according to suppliers to the company who were caught up in the scam on 21 October.
Continue reading...Erroneous announcement traced back to briefing note prepared by Treasury officals, ahead of PM’s Samoa trip
When Keir Starmer announced a shake-up in his No 10 operation last month he hoped to put an end to the missteps of his first few months in office. But an embarrassing error by Downing Street this weekend demonstrates how many pitfalls there are for a new government still learning the ropes.
In a press release on Friday, Downing Street said five new freeports would be announced in the budget. The Guardian and other outlets covered the news, which was given first to reporters who had travelled with Starmer to Samoa for the Commonwealth summit. Both the prime minister and his aides answered questions on the policy they had unveiled.
Continue reading...Seven Met officers accused of accessing X-rays and witness information after Wayne Couzens was arrested
Police viewed confidential information about the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard such as her X-rays out of “curiosity”, a disciplinary hearing heard.
Seven Metropolitan police officers were accused of looking at sensitive information relating to the case after the arrest of the firearms officer Wayne Couzens, the Times reported.
Continue reading...The authors are among 1,000 books industry figures pledging not to work with any publishers, festivals or publications ‘complicit in violating Palestinian rights’
Sally Rooney, Arundhati Roy and Rachel Kushner are among more than 1,000 writers and publishing professionals who have signed a letter pledging to boycott Israeli cultural institutions that “are complicit or have remained silent observers of the overwhelming oppression of Palestinians”.
Signatories to the pledge say they will not work with Israeli publishers, festivals, literary agencies and publications that are “complicit in violating Palestinian rights”, including operating “discriminatory policies and practices” or “whitewashing and justifying Israel’s occupation, apartheid or genocide”.
Continue reading...Speakers at event call for commitment to a two-state solution and urge Labour government to do more
Criticism of the Israeli government and calls for tolerance and a commitment to a two-state solution were the major themes of an event in London on Sunday organised by the left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
The conference, titled Israel After October 7th: Allied or Alone?, featured speakers from across Israeli and UK politics, academia and media. It served in part to show the extent to which some members of the Jewish diaspora have been traumatised not just by the horrors of 7 October but also the response of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Continue reading...The mammals were once common across Europe but urban development has pushed them towards extinction
Hedgehogs are now listed as “near threatened” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list after a decline in numbers of at least 30% over the past decade across much of their range.
While hedgehogs were once common across Europe, and were until now listed as of “least concern” on the red list, they are being pushed towards extinction by urban development, intensive farming and roads, which have fragmented their habitat.
Continue reading...Team at Nottingham Trent University is investigating how chemotherapy in early life could damage nerve cells
Treatments that could help alleviate the chronic pain experienced by thousands of childhood cancer survivors are being investigated by scientists and researchers in the UK.
About eight out of 10 children survive their cancer for 10 years or more but more than half of them report delayed and ongoing pain in adulthood.
Continue reading...UHY Hacker Young says 92 companies have delisted and only 10 floated on junior stock market in past year
The UK’s Alternative Investment Market (Aim) has shrunk to its smallest size in 23 years as business owners and investors anticipate an abolition of inheritance tax relief in the budget this week.
The accountancy group UHY Hacker Young calculated that 92 companies have delisted from Aim, London’s junior stock market, in the past year, reducing the total number of companies on Aim to 695.
Continue reading...PM will defend Labour plans in speech and insist working people need better public services more than lower taxes
Keir Starmer will promise to “embrace the harsh light of fiscal reality” on Monday as his chancellor prepares to unveil a budget that includes billions of pounds’ worth of tax rises and spending cuts.
The prime minister will give a speech in the West Midlands defending Labour’s approach to the economy, as Rachel Reeves prepares to announce what she promises will be as momentous a budget as any in the party’s history.
Continue reading...Footage appears to show MP for Runcorn and Helsby knocking man to ground before aiming six more blows at his head
Labour has suspended the whip from the MP Mike Amesbury after footage appeared to show him punching a man to the ground, the party said.
A video published by the Mail appeared to show Amesbury, the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, hitting the man in the face and knocking him to the floor, before standing over him and aiming six more blows at his head.
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