Former Great Ormond Street hospital surgeon Yaser Jabbar removed as speaker at orthopaedics event
A doctor who is being investigated for allegedly harming hundreds of children has been removed as a featured speaker from a health conference.
Great Ormond Street children’s hospital in London has launched an urgent review of the care of 721 children who are thought to have received botched treatment from one of its former consultant orthopaedic surgeons, Yaser Jabbar.
Continue reading...Excavators in Belgium find 15 limbs and seven equine skeletons at site of decisive 1815 battle against Napoleon
The carnage and horror of the battle of Waterloo have been laid bare in an excavation by military veterans and archaeologists that has uncovered amputated limbs and the remains of horses which were shot to be put out of their misery.
At least 20,000 men – and possibly many more – were killed in the epic 1815 battle when the British military officer the Duke of Wellington and a European alliance defeated Napoleon’s French forces in a decisive and bloody encounter that determined the power balance in Europe for nearly a century.
Continue reading...‘Sizeable minority’ of survivors of crime have not been informed that perpetrators will be freed on Tuesday
Hundreds of survivors of crime are unaware that their perpetrators will be freed on Tuesday despite requests that this would not happen, the victims’ commissioner has claimed.
As the government prepares to release 1,700 offenders to ease overcrowding in prisons in England and Wales, Helen Newlove said some victims were “unaware of their offender’s release” and could not seek protective measures.
Continue reading...HM Inspectorate of Constabulary report gives police largely clean bill of health on impartiality after accusations of bias
The former prime minister Rishi Sunak and his home secretary Suella Braverman have been criticised in an official report for wrongly lambasting the Metropolitan police’s handling of pro-Palestinian protests.
The report from HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services gives police a largely clean bill of health about its impartiality.
Continue reading...Peers said they were raising a ‘big red flag’ and tough choices will be needed
The pressing risk of the national debt becoming unsustainable will force Britain into the unenviable choice of paying higher taxes or the state doing less, a House of Lords committee has warned.
A report by peers said tough decisions and a new set of rules for the public finances were needed in order to put debt – currently just under 100% of annual national income – on a decisive downward path.
Continue reading...Changes proposed after as many as 750,000 people may have been excluded from 2024 election due to lack of documents
Ministers should expand the ID that people can use to vote, the elections watchdog has recommended, after a report found as many as 750,000 people might not have voted in the 2024 general election because they lacked the necessary documents.
The Electoral Commission said the government should also look at allowing people without ID to vote if someone who did have proof of identity was able to vouch for them at a polling station.
Continue reading...Media regulator describes change as a ‘generational shift in the balance of news media’
Online platforms have overtaken TV channels as the most popular sources for news in the UK, according to figures described as a “generational shift” in viewing habits.
More than seven out of 10 UK adults (71%) consume online news, said the UK’s communications regulator, slightly ahead of TV, which is used by 70% of adults. Ofcom described the survey result, the first time websites and apps have moved in front of TV, as marking a “generational shift in the balance of news media”.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Foreign minister Penny Wong says she ‘welcomes’ the British move and Palestinian civilians ‘cannot pay the price’ of defeating Hamas
Australia is coordinating with the UK and other allies to “pressure” Israel to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and to stop the erosion of longstanding norms protecting aid workers.
The Australian government has also explicitly backed the UK’s decision to curb arms exports to Israel, putting it at odds with the US, which is reported to have privately warned Britain against the move.
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Continue reading...Rachel Reeves tells Labour MPs that axing allowance for all but poorest pensioners will help plug £22bn hole in finances
The chancellor has faced down would-be rebels in a private meeting of Labour MPs ahead of the crunch vote on the government’s controversial plan to scrap the winter fuel allowance.
Rachel Reeves told a gathering of the parliamentary Labour party that the move was necessary, despite fears about the impact on millions of less-well-off pensioners, as it would help to plug a £22bn gap in the public finances.
Continue reading...‘For the first time since the cold war we must genuinely fear for our self-preservation,’ warns former ECB chief as he presents new report on European competitiveness
We also have worrying signs that the US jobs market is cooling.
The latest UK Report on Jobs from KPMG and REC shows that the UK labour market softened in August, with vacancies falling for both permanent and temporary staff.
“Recent Government warnings that the UK’s economy may weaken further before improving add to the overall sense of uncertainty, affecting recruitment plans. Firms holding back from hiring led to a sharp contraction in the number of people placed into permanent roles in August amid continued decline in demand, extending the downturn in the UK’s labour market.
“The news that while salaries rose last month it was at the weakest rate since March could help make the case for more rate cuts when the [Bank of England’s] Monetary Policy Committee meets to decide the future path of interest rates.
This reflects ongoing concerns in the job market, including falling job vacancies and more people claiming unemployment-related benefits, which reached its highest level since December 2021 according to the Office for National Statistics.
Continue reading...PM and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, defend move to restrict payment to only the poorest pensioners
Like the Telegraph (see 11.25am), the Times has also published a new article with a Tory endorsement for Kemi Badenoch, but this one is potentially more significant. Margaret Thatcher is no longer with us, but for Conservative party members she is still the one figure from the party’s recent past whose authority is more or less unquestioned and Peter Lilley has written an article claiming that Badenoch would be a worthy inheritor of her mantle. He says Thatcher was a scientist, and Badenoch is an engineering graduate. Like Thatcher, Badenoch is focused on facts, and what works, he says. He goes on:
Leadership candidates are under great pressure to make popular pledges, to abolish specific taxes or set a numerical limit on immigration. Kemi, rightly in my view, has refused to do so. Voters want lower taxes and much less immigration (as do I), but they have seen every glib promise broken. To convince them, a new leader will need to show first, that policies have been rigorously worked out in practical terms and second, that we truly believe in them rather than adopting them to win votes. As Margaret Thatcher said: “To carry conviction, you must have conviction.”
Conviction is the fruit of hard-nosed scepticism. Kemi’s approach is similar to Margaret Thatcher’s, for whom I once worked. When ministers took a policy to her which was in line with all her prejudices, expecting instant approval, she would tear into it, challenging every weakness. Only when satisfied that a policy was totally robust would she take it on board – but then she pursued it with unwavering conviction. Kemi is likewise willing to challenge, criticise and expose weaknesses, which does not endear her to everyone. But we cannot afford to go on adopting half-baked, unworkable policies.
We can rage at Labour’s actions, but the public won’t listen to our narrative – unless we have a leader who can communicate.
Kemi Badenoch is that person. She is blessed with that rare gift in politics: the X-factor that means she can not only communicate but achieve all important ‘cut-through’, so that the public actually notice.
Continue reading...Steve Dymond, 63, was distraught after being heckled and accused of cheating during 2019 filming, says landlady
A man who is believed to have killed himself after appearing on The Jeremy Kyle Show was “broken” and “wasn’t a well man”, his landlady has told the inquest into his death.
Steve Dymond, 63, from Portsmouth, Hampshire, is thought to have ended his life seven days after filming for the ITV show in May 2019.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Continue reading...New exhibition, named after ‘theatrical encyclopedia’ Gabrielle Enthoven, showcases British stage history from the Restoration to Fleabag
She was an avid collector of playbills, programmes and props who kickstarted the largest theatrical archive of the nation, now housed at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Without Gabrielle Enthoven, we would not have theatre studies as a discipline today, according to Simon Sladen, the museum’s senior curator of modern and contemporary theatre and performance.
Yet many will never have heard of Enthoven. That is about to change as the V&A has named a new exhibition in her honour, celebrating a century of the national archive, which is now protected by law.
Continue reading...Supermarket has come under pressure as rivals such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s have promised to match its prices
Aldi has said the price of a basket of its goods is lower than a year ago despite ongoing grocery inflation, as the discount chain tries to fight back against increasing pressure from rivals’ price-matching schemes.
The German-owned budget retailer said a slowdown in growth this year – sales are rising by just 0.5% compared with 16% last year – was partly caused by a decision to cut prices as big chains including Tesco and Sainsbury’s have won back customers by promising to match Aldi on key items.
Continue reading...Bude Sea Pool could become what is believed would be only the seawater wedding venue in England
Couples may soon be able to get married while floating on the tide, should Bude Sea Pool in Cornwall become the first such venue in England to receive a wedding licence.
A mass commitment ceremony was held earlier this month to raise funds for the application, with organisers saying they believe it would be the only place in the country where people would be able to marry in seawater.
Continue reading...Mark Saxby, 56, says he is in limbo because of Spanish authorities’ ‘petty’ concern about his medical insurance
A British teacher has told how he is “sick” with nerves about returning to his home in Spain amid a three-year battle to get post-Brexit residency after being denied it because he was missing one month’s medical insurance in the first year after the UK left the EU.
Mark Saxby, 56, said he felt “trapped” in a nightmarish limbo, unable to convince anyone that he had the right to live in Spain despite the EU-UK withdrawal agreement guaranteeing residency rights for those in the country before Brexit.
Continue reading...Dozens said to be considering abstaining from Tuesday’s vote over pensioners’ payments, as PM says dealing with dissent is ‘matter for chief whip’
As many as 50 Labour MPs could refuse to back the government’s controversial plan to cut the winter fuel allowance, despite Keir Starmer urging back benchers to get behind a measure he has conceded is “unpopular”.
While few on the government benches are expected to vote against the policy in Tuesday’s vote, dozens are believed to be considering abstaining or being absent – though rebels say the numbers in their ranks are very hard to predict.
Continue reading...Platform run from industrial estate in Cumbria and catering to alternative relationships has expanded globally
A dating app aimed at alternative relationships nearly doubled its revenues last year as non-monogamous, queer and kinky users helped the UK-based business expand its reach across the world.
Feeld, founded by an entrepreneur couple in an open relationship, has said it is “on a mission to elevate the human experience of sexuality and relationships” from its registered office on an industrial estate in Carlisle, Cumbria.
Continue reading...Big exhibition will reflect life and loves of artist, from his first professional print in 1904 to 1960s masterpieces
The British Museum is putting on a big exhibition of the print works of Pablo Picasso, one of the finest graphic artists of the 20th century, it will announce on Monday.
About 100 prints will reflect the life and loves of the artist with an extraordinary vision, best known for masterpieces include Guernica, one of the most powerful anti-war paintings.
Continue reading...About 1,000 of those affected work in London and 4,500 at the bank’s new Milton Keynes headquarters
Santander has joined the ranks of employers herding reluctant British workers back to the coalface, telling office staff they must turn up in person for at least three days a week on average.
While the bank’s back-office staff will still be able to work from home more regularly than before the pandemic, the minimum requirement now tips the balance in favour of the traditional workplace rather than home.
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