Category Archives: UK news

Coroner raises concerns over new drivers taking passengers after north Wales crash

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Hugo Morris, Harvey Owen, Wilf Fitchett, Jevon Hirst died after car came off rural road on a bend in November 2023

A coroner has raised concerns about young, newly qualified drivers being allowed to carry passengers, during an inquest into the deaths of four teenagers who drowned after a crash in north Wales.

Hugo Morris, 18, Harvey Owen, 17, Wilf Fitchett, 17, and Jevon Hirst, 16, died in November last year on a camping trip to Eryri national park (Snowdonia) when their car came off a rural road on a bend and ended up upside-down in a water-filled ditch.

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West’s spy chiefs alarmed at recklessness of Russian counterparts

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After expulsion of hundreds of embassy-based spies, Kremlin is using riskier and less conventional methods

A developing Russian campaign of arson, sabotage and even murder plots has left western intelligence agencies alarmed over the past year.

The ramping up of activity has come as the Kremlin’s spy apparatus recovered from the initial shock of seeing 450 agents posing as diplomats expelled from Europe in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

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Fungi could be given same status as flora and fauna under conservation plan

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Exclusive: proposal to Cop16 could see ‘funga’ get global legal consideration distinct from flora and fauna

A new era of mycelial conservation could begin this month when the UK and Chile propose that fungi should be placed alongside animals and plants as a separate realm for environmental protection.

Mushrooms, mould, mildew, yeast and lichen would all receive elevated status under the plan, which will be submitted to the UN convention on biological diversity (CBD) during the Cop16 meeting in Cali, Colombia, which opens on 21 October.

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PMQs live: Keir Starmer faces Rishi Sunak in the Commons

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Latest PMQs comes as sources say chancellor is briefing ministers that £40bn will need to be found in the budget

Robert Jenrick has finished his speech, and he is now taking questions.

Q: Kemi Badenoch says she is Labour’s worst nightmare. Is she right?

I think that our party faces an existential challenge right now. Our party has no divine right to exist. That’s why we need to get the choice right in this leadership election, and that’s why I stand for ending the drama, ending the excuses, and actually delivering for the British people.

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Surprise fall in UK inflation badly timed for benefit recipients

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Payments such as universal credit linked to previous September’s figure, meaning a rise of just 1.7% in April

Last month’s surprise fall in UK inflation lands with bad timing for millions of people who receive state benefits linked to the figure, who can now expect their payments to rise by just 1.7% next April.

A number of benefits, including universal credit, are increased each tax year in line with the cost of living figure for the previous September.

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Premier Inn owner Whitbread ramps up cost-cutting plans as tax rise looms

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Firm’s profits fall 22% and demand slows, with hospitality sector bracing for employer tax increase in budget

The Premier Inn owner, Whitbread, is ramping up its cost-cutting programme amid slowing demand, as the hospitality sector braces for a widely expected employer tax rise in this month’s budget.

The company, which owns the Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurant chains as well as the UK’s biggest hotel brand, said its total revenues had been flat at £1.57bn in the six months to 29 August, while profit before tax fell by 22% year on year to £309m.

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UK says India’s cooperation with Canada’s legal process is ‘right next step’

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Growing diplomatic row as police say they have evidence of Delhi’s links to murder of Sikh leader in Canada

Britain joined its Five Eyes intelligence partners on Wednesday in saying India’s cooperation with Canada’s legal process was “the right next step” in the deepening diplomatic row between the two countries, adding that it had full confidence in Canada’s judicial system.

Canadian police said on Monday they had credible evidence that Indian agents including India’s high commissioner to Canada were linked to the murder of the Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil in June 2023 and accused Delhi of a broader effort to target Indian dissidents in Canada.

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County Durham school drops plan to turn off heat on climate ‘blue nose day’

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Wolsingham school’s carbon-cutting event had been planned by pupils but parents raised concerns

A school has made a U-turn on a student-led plan to turn the heating off for a “blue nose” climate action day after parents raised concerns.

The heating was due to be turned off at Wolsingham school, County Durham, on Friday but the plan has now been postponed until the summer term of next year when it is likely to be warmer.

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M6 crash: two children among five people killed in Cumbria

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Cumbria police say five people killed in car crash involving Skoda and Toyota on motorway

Five people, including two children, have been killed in a car crash on the M6 in Cumbria.

The incident took place on the northbound carriageway not far from Tebay services on Tuesday afternoon, Cumbria constabulary said. Officers were called to the crash, involving a Skoda and a Toyota, at 4.04pm.

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UK inflation falls below 2% for first time since 2021 in boost to Rachel Reeves

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Surprise annual drop to 1.7% in September raises chance of interest rate cuts, increasing budget leeway

Inflation in the UK has fallen to its lowest level in three and a half years, giving a pre-budget boost to Rachel Reeves as expectations grow for the Bank of England to cut interest rates.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show the consumer prices index dropped sharply to 1.7%, down from 2.2% in August, in a bigger fall than anticipated in financial markets, driven by lower air fares and petrol prices.

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David Lammy urged to raise human rights concerns on China trip

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Exclusive: Group of UK MPs says foreign secretary must ‘engage with China as it really is’ amid rapprochement drive

David Lammy must “engage with China as it really is under the leadership of Xi Jinping” and raise human rights concerns during his trip to the country, UK parliamentarians who have been hit with sanctions by Beijing have said.

The foreign secretary is expected to hold high-level meetings in China this week. The visit forms part of an effort by Labour to improve relations with China after they deteriorated under successive Conservative governments. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, plans to travel to the country next year and restart high-level economic dialogue.

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Bradford council leaders survive vote after new £50m venue stands empty

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The 3,800-seat Bradford Live to be part of city of culture 2025 activities but NEC Group backed out of deal to run it

Bradford council’s leadership has seen off a vote of no confidence amid growing criticism over its handling of Bradford Live, a £50.5m publicly funded venue that has been completed with no operator in place to run it.

The 3,800-seat Bradford Live building was due to open in November but performances were cancelled when NEC Group, which runs a number of large venues in and around Birmingham, pulled out of the deal.

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Keir Starmer met Taylor Swift at Wembley concert, No 10 confirms

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Source says backstage ‘brush-by’ did not include discussion of VIP protection given to star, a decision made by Scotland Yard

Keir Starmer met Taylor Swift at one of her London concerts days after a decision was taken to grant her a “blue light” police escort, No 10 sources have confirmed.

The prime minister and his family had a 10-minute meeting with the pop megastar and her mother, Andrea, backstage at Wembley on 20 August, with the conversation covering the Southport murders, which took place at a Swift-themed holiday club.

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Labour to set up review after carer’s allowance overpayments scandal

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Exclusive: overhaul of system that imposed draconian penalties for innocent and minor errors in benefit claims is expected

Draconian penalties levied on unpaid carers who unwittingly rack up “overpayments” running into thousands of pounds after falling foul of benefit rules are to be overhauled, the Guardian understands.

The move comes six months after a Guardian investigation revealed tens of thousands of vulnerable unpaid carers were being ordered to repay hefty overpayments – and even threatened with criminal prosecution – over minor breaches of earnings rules.

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Rachel Reeves tells cabinet UK still faces £100bn black hole over next five years

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Chancellor’s words will be interpreted as signal she will not give in to ministers over cuts she imposes in budget

Rachel Reeves has told the cabinet that the UK still faces a £100bn black hole in the public finances over the next five years amid concerns that ministers are yet to grasp the full scale of the fiscal deficit ahead.

At a meeting of the political cabinet, the chancellor said the £22bn gap this year – which the government has blamed on their poor economic inheritance from the Tories – would be a recurring cost each year of this parliament.

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Alan Milburn to be given lead role in Labour’s health ministry

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Move reignites row over Labour figures with private interests having access to government

Wes Streeting is to hand Alan Milburn a lead role in the running of his health ministry, in a move that has reignited the row over Labour figures with private interests having access to government.

The health secretary is preparing to appoint Milburn, who was a radical reformer of the NHS in his time in that post under Tony Blair, as the lead non-executive director of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

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Who are the key New Labour figures in Keir Starmer’s government?

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The PM is surrounded by Blairites, from Pat McFadden and Liz Kendall to Jacqui Smith and Jonathan Powell

In the run-up to the general election, Keir Starmer was regularly compared to Tony Blair. When the parallels were highlighted by the left, they were often intended as insults. When they came from the Labour right, particularly after the landslide result, they were compliments.

Starmer has mirrored Blair so far in his ruthlessness towards his own party, his efforts to build relationships with business and his pursuit of public service reform. But he is also more cautious, less seduced by glitz and more to the soft-left in his own views.

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UK imposes sanctions on seven groups that support West Bank settlers

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Foreign Office declines to penalise two Israeli ministers as ex-foreign secretary David Cameron had planned

The UK Foreign Office has announced sanctions against seven organisations that support illegal Israeli settlers in the West Bank, but held back from penalising two extremist members of the Israeli government as the former foreign secretary David Cameron had been planning.

Cameron told the BBC on Tuesday that he had intended to impose sanctions on Israel’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, and the national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and said he was concerned that the Labour government had not adopted his proposal. He said he had only held back from taking the step in the spring because he had been advised that it would be too political during the general election.

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Taiwan to have satellite internet service as protection in case of Chinese attack

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Coverage with UK-European provider will be in place by end of month, says island’s main telecoms company

Taiwan is expected to have access to low earth orbit satellite internet service by the end of the month, a step the government says is crucial in case a Chinese attack cripples the island’s communications.

The forthcoming service is via a contract between Taiwan’s main telecoms company, Chunghwa, and a UK-European company, Eutelsat OneWeb, signed last year, and marks a new milestone in Taiwan’s efforts to address technological vulnerabilities, particularly its internet access, after attempts to get access to Elon Musk’s Starlink service collapsed.

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Oil price slides amid China slowdown and easing Middle East fears

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Brent crude slides by almost $3.50 a barrel to below $74 after Opec cuts forecasts for demand growth

Global oil prices have tumbled by almost $3.50 a barrel amid ongoing concerns about a slowdown in China and as fears ease about the possibility of an attack by Israel on Iran’s energy facilities.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has reportedly offered assurances to the White House that its retaliation against Iran for its missile attack at the start of October would not target oil export terminals or nuclear facilities, which could send market prices soaring.

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