Category Archives: UK news

UK shop prices fall year on year for first time since cost of living crisis began

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Prices down 0.3% in first week of August as food inflation eases and retailers attempt to shift unsold summer stock

UK shop prices have dropped for the first time since the cost of living crisis began nearly three years ago, as food inflation eased and retailers offered discounts on clothes and household goods to shift unsold summer stock.

New data showed prices were down 0.3% in the first week of August, compared with the same period last year. That compares to a 0.2% rise in July, and the three-month average of 0%.

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Starmer to end £40m helicopter contract in break from Sunak era

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Former PM and ministers drew criticism for the VIP flights Labour says were ‘symbol of their government’

A £40m VIP helicopter contract used extensively by the former prime minister Rishi Sunak is to be cancelled as his successor, Keir Starmer, promises to undo “14 years of rot” under the Conservatives.

Starmer and his defence secretary, John Healey, have decided not to renew a contract for helicopter transport which is due to expire at the end of the year after it was extended in 2023 at Sunak’s personal insistence.

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Glasgow building site where boy died ‘should have had more CCTV’

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Extra security measures only introduced after Shea Ryan, 10, fell down a maintenance hole shaft in 2020, inquiry told

A building site in Glasgow where a 10-year-old boy died after falling down a maintenance hole shaft should have had more CCTV, an inquiry has heard.

Shea Ryan died in July 2020 when he climbed through an unsecured fence on a building site in Drumchapel and fell about 6.3 metres (20ft) down the shaft.

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Woman killed in ‘horrific’ attack and fire in Derry named as Montserrat Martorell Elias

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A 28-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the body of the 65-year-old was found

Police investigating the murder of a woman in Derry have named her as Montserrat Martorell Elias.

A murder investigation was launched after the body of the 65-year-old was found after a “horrific” attack and a fire at a flat in the city.

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Protests held on stage at Edinburgh festival over Scottish arts funding cuts

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Anger grows over proposed cuts of up to £10m for Creative Scotland affecting freelance artists and performers

Actors and directors have protested on stage during the Edinburgh festival after anger about proposed cuts to Scottish arts funding escalated into open revolt.

Protest messages were read out after performances, including at the Traverse, Lyceum, George Square, Summerhall and Church Hill theatres, to loud applause from audiences, as thousands of artists and performers signed an open letter calling for the cuts to be reversed.

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Experts asked to assess strategic threat to UK as part of defence review

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Former Nato chief George Robertson sends 24-page survey to specialists asking for ideas on capability and funding

Members of the armed forces and government departments, manufacturers and academics have been asked to assess the strategic threat to the UK up to 2050 as part of the government’s root-and-branch review of defence policy.

George Robertson, a former Nato secretary general and defence secretary in Tony Blair’s first government, has written to dozens of interested parties with a 24-page questionnaire on the future of Britain’s defence.

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Tens of thousands fill streets on final day of Notting Hill carnival

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Largely peaceful festival marred by fresh stabbing on Monday after three people were hurt on Sunday

Tens of thousands of revellers have turned out to enjoy the final day of this year’s Notting Hill carnival, flooding the streets of west London with colour, dancing and music.

Dancers showed off their flamboyant costumes while floats blasted music for the spectators on the streets of W11. Vendors cooked up a mix of food on open barbecues, as sound systems played everything from rare groove to house, samba, reggae and ska.

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Barclays enlarges half-year bonus pool for first time since 2021

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Rise to £675m after lifting EU bonus cap suggests lender may increase payouts to high-performing bankers

Barclays has bulked up its half-year bonus pool for the first time in three years, raising bankers’ hopes of bigger annual payouts after the lender formally scrapped the EU bonus cap this month.

The bank put £675m towards its bonus pool in the first six months of 2024, according to Barclays filings. That is up from the £665m put aside for its staff bonus pot, which is made up of cash and shares, over the same period in 2023. That bonus pool will continue to be built up until the end of the year, with staff able to be paid up to 10 times their salary now that the EU cap has been set aside.

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Foreign Office officials said Rishi Sunak should attend D-day event, book reveals

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Department twice provided written advice to No 10 before mistake that came to define Sunak’s election campaign

Senior officials at the Foreign Office repeatedly warned No 10 that Rishi Sunak should not leave June’s D-day commemoration in Normandy early, according to new revelations in a book about the Tories’ 14 years in power.

The department passed on two messages to Downing Street in the weeks leading up to the event, which were then ignored in what has gone down as the worst election campaign blunder of the last 14 years.

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Hundreds of London firefighters attend Dagenham flats blaze

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Two people taken to hospital and more than 100 evacuated as major incident declared over fire in east London

A major incident has been declared after more than 100 people were evacuated and two taken to hospital as a fire engulfed a block of flats in Dagenham, east London, which had “known” safety issues.

The London fire brigade (LFB) said it was carrying out a “significant search and rescue operation” after being called to the blaze on Freshwater Road at 2.44am on Monday.

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World’s oldest man celebrates 112th birthday in Merseyside

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John Alfred Tinniswood was born the year the Titanic sank and has lived through the tenure of 24 UK prime ministers

The world’s oldest living man has turned 112 at his care home in Merseyside.

John Alfred Tinniswood, who lives in Southport, put his long life down to “just luck”, and said he did not follow a special diet, except for eating fish and chips every Friday.

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Attorney general intervenes in Foreign Office review of weapons sales to Israel

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Exclusive: Richard Hermer tells officials he can’t approve decision to ban arms without knowing if their use would breach international law

Keir Starmer’s most senior legal adviser has intervened in the contentious decision over whether to ban UK arms sales to Israel, the Guardian has learned, as officials struggle to distinguish between “offensive” and “defensive” weapons.

Sources say Richard Hermer, the attorney general, has told Foreign Office officials he will not approve a decision to ban some weapons sales until they can say for sure which could be used to break international humanitarian law.

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Widen access to classical music with free lessons, says Errollyn Wallen

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First Black woman to become Master of the King’s Music says cuts to education means ‘we’ve lost so much talent’

All children should be taught musical instruments for free at school to widen access to classical music, according to the first Black woman to be appointed Master of the King’s Music.

The Belize-born composer, pianist and singer-songwriter Errollyn Wallen says she plans to use her new role to influence “the things I feel are important in music-making today,” in particular better music education for children.

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‘One big ball of happiness’: 1m revellers expected at Notting Hill carnival

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West London Caribbean heritage, arts and culture event has particular significance this year after far-right riots

Thousands of people have gathered on the streets of London draped in flags and decked in jewels to celebrate the annual Notting Hill carnival, with some describing the festival as a “big statement” on the cultural diversity of Britain.

One million people are expected to attend the carnival, which marks the 56th year it has been running. The celebration of Caribbean heritage, arts and culture is one of the biggest and longest-running carnivals in the world.

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‘Bubble’ of post-pandemic bad behaviour among pupils predicted to peak

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Exclusive: Experts say ‘desocialised’ pupils home schooled through Covid are entering traditionally most disruptive years

Teachers returning to work next month will confront a worrying “behaviour bubble” as younger children who were most severely affected by the pandemic reach the teenage years renowned for peak classroom disruption.

The warning from experts and school leaders in England comes as evidence shows that children of primary school age during the pandemic – when schools were closed to most pupils – have been accruing exclusions and suspensions at a record pace since moving to secondary school.

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Fifty English secondary schools suspended more than a quarter of pupils after pandemic

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Exclusive: Children in disadvantaged areas three times as likely to be sent away as pupils in wealthier places

Fifty secondary schools in England suspended more than a quarter of their students after the pandemic, with children at schools with the most disadvantaged pupils three times as likely to be suspended as those in wealthier areas, according to analysis by the Guardian.

The proportion of schools suspending large numbers of pupils has risen sharply since schools were closed to many children during Covid, and teachers have struggled with deteriorating behaviour since they reopened.

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Police acting as ‘private security’ for Drax power station, say climate activists

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Greenpeace among 150 groups expressing outrage after preemptive arrests led to cancellation of protest camp

Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth have accused police of acting as “private security” for the UK’s biggest carbon emitter after dozens of pre-emptive arrests forced the cancellation of a climate protest camp near Drax power station.

In a statement signed by almost 150 groups, they called the operation against activists who had spent months planning the camp near the wood-burning power station “an unreasonable restriction of free speech”.

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Expect more economic pain to come, warns senior UK cabinet minister

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Starmer and Reeves unlikely to reverse winter fuel and two-child benefit cap decisions, says Pat McFadden

A senior cabinet minister has warned of more economic pain to come as the government prepares to restrict public spending in ways MPs and campaigners say could exacerbate the cost of living crisis.

Pat McFadden, the cabinet office minister, said on Sunday that voters should expect the government to take further difficult decisions, as Keir Starmer prepares to give a speech accusing the Conservatives of leaving the country in “rubble and ruin”.

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Mike Lynch’s court-appointed guard praises tycoon’s ‘loving and caring heart’

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Protection agent says it was impossible to keep a professional distance from ‘genuine and loving’ family

The armed guard assigned to Mike Lynch while he faced fraud charges has described how close he became to the “loving” tech entrepreneur and his family.

Appointed by the court, Rolo Igno, said he was supposed to stay distant but that the professional relationship “quickly dissolved” when Lynch invited him to spend time with his family.

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Government to seek global trade deals for UK at expense of formal EU re-entry

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Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds says joining Asia-Pacific CPTPP bloc is a ‘real win’ for exporters, even though it will preclude the UK from EU membership

The business and trade secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, has signalled a new twin-track approach to UK trade policy, in which the Labour government will pursue closer ties with the European Union while at the same time seeking new global partnerships further afield.

Writing for the Observer online, Reynolds welcomes the UK’s imminent entry into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) as a “real win” for British exporters.

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