Category Archives: UK news

Alex Salmond normalised concept of Scottish independence as he led SNP to power

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Former first minister established party as a political force but questions later emerged about influence he wielded

Alex Salmond cemented his place in British political history in May 2011 when he and the Scottish National party did something extraordinary.

They won an overall majority at Holyrood, under a proportional system designed to promote coalitions, not one party’s domination. With the SNP winning 69 of Holyrood’s 129 seats, the result delivered two things that defined Salmond’s legacy.

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Tributes paid to Alex Salmond’s ‘colossal contribution’ to Scottish and UK politics

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First minister John Swinney says predecessor, who died on Saturday, ‘had a huge impact on our public life’

John Swinney has paid tribute to Alex Salmond’s “colossal contribution” to Scottish and UK politics, as allies of the former first minister mourned his sudden death on Saturday.

Swinney, the incumbent first minister, said Salmond had had a huge impact on public life by forging the Scottish National party into a force capable of winning successive elections and then by bringing Scotland “incredibly close” to independence.

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Mulberry’s owner rejects increased £111m bid from Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group

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Majority owner, Challice, says it has no interest in selling shares to group that already owns 37% of luxury brand

The owner of the Mulberry fashion brand has rejected an increased £111m bid from Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group to buy the British luxury handbag maker, saying it has “no interest” in selling its shares.

Challice, a group controlled by Singaporean entrepreneur Christina Ong and her husband, Ong Beng Seng, which owns 56% of Mulberry – giving it the power to block any bid – called on Frasers to ditch plans to take over, saying it came at an “inopportune time” for the struggling brand.

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Spanish shipbuilder Navantia in exclusive talks to buy Harland & Wolff

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Deal to rescue owner of four UK shipyards, including Belfast shipyard that built the Titanic, could save up to 1,000 jobs

Spanish shipbuilding firm Navantia is in exclusive negotiations to buy Harland & Wolff, the owner of the Belfast shipyard that built the Titanic, in a deal that could rescue up to 1,000 jobs.

It is understood the group could take control of the group’s four yards – in Belfast; Appledore, Devon; Arnish on the Isle of Lewis; and Methil, Fife – as early as next month.

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Budget could include rise in employers’ national insurance, minister suggests

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Jonathan Reynolds says Labour pledge not to increase NICs applies to employees and does not rule out other changes

The business secretary has said Labour’s manifesto pledge not to raise national insurance applied to employees but he did not rule out raising employers’ contributions in the budget.

Speaking on Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Jonathan Reynolds was asked if the pledge applied to employees’ and employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs).

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UK government must say what Brussels ‘reset’ means, says EU delegation head

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Sandro Gozi calls for detail from Labour administration and says ‘new phase in bilateral relationship’ is possible

Keir Starmer’s government must spell out what it wants from a reset of Britain’s relationship with the EU, the European parliament’s lead MEP on the UK has said.

In his first interview since being elected chair of the European parliament’s delegation to the EU-UK parliamentary partnership assembly earlier this month, Sandro Gozi, an Italian former European affairs minister, said there was potential for a reset with the Starmer government, which had shown “a change in attitude”.

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BHP to face 620,000 claimants in Mariana dam collapse trial in London

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Claimants seeking damages from Anglo-Australian mining company over 2015 environmental disaster in Brazil

The mother of a seven-year-old boy who was torn from the arms of his grandmother and drowned in one of Brazil’s worst environmental disasters is among more than 620,000 claimants who will have their case heard this month in the largest group claim in English legal history.

Gelvana Aparecida Rodrigues da Silva, 37, lost her son Thiago on 5 November 2015 when the Fundão dam, near Mariana in eastern Brazil, collapsed, releasing about 50m cubic metres of toxic waste.

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Family of British woman who fell to her death in Spain call on Met to investigate

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Guardia Civil report on Piia Hokkanen indicates Spanish detectives believe cause of death was suicide

The family and friends of a British IT executive who fell to her death from an apartment block in Spain on the evening of her 50th birthday have called on the Metropolitan police to intervene in a Spanish police investigation into the fatality.

Piia Hokkanen, who at the time of her death had borrowed her sister’s holiday home for a three-day mini-break in Torrevieja, near Alicante, was found lifeless after falling from a communal window on to a neighbour’s patio shortly after midnight on 4 September.

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Starmer steps into cabinet row over P&O to rescue global summit in London

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The PM has backed transport secretary Louise Haigh after she called ferry firm a ‘rogue operator’, threatening investment summit

Keir Starmer expressed his full confidence on Saturday in the transport secretary, Louise Haigh, after an explosive cabinet row cast fresh doubt over his Downing Street operation and threatened to overshadow a key international investment summit in London.

Government sources said the prime minister and Haigh had spoken and made up on Saturday after Starmer appeared to rebuke her on Friday for branding P&O Ferries a “rogue operator” in a statement and then calling for customers to boycott the company in a subsequent media interview.

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Political and media figures pay tribute to former first minister Alex Salmond

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Ex-leader of the SNP, who has died at 69, described by Keir Starmer as a ‘monumental figure of Scottish and UK politics’

Politicians and commentators in the UK have been paying tribute to Alex Salmond after the death of the former first minister of Scotland on Saturday.

Keir Starmer called Salmond a “monumental figure of Scottish and UK politics”.

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Alex Salmond, former first minister of Scotland, dies aged 69

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High-profile politician reported to have collapsed after delivering speech in North Macedonia on Saturday

Alex Salmond, the former first minister of Scotland who led Scotland to the brink of independence, has died at the age of 69.

Salmond served as first minister of Scotland from 2007. He stood down from the role after failing to secure independence in the 2014 referendum, handing over to his deputy, Nicola Sturgeon.

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James Cleverly warned MPs that tactical votes could kill his leadership hopes

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Dismayed senior Tories predict second contest for head of party will be needed amid chaos after centrist’s shock ejection from race

• Paul Goodman: No matter who Tory members choose, the party has a mountain to climb in 2029

James Cleverly launched a last-minute and doomed attempt to stop supportive MPs from trying to manipulate the Tory leadership contest in his favour, after fearing the tactics could accidentally knock him out of the race.

The shadow home secretary’s narrow departure from the contest last week came as a huge shock across the party, coming just a day after he had topped a poll of MPs. As the one remaining centrist candidate, he seemed certain to pick up votes from supporters of one nation Conservative Tom Tugendhat, who had just been knocked out.

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King Charles and royals fail to reveal official gifts for past four years – despite promise to do so

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Royal family had pledged to declare all presents received in an annual list, after several controversies

King Charles and his family have failed to reveal their official gifts for the past four years, despite previously promising to publish an annual list.

Palace officials have blamed the pandemic, the change of reign, and then planning for last year’s coronation for their inability to publish details of the gifts received by members of the royal family.

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Woman dies after going overboard from cruise ship off Channel Islands

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French navy helicopter winched woman from the sea, but she was later pronounced dead

A woman has died after going overboard from a passenger ship off the Channel Islands.

The French coastguard said it received a distress message saying a woman in her 20s had gone overboard north of Les Casquets rocks, west of Alderney, shortly after midnight on Saturday. The woman went overboard from the Maltese-flagged cruise ship MSC Virtuosa.

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Stop pushing heat pumps or face major backlash, green energy magnate tells Labour

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Party donor Dale Vince warns that urging homeowners to switch to clean-power technology risks political storm bigger than Ulez

The government risks a huge political backlash if it keeps pushing the public to install heat pumps to replace their boilers, one of Britain’s leading green entrepreneurs has warned.

Dale Vince, a major Labour donor and renewable energy advocate, called on Keir Starmer to rethink national programmes, championed by Boris Johnson, pushing the technology. Vince argued that Whitehall should explore alternatives to the devices, which he said were expensive, caused serious disruption and could end up increasing energy bills for some people.

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Calls for investigation of Uber Eats and Deliveroo after raid on Bristol caravan camp

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Migrant workers accuse Home Office of targeting the victims of labour exploitation rather than companies profiting from them

Migrant workers living in a caravan encampment raided by immigration enforcement officers have accused the Home Office of targeting the victims of labour exploitation rather than companies profiting from the hidden economy.

The Observer reported in August that about 30 mainly Brazilian delivery riders working for large companies such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats were living in dilapidated caravans in the centre of Bristol. Many claimed they were, in effect, earning below the minimum wage and could not afford to rent in the city.

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Private equity barons lean on Rachel Reeves to water down proposals for higher taxes

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With the budget and Starmer’s investment summit approaching, the industry’s lobbyists are in full cry over ‘carried interest’

When the future deputy prime minister Angela Rayner walked the floor of a bespoke kitchen outfitter’s warehouse in October 2022, she was doing more than gladhanding local workers in her Greater Manchester constituency.

The real reason Rayner had been invited to tour Goyt Kitchen Fabrications in Ashton-under-Lyne was not to see how the firm had fared through the Covid pandemic, but to be sold the benefits of private equity. Goyt’s bosses had taken a £200,000 investment from Welsh-government-backed FW Capital.

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Pressure mounts on Rachel Reeves to drop ‘dangerous’ £1.3bn cut to benefits for disabled

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Thousands could lose up to £4,900 a year if the plan is retained in the forthcoming budget

Rachel Reeves is coming under intense pressure to use the budget to abandon a £1.3bn cut to benefits for people with disabilities, first announced by the Tory government, amid warnings it will lead to hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable people losing almost £5,000 a year.

The leading independent thinktank, the Resolution Foundation, has called on the chancellor to drop or delay changes to the work capability assessment (WCA), arguing that key aspects of the policy have not been thought through, and that around 420,000 people who are unable to work through disability or ill-health could lose up to £4,900 a year.

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UK overseas aid budget faces £900m raid to pay for housing asylum seekers

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With the amount spent on refugees and asylum seekers this year on course to hit £3.6bn, the sum available for international projects must be cut again, warns thinktank

Ministers have been warned that £900m will have to be raided from UK overseas aid projects to meet the costs of supporting asylum seekers in Britain this year.

Projections seen by the Observer show that the amount of overseas aid set to be spent in the UK on refugees and asylum seekers this year is still on course to reach £3.6bn, despite a big fall in the costs of housing people from Ukraine.

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