Category Archives: UK news

Killer asks to return to UK to help find victim’s body 55 years after murder

Posted on by

Nizamodeen Hosein was deported following 20 years in prison for 1969 murder of Muriel McKay

The chilling words of a convicted murderer will soon be heard, peeling back the decades to a winter’s night in 1969, in a revelatory new recorded interview with one of the two brothers who kidnapped and killed Muriel McKay. “Maybe the only solution is to get on the spot. To be there again, I’ll have to retrace my steps,” Nizamodeen Hosein will say.

The notorious killer at the centre of a police hunt that dominated the news 55 years ago has suggested that a trip back from Trinidad and Tobago, where he was deported in 1990 after 20 years in prison, might jog his fading memory about the location of the body of the 55-year-old woman he abducted from her Wimbledon home in an extraordinary case of misidentification.

Continue reading...

‘Real hope’ for cystic fibrosis patients as NHS rolls out life-changing drug

Posted on by

Campaigners hail decision to give thousands of sufferers access to new set of drugs known as ‘modulators’

Alix Oxlade was 30 weeks into her pregnancy when scans showed fluid building up in the stomach and bowels of her unborn son, Rufus. The cause was unclear, though there was an early suspect: cystic fibrosis.

One of the most common inherited illnesses in the west, cystic fibrosis is caused by a defective protein that allows mucus to build up in the lungs, bowels and other organs and can lead to chronic infections that worsen through life. Tests subsequently showed Alix and her partner, Ben, who live in East Yorkshire, were both carriers of the disease.

Continue reading...

Warnings AI tools used by government on UK public are ‘racist and biased’

Posted on by

Transparency campaigners welcome government move to publish details of system algorithms

Artificial intelligence and algorithmic tools used by central government are to be published on a public register after warnings they can contain “entrenched” racism and bias.

Officials confirmed this weekend that tools challenged by campaigners over alleged secrecy and a risk of bias will be named shortly. The technology has been used for a range of purposes, from trying to detect sham marriages to rooting out fraud and error in benefit claims.

Continue reading...

Man dies after alleged assault at Southwark tube station in London

Posted on by

Male 28-year-old victim had been in critical condition since Thursday, and suspect who was arrested on Friday is in custody

A man has died after allegedly being assaulted at a London Underground station, British Transport Police (BTP) said.

The victim, currently identified only as a 28-year-old man, had been in a critical condition in hospital since Thursday and died on Saturday evening, with his family by his side.

Continue reading...

Keir Starmer warns of tough times ahead to fix ‘Tory ruins’

Posted on by

Labour leader tells working people rot left by Conservatives is so much worse than imagined and improvement won’t happen overnight

British people will have to endure even worse economic and social ­pressures in the months to come as the Labour government takes “unpopular decisions” to rebuild the country from “rubble and ruin” left by the Tories, Keir Starmer will warn this week.

With the prime minister under mounting pressure from within his own party to help people struggling with rising fuel payments and millions of families in poverty, Starmer will strike a defiant note against those demanding U-turns from his ministers, saying “tough choices” will have to be made before any recovery is possible.

Continue reading...

Victims of UK’s infected blood scandal to start receiving payouts by end of year

Posted on by

Those affected by contaminated blood transfusions and products in 1970s and 80s to finally receive compensation

A new authority set up to properly compensate the victims and families of the infected blood scandal is due to start making payments by the end of this year.

The Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) was set up after the inquiry in May into the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS concluded that governments, the health service and doctors had repeatedly failed victims. Regulations enacting the compensation scheme were laid out on Friday.

Continue reading...

Police make more arrests over fatal Bradford house fire

Posted on by

West Yorkshire police say a number of arrests were made overnight over fire that killed a woman and three children

Detectives investigating a house fire in which a woman and three children died in Bradford have made further arrests, West Yorkshire police have said.

Bryonie Gawith 29, and her three children – Denisty Birtle, nine, Oscar Birtle, five, and 22-month-old, Aubree Birtle – died after their home was deliberately set alight in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Continue reading...

Sicily yacht sinking: manslaughter investigation opened

Posted on by

Public prosecutor launches inquiry into deaths of seven people in sinking off coast of Italian island

A manslaughter investigation has been opened into the deaths of seven people, including the British technology tycoon Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah, in the sinking of a luxury yacht off the coast of Sicily, an Italian prosecutor has said.

Ambrogio Cartosio, the public prosecutor of Termini Imerese, said in a press conference at the town’s court on Saturday that his office has opened an initial investigation into manslaughter, according to a translation.

Continue reading...

‘It could be months or years’: Walsall canal faces long road back to health after chemical spill

Posted on by

Charity is considering removing some of the water and there is also concern over the sediment on the canal floor

When sodium cyanide leaked into a Walsall canal this month, leading to major incident being declared and miles of the waterway closed off, the Canal & River Trust was working in uncharted territory.

The charity is used to fighting pollution in the waterways that crisscross the country, but this type of chemical – and the extreme risk to public health that came with it – was not something it had tackled before.

Continue reading...

Starmer pledges UK support to Ukraine amid anniversary of independence

Posted on by

PM sends message of solidarity as Ukrainians celebrate anniversary of exit from USSR

Keir Starmer has told Ukrainians that the UK will back them “today and always” as Kyiv marks 33 years since it declared independence from the Soviet Union.

The prime minister described his message to frontline fighters and people who have sought refuge in Britain as “crystal clear” as community groups, councils and parishes around the UK plan to mark the anniversary on Saturday.

Continue reading...

Notting Hill carnival has renewed importance since riots, organisers say

Posted on by

Hope that this weekend’s event in west London will bring people together to celebrate diversity after recent unrest

Organisers of Notting Hill carnival have said the festivities this year will take on a renewed importance and remind people of the need for diversity and inclusion after the far-right riots that took place this month.

More than a million people are expected to line the streets of west London this weekend for the 56th annual carnival, one of the biggest street festivals in the world.

Continue reading...

‘On the front foot’: Waitrose boss confident chain is getting its mojo back

Posted on by

James Bailey is confident the market has swung in its favour, with more customers and plans to open new stores

Waitrose is getting its mojo back, according to the boss of the upmarket supermarket chain, with shoppers treating themselves more often to pricier items such as green harissa paste and organic beef fillet steak as the cost of living crisis subsides for them.

James Bailey says Waitrose is selling nearly double the amount expected of its range of branded ingredients for recipes by the celebrity chef Yotam Ottolenghi, which launched in April, while sales of its Duchy Organic range are up more than 10%, as are those for its premium No 1 own label range, while sales of its budget Essentials range are falling back.

Continue reading...

Storm Lilian: up to 70mm of rain could fall in parts of south-east England

Posted on by

Yellow weather warning covering area from Portsmouth to Ipswich in place from 6am to 1pm on Saturday

Up to 70mm of rain could hit parts of the UK on Saturday, with a yellow weather warning in place for much of the south-east after widespread disruption from Storm Lilian.

The warning, which will be in place from 6am to 1pm, will stretch from Portsmouth, Hampshire, up to Ipswich in Suffolk.

Continue reading...

Frasers Group seeks approval for Mike Ashley to cash in £585m in share buyback

Posted on by

Company wants investors’ permission to buy billionaire’s shares in private deal at market price at the time

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group is seeking approval for the billionaire entrepreneur to cash in £585m of shares which could be bought back by the company in a private deal.

Under the plan, the stock market-listed retail group said it wanted permission from shareholders to buy back the shares privately from Ashley – in one or several transactions – at the market price at the time.

Continue reading...

UK must curb rise in racist hate speech by politicians and public figures, UN says

Posted on by

Review also highlights racial profiling in police practices, and failure to address legacies of colonialism and slavery

The UK must act to curb a sharp increase in the use of racist hate speech by British politicians and high-profile public figures, a UN body has said.

Ministers must “adopt comprehensive measures to discourage and combat racist hate speech and xenophobic discourse by political and public figures” and ensure that such cases are “effectively investigated and sanctioned”, the UN committee on the elimination of racial discrimination recommended in a report.

Continue reading...

Which benefits are available to vulnerable people under Labour?

Posted on by

As the winter fuel allowance is scrapped for many pensioners, we outline some other key benefits

• Millions facing ‘cruel winter’ without fuel payments, Labour MPs warn

Labour backbenchers are warning that millions of vulnerable people will face a “cruel winter” amid rising energy prices and a reduction in benefits, including the removal of winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.

Keir Starmer’s government has promised to improve conditions for those most in need, with a commitment to “reduce and alleviate” child poverty and end the “moral scar” of food banks. And while Labour sees economic growth and creating more reliable and well-paid jobs as crucial to achieving these aims, it cannot ignore a number of pressing and often interrelated problems in the social security and benefits system.

Continue reading...

Millions facing ‘cruel winter’ without fuel payments, Labour MPs warn

Posted on by

Backbenchers say end to support schemes would be ‘wrong measure’ that ignores struggle of poorest households

• Which benefits are available to vulnerable people?

Millions of vulnerable people face a “cruel winter” owing to a combination of rising energy costs and government cuts to welfare schemes, Labour MPs and campaigners have warned, as Keir Starmer comes under pressure to extend key financial support programmes.

Labour backbenchers are calling on the prime minister to reverse or mitigate the government’s decision to end winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners and to extend the household support fund (HSF), which is due to run out in September.

Continue reading...

Brothers jailed for being at forefront of riot outside Rotherham hotel

Posted on by

Paul and Luke Sissons among those sentenced over disorder earlier this month in English towns and cities

Two brothers have each been jailed for three years after being convicted of being at the forefront of a riot outside a hotel housing more than 200 asylum seekers in Rotherham.

Sheffield crown court heard that Luke and Paul Sissons were involved in several violent incidents at the Holiday Inn Express, in Manvers, on 4 August, including confrontations with riot police and an attack on a police dog van.

Continue reading...

‘She was easy to love’: friends and family pay tribute to Hannah Lynch

Posted on by

Daughter, 18, of tech tycoon Mike Lynch was one of seven people to die when the Bayesian sank off Sicily

The 18-year-old daughter of the British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, whose body was recovered on Friday from the wreck of her father’s yacht, was “fiercely intelligent and genuinely kind” and had a promising future, friends and teachers have said.

Hannah Lynch was described as “one of the best English students in the country”. She was one of seven people, including her father, who died after his yacht Bayesian sank during a storm off the coast of Sicily on Monday.

Continue reading...

Metropolitan police end probe into election gambling scandal with no charges made – as it happened

Posted on by

Force ends investigation into bets on 4 July election date and says bar to prove misconduct in public office has not been met

Newly released figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest that UK households cut their real-terms spending on food and non-alcoholic drinks in the year to March 2023.

While nominal spending on the category increased over the period, there was a 7.5% real-terms drop when accounting for inflation, making it the area where households made the biggest cutbacks, the ONS said.

Puberty blockers work by suppressing the release of hormones and are often prescribed to children questioning their gender.

In May, the Conservative government tightened rules on the drugs, introducing an emergency ban on them being prescribed by private and European prescribers.

Continue reading...