Karen Conaghan brought 40 complaints to tribunal including for sexual harassment and victimisation
A woman who sued her former employer over not being given a leaving card lost her case when it was revealed it had been hidden from her after only three people signed it.
Karen Conaghan claimed that the “failure to acknowledge her existence” at IAG, the parent company of British Airways, was a breach of equality law.
Continue reading...Charles said to be adopting ‘anti-confrontational approach’ to republican campaigners before visit
King Charles has said he will not stand in the way if Australia wishes to replace him as the country’s head of state, it has been reported.
Ahead of his visit later this month, the king is said to be adopting an “anti-confrontational approach” to Australian republican campaigners, the Daily Mail reported.
Continue reading...A Dodge Ram 1500 is bigger than a Panzer I tank and campaigners say heavy trucks are ‘lethal’ in collisions
The engines rev, the guitars thrum and a gruff narrator lays out why the vehicle occupying the driveway is more than just a machine. “A truck is a tool,” he says, “but a Ram – a Ram is life.”
So begins an advert for the Ram 1500, a pickup truck slightly bigger than the Panzer I tanks of Nazi Germany and almost as heavy. It is growing in popularity in Europe, with the number of Rams arriving on the continent up 20% in 2023 from the year before, according to registration data from the European Environment Agency. Road safety and environmental campaigners in the UK and Europe are aghast as the latest, most extreme cases of North American car bloat – giant pickup trucks – are increasingly crossing the Atlantic.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Request to postpone Tsai Ing-wen’s trip came before ‘goodwill visit’ to China by David Lammy next week
The UK Foreign Office (FCDO) asked for a visit by the former Taiwanese president to be postponed so as not to anger China ahead of a trip by David Lammy, the Guardian has learned.
Lammy is due to travel to China next week for high-level meetings in his first trip to the country as foreign secretary.
Continue reading...Group says government policy would force many to close and leave deeply religious families with no alternatives
Independent faith schools have held talks with ministers over a proposal to exempt small private establishments from VAT if their fees are far below those charged by elite schools such as Eton.
The group, representing more than 270 Jewish, Muslim and Christian independent faith schools that often rely on donations and volunteers to survive, say the government’s policy of adding 20% VAT to fees from this January would force many to close and leave deeply religious families with no alternatives.
Continue reading...Virginia McCullough, 36, kept bodies of her father and mother in house for four years after their deaths
A woman who murdered her parents and lived with their bodies for four years has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 36 years.
Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father, John McCullough, 70, with prescription medication that she crushed and put into his alcoholic drinks, the prosecutor Lisa Wilding KC told Chelmsford crown court. She then murdered her mother, Lois McCullough, 71, the following day.
Continue reading...Ministers are unclear on what action Israel is preparing to take, which shows how far the UK is from endorsing it
The UK will not participate in or coordinate any Israeli attack on Iran, but no decisions have been taken on how to respond if Iran then decides to take further retaliatory action against Israel.
UK ministers also remain unclear on what military action Israel is preparing to take, or its timing, which shows how far the UK is from endorsing an attack on Iran, and how it would prefer a route to de-escalation.
Continue reading...Tory leadership also suggests it was a mistake for him to order murals at a children’s asylum centre to be painted over
Keir Starmer was “appalled” by reports that Israel deliberately fired on peacekeepers in Lebanon, Downing Street said this morning.
Asked about the prime minister’s reaction to the story, a Downing Street spokesperson said:
We were appalled to hear those reports and it is vital that peacekeepers and civilians are protected.
As you know, we continue to call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to suffering and bloodshed. This is a reminder of the importance of us all renewing our diplomatic efforts.
All parties must always do everything possible to protect civilians and comply with international law. But we continue to reiterate that and call for an immediate ceasefire.
The very hard Brexit forced through by Boris Johnson means that we are for now driving with the economic handbrake on – we can’t let that handbrake off. It is what is, It is difficult to see this being reversed within the next decade.
The truth is it could be a conversation that starts in 10 years’ time. It could be longer, but the beginning of a conversation is not the end of that; it’s not the resolution of our relationship to the European Union.
I think it’ll be very hard to persuade people in the European Union to revisit, to reengage and start getting into another negotiation about Britain’s membership of the European Union, for a long time to come. I’m sorry to say that but they have had up to here with us.
Continue reading...Conservative MP says his tack to the right has rattled Nigel Farage and confirms he would like the UK to exit the ECHR
Robert Jenrick has denied that he would drop his hard-right policies and return to the Conservative middle ground if he become leader, arguing that his ideas for the party have left Nigel Farage “rattled”.
Jenrick, who faces Kemi Badenoch in a ballot of Tory members for the post, confirmed that he would expect his shadow frontbench to sign up to the plan of immediately quitting the European convention on human rights (ECHR), a red line for some centrists.
Continue reading...Multimillionaire Derek Webb, a Labour donor, goes all-in with support for levy on online casinos and bookmakers
As a former professional poker player, Derek Webb is used to rising from the table holding more chips than he started with.
Vanquished opponents are left scratching their heads, wondering how they have been bested by a softly spoken, bespectacled septuagenarian with a Derby accent.
Continue reading...Treasury weighing proposals as chancellor attempts to plug £22bn hole in public finances
Ministers are considering a tax raid of up to £3bn on the gambling sector as Rachel Reeves casts around for funds to shore up the public finances.
Treasury officials are understood to be weighing up proposals, put forward by two influential thinktanks and backed by one of the party’s top five individual donors, to double some of the taxes levied on online casinos and bookmakers.
Continue reading...Labour peer says in meantime it is essential to try to reduce damage of Brexit deal struck by Boris Johnson
Peter Mandelson has suggested the UK could start talks on rejoining the EU in 10 years’ time, much earlier than Keir Starmer believes.
Lord Mandelson told an audience in Edinburgh the “truth is that [reversing Brexit] could be a conversation which starts in 10 years’ time”, but only if EU member states were willing to consider it.
Continue reading...Survivor of blaze which killed 72 ‘disgusted’ Quentin Marshall gave £5,000 to candidate promoting deregulation
One of Kemi Badenoch’s Tory leadership campaign funders is a councillor who had oversight of Grenfell Tower and dismissed some residents’ complaints about the pre-fire refurbishment as “grossly exaggerated”.
One survivor of the blaze that killed 72 people said he was “disgusted” that Quentin Marshall, a senior politician at the Conservative-controlled Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) which owned the block, has given £5,000 to the current shadow housing secretary to help her become the leader of the opposition.
Continue reading...Assessment finds detention unit is subjecting families to ‘unnecessary suffering’ amid lengthy Home Office delays
Young children are being traumatised while held at a Gatwick airport deportation centre that should be closed down, a watchdog has found.
The independent monitoring board (IMB) also said the children’s parents were being subjected to “callous treatment and unnecessary suffering” because of the Home Office’s lengthy decision-making process over removals.
Children are witnessing or overhearing their parents’ “considerable distress” at their expected deportation, despite staff efforts to shield them.
Children are being asked by staff to translate for their distraught parents, despite having been taken from their homes and facing removal to a country they may know very little about.
The use of the Family PDA may prolong or add to trauma already experienced, particularly for children.
Continue reading...Conservation trust says Boki ‘not out of the woods’ yet but doing well after operation to drain buildup of fluid
A brown bear that underwent brain surgery in the first operation of its kind in the UK is doing well but is “not out of the woods” yet, a charity has said.
Boki went under the knife on Wednesday after an MRI scan revealed he had hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid in the brain.
Continue reading...BMJ case report reveals potential overuse injury after man in his 30s has surgery to remove large lump on his head
Going breakdancing today? If so, maybe go easy on the headspins. Unless you want to end up with a “cone-head”, that is.
Breakdancing’s extreme physical demands mean it is known to involve a high risk of injury: everything from hair loss to sprains and damage to almost every part of the anatomy.
Continue reading...Police discovered ‘much-loved’ Martin Forgie dead at property in Ellon on Wednesday
A 44-year-old man has been arrested after the death of a “much-loved” 36-year-old man in Aberdeenshire.
At about 8.35pm on Wednesday, police were called to a property in the town of Ellon, where Martin Forgie was found dead.
Continue reading...Industry bosses to meet prime minister before government’s international investment summit next week
The leaders of the world’s biggest green energy companies have promised more than £24bn of new private investment across Great Britain ahead of a meeting with the prime minister on Friday.
Keir Starmer is expected to meet the green energy bosses on the sidelines of the first Council of Nations and Regions in Edinburgh to discuss the multibillion-pound projects just days before the government’s international investment summit next week.
Continue reading...Bill will give new rights to millions of workers including protection from third-party harassment
Employers must protect their workers from sexual harassment – including from customers and clients – under the government’s sweeping new employment rights bill.
The new obligation is part of a series of measures published in Thursday’s landmark employment bill, which Labour had promised to lay before parliament within 100 days.
Continue reading...Exclusive: private message from whips aims to crackdown on discipline, telling MPs to speak with ‘one voice’
Labour MPs have been warned that they must not put down any amendments on government bills and must resolve disagreements privately with ministers, in a crackdown on discipline in parliament.
In a private message, seen by the Guardian, Labour whips told MPs that they could no longer act as if they were in opposition and said amendments suggested a lack of trust in the government. The message said MPs should be speaking with “one voice” in public.
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