A surge in claims for pension credit will make thousands more people eligible for the payments and other benefits
Rachel Reeves has been warned that her cut to pensioner winter fuel payments risks saving hundreds of millions less than anticipated, in a new blow to her attempts to close the hole in Britain’s finances.
The chancellor and her Treasury team are already re-examining parts of a plan to crack down on non-dom tax status over concerns that it may not raise any money.
Continue reading...Prime minister hopes to use talks with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen this week to prepare for a reset in the spring
Keir Starmer will use a meeting with the European Commission president this week to pave the way for a springtime overhaul of Britain’s Brexit deal, amid warnings that closer ties will be essential in his government’s desperate search for growth.
The prime minister will meet Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on Wednesday. However, it comes with home secretary Yvette Cooper still vehemently opposed to an agreement that would allow young people to move more freely between Europe and the UK – a measure that EU diplomats regard as key to unlocking more serious talks in the spring.
Continue reading...Thanks to the city’s famously rainy climate, trees suffering in the south can be moved, says the Royal Horticultural Society
The climate is changing British gardens everywhere. Well, almost everywhere. The Royal Horticultural Society has modelled how global heating will affect its property until 2075 and discovered that summers will be hotter and drier in all its gardens – except in Manchester.
Greater Manchester’s renown as a rain trap – there is even a website tracking rainfall, called Rainchester – means that the RHS Bridgewater garden in Salford is being earmarked for species that thrive in a cooler, wetter climate.
Continue reading...‘Economically illiterate’ Defra letter sent to anti-sewage groups cites 2018 report commissioned by water companies
Labour used “economically illiterate” analysis paid for by water companies in order to argue against the nationalisation of the sector, the Guardian can reveal.
In an official letter recently sent to anti-sewage groups, civil servants cited a paper by the Social Market Foundation as a reason to avoid nationalisation as part of its review of the sector. The report from 2018 was commissioned by United Utilities, Anglian Water, Severn Trent and South West Water.
Continue reading...Mechanical thrombectomy can save a patient from permanent disability or death, but its availability depends on where they live
Most stroke patients in England suitable for treatment that can save them from serious disability or even death cannot access it, new figures reveal.
It is estimated that at least 10% of stroke patients can benefit from a treatment known as mechanical thrombectomy. Under the procedure, a wire and stent is manoeuvred towards the brain to pull out the clot blocking the blood flow. The treatment reduces the adverse effects of a stroke and in the best outcomes a patient could walk out of hospital the next day.
Continue reading...British government says it has been securing extra flights as it asks UK nationals to register their presence
The British government has been securing extra flights for UK nationals to make their way out of Lebanon, as ministers continued to urge citizens still in the country to “leave now”.
Official advice has been warning British nationals to leave the country for months. But with the escalation of tension following the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, there have been fresh appeals to Brits to urgently secure a place on a flight.
Continue reading...Latest Opinium poll for the Observer shows Labour leader got the opposite of a ‘bounce’ from Liverpool party conference
Keir Starmer’s personal ratings dropped further during his first Labour conference as prime minister, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.
While party leaders hope for a conference bounce as a result of wall-to-wall media coverage, Starmer suffered the reverse effect, as his ratings plunged to their lowest ever level, and well below those of Rishi Sunak.
Continue reading...Politician cites ‘cruel and unnecessary policies’ as she lambasts prime minister’s ‘managerial and technocratic approach’
A Labour MP has resigned from the parliamentary party after criticising Keir Starmer’s “cruel and unnecessary” policies and lambasting the prime minister’s “managerial and technocratic approach” to politics.
In a furious letter announcing her decision, Rosie Duffield, the Canterbury MP, said she felt relief in making the decision. She said the row over freebies handed to Starmer and his top team demonstrated that “sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice are off the scale”.
Continue reading...Sana Chamseddin’s uncle, his wife and their three daughters died in IDF bombing of Tyre
A British woman returning to the UK from Lebanon has said Israeli airstrikes killed five members of her family.
Sana Chamseddin’s uncle, his wife and their three daughters, all in their 20s, were killed when their home in the city of Tyre was bombed by the Israel Defense Forces, she told the PA news agency.
Continue reading...Conservative grandees at the conference in Birmingham fear that none of the candidates can unite the party’s factions
Senior Tories are already predicting that whoever wins the Conservative leadership race is unlikely to survive until the next election, amid criticisms of a “B-list” contest that risks taking the party farther to the right.
Some veteran figures have decided to give this weekend’s conference in Birmingham a miss, fearing the party has learned little from the complete loss of discipline that characterised its final years in government.
Continue reading...Days after floods hit, further heavy rain likely to cause travel delays and flooding from late Sunday afternoon
Weather warnings have been issued as strong winds and heavy rain approach the UK, days after some areas were hit by flooding.
The Met Office issued a yellow rain warning – meaning further heavy rain is likely to cause some travel delays and flooding – covering much of southern England and south Wales between 4pm on Sunday and 9am on Monday.
Continue reading...Former PM says leadership candidates must understand that party lost election because it ‘trashed our brand’
The Conservatives “failed to see the threat from the Liberal Democrats” while focusing too much on the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, Theresa May has said.
Writing in the Times on the eve of the party’s annual conference in Birmingham, Lady May said the remaining candidates for the Tory leadership could “play into Reform’s hands” by failing to understand the reasons behind their electoral humiliation.
Continue reading...Once hailed as a philanthropic marvel, Fashion for Relief ran up hefty expenses and left charity partners angry
Five years ago, a glitzy charity fundraising gala in the British Museum organised by the model Naomi Campbell was widely accepted to be a triumph. It was the toast of London fashion week and a powerful showcase for Campbell’s philanthropic mission to raise money for young people in poverty.
Awash with celebrities (the actors Naomie Harris and Pierce Brosnan, the rapper Skepta and the model Alexa Chung) and wealthy paying guests, it combined a catwalk show with a charity auction of art (drawings by Matisse, Dalí and Tracey Emin, a signed Warhol print), jewellery and luxury watches.
Continue reading...PC Ross Benson accused of smacking the girl, who was known to him, multiple times in 2018
A Metropolitan police officer has been sacked and banned from policing after allegedly spanking a 12-year-old girl’s bare bottom.
PC Ross Benson, of the North West Basic Command Unit, was accused of smacking the girl several times between April and August 2018 when she was aged 12 to 13, and there was an alleged sexual element to his behaviour.
Continue reading...Early years experts warn of lack of staff, playgrounds and toilets
Primary schools may not have enough space, specialist facilities or staff to deliver the 100,000 new nursery places in England that the government has promised, early childhood experts have warned.
Labour is under intense pressure to create enough places to fulfil its promise of 30 hours of free childcare a week for eligible parents of children from the age of nine months to three years from next September – a commitment inherited from the previous government.
Continue reading...Foreign Office advises people to take next available flight as it tries to secure seats amid escalating violence
British nationals in Lebanon have been urged to leave the country immediately as the violence escalates between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said on Friday night that British nationals in Lebanon should leave on the next available flight.
Continue reading...Former prime minister admits in extract from forthcoming book that he discussed possible military operation at height of pandemic
Boris Johnson considered an “aquatic raid” on a Dutch warehouse to seize Covid vaccines during the height of the pandemic, he has revealed in his memoirs.
The former prime minister discussed plans with senior military officials in March 2021, according to an extract from his forthcoming book, Unleashed, published in the Daily Mail.
Continue reading...Police watchdog finds boy restrained for longer than necessary by officers involved in stop and search in London
Officers who handcuffed and restrained a 14-year-old black schoolboy on the ground during a stop and search in London committed misconduct, the police watchdog has said.
PC McCorley Clewes and former PC Benjamin Morgan were among four Metropolitan police officers involved in the stop in Blackhorse Lane, Croydon, on 23 June 2022 at about 5.30pm after reports of a stolen mobile phone.
Continue reading...Former This Morning presenter says he was ‘so, so close’ to taking his own life after scandal that saw him quit ITV
Phillip Schofield has said he will be “forever sorry” in his first television appearance in more than a year since his shock downfall.
Schofield, now 62, quit ITV and admitted to having lied about an “unwise, but not illegal” affair with a younger male colleague at This Morning last May. His agent parted ways with him and he has stayed out of the spotlight since.
Continue reading...Transport disrupted and more than 60 flood warnings still in place, with more downpours to come
The Met Office has issued a weather warning for strong winds on Sunday as parts of the country recovered from heavy rain and flooding. Flooding disrupted rail services in England and Wales on Friday morning and led to the closure of the M5 motorway in both directions in Gloucestershire.
The Environment Agency told drivers their cars could be swept away in as little as 30cm (12in) of water as more than 60 flood warnings were issued in England after heavy rain overnight, with further downpours to come.
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