Category Archives: UK news

Lack of City of London oversight hurting efforts to halt dirty money, FCA warns

Posted on by

Bodies responsible for monitoring accounting and legal sectors not doing enough to stop money laundering, watchdog says

A lack of proper oversight across the City of London’s network of lawyers, bookkeepers and accountants is hampering efforts to crack down on dirty money being funnelled through the UK, the City watchdog has warned.

The latest report by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) flagged concerns over the work of the UK’s 25 professional bodies – which oversee the accounting and legal sectors – and found that some were spending as little as £73 a year on anti-money laundering supervision or were outsourcing it entirely to third parties.

Continue reading...

Nottingham man smothered wife and killed himself over unfounded affair fears

Posted on by

David Boulter, 60, killed Deborah, 53, at home despite no evidence of affair found by private investigator he hired

A man smothered his wife and then killed himself after hiring a private investigator to investigate unfounded fears she was having an affair, an inquest has concluded.

David Boulter, 60, killed his wife, Deborah, 53, at their home in Mapperley, Nottingham on 9 October 2023, after becoming convinced she was in a sexual relationship with a friend.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Continue reading...

Scotland could extend winter fuel allowance, Scottish Labour argues

Posted on by

Further devolution next year will bring allowance under Scottish control just months before Holyrood elections

Scottish Labour believes access to the winter fuel allowance could be widened in Scotland as it tries to fight off its opponents’ attacks before the next Holyrood election.

Scotland will be able to decide which pensioners get the allowance from October next year under further devolution of benefits to Holyrood, eight months before a Scottish parliamentary election that Labour sees as critical to its revival.

Continue reading...

JCB profits rise despite faltering demand in UK and Germany

Posted on by

Company owned by Bamford family benefits from strong US sales offsetting end of exports to Russia

JCB has reported an increase in profits last year as strong US sales made up for its exports to Russia ending and faltering demand in the UK and Germany.

The company, one of the largest manufacturers in Britain, said that pre-tax profits rose 44% to £806m last year, up from £558m in 2022, according to a summary of its accounts published on Monday.

Continue reading...

Batterymaker Northvolt to cut 1,600 jobs amid electric car ‘headwinds’

Posted on by

Move comes after weeks of uncertainty over reports of financial problems as green vehicle sector struggles

The Swedish batterymaker Northvolt is to cut 1,600 jobs, in response to “headwinds” blowing through the electric car industry.

The battery company announced redundancies across three of its sites on Monday, including 1,000 in Skellefteå, in northern Sweden, where it is suspending the expansion of Northvolt Ett, Europe’s first homegrown battery gigafactory.

Continue reading...

Show shines light on overlooked artist who made UK’s first Holocaust memorial

Posted on by

Work of German-Jewish sculptor Fred Kormis, who fled Nazis in 1930s, is subject of exhibition in London

The work of an overlooked German-Jewish artist who created the UK’s first memorial to victims of Nazi persecution is to be the focus of an exhibition that shines light on the unreported aspects of his life.

Fred Kormis, who fled Germany in the 1930s and later became a British citizen, was described by the Wiener Holocaust Library in London as a forgotten émigré artist who played a unique role in Weimar culture and 20th-century British art.

Continue reading...

Met police chief hails race action plan as ‘a step in the right direction’

Posted on by

Mark Rowley launches initiative that includes reset of stop and search, but acknowledges ‘there is still a lot to do’

Scotland Yard has launched its latest steps to try to rebuild trust with London’s black community, which the Met police commissioner acknowledged had been let down for many years.

Mark Rowley said “there remains a long way to go and there is a lot more work to do”, but that the force’s race action plan was a step in the right direction.

Continue reading...

Sue Gray ‘shot JFK’ and is ‘hiding Lord Lucan’, jokes Wes Streeting

Posted on by

Health secretary shares light-hearted quip at party’s conference over embattled No 10 aide

Wes Streeting has joked that Keir Starmer’s embattled senior aide Sue Gray also “shot JFK” and was “hiding Lord Lucan” amid a continuing row over her salary.

The health secretary made light of suggestions of mounting acrimony at the heart of government as he spoke at an event on the sidelines of the Labour party conference in Liverpool.

Continue reading...

Rachel Reeves orders investigations into £600m of Covid contracts

Posted on by

Chancellor will confirm inquiries in conference speech as Labour tries to move on from donations scandal

Rachel Reeves will announce on Monday that she has ordered investigations into more than £600m worth of Covid contracts awarded under the Conservatives as Labour struggles to get back on the front foot over questions of ethics.

After days of bruising allegations over donations, the chancellor will confirm that she will refer more than half of contracts for material such as masks to the incoming Covid corruption commissioner, after the previous government recommended dropping any attempt to investigate them.

Continue reading...

Labour plans to allow travel between England and Wales for NHS treatment

Posted on by

Exclusive: Welsh secretary will use conference speech to announce measure for elective treatment and outpatients

NHS patients in Wales will be allowed to travel to England to receive care for the first time ever under plans to be announced by the Welsh secretary on Monday.

Jo Stevens will tell the Labour conference in Liverpool that she is drawing up proposals to allow patients to travel between England and Wales to receive outpatient or elective treatment.

Continue reading...

Angela Rayner hints at major social housing announcement

Posted on by

Deputy prime minister tells Labour conference she expects chancellor to make promise on building at spending review

Angela Rayner has given her strongest hint yet that Labour will announce a major package of social housebuilding in next month’s spending review, saying the party will have abandoned its “moral mission” if it fails to do so.

The deputy prime minister told an event at Labour conference on Sunday she expected the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to make a promise on social housing next month, with the government under pressure to build hundreds of thousands more social homes.

Continue reading...

Peter Jay, journalist and diplomat, dies aged 87

Posted on by

Tributes paid to one of the UK’s foremost economics commentators who was also ambassador to Washington

Peter Jay, the former BBC economics journalist and diplomat, has died at the age of 87, his family has announced.

Colleagues in the political and media world paid tributes after he died “peacefully at home” on Sunday. Jay was one of the country’s foremost economics commentators of his time, spending time as the economics editor for the BBC and the Times.

Additional reporting by PA Media

Continue reading...

Health and productivity losses from obesity ‘far outstrip weight-loss jab costs’

Posted on by

Exclusive: £100bn-a-year cost of obesity to UK makes clear economic case for use of drugs such as Ozempic, says report

Spiralling healthcare costs and productivity losses from the global obesity crisis far outstrip the cost of new weight-loss drugs, according to a report, which also calls on governments to prioritise prevention by promoting a healthy diet and exercise.

In the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, there is a clear economic case for these medications, the report says, as the annual cost of the diabetes drug Ozempic is lower than the cost of additional healthcare needed by people with obesity. The cost of the weight-loss injection Wegovy is higher, but still dwarfed by the overall economic cost to society of obesity, according to the research by ING Bank, shared with the Guardian.

Continue reading...

Ofsted cannot be allowed to reform itself, say teachers’ unions

Posted on by

Sister of headteacher Ruth Perry, who killed herself last year, joins call for ‘complete reset’ of schools inspectorate

Education unions are to warn that Ofsted cannot be trusted to reform itself, as headteachers ­continue to report that school inspections are leaving their staff feeling distressed.

Prof Julia Waters, sister of the Reading headteacher Ruth Perry, who killed herself last year after an inspection downgraded her school from outstanding to inadequate, will call on the government to make deeper reforms of the inspectorate at the Labour party conference on Sunday. While welcoming the government’s recent confirmation that Ofsted’s single-word judgments will be scrapped, Waters, along with all four teaching unions, said the inspector still operated with a culture of “fear and terror”.

Continue reading...

Worboys lawyer joins team working for alleged Fayed victims

Posted on by

Phillippa Kaufmann KC, who helped black cab rapist’s victims sue the Metropolitan police, is helping examine whether the force should have done more to bring Harrods boss to justice

The lawyer who helped victims sue the Metropolitan Police for failing to investigate John Worboys, the black cab rapist, is working with women allegedly attacked by Mohamed Al Fayed.

Phillippa Kaufmann KC has joined the legal team examining whether police had a duty to do more to bring Fayed to justice when allegations were made against him.

Continue reading...

‘Planning passports’ that automatically approve high-quality new homes will be a game-changer, says Keir Starmer

Posted on by

Labour wants to see apartment blocks built in more densely populated cities to achieve its housing targets

A radical scheme to speed up the building of more apartment blocks in towns and cities – as opposed to individual houses and bungalows – has been announced by the prime minister on the eve of the Labour party conference.

Keir Starmer told the Observer in an exclusive interview that the new system of “planning passports” would be a “game-changer” as the government strives to build 1.5m new homes within five years.

Continue reading...

Man arrested on suspicion of murder after stabbing in Eastville, Bristol

Posted on by

Thirty-two-year-old in custody after attack on man, 25, on Stapleton Road in the east of the city

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the death of a 25-year-old man in Bristol, police have said.

Avon and Somerset police arrested a 32-year-old man in the Eastville area of the city at about 5.45pm on Saturday. He remains in custody.

Continue reading...

Drones seized in Liverpool after breaching Labour conference airspace

Posted on by

Police warn unauthorised drone users could be prosecuted as restrictions are in place for conference week

Drones have been seized by police after they were flown in breach of airspace restrictions during the Labour party conference in Liverpool.

Merseyside police said they seized three drones on Saturday after a temporary airspace restriction covering much of Liverpool city centre was put in place.

Continue reading...

Honeymoon over: Keir Starmer now less popular than Rishi Sunak

Posted on by

Opinium poll for the Observer finds a 45-point drop in the prime minister’s approval rating since he won the election

Keir Starmer has suffered a precipitous fall in his personal ratings since winning the election, according to a new poll for the Observer that comes before his first Labour conference as prime minister.

The latest Opinium poll reveals that Starmer’s approval rating has plunged below that of the Tory leader Rishi Sunak, suffering a huge 45-point drop since July. While 24% of voters approve of the job he is doing, 50% disapprove, giving him a net rating of -26%. Sunak’s net rating is one point better.

Continue reading...

Suspects in assisted dying cases wait far too long on prosecution decision, says ex-DPP

Posted on by

Ex-director of public prosecutions in England and Wales says that of 27 cases he considered for potential charges only one met the threshold

The former director of public prosecutions Sir Max Hill has said a review of assisted dying laws should consider how bereaved suspects are forced to endure long waits before being told whether they face prosecution.

During his time as DPP for England and Wales, from 2018 to 2023, Hill said he considered 27 cases for potential charges involving assisted suicide. He considered only one met the evidential and public interest threshold for a prosecution.

Continue reading...