Doctors advise queen not to attend Remembrance Day activities to ensure full recovery from seasonal illness
Queen Camilla will not attend Remembrance Day events this weekend as she recovers from a chest infection, Buckingham Palace has said.
Camilla was due to attend the Royal British Legion festival of remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday evening, and to honour the war dead at the Remembrance Sunday ceremony on Whitehall.
Continue reading...Milburn set to take senior health department role and says crisis is ‘million times worse’ than when he was in office
The NHS is “drinking in the last-chance saloon” and needs to change, the former health secretary Alan Milburn has said as he prepares to take up a senior role in the Department of Health.
Milburn, who brought about radical changes, such as the introduction of NHS foundation trusts, when he was a minister for Tony Blair, called for “cultural change” in the health service and said “big reforms will be needed to make it fit for the future”.
Continue reading...Coroner’s report finds Sarah McGreevy died after climbing on box on sixth floor balcony to unblock pipe repaired with tape
A woman who accidentally fell to her death from the sixth floor balcony of a Hackney council block was trying to fix a blocked drainpipe that had been repaired using “heavy duty tape”, a coroner has found.
Sarah McGreevy, 37, died on 16 June after climbing on to a wooden box on the balcony to manually unblock the pipe, a common practice among residents of the fifth and sixth floors of the building after heavy rainfall, according to the coroner’s report.
Continue reading...Two buses crash on Rochdale Road with people taken to hospitals across region although none seriously hurt
A crash between two doubledecker buses in Manchester has left 17 people needing hospital treatment.
The buses collided on Rochdale Road at 8.34am on Saturday.
Continue reading...Lord West says Republican victory is chance to show Britain is willing to prioritise military by allocating 3% of GDP
Keir Starmer is being urged to consider an emergency cash injection into defence and to accelerate Britain’s planned review of its military capabilities before Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Senior defence figures are now assessing how Trump’s victory will shape a strategic defence review (SDR) that was already under way in Whitehall, whose findings are due to be reported in the spring. The SDR comes alongside a crucial review of public spending.
Continue reading...Former Tory defence minister says leadership of Sunak era is lacking and bureaucracy is holding up equipment
Momentum on Ukraine has “dropped back” since Labour took office, according to the ex-Tory defence minister and former army officer Sir Ben Wallace.
Responding to recent comments by Kyiv officials that Ukraine’s relationship with the UK has “got worse” since Keir Starmer was elected prime minister, Wallace said that was because “the leadership that Britain showed right from the start has started to drop back into the pack”.
Continue reading...Tottenham fans will gather before their team’s game against Ipswich on Sunday to call for the release of Emily Damari, the last remaining British hostage held by Hamas in Gaza.
Damari, a Spurs supporter, has been in captivity for more than a year after being taken from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza during the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas. Stop The Hate UK, an activist group based in London, has been raising awareness about the 28-year-old, who is one of about 100 hostages in Gaza, and about 70 campaigners held a rally for her outside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before Spurs faced Aston Villa last Sunday.
Continue reading...Gabriel Kay hopes his design can help tackle the problems caused by discarded electrical goods
Gabriel Kay really understands his target audience. As a student of industrial and product design at De Montfort University, he focused on the kettle.
“Everyone can relate to a kettle, right?” says the 22-year-old graduate. “It’s easy to understand and associated with comfort. It’s a friendly introduction to design.”
Continue reading...Lib Dem leader says government should work with Trump but be prepared for him to act on security and trade threats
Ed Davey has urged Keir Starmer to “Trump-proof” the UK by urgently seeking closer European cooperation over military aid for Ukraine and economic ties, after the US president-elect’s threats about security and trade wars.
The Liberal Democrat leader, whose party is the third biggest in the House of Commons, argued that while the UK government should seek to work with a Donald Trump administration, it should also be as prepared as possible if he were to abandon Ukraine or impose sweeping tariffs.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Publisher takes responsibility for the failure to consult Indigenous groups, who say the fantasy novel trivialises complex and painful histories
Jamie Oliver says he is “devastated” by the offence he has caused to First Nations people and has issued an apology, after calls by Australia’s peak body for Indigenous education for the British celebrity chef to withdraw his children’s book from sale.
Oliver is in Australia promoting his latest cookbook, Simply Jamie, but it is his decision to join a growing flock of celebrity children’s book authors with a 400-page fantasy novel for primary school-age children that has come under fire.
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Continue reading...David Miliband, Peter Mandelson and Cathy Ashton thought to be on shortlist for diplomatic role
A decision on a new US ambassador is likely to be taken within days, with David Miliband, Peter Mandelson and Cathy Ashton all on the shortlist, the Guardian understands.
Whitehall sources said Downing Street is determined to press ahead with the appointment of a new US ambassador now that Donald Trump has been confirmed as the new president.
Continue reading...UK has had average of just three hours of sun over past week, but skies should start to clear from Sunday
An “anticyclonic gloom” has been blamed for cloudy weather across parts of England, with one village receiving absolutely no sunshine since October.
Odiham, in Hampshire, has reportedly recorded zero minutes of sunshine since October, but forecasters are predicting that the fog, drizzle and low cloud should start clearing from Sunday.
Continue reading...Robert Smith says getting first chart-topper since 1992’s Wish is ‘enormously uplifting’ and ‘genuinely heartwarming’
The Cure have scored their first UK No 1 album in 32 years, with Songs of a Lost World.
The band’s frontman Robert Smith said: “It is enormously uplifting, genuinely heartwarming to experience such a wonderful reaction to the release of the new Cure album. To everyone who has bought it, listened to it, loved it, believed in us over the years – thank you!”
Continue reading...Jonathan Powell led talks on Chagos Islands in September and played key role in Good Friday agreement
Jonathan Powell, the former chief of staff to Tony Blair, has been appointed as Keir Starmer’s national security adviser in a further sign that leading figures from the New Labour era are returning to the government.
The veteran former diplomat, who played a significant role in the Northern Ireland peace deal struck in 1998 and served Blair for a decade, will be responsible for advising on the UK’s approach to the war in Ukraine and the international implications of Donald Trump’s presidency.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Official in Zelenskyy administration expresses frustration with Starmer over lack of missiles
Ukraine’s relationship with the UK has “got worse” since the Labour government took power in July, officials in Kyiv have told the Guardian, voicing frustration over Britain’s failure to supply additional long-range missiles.
The UK prime minister is yet to visit Ukraine four months after taking office and a frustrated Kyiv has said that a trip would be worthless unless Keir Starmer committed to replenishing stocks of the sought after long-range Storm Shadow system.
Continue reading...This live blog is closed
Keir Starmer has hosted veterans and charities at Downing Street with defence secretary John Healey in the lead-up to Remembrance Day, PA Media reports. PA says:
The informal reception was held after Starmer pledged £3.5m in support for veterans facing homelessness.
Peter Kent, 99, the oldest veteran at the event, said he was pleased by the increase in funding and described Starmer as a “good guy”.
State visits take a while to organise. So in the next year, I’ve got to tell you, I think that would be a bit of a tall order. But [Trump] was genuine in his respect and his affection for the royal family.
Continue reading...Taxi driver among three on trial over death of 10-year-old says she briefly opened her eyes and asked for water before dying in his arms
The father of Sara Sharif wept as he told how his limp daughter briefly opened her eyes and asked for water before dying in his arms, a court has heard.
Urfan Sharif said his wife, Beinash Batool, did not call an ambulance in Sara’s final moments, but had said the 10-year-old was being “dramatic and pretending”.
Continue reading...Health and children’s groups urge UK ministers to impose levies on products containing too much salt or sugar
Dozens of health and children’s groups have urged ministers to tackle obesity by imposing taxes on foods containing too much salt or sugar.
New levies based on the sugar tax on soft drinks would make it easier for consumers to eat more healthily by forcing food manufacturers to reformulate their products, they claim.
74% think food firms are not honest about the health impact of their products.
61% worry about the amount of sugar and saturated fat in what they eat.
Only 13% believe producers will make their food more nutritious without government intervention.
72% worry about high levels of processing used in food production.
Continue reading...Royal says ‘it’s probably been the hardest year in my life’ as Catherine and King Charles underwent cancer treatment
Prince William has described the past year as “brutal” and “probably the hardest year in my life” as he dealt with his wife and father having cancer.
In a video interview to mark the end of his week-long visit of Cape Town in South Africa for the Earthshot prize awards ceremony, William was asked about his year. “Honestly, it’s been dreadful,” he said. “It’s probably been the hardest year in my life. Trying to get through everything else and keep everything on track has been really difficult.
Continue reading...Gambling Commission figures show shock rise to 85,000 in number of young people suffering gambling harms
The proportion of young people in Great Britain with a gambling problem has more than doubled, according to “astonishing” official data that prompted calls for urgent government intervention.
New figures from the Gambling Commission, which regulates bookies, online casinos and the national lottery, revealed a shock rise, to 85,000, in the number of children classified as having a gambling problem under widely used diagnostic criteria.
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