Category Archives: UK news

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

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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.

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Police make more arrests over fatal Bradford house fire

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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.

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Sicily yacht sinking: manslaughter investigation opened

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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.

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

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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.

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Starmer pledges UK support to Ukraine amid anniversary of independence

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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.

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Notting Hill carnival has renewed importance since riots, organisers say

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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Which benefits are available to vulnerable people under Labour?

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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.

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

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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.

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Brothers jailed for being at forefront of riot outside Rotherham hotel

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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Manslaughter charges considered as final body recovered from Sicily yacht

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Coastguard confirms body of Hannah Lynch, 18, found after four-day search, bringing number of dead to seven

Prosecutors in Italy are investigating potential manslaughter charges relating to the sinking of the superyacht Bayesian as the body of Mike Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, was recovered.

The Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily early on Monday morning when the area was hit by violent storms. Seven people died, including the British tech entrepreneur Lynch.

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Fashion retailer Shein finds child labour in its supply chain

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Disclosure comes as campaigners call on UK to oppose company’s planned listing on London Stock Exchange

The online fashion seller Shein has admitted it found two cases of child labour and factories failing to pay the minimum wage in its supply chain last year, as it tries to gain backing for a potential £50bn UK stock market flotation.

The disclosure, in Shein’s 2023 sustainability report, comes after workers’ rights campaigners called for the government to oppose a possible listing of Shein on the London Stock Exchange over concerns about a lack of transparency about its supply chain and ethical questions. The British Fashion Council (BFC) has also said the listing, which could be announced as early as next month, would be a “significant concern” to the industry.

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Average annual energy bill to rise by 9.5% to £1,717 in Great Britain from October

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Campaigners fear increase by £149 in energy price cap by Ofgem will put more pressure on households

Households will begin the run-up to winter with a sharp increase in their energy bills after the industry regulator increased its cap on energy prices by 9.5% from October.

Under the new price cap, the average annual energy bill will rise to £1,717 a year for gas and electricity, up £149 from its current level of £1,568, which has been in place since July.

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Liverpool must not ‘shy away’ from slave trade past, says museum chief

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Michelle Charters urges more recognition and reconciliation on Unesco’s Slavery Remembrance Day

Liverpool must not “shy away” from its historic involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, the organiser of the city’s 25th Slavery Remembrance Day commemoration has said.

Michelle Charters, who is leading Liverpool’s events for Unesco’s Slavery Remembrance Day, said it was important to address and recognise the city’s tarnished history.

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Fire chiefs call for legal duty to respond to extreme weather in England

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NFCC says statutory safety standards would raise emergency response to flooding and wildfires in line with rest of UK

Fire chiefs are calling for more support to respond to extreme weather events such as flooding and wildfires in England amid warnings of a postcode lottery on safety standards during emergencies.

The National Fire Chiefs Council urged ministers to impose a statutory duty in England to respond to severe weather-related incidents in order to ensure there is the right equipment, training and budget to deal with them.

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