Proposed tourist attraction hopes to bring 2m visitors a year to abandoned wartime network
London Tunnels, which aims to convert an abandoned underground network into a tourist attraction, has ditched plans to float in the capital, instead opting to list in Amsterdam.
The company aims to make the Kingsway exchange tunnels, a network of 8,000 sq metres under Holborn in central London, into a new attraction that will bring in 2 million visitors a year.
Continue reading...Author responds after shadow chancellor says party would be ‘really happy’ to ‘give her assurances’
JK Rowling has agreed to a meeting with Labour after Rachel Reeves said the party would be “really happy” to “give her assurances” over its plans to change the process through which people can legally change gender.
Speaking in Scotland, Reeves said protection for women-only spaces would “absolutely stay”, adding: “We’re not going to be changing anything around biological sex … We’re really happy to talk to JK Rowling to give her assurances about that.”
Continue reading...Reform UK leader accuses group of trying to stop his party breaking through into parliament
Nigel Farage has launched a stinging attack on the Daily Mail group, accusing the newspapers of trying to stop Reform UK “breaking through into parliament” by publishing reports that suggest he is an ally of Vladmir Putin’s administration.
Farage said the newspaper, which has often been supportive of him in the past, was “collaborating with the Kremlin to protect the dying Conservative party”, also lashing out at Boris Johnson for joining condemnation of his comments about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Continue reading...Total of 12,901 people seeking asylum have crossed this year, passing previous six-month record of 12,747 in 2022
A record number of people seeking asylum in small boats have crossed the Channel in the first six months of this year.
Home Office figures show that 257 people made the journey in four boats on Sunday, taking the provisional total for the year so far to 12,901. The previous record for arrivals in the six months from January to June was 12,747 in 2022. In the first half of 2023, arrivals stood at 11,433.
Continue reading...Many describe Hunt as a good local MP but some are looking to tactical voting to punish the Conservatives
The beautiful Surrey Hills are well known for two things: a high concentration of some of the UK’s richest residents, who commute from the “stockbroker belt” to well-paying jobs in London, and some of the country’s most popular cycling routes.
The two combined on a recent chilly Saturday morning in a 100km bike ride that passed through the picturesque lanes of the newly created Godalming and Ash constituency. Most of the 10 riders from Velo Club Godalming Haslemere were happy to chat politics as they pedalled up (and down) 1,168 metres of the county’s steepest hills on customised carbon-fibre racing bikes, some of which cost more than a family car.
Continue reading...European Commission finds iPhone maker broke new laws designed to protect smaller competitors against big tech platforms
Apple has been found to be in breach of sweeping new EU laws designed to allow smaller companies to compete and allow consumers to find cheaper and alternative apps in the tech business’s app store.
The European Commission, which also acts as the EU antitrust and technology regulator, said it had sent its preliminary findings to Apple after an investigation launched in March.
“For too long Apple has been squeezing out innovative companies — denying consumers new opportunities and choices,” said Thierry Breton, the European commissioner responsible for digital markets, on X.
In preliminary findings, against which Apple can appeal, the European Commission said it believed its rules of engagement did not comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) “as they prevent app developers from freely steering consumers to alternatives channels for offers and content”.
Continue reading...Exclusive UK accused of trying to head off condemnation of Gulf ally over alleged aid to forces accused of genocide in Darfur
UK government officials attempted to suppress criticism of the United Arab Emirates and its alleged role in supplying arms to a notorious militia waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Sudan, sources have told the Guardian.
Claims that Foreign Office officials put pressure on African diplomats to avoid criticising the UAE over its alleged military support for Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) will intensify scrutiny of the UK’s relationship with the Gulf state.
Continue reading...Only ‘urgent’ tests to go ahead in short term after hospitals in south-east London hit by Russian gang’s seizure of data
Patients denied a blood test because of a Russian cyber-attack on the NHS may have to wait up to six months to have their sample taken, the Guardian has learned.
The delays are so long that some patients have decided to pay to have their blood taken and analysed by a private clinic rather than remain on the NHS waiting list.
Continue reading...Shadow foreign secretary repeats belief in ‘rules-based order’ and also says UK would not seek EU membership
David Lammy has reiterated that Labour would seek to implement an arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu if one was issued by the international criminal court.
Speaking to CNN, the shadow foreign secretary said a Labour government would comply if an order was issued for the arrest of the Israeli prime minister, adding that he expected the response to be the same all over Europe.
Continue reading...Officers search around two structures at bottom of ravine in rugged Rural de Teno park
Outbuildings close to where the missing teenager Jay Slater’s phone last picked up signal are the current focus of a police search in Tenerife.
As the hunt for the 19-year-old continued for a seventh day on the Canary island, his mother thanked those who had together donated more than £30,000 to a GoFundMe page, exceeding its target.
Continue reading...Company is looking for help from next government to upgrade to less polluting technology
Chinese-owned British Steel has reportedly submitted a request for a package of taxpayer support worth £600m as it looks for assistance from the next government to upgrade to less polluting technology.
Government officials are due to review plans that set out the costs of switching from blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces at the company’s steelworks in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, the Sunday Times reported.
Continue reading...Return to profit will enable ‘significant investment’, including Waitrose refurbs and more convenience stores
The outgoing chair of John Lewis has insisted that the retail group is “back on track” and “more fit for the future” with an improving financial position enabling it to spend money refurbishing Waitrose supermarkets and opening convenience stores.
Sharon White, who will retire as chair of the John Lewis Partnership in September, said the upmarket Waitrose brand was “underrepresented in convenience” as it sought new avenues of growth.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Party has pledged to abolish House of Lords but plans initial appointments to bolster its benches
Labour is to appoint dozens of peers within weeks in an attempt to push through its policies and improve the representation of women in the House of Lords, the Guardian has learned.
Senior Labour figures have drawn up a list of peerages to bolster the party benches and help implement its legislative programme if it wins the election on 4 July. The Conservatives have 104 more peers than Labour, while fewer than a third of the 784 members of parliament’s second chamber are women.
Continue reading...Outage causes major delays as officials advise people due to travel from terminals one and two not to come to airport
All flights out of terminals one and two at Manchester airport have been cancelled after a “significant power cut” in the early hours of Sunday morning, leaving hundreds of holidaymakers stranded.
The airport told all passengers due to travel from its two biggest terminals on Sunday not to come to the airport, and warned passengers on the few flights that were able to leave that they may not have their luggage with them.
Continue reading...Party’s deputy leader says Fair Work Agency will have the power to inspect workplaces and levy fines
Labour will create a watchdog with “real teeth” that has the power to prosecute and fine companies that breach the rights of their employees as part of its plans to strengthen workers’ rights.
Angela Rayner, the party’s deputy leader, told the Observer that she would create a new body, the Fair Work Agency, to oversee her proposals. She said that millions of workers could be losing out on basic rights as a result of underenforcement.
Continue reading...Candidates in key central belt hope to scoop up voters who have become disillusioned with their election rivals
Not for the first time, Blair McDougall, Labour’s candidate in East Renfrewshire on the outskirts of Glasgow, is telling a wavering voter that the election here is “so, so close”.
If predictions of a knife-edge outcome weren’t enough to motivate him, many people – including some in Barrhead, which he is visiting today – have just received their postal ballots. Their votes will be cast in the next few days.
Continue reading...Boxer says ex-fighters suffer poor health and that he hopes to help them as part of his sports legacy
Anthony Joshua has said he is considering opening a care home for retired boxers with health problems.
Speaking to Lauren Laverne on Sunday’s episode of BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, the former world heavyweight champion said he had discussed issues faced by ex-fighters with his former boxing coach, John Oliver.
Continue reading...Latest Opinium survey shows gap with Labour widening after another week of Conservative gaffes, while Reform rises two points to 16%
The Tories’ disastrous election campaign has propelled Labour to a near-record poll lead with just 11 days to go until election day.
The latest Opinium poll for the Observer puts Labour on 40% (unchanged compared with a week ago), with the Tories languishing on just 20% (down three on the week).
Continue reading...Water companies have logged five sewage spills a day, every day, for a decade, analysis by the Observer shows
Water companies in England and Wales have averaged five serious sewage spills into rivers or seas every day over the past decade, the Observer can reveal.
Analysis of Environment Agency data has found that the 10 firms recorded 19,484 category 1-3 pollution incidents between 2013 and 2022, the most recent year recorded, an average of one every four and a half hours.
Continue reading...‘It looks like one rule for them and one rule for us,’ the levelling up, housing and communities secretary suggests
The election betting row is as damaging to the Conservatives as the Partygate scandal, Michael Gove has said.
The levelling up, housing and communities secretary was speaking after revelations in the Guardian about a wagers allegedly placed on the date of the general election just before it was announced by the prime minister, Rishi Sunak.
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