Report by Co-op Funeralcare highlights shift towards unusual venues, pets at services and glittery coffins
Traditional sombre funerals in religious settings are increasingly being replaced by “celebrations of life” with personal touches held at more unusual locations in the UK, according to a study.
Dr Who-themed farewells, glittery coffins and mourners dressed in football shirts are among requests received by funeral directors.
Continue reading...Programme may soon be expanded in England after study finds ‘life-changing benefits’ of meal replacement scheme
Tens of thousands more people in England living with type 2 diabetes could be offered an 800-calorie-a-day “soup and shake” diet after research found almost one in three on the groundbreaking NHS scheme permanently wiped out their disease.
Patients are given low-calorie meal replacement products such as soups, milkshakes and snack bars for three months, triggering rapid weight loss, before getting support to reintroduce normal food into their diet.
Continue reading...One dolphin was discovered near Chelsea Harbour Pier, the other on the riverbank at Greenwich
Two dolphins have reportedly been found dead on the banks of the Thames in London, after one was spotted in the river last week.
The common dolphin was seen multiple times from late morning on Thursday, and was described as appearing to be “struggling with the tide”.
Continue reading...Neil Basu, former head of UK counter-terrorism, condemned rampaging rioters as ‘bullies and cowards’
The worst of the far-right violence seen in England this weekend should be treated as terrorism, a prominent former police chief has said, amid warnings over a new wave of unrest targeting migration lawyers.
Police have made 378 arrests since the violence broke out last week, with rioters setting fire to a library, looting shops and storming hotels housing asylum seekers.
Australia, Nigeria, Malaysia and Indonesia issued travel alerts to their nationals living in or visiting the UK, warning them to stay away from demonstrations.
Amanda Pritchard, the chief executive of NHS England, warned the riots have made many of the health service’s multicultural workforce feel “afraid and unwelcome” and the Royal College of Nursing called on ministers to ensure that anyone who targets nurses “pays a very heavy price”.
Ministers announced plans to introduce more than 500 new prison places over the next month to help cope with an influx of accused rioters expected to be held on remand.
The prime minister’s spokesperson criticised comments by Elon Musk after the X owner posted that “civil war is inevitable” in response to a video showing riots in Liverpool.
MPs and 60 anti-racist and migrants’ rights organisations called for parliament to be recalled to address the violence and “to ensure that all people and communities of colour are protected”.
Continue reading...Former young offender institution repurposed and abandoned cells made safe, while early release scheme continues
Ministers are preparing an additional 500 prison places to cope with an influx of people expected to be held on remand over the next month, the Ministry of Justice said on Monday.
From next week, cells will be used at the newly repurposed HMP Cookham Wood, a former young offender institution in the village of Borstal in Kent, that was closed in March after it was called “inhumane” by a prison watchdog.
Continue reading...Response from Tehran, which blames Israel for killing of Hamas leader, could risk wider regional conflict
As Israel braces for what appears to be a likely Iranian retaliation, it is almost certain western and regional powers will be drawn in. Overnight, Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, briefed his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, discussing according to Israel’s readout “a series of scenarios” and corresponding “defensive and offensive capabilities” should Tehran attack.
Gallant held a similar discussion with the UK defence secretary, John Healey, on Friday, giving the new Labour minister “an operational situation assessment”, Israel said. A day later Britain indicated it was moving military assets into Cyprus to prepare for a possible evacuation of UK nationals from Lebanon. The need for heightened readiness in the Middle East will not be lost on the RAF and its Typhoon pilots stationed at the Akrotiri airbase, either.
Continue reading...Italian brand makes first foray into pet scents – but RSPCA warns against such products as dogs rely on sense of smell
If the axiom that a dog is man’s best friend holds any credence, Dolce & Gabbana has now elevated it with the introduction of its latest perfume: a mist for dogs.
But the RSPCA has warned against messing with dogs’ sense of smell by giving them their own fragrance, warning the odour could come across as unpleasant for them – and hamper their ability to connect with their surroundings.
Continue reading...Devon & Cornwall police report violence against officers and damaged police van as calls grow for recall of parliament
Local people joined council workers to clear up around the Holiday Inn Express hotel in Manvers, near Rotherham in South Yorkshire, on Monday morning.
Police officers stood guard outside the main entrance and at other locations around the building as teams swept up glass from the numerous broken windows at the front of the hotel, PA reported.
That’s not what we’re doing right now. What we’re doing right now is keeping in close contact with MPs.
Continue reading...Exhibition from royal collection will include about 160 works from Titian, Michelangelo, Leonardo and others
About 160 works from more than 80 artists including Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian and Leonardo da Vinci are to go on display in what has been described as the widest-ranging exhibition of Italian Renaissance drawings ever to be staged in the UK.
Taken from the royal collection, the exhibition, which opens at the King’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace in November, will feature more than 30 works on display for the first time, and a further 12 never previously shown in the UK.
Continue reading...Shares in FTSE 250 company slump 37% in early trading after Dubai-based Sidara cites geopolitical risk
The share price of the British oil services company John Wood Group has plunged by more than a third after a Dubai-based suitor pulled out of a purchase amid global market turmoil.
In a statement to the stock market on Monday the engineering company Sidara said it had pulled out of a bid for Wood “in light of rising geopolitical risks and financial market uncertainty”.
Continue reading...Tory leadership candidate says Reform leader’s comments are deeply misleading as she urges parliament recall
The Conservative leadership candidate Priti Patel has criticised Nigel Farage’s response to the far-right riots, saying it was wrong to compare the violence to Black Lives Matter protests.
The former home secretary has also written to the prime minister and home secretary, urging them to recall parliament, drawing parallels with the 2011 riots when MPs returned for a government statement on civil disorder and to condemn the violence.
Continue reading...Queen Alexandra hospital had closed ward to new admissions and declared major incident after outage
A hospital has reopened its emergency department after closing it to new admissions and declaring a major incident after a power cut.
The outage on Monday morning at the Queen Alexandra hospital in Portsmouth, Hampshire, also affected phone lines. A small number of procedures had to be cancelled.
Continue reading...Mural featuring disgraced presenter also painted over in his home village of Llangennech, Carmarthenshire
A plaque honouring Huw Edwards at Cardiff Castle has been removed after the disgraced presenter pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children.
Cardiff council took away the wall-mounted plaque after Edwards admitted to having 41 indecent images of children, sent to him by another man on WhatsApp.
Continue reading...Groups say people are dying of crushing and suffocation as ever-growing numbers are packed into fewer vessels
Refugees are being crammed into boats on French beaches in ever-increasing numbers, human rights groups have said, leading to an increased risk of crushing and suffocation as a result of the UK’s “stop the boats” policy.
A seven-year-old girl is among at least eight people who have died of suffocation on a dinghy in the Channel in less than a year.
Continue reading...Though tiny compared with rivals, English wine trade is thriving as climate crisis fuels flood of new capital from investors
The largest English vineyards increased their revenues by 15% last year, as wine investors respond to the climate crisis by planting more vines.
While the UK still languishes well down the list of the largest wine-producing nations, below countries such as Uzbekistan and Tunisia, the industry’s output has soared in recent years, rising by 77% last year to 161,960 hectolitres, equivalent to 21.6m bottles.
Continue reading...Poll reveals emergency contraception, free prescription deliveries and extended opening hours among services hit
Pharmacies across England are unable to provide critical NHS and public health services owing to the overwhelming financial and operational pressures they are facing, according to research.
A poll of pharmacy owners representing more than 2,100 pharmacies found that more than 96% of respondents said they had stopped providing locally commissioned services over the past 12 months.
Continue reading...Home secretary condemns ‘utterly appalling’ scenes as bottles and chairs thrown outside Holiday Inn Express
A far-right-led mob of masked rioters tried to set fire to a hotel housing asylum seekers as further violence flared across the country at anti-immigration protests.
Some 700 people gathered outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, before clashing with police. Some rioters hurled pieces of wood, bottles and chairs, and sprayed fire extinguishers at police officers.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Dame Sara Khan, who advised May, Johnson and Sunak, says recent administrations failed the country
The Conservative government left the UK wide open to the far-right violence erupting across parts of the country by ignoring red flags and stoking fires with a culture war agenda, a senior adviser on extremism to Tory prime ministers has said.
Dame Sara Khan, who was Rishi Sunak’s independent adviser for social cohesion and resilience until May this year and acted as counter-extremism commissioner under Theresa May and Boris Johnson, said the recent administrations had failed the British people.
Continue reading...Some within Labour worry that PM is failing to challenge Nigel Farage’s anti-migrant insinuations head-on
Keir Starmer sounded uncharacteristically angry as he appeared in front of a podium in Downing Street on Sunday to condemn the violent mobs causing damage and spreading fear.
Just a few weeks into government, the prime minister has been confronted with an appalling triple murder of three young girls, followed by days of rioting whipped up by online disinformation that a migrant was responsible.
Continue reading...Trade bodies blame lack of lab facilities at Brexit border posts for longer delays and shorter shelf life of food
Imported food coming into the UK through Brexit border posts is being sent back to Europe to be tested due to a lack of laboratory capacity in Britain, food bodies have said.
The SPS Certification Working Group, which represents 30 trade bodies covering £100bn worth of the UK’s food supply, has written to the government warning that members are being advised that some samples of imported foods are being sent to countries such as Germany to be tested before they can be released at the border.
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