Category Archives: UK news

Nigel Farage faces questions over convicted fraudster’s campaign role

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George Cottrell, who was jailed in US for wire fraud, has been seen at Reform UK leader’s side over the last week

Nigel Farage is facing questions over why he is being accompanied on the campaign trail by an aristocratic friend who spent eight months in jail in the US for wire fraud.

Known as “Posh George”, George Cottrell was a volunteer for Farage in 2016 before his arrest in the US on money-laundering charges and ultimate guilty plea to one count of wire fraud in a case unrelated to his work at Ukip, Farage’s party at the time. The crime was committed in 2014, before Cottrell worked for either the anti-EU party or Farage.

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First NHS physiotherapy clinic run by AI to start this year

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Exclusive: New platform to provide same-day appointments with digital physiotherapist in effort to cut waiting times

The first NHS AI-run physiotherapy clinic is to be rolled out this year in an effort to cut waiting times amid growing demand and staff shortages.

The new platform will provide same-day automated video appointments with a digital physiotherapist via an app that responds to information provided by a patient in real time.

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Sunak will ‘absolutely’ remain Tory leader despite D-day blunder, ally says

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Cabinet minister Mel Stride says PM ‘deeply regrets’ early exit from 80th-anniversary commemoration in Normandy

An ally of Rishi Sunak has said the prime minister will “absolutely” continue to lead the Conservative election campaign after his D-day ceremony blunder, which triggered fury within the party.

The prime minister was campaigning in Yorkshire on Sunday without media appearances, after cutting short his attendance at the 80th anniversary of D-day in France with other world leaders.

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Michael Mosley: TV presenter found dead on Greek island, wife confirms

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Dr Clare Bailey says her husband ‘almost made it’ after his body was found close to a coastal resort in Symi

The wife of the British TV presenter Michael Mosley has confirmed the “devastating” news that her husband has been found dead on the Greek island of Symi.

Dr Clare Bailey said she and the couple’s four children took comfort in the fact that he “had almost made it”, after his body was found close to a coastal resort on Sunday.

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Stop Shein listing on the FTSE, workers’ rights campaigners urge

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Groups issue call to next government amid criticism of online fashion retailer’s labour practices and accusations of copying

Workers rights campaigners have called for the UK’s next government to oppose the online fashion business Shein joining the FTSE, arguing that a London listing would be “yet another betrayal to working people everywhere and the planet”.

Alena Ivanova, campaigns lead at Labour Behind the Label, said it had heard the news of senior British politicians courting Shein’s £50bn listing “with dismay” given what she claimed was a lack of transparency about its supply chain and ethical concerns.

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Silk Road leads from Uzbekistan to London for landmark exhibition

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British Museum will host treasures from Samarkand in a bid to dispel cliches of camels, spices and bazaars

A monumental six-metre-long wall painting created in the 7th century, and 8th-century ivory figures carved for one of the world’s oldest surviving chess sets, are among treasures set to be seen in Britain for the first time.

The items will travel from the ancient city of Samarkand to the UK for an exhibition opening in September, as part of the first-ever loan from museums in Uzbekistan to the British Museum.

Silk Roads will be at the British Museum from September 26 2024 to February 23 2025. Tickets go on sale on Monday.

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‘Crank’ Tory candidates accused of sharing online conspiracy theories

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Labour has expressed concerns about the calibre of would-be Tory MPs after a some shared outlandish views online

The Conservative party has been accused of becoming a home for “cranks” after some of its candidates at the general election were revealed to have shared conspiracy theories on social media.

The posts seen by the Observer include the suggestion that positive tests for Covid-19 were “mass psychosis at work” and that the Black Lives Matter movement might be an attempt to “bring down British society”.

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Four taken to hospital after fairground ride fails in south London

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Eleven-year-old girl among those injured at Lambeth country show in Brockwell Park

Four people including an 11-year-old girl have been taken to hospital after a fairground ride malfunctioned at an event in London on Saturday, police said.

Emergency services were called to the scene at the Lambeth country show in Brockwell Park at about 6.20pm.

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Labour promises new police powers to curb noisy off-road bikes

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Party would boost powers to remove dirt and quad bikes from streets in crackdown on antisocial behaviour

Labour is promising new powers for police to quickly scrap noisy dirt and quad bikes causing havoc in neighbourhoods as part of a crackdown on antisocial behaviour.

Keir Starmer’s party also wants to raise on-the-spot fines for using off-road bikes or ignoring officers’ instructions to stop, which are as low as £100.

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Oxford University to return 500-year-old sculpture of Hindu saint to India

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Indian high commission made claim bronze depicting Tirumankai Alvar which it believes may have been looted

Oxford University has announced it is to hand back a 500-year-old sculpture of a Hindu saint to India.

The almost 60cm-tall bronze statue, which depicts Tirumankai Alvar, had been on display at the university’s Ashmolean Museum.

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Labour pledges 80 new rape courts in bid to tackle backlog crisis

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Plan for specialist unit in all police forces amid manifesto drive to reduce violence against women and girls

Labour will establish 80 new rape courts across and England and Wales to fast-track cases as part of wide-ranging plans to tackle violence against women and girls that will be announced in the party’s general election manifesto this week.

The specialist courts will be set up in unused rooms and spare capacity within every existing crown court, in an effort to end a growing backlog that causes 60% of rape victims to drop out before their cases even begin.

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Rishi Sunak’s chances were always slim. And the numbers just get worse

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Polls show longstanding Tory advantages on issues such as immigration, crime and defence are gone, while Labour opens new leads in traditional areas

Was this the week the wheels came off for Rishi Sunak? After two weeks of campaigning for “a clear plan of bold action for a secure future” the verdict in the polls is clear: voters don’t like his clear plan, they don’t want his bold actions, and they believe their future will be more secure without him. All of this was true even before the prime minister’s calamitous Thursday afternoon decision to leave D-day commemorations early for a pre-recorded media interview.

Make no mistake: the Conservatives are now staring down the barrel. Their campaign is failing on every front, with precious little time left. Voters are making their minds up, and what the prime minister offers is not what they want.

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General election – as it happened: planned opportunity for media to question Sunak ‘cancelled’ as D-day fallout continues

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BBC and PA Media say a scheduled opportunity to question the prime minister was withdrawn on Saturday

The business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, is being pressed to question the Royal Mail bidder Daniel Křetínský on his business links, after the Guardian raised questions about a series of controversial global property deals connected to the Czech billionaire’s longtime business partners.

Badenoch is scheduled to meet the tycoon next week to discuss his £3.57bn bid for the 500-year-old institution, which will be subjected to a review under the National Security and Investment Act.

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‘Bigoted woman’ and fridge-hiding: a history of election gaffes after Sunak’s D-day disaster

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Prime minister is not first party leader to make bad decisions during heat of a general election campaign

When Rishi Sunak missed a key D-day event in favour of an ITV interview, it is unlikely he had considered what a political storm it would prompt.

But the prime minister is far from the first party leader to make ill-advised decisions in the heat of the campaign. In fact, Sunak’s early departure is just one of a long list of political gaffes made during a general election campaign.

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Fans call foul over England’s Euro 2024 sticker album debacle

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A row between rivals Panini and Topps has meant collectors cannot fill an album with players in their kits from all 24 nations in this year’s tournament

Adding stickers of your favourite players into an album is arguably one of the few innocent pleasures that remain for football fans. But children and seasoned collectors have discovered that even this gentle pastime has been affected by modern football’s passion for money.

The Panini sticker album has been a staple of international tournaments since the 1970s. But after Uefa sold the rights for stickers for Euro 2024 to its American rival Topps, Panini launched an alternative “England 2024” album, using rights held by England, Italy, Germany and France that were not part of Uefa’s deal.

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‘I don’t know if I like it’: artist finally shown at Royal Academy after 31 attempts

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Alison Aye’s work will be seen alongside 481 other new exhibitors at the Summer Exhibition

Artist Alison Aye had a surprising reaction to being accepted for this year’s Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy. Founded in 1769, it’s the world’s oldest open submission show – a chance for hobbyist painters to hang next to Turner prize-winners and artists such as Tracey Emin and David Hockney, with everything for sale.

The 58-year-old textile and collage artist, who is based in London, has submitted work to the Royal Academy (RA) over the last 31 years, and always been rejected. But when, this year, she found out she had finally succeeded, she felt conflicted. “It’s the establishment acknowledging me and I don’t know if I like it,” she said. “There’s a part of me that thinks being on the losing side is all right.”

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Michael Mosley’s wife says ‘we will not lose hope’ as new footage emerges

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Video is believed to be one of last two sightings before British TV doctor left village of Pedi on Greek island

The wife of the British TV doctor Michael Mosley, who has gone missing on the Greek island of Symi, has said her family “will not lose hope” as the search for her husband continues.

Mosley, known for his appearances on The One Show and This Morning, disappeared during a walk in the north-east of the island on Wednesday.

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Sunak pledges to keep stamp duty threshold at £425k for first-time buyers

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Pledge comes as parties prepare to launch their manifestos, with Labour to offer support for small businesses

The Conservatives would permanently scrap stamp duty on homes up to £425,000 for first-time buyers, Rishi Sunak is expected to pledge in the party’s election manifesto, in a move that would affect 200,000 households annually.

The threshold was raised from £300,000 to £425,000 in the September 2022 mini-budget as a temporary relief measure that is due to expire next March.

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Lib Dems to promise £1.5bn reform of carer’s allowance including debt amnesty

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Proposals also include a £20-a-week boost to payments and an increased limit on earnings from part-time work

The Liberal Democrats will commit to a £1.5bn overhaul of carer’s allowance, including a £20-a-week boost for more than 1 million people who devote their lives to looking after frail, ill and disabled loved ones, in their general election manifesto.

An ongoing Guardian investigation has revealed that tens of thousands of unpaid carers have been forced by the government to pay back huge sums – and in some cases have faced criminal prosecution – for minor and accidental breaches of carer’s allowance earnings rules.

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David Cameron falls victim to hoax call from ‘former Ukraine president’

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Foreign secretary had brief video call with person claiming to be Petro Poroshenko, says Foreign Office

The UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, has been the victim of a hoax video call with someone claiming to be Petro Poroshenko, the former president of Ukraine, it has been revealed.

A number of text messages were exchanged followed by a brief video call between Lord Cameron and someone purporting to be Poroshenko, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

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