Gloom, resignation, but also a show of fighting spirit as PM’s troops weigh up the odds on re-election
In the frenzied hours shortly after Rishi Sunak made his surprise election announcement on Wednesday, despairing Tory MPs could be spotted wandering around Westminster contemplating their fate.
One government minister was seen thrusting his official red folder towards his opposition number, whom he had happened to bump into. “You might as well have this now,” he said.
Continue reading...Speaking at the UK River Summit, Philip Duffy said officials do not want to reveal the true ‘embarrassing’ environmental picture
The head of the Environment Agency has admitted that freedom of information requests have been buried by the regulator because the truth about the environment in England is “embarrassing”.
Philip Duffy, the body’s chief executive, told an audience at the UK River Summit in Morden, south London, this week that his officials were “worried about revealing the true state of what is going on” with regards to the state of the environment.
Continue reading...Watchdog says outstanding caseload has increased from 60,000 to 67,573 since MoJ set target of 53,000 in 2021
The Ministry of Justice’s ambition to reduce the backlog in crown courts in England and Wales to 53,000 by March next year is no longer achievable, a parliamentary watchdog has said.
The MoJ set the target in October 2021 when the outstanding caseload was 60,000, but by the end of last year it had reached 67,573 – its highest level ever – according to a National Audit Office (NAO) report.
Continue reading...Kerry Davis was flung to ceiling when flight SQ321 hit turbulence before falling motionless to floor of plane
An Australian woman suffered a spinal injury and has no sensation from her waist down after her flight to Singapore hit extreme turbulence earlier this week, as others onboard are treated for skull and brain injuries.
The Boeing 777-300ER hit what an airline official described as “sudden extreme turbulence” over Myanmar, sending passengers and crew flying and slamming some into the ceiling. The flight, SQ321 from London to Singapore on Tuesday, made an emergency diversion to Bangkok.
Continue reading...UK founder, accused of inflating sales and misleading regulators, takes stand and says he wasn’t fully responsible for firm’s decisions
The British entrepreneur Mike Lynch took the stand on Thursday in a San Francisco federal courthouse as a key witness in his own criminal fraud trial, defending his role at Autonomy, the tech firm he co-founded and then sold.
The trial continued as planned Thursday despite the defense team moving for a mistrial over alleged improper questioning of a witness by the prosecution. Lynch’s defense team called the questioning, which indirectly referenced the tech titan’s extradition, “egregious” and ‘’highly improper” in a filing.
Continue reading...While some bills will be dealt with swiftly in the ‘wash-up’ period in parliament others could fall by the wayside
Rishi Sunak’s promise to deliver a secure and stable future for the country has been left hanging in the balance as a number of laws that would have kept people physically safe from terror attacks, dangerous cycling incidents or even from no-fault evictions, will probably not be introduced to parliament before the election. The legislation for his much-vaunted smoking ban is also in peril.
Sunak’s government had 16 bills subject to the “wash-up” on Thursday, a period in the parliamentary process when legislation is swiftly pushed through before an election. The laws not likely to be passed are:
Continue reading...Simon Case, who was responsible for Covid policy at time, calls Boris Johnson’s Downing Street the ‘worst governing ever seen’
The UK’s most senior civil servant has set out the chaos at the heart of Boris Johnson’s Downing Street, saying good officials were “just being smashed to pieces” while he was not warned in advance about the “eat out to help out” scheme.
In a day of often damning testimony to the inquiry into the pandemic, Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, said Johnson’s No 10 had been involved in the “worst governing ever seen” in the UK.
Continue reading...After some tetchy interviews the PM flew to all four nations, while Starmer and Davey focused on voters’ desire for change
Far from the bedraggled figure who announced an election outside No 10, Rishi Sunak positively bounced into a biscuit factory for his first stump speech of the election campaign.
He had given a tetchy performance on the broadcast round on Thursday morning, bristling at those challenging his economic record and failure to carry out his Rwanda plan.
Continue reading...Bills, including smoking ban for people born after 2009, unlikely to become law before 4 July vote
Rishi Sunak is now speaking at an event in Ilkeston in Derbyshire. It is in the Erewash constituency, where the Tory MP Maggie Throup had a majority of 10,606 at the last election.
He repeats the claim that a Labour government would cost every family £2,000.
Labour’s spending promises cost £16 billion per year in 2028-29, or £58.9 billion over the next four years.
But their revenue raisers would only collect £6.2 billion per year in 2028-29, or £20.4 billion over the next four years.
I don’t really think the arrangements in Scotland for the school holidays have really been anywhere near the calculations made by the prime minister …
I think it would be respectful if that was the case but it’s pretty typical of the lack of respect shown to Scotland that we’re an afterthought from the Westminster establishment and particularly the Conservative establishment.
Continue reading...Howard Michael Phillips, 64, arrested by counter-terrorism police, held ‘sensitive information in regards to an MP’, says prosecutor
A British man has been charged with assisting Russia’s intelligence service after being arrested by UK counter-terrorism police.
Howard Michael Phillips, of Harlow, in Essex, was charged on Thursday with an offence contrary to section 3 of the National Security Act (NSA), the Metropolitan police said.
Continue reading...Relatives speak of ‘huge void’ in their lives after blaze on 17 May, as murder suspect appears at Portsmouth court
Relatives of a 96-year-old woman allegedly murdered by a 26-year-old man have paid tribute to a “dear mum”.
The body of Emma Finch was found by firefighters after a blaze at her home on a quiet road in the village of Liss in Hampshire.
Continue reading...UK defence secretary, Grant Shapps, made claim as Russia begins fresh offensive in north-east of Ukraine with strikes on Kharkiv
Joe Biden’s administration has challenged a claim by the British defence secretary, Grant Shapps, that China is sending “lethal aid” to Russia for use in its war in Ukraine.
Speaking on Wednesday, Shapps cited “new intelligence” that suggested Beijing was giving Moscow deadly “combat equipment” for the first time. On Thursday, the Ministry of Defence in London said it would not give further details.
Continue reading...Loach said it was ‘simply unacceptable’ that the cinema is hosting the Seret film festival
Ken Loach and Mike Leigh have resigned as patrons of the Phoenix cinema in London in protest over the venue hosting an Israeli state-sponsored film festival.
The cinema – one of the UK’s oldest – is holding a private screening of Supernova: The Music Festival Massacre, as part of the international Seret film festival on Thursday night.
Continue reading...Lawyers for founder of software firm Autonomy, charged over $11bn Hewlett-Packard deal, suggest they may move for mistrial
The British entrepreneur Mike Lynch is expected to take the stand in a San Francisco federal courthouse on Thursday as a key witness in his own criminal fraud trial, which began in March.
US authorities have charged the former software tycoon with 16 counts of wire fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy relating to his company’s acquisition deal with Hewlett-Packard in 2011. If convicted, Lynch faces up to 25 years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty.
Continue reading...Charity says tech problems and poor customer service mean millions in Great Britain missing out on promised benefits
The number of gas and electricity smart meters that are not working properly is likely to be higher than government figures suggest – possibly 20% to 30% of the total – according to research from Citizens Advice.
The charity said millions of households were missing out on the promised benefits from smart meters due to “problems with technology” and poor supplier customer service.
Continue reading...Prime minister announces early summer election with date putting parties on campaign trail for six weeks
In an interview with Sky News this morning, Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, was asked if the UK would follow Ireland, Spain and Norway in formally recognising a Palestinian state. No, he replied. He told Sky:
We have a long-standing position on this that we will be prepared to recognise the state of Palestine at the time that it most helps the peace process, and we will continue to keep that under review.
We will continue to keep that under review. But our position is that this is not the right time to do it at the moment.
Dubbed “Sue’s shit list” by one senior Labour official, it has been drawn up by the former civil servant to identify the most immediate problems Labour would face in office if it wins the election expected this year.
Senior Labour officials said that any one of the areas on Gray’s “government risk register” could puncture a honeymoon period for a new administration led by Sir Keir Starmer.
Continue reading...Rishi Sunak has announced a general election for Thursday 4 July. The Guardian’s John Harris is joined by political editor Pippa Crerar and political correspondent Kiran Stacey to ask why now. And, what happens next …
Continue reading...One patient airlifted to hospital and 12 taken by ambulance after collision near Culverstone Green
Children are among those in hospital after being injured in a crash between a tractor and bus in Kent.
The collision occurred on the A227 South Street near Culverstone Green in Meopham shortly before 3.30pm on Wednesday, Kent police said.
Continue reading...PM announces date with Tories trailing Labour by 20 points in polls, saying it is ‘the moment for Britain to choose its future’
Rishi Sunak has called a surprise general election for 4 July in a high stakes gamble that will see Keir Starmer try to win power for Labour after 14 years of Conservative-led government.
Addressing the nation outside Downing Street, Sunak said it was “the moment for Britain to choose its future” as he claimed the Tories could be trusted to lead the country during a time of global instability.
Continue reading...Legislation expected to be brought by end of 2025, with service for residents in place by mid-2027
Jersey is to move ahead with allowing assisted dying for people with a terminal illness after a vote in its parliament on Wednesday.
Legislation is expected to be brought before the island’s states assembly by the end of 2025, and an assisted dying service for residents to be in place by mid-2027.
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