Category Archives: UK news

Caribbean slavery reparations body calls for ‘mutually beneficial’ restorative justice from UK

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On first official visit to UK, leaders say aim is not to ‘break the British Treasury’ but to find solution to help clean up ‘mess’ left by colonialism

The Caribbean’s slavery reparations body has decried misleading press reports that suggest their aim is to “break the British Treasury” by demanding trillions of pounds, as they call for a mutually beneficial restorative justice programme.

Prof Sir Hilary Beckles, chair of the Caricom Reparations Commission (CRC), which was set up to progress the Caribbean’s pursuit of justice for centuries of enslavement and colonisation by European nations, made the comments during the body’s first official visit to the UK.

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US perpetrators must face ‘same consequences’ as Epstein’s UK associates, congressman says

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Thomas Massie urged accountability amid House vote and renewed calls for former prince Andrew to testify

The “same kind of consequences” faced by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein must be inflicted on “perpetrators of heinous crimes” linked to the disgraced financier in the United States, a congressman has said.

Thomas Massie, a Republican representative, also pointed to the sacking of Peter Mandelson, the UK’s ambassador to Washington, as an example of the fallout faced by those with ties to the late pedophile.

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Reform’s plan to cut EU citizens’ benefits would risk trade war with Europe, Labour claims – UK politics live

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As Reform announces what it claims are £25bn in savings through cuts, Labour says ‘Farage’s fantasy numbers don’t add up’

Alf Dubs, the Labour peer and former MP who came to the UK on Kindertransport in 1939 and who campaigns on behalf of migrants, told the Today programme this morning that he was “depressed” by the asylum politicies announced by the government yesterday. He explained:

I find it upsetting that we’ve got to adopt such a hard line – what we need is a bit of compassion in our politics, and I think that some of the measures were going in the wrong direction, they won’t help.

The hard line approach will not, in fact, deter people from coming here – at least on the basis of people I spoke to in Calais, for example – I don’t think it will deter them.

I think there is a proper case for children, there’s a proper case for family reunion – when there are children who are on their own and who’ve got family in this country, then I think the right thing to do is to have family reunion and bringing children over here.

But to use children as a weapon, as the home secretary is doing, I think is a shabby thing – I’m lost for words, frankly, because my concern was that if we remove people who come here, what happens if they’ve had children in the meantime?

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Eight firms under investigation in crackdown on additional online fees

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Competition watchdog examines StubHub, Viagogo, AA Driving School and BSM Driving School and others

Britain’s competition watchdog has begun investigations into eight companies about their online pricing practices, expressing concern over additional fees and sales tactics such as “drip pricing” and “pressure selling”.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was looking into the ticket sellers StubHub and Viagogo; AA Driving School and BSM Driving School; the US gym chain Gold’s Gym; and the retailers Wayfair, Appliances Direct and Marks Electrical.

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Tuesday briefing: What Labour hopes to learn from Denmark’s hardline asylum stance

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In today’s newsletter: Shabana Mahmood is pitching radical new limits on whether asylum seekers can ever gain settled status – but it may come with political consequences

Good morning. In September, Nigel Farage floated a Reform UK policy of ending indefinite leave to remain that critics said would eject hundreds of thousands of people from the country. In October, the Conservatives began talking about deporting large numbers of people previously considered legally settled. Now, the Labour government is preparing to impose radical new limits on whether asylum seekers can ever gain settled status. The Overton window on immigration keeps marching implacably rightwards.

In a document published by the government yesterday afternoon, the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, described the plans as “the most sweeping asylum reforms in modern times”. The prime minister, Keir Starmer, said that having an asylum system at all depends on “social confidence” that it is “fair, effective and humane”. A lot of Labour MPs look set to disagree with the approach, causing yet another political headache for No 10.

Society | More than two in five sexually active under-18s in the UK have either been strangled or strangled someone during sex, research has found, despite the serious dangers of the practice.

Jeffrey Epstein | The Harvard professor and economist Larry Summers said he would step back from public life after documents released by the House oversight committee revealed email exchanges between him and Jeffrey Epstein, who called himself Summers’ “wing man”.

Cop30 | Jamaica has led calls from vulnerable nations at the Cop30 climate summit to urge immediate action on climate breakdown as the conference entered its second week.

Gaza | The UN security council has endorsed proposals put forward by Donald Trump for a lasting peace in Gaza, including the deployment of an international stabilisation force and a possible path to a sovereign Palestinian state.

Poland | Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk has described an explosion along a section of railway line used for deliveries to Ukraine as an “unprecedented act of sabotage” that could have led to disaster.

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Families of IRA victims in England told new Troubles bill could revive path to justice

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Security minister Dan Jarvis says scrapping immunity scheme would give relatives a renewed chance for answers

The families of more than 70 people killed by the IRA and other paramilitaries in unsolved attacks on English soil can once again hope for justice under the new Northern Ireland Troubles bill, the UK government has claimed.

As MPs in the House of Commons prepared to debate the bill for the first time on Tuesday, the Home Office said there remained 77 unsolved killings, including 39 British armed forces personnel in English towns and cities, from the time of the Troubles. It said more than 1,000 people were injured in the attacks.

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Shabana Mahmood tells MPs asylum system is ‘out of control and unfair’ amid Labour backlash over proposals – UK politics live

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Labour MP calls government’s asylum plans ‘dystopian’ as home secretary announces measures in Commons

Momentum, the leftwing Labour group, has also denounced the government’s asylum plans. In a statement it says:

The home secretary’s new immigration plans are divisive and xenophobic.

Scapegoating migrants will not fix our public services or end austerity.

Draconian, unworkable and potentially illegal anti-asylum policies only feed Reform’s support.

The government has learnt nothing from the period since the general election.

Some of the legal changes being proposed are truly frightening:

Abolishing the right to a family life would ultimately affect many more people than asylum-seekers.

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David Nicholls to adapt The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ for BBC

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One Day author leading writing team bringing one of the best-known literary creations of the 1980s to life

A writing team led by the One Day author, David Nicholls, and that includes Caitlin Moran is bringing Sue Townsend’s The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ to the small screen in a 10-part BBC One adaptation of the classic tale of teenage life in British suburbia.

Nicholls, who described the book as “a classic piece of comic writing and an incredible piece of ventriloquism on Sue Townsend’s part”, will adapt the book that produced one of the best-known literary creations of the 1980s.

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Reselling tickets for profit to be outlawed in UK government crackdown

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Touts, and ordinary consumers, will no longer be able to charge anything more than price at which they bought ticket

Reselling tickets for profit is to be outlawed under plans due to be announced this week, the Guardian has learned, as the government goes ahead with a long-awaited crackdown on touts and resale platforms such as Viagogo and StubHub.

Ministers had been considering allowing touts – and ordinary consumers – to sell on a ticket for up to 130% of face value, as part of a consultation process that ended earlier this year.

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GWR train fitted with F1 tech for two-month superfast wifi trial

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Tryout of system, which switches between signals from 5G masts to low Earth-orbit satellites, could lead to wider rollout

Train wifi in the UK, long a source of frustration for passengers, is about to get radically faster – for a lucky few at least.

A two-month trial has begun on one Great Western Railway (GWR) train, fitted with technology from Formula One that switches between the signals from 5G masts to low Earth-orbit satellites to provide almost seamless, superfast wifi.

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Shabana Mahmood plans to remove more families from UK in asylum shake-up

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Home secretary will also consult on ending financial support for those with children if refused asylum, document shows

The government has failed to show the “necessary toughness” to enforce the removal of families whose asylum claims have been refused, Shabana Mahmood has claimed.

In a policy document published on Monday as the government sets out plans for the biggest shake-up of asylum laws in 40 years, the home secretary also set out plans to consult on measures to allow the removal of financial support for families with children under the age of 18 if they have been refused asylum.

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‘His role is to recruit’: the Sheffield-based propagandist for Sudan’s RSF militia

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Abdalmonim Alrabea has appeared in hundreds of videos in which he expresses support for paramilitary group accused of committing genocide

A British citizen based in Sheffield appeared in a TikTok live broadcast laughing along while a notorious fighter from Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces group boasted about participating in mass killings in the city of El Fasher.

The video, broadcast on 27 October, is just one of hundreds posted to social media in which 44-year-old Abdalmonim Alrabea expresses support for the RSF and the ethnically targeted atrocities it has committed in Sudan’s western Darfur region.

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Rape victims in Scotland will be protected when giving evidence, says lord advocate

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Supreme court ruled ‘rape shield’ laws to limit intrusive cross-examination may breach men’s right to fair trial

Scotland’s most senior law officer has moved to reassure victims of sexual abuse that they will be protected after a supreme court ruling warned that Scottish laws designed to limit intrusive cross-examination could be breaching men’s right to a fair trial.

In a strongly worded statement, the lord advocate, Dorothy Bain KC, said: “I would like to make clear that I understand sexual abuse inflicted upon women and children to be the single greatest challenge our justice system faces.

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Asking prices fall as UK housing market hit by budget speculation, Rightmove says

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November drop of 1.8% is biggest for this time of year since 2012, with chancellor’s plans looming

Budget speculation has depressed the UK property market, figures from a leading property website have suggested, with asking prices slipping in the run-up to Rachel Reeves’s much anticipated fiscal set piece on 26 November.

The average new seller asking price fell by 1.8%, or £6,589, month on month in November, the figures collated by the property website Rightmove set out, taking the average price tag on a British home put up for sale to £364,833.

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Two-thirds of nurses in UK work while unwell, says union

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Understaffing driving workers to ill health and discouraging them for taking leave, says Royal College of Nursing CEO

Nurses across the UK are working while unwell in understaffed hospitals, with stress as the leading cause of illness, according to research.

A survey by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) of more than 20,000 nursing staff found that 66% had worked when they should have been on sick leave, up from 49% in 2017.

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Shabana Mahmood warns Labour MPs ‘dark forces are stirring up anger’ over migration

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There is understood to be growing unease in party over home secretary’s sweeping overhaul of refugee rights

Shabana Mahmood has warned Labour MPs that “dark forces are stirring up anger” over migration, amid growing alarm among senior party figures over the most sweeping overhaul of refugee rights in a generation.

On Monday, Mahmood will announce controversial new laws to overhaul refugee status, which must be reassessed every two years, as well as curbing asylum appeals and toughening the approach to rights to family life.

Restricting asylum seekers to one single appeal rather than different appeals on multiple grounds.

Creating a new body for fast-tracking cases for dangerous criminals and those with little hope of success.

Legislating to restrict last-minute modern slavery claims

Joining other countries in seeking reform of ECHR article 3 rights, to more narrowly define the risk of torture and degrading treatment.

Changing the Home Office’s duty to provide support to asylum seekers to a discretionary power, enabling them to potentially be removed from accommodation.

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Roman Abramovich makes claim of ‘conspiracy’ against Jersey government

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Move threatens to throw open parts of secretive legal battle on Channel island about ex-Chelsea owner’s wealth

The former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is making a claim of “conspiracy” against the government of Jersey after the crown dependency launched a criminal investigation into allegations of corruption and money laundering in connection with the original source of the oligarch’s wealth.

The latest move threatens to throw open parts of a secretive legal battle on the Channel island about the tycoon’s rise to become one of the world’s richest people, which emerged in September after a Switzerland federal criminal court ordered the release of a cache of Swiss banking records requested by the Jersey attorney general.

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Angela Rayner condemns Labour infighting but does not rule out running for leader

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Home secretary Shabana Mahmood calls past week of leadership speculation ‘deeply mortifying’

Angela Rayner has condemned the “arrogant tittle-tattle” and Labour infighting dominating the past week in her first major interview since her resignation.

The former deputy prime minister, often considered as a potential successor to Keir Starmer, declined to rule out running for the job or returning to frontline politics, saying she had “not gone away”.

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Dermatologists criticise ‘dystopian’ skincare products aimed at children

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Marketing or celebrity-led treatments for toddlers and upwards described as ‘ridiculous’ and lacking in skin benefit

Dermatologists have criticised an actor’s new skincare brand, calling it “dystopian” for creating face masks for four-year-olds, warning that the beauty industry is now expanding its reach from teenagers to toddlers.

It comes as a growing number of brands are moving into the children’s, teenage and young adult skincare market. In October, the first skincare brand developed for under-14s, Ever-eden, launched in the US. Superdrug has just created a range for those aged between 13 and 28.

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Spanish Armada-era astrolabe returns to Scilly after mysterious global journey

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Navigation aid from 16th century was on seabed for centuries before being bought and sold in US and Australia

It spent hundreds of years languishing on the seabed off the Isles of Scilly in the far south-west of Britain before being hauled back to the surface by divers and setting off a circumnavigation of the world.

Finally the Pednathise Head astrolabe – a rare example of a 16th-century navigational instrument once used by sailors to determine latitude – is back on Scilly after being rediscovered on the other side of the Atlantic.

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