Category Archives: UK news

Prison crowding emergency measures a ‘sticking plaster’, Starmer told

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Ministers activate Operation Early Dawn, so defendants can be held in police cells as more are sentenced over riots

Ministers have been warned that they have placed a “sticking plaster” over a crumbling criminal justice system after emergency measures were activated to ease prison overcrowding, as more people are sentenced for their role in the recent riots.

The longstanding measures, known as Operation Early Dawn, allow defendants to be held in police cells until prison places become available and could mean their court dates are delayed or adjourned at short notice.

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London City airport expansion given green light by ministers

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Climate campaigners criticise decision to allow capacity to increase from 6.5m to 9m passengers a year

Ministers have approved London City airport’s application to expand, in a decision that has disappointed climate campaigners.

The airport submitted a proposal to increase capacity from 6.5 million to 9 million passengers a year by putting on more weekend and early morning flights. Local campaigners and Newham council opposed the move, arguing the air and noise pollution would affect people living nearby and that it could potentially increase carbon emissions.

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Dozens of UK school librarians asked to remove LGBTQ+ books, survey finds

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Index on Censorship said 53% of librarians polled had been asked to remove books – and that in more than half of those cases books were taken off shelves

More than two dozen school librarians in the UK have been asked to remove books – many of which are LGBTQ+ titles – from school library shelves, according to new survey data.

The Index on Censorship survey found that 28 of 53 librarians polled – 53% – said that they had been asked to remove books. In more than half of those cases books were taken off shelves.

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Woman jailed for two years for throwing brick at police during riot in Hartlepool

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Donna Conniff, 40, encouraged boy to throw missile at police and was seen kicking out at an officer

A woman who threw a brick at police officers has been jailed for two years as more people were sentenced for their part in far-right riots in England.

Donna Conniff, 40, encouraged a young boy to throw a missile at police and was seen kicking out at an officer in actions a judge called “truly disgraceful”.

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Israel perpetrating war crimes in plain sight in Gaza, says ex-UK diplomat

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Mark Smith, who quit Dublin embassy role, says he raised his concerns over weapons sales with foreign secretary

Israel is “flagrantly and regularly” committing war crimes in Gaza, according to a former British diplomat who recently resigned over ministers’ failure to ban arms sales to Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Mark Smith, who resigned as a counter-terrorism official at the British embassy in Dublin after raising complaints about the sale of British weapons to Israel, told the BBC on Monday that he believed Israel to be in breach of international law.

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Lawyers seeking arms export ban submit claims of Israeli war crimes to UK court

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Case brought by NGOs is attempt to prevent the UK government continuing to grant arms export licences

Claims of Palestinians being tortured, left untreated in hospital and unable to escape constant bombardment have been submitted to the high court in London by lawyers seeking an order preventing the UK government continuing to grant arms export licences to British companies selling arms to Israel.

The 14 witness statements covering more than 100 pages come from Palestinian and western medical doctors working in Gaza’s hospitals, as well as from ambulance drivers, civil defence department workers and aid workers.

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Police believe strip-searching children can be effective, but suspicions of misuse remain

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A report by the children’s commissioner says nothing is found in half of strip-searches of children and its use has a racial disparity. Can its implementation ever be balanced?

When is it reasonable, necessary and proportionate for agents of the state, such as police officers, to take actions that are likely to leave a child traumatised?

There is little dispute that compelling anyone, let alone a child, to expose their intimate body parts against their will to a stranger causes real emotional pain. But police believe strip-searching can be a useful tool.

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Interest rate cut fuels immediate upturn in UK property market

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Figures from Rightmove show inquiries to estate agents since 1 August up 19% compared with a year ago

The first Bank of England rate cut in four years has triggered an immediate upturn in the UK property market, as cheaper mortgages prompt interest among buyers and drive up house prices.

Figures from the property website Rightmove show the number of potential buyers contacting estate agents about homes for sale since 1 August jumped by 19% compared with the same time a year ago. Contacts in July were up 11% on the previous year.

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Black children in England and Wales four times more likely to be strip-searched, figures show

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Children’s commissioner finds wide disparity with white counterparts in year to June 2023, with 88% of searches aimed at finding drugs

Black children are four times more likely to be strip-searched by police officers across England and Wales than their white counterparts, according to the latest nationwide figures disclosed by a watchdog.

The children’s commissioner also found that children under the age of 15 are a bigger proportion of those subjected to intimate searches, official figures from the year to June 2023 showed. Fewer than half of all searches of children in that year (45%) were conducted in the presence of an appropriate adult.

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Crisis measures to tackle English prison overcrowding imminent, says union

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POA chair says ministers could declare as soon as Monday that Operation Early Dawn is coming into force

The launch of an emergency plan to avoid prison overcrowding in England could be announced as soon as Monday, the Prison Officers’ Association has said.

The longstanding measure, known as Operation Early Dawn, would allow defendants to be held in police cells until prison beds became available and could mean their court dates are delayed or adjourned at short notice.

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Man arrested on suspicion of murder of woman found stabbed in Sussex car park

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Twenty-six-year-old suspect in incident, which happened on Sunday morning in Crawley, remains in custody

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman was found stabbed in a car park on Sunday morning, Sussex police have said.

Officers were called to a report of an altercation between a man and woman at about 7.10am on Station Way in Crawley, West Sussex. The area was searched and a woman was found in a nearby car park “with stab injuries”, the force said.

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Final artwork in Banksy animal series removed by London Zoo

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Staff replaced stencil art of gorilla helping animals to escape with reproduction to preserve ‘significant moment’ for zoo

Stencilled on a shutter at the entrance to London Zoo, the mural showed a powerful gorilla lifting up the metal barrier and creating a dark hole just big enough for other animals to use to make a speedy getaway.

Now, Banksy’s ninth and final artwork in his animal-themed London series has itself escaped, removed in an attempt by the 196-year-old zoo to “properly preserve” a “significant moment” in its history.

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Foreign Office official quits over UK refusal to ban arms exports to Israel

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Mark Smith says evidence of Gaza war crimes is clear, but that his complaints were brushed aside

A Foreign Office official has resigned over the UK’s refusal to ban arms exports to Israel because of alleged breaches of international law.

Mark Smith, a counter-terrorism official based at the British embassy in Dublin, said he had resigned after making numerous internal complaints, including through an official whistleblowing mechanism, but receiving nothing but pro-forma responses.

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UK sperm donations being exported despite 10-family limit

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Exclusive: Legal loophole means there is no restriction on making sperm or eggs available for additional fertility treatments abroad

Sperm donated in the UK is being exported and can be used to create large numbers of children across multiple countries, contradicting a strict 10-family limit that applies in the UK, experts warn.

A legal loophole means that, while a single donor can be used to create no more than 10 families in UK fertility clinics, there are no restrictions on companies making sperm or eggs available for additional fertility treatments abroad.

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‘It’s wanton vandalism’: the unwanted consequences of owning a Banksy

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The artist’s subversive work draws crowds and criminals alike, and owning an original is fraught with logistical problems

The picture of a pair of masked men in south London this month making off with a ladder and a satellite dish, newly decorated by Banksy, made one thing clear: people want Banksy’s art and believe it is extremely valuable. The culprits in Peckham Rye were photographed and filmed in action, so took a big risk, and two arrests were made later that day.

But if an original sprayed ­stencil appears overnight on the side of your home or business, it would pose problems. After all, Banksy’s team issue no manual of instructions on how to protect and maintain the artworks. In fact, the artist is understood to feel that whatever happens to his sub­versive images is all part of the initial ­creative intervention.

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‘Share government data to boost economy’, says UK statistics watchdog chief

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The UK Statistics Authority’s chair says linking data sets from departments could aid growth and improve services

• We need to make data sharing across government the rule

Ministers could find ways to boost the economy and improve public services by combining data from separate government departments, according to the head of the UK’s statistics watchdog.

Sir Robert Chote, the chair of the UK Statistics Authority, said that too often government data was “siloed” because departments and other bodies were worried that people may uncover weaknesses in the data or even reach inconvenient conclusions.

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Rachel Reeves’ pension plan could damage the north, says ex-minister

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Lord Jim O’Neill says small businesses could lose out from merger of local government schemes to create large fund

Government plans to create one of the largest pension schemes in the world from a merger of 87 local authority retirement funds could undermine investment in groundbreaking businesses across the north of England, according to former Treasury adviser Lord Jim O’Neill.

Innovative startup businesses, many of them spun out of universities in Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield, could lose out if the Treasury creates a big fund interested only in backing large companies, he said.

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Public approves response to riots but Starmer’s appeal fades, new poll shows

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Most think Labour handled unrest well and agree with pursuit of those inciting racial hatred online

Voters have given broad approval to the government’s handling of the social unrest that broke out this summer, including its pursuit of those inciting racial hatred and violence online, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.

However, the significant boost Keir Starmer enjoyed in his personal approval ratings immediately after his election win has dissipated, falling back to the levels he recorded during the election campaign.

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Male UK university students are ‘less macho’ when sharing flats with women

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Researchers have found the competitiveness of men living in mixed flats on UK campuses significantly decreased

Living with female flatmates at university makes male students less “macho”, new research from Essex University and Australia’s University of Technology Sydney has found.

The study, which followed a cohort of students at a UK university living in campus halls of residence over a one-year period, revealed that men living in mixed flats with female flatmates exhibited a significant decrease in competitiveness. There was no effect on women.

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Vets extend strike in first industrial action to hit Britain’s pet-care sector

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Staff at a practice in Wales have accused its private-equity-backed owner of poor pay and overcharging customers

Staff working at a chain of commercial vet surgeries have extended their strike, accusing their private-equity-backed owner of underpaying workers and overcharging pet owners as part of the first industrial action to hit the veterinary sector in the UK.

Unionised vets, nurses and support staff at Valley Vets in south Wales, which is owned by one of the largest veterinary corporations in the country, VetPartners, decided last week to stay out until the end of the month, in the latest move in an increasingly bitter dispute.

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