Category Archives: UK news

Let Rishi Sunak ‘get on with the job’, says Grant Shapps

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Defence secretary says MPs must give the PM space as Tory figures appear to be vying for leadership

Conservative MPs looking for a new party leader need to allow Rishi Sunak to “get on with the job”, Grant Shapps has said.

Amid speculation that Sunak could announce an election next week in order to stave off potential challengers for the top job, the defence secretary said now was not “the time or place” to try to put another Conservative leader in place. The party is on its fifth leader since 2015.

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Four Vietnamese nationals arrested in London over people smuggling

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Joint UK-French investigation alleges group advertised small-boat crossings of Channel on social media

Four Vietnamese nationals have been arrested in London after an investigation into alleged people smugglers advertising small-boat crossings of the Channel on Facebook.

The joint UK-French investigation alleges the group shared posts aimed at the Vietnamese community and charged migrants thousands of pounds to make the crossing.

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Remote working and whiffy workout wear fuel laundry revolution

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Home workers aim to tackle smelly athleisure clothing, save money and be kinder to the environment

For years, laundry detergents have focused their cleaning power on stain removal and getting whites white but now a new invisible enemy has emerged in the shape of the musty smell that clings to your gym gear.

The shift to remote working has fuelled the popularity of “athleisure” clothing such as T-shirts, joggers and leggings which, rather than shirts and dresses, are now the default work wardrobe of many Britons.

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Work and pensions committee chair tells ministers to fix carer’s allowance issues

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Stephen Timms says DWP letting unpaid carers incur ‘enormous accidental overpayments’

Ministers have been told to “immediately” fix the issues causing tens of thousands of unpaid carers to incur “enormous accidental overpayments” amid growing anger over the carer’s allowance scandal.

Stephen Timms, the chair of an influential parliamentary committee, said he was “very troubled” that scores of carers were being forced into financial distress as a result of the government’s mistakes.

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Littler India: why Britain’s south Asian garment stores are struggling

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They have been resilient amid wider high street decline – but units are now emptying in areas such as Southall, west London

The south Asian high street is facing a fight for its future in Britain as customers scale back wedding celebrations because of the cost of living crisis and young people’s changing preferences.

Businesses in London and Manchester have said they have witnessed a huge decline in customers after the pandemic with the cost of living crisis prompting many to decide against the traditional big south Asian wedding and to seek out cheaper products online.

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Pro-Palestine murals in London face council review and removal

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Tower Hamlets criticised by its own mayor for taking down murals, while Redbridge reviews artwork after complaints

Council authorities have moved to take down pro-Palestine murals in east London, while another is being reviewed after complaints were made by pro-Israel lawyers.

The latter, which depicts four journalists standing against a backdrop of ruins and under the words “Heroes of Palestine”, went up last month in Redbridge, east London, as local authorities came under pressure over similar murals.

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Reading terror attack deaths were avoidable, inquest finds

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Judge coroner highlights failings that contributed to three victims being killed by Khairi Saadallah in 2020

The deaths of three people during a terror attack in Reading were avoidable, an inquest has determined.

A judge coroner sitting at the Old Bailey on Friday said failings in intelligence sharing and in providing psychiatric care contributed to the failure to prevent the attack that took the lives of James Furlong, Dr David Wails and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett in June 2020.

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Women should give up vaping if they want to get pregnant, study suggests

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Research finds hormone that indicates fertility at lower levels in vapers and tobacco smokers

Women should give up vaping if they are hoping to get pregnant, according to a study that suggests it may affect fertility.

In the first research to demonstrate a link between fertility prospects and electronic cigarettes across a large population, analysis of blood samples from 8,340 women revealed that people who vape or smoke tobacco had lower levels of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), which indicates how many eggs women have left in their ovaries.

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Teaching assistants routinely cover lessons in England and Wales, survey finds

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Exclusive: Research shows extent to which schools are struggling to provide qualified teachers for every class

Hundreds of thousands of pupils in England and Wales are being educated “on the cheap” by low-paid teaching assistants (TAs) covering lessons for teachers who are off sick or have quit, according to new research.

A desperate teacher recruitment crisis, compounded by inadequate funding, means schools across the country are struggling to put a qualified teacher at the front of every class, unions say.

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CAA cancels counter-protest against London pro-Palestinian march

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Campaign Against Antisemitism, led by Gideon Falter, cites safety fears and promises more protests to come

Campaign Against Antisemitism has cancelled its planned counter-protest against a pro-Palestinian march through central London on Saturday.

The group, led by Gideon Falter, had said it wanted to use the “walk together” initiative to support its view that the area around the planned pro-Palestinian march was not safe for Jewish people.

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Taylor Swift equals Madonna’s record of 12 UK No 1 albums

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Swift now has joint highest number of chart-toppers for a female artist, as The Tortured Poets Department earns biggest opening week in seven years

Taylor Swift has tied with Madonna to become the female artist with the most UK No 1 albums, earning her twelfth chart-topper with the global phenomenon that is The Tortured Poets Department.

Swift also dominates this week’s singles chart, with three songs in the Top Five including a No 1 for Fortnight, featuring Post Malone. It’s her fourth No 1 single, and her third chart double.

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Anglo American rejects £31bn takeover offer from mining rival BHP

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All-share proposal had potential to be one of biggest deals in sector for decade but deemed ‘opportunistic’

The board of Anglo American, the London-listed mining company, has rejected a “highly unattractive” £31bn takeover approach from its Australian rival BHP.

BHP’s all-share proposed offer for Anglo American had the potential to be one of the biggest deals in the global mining sector for a decade but has attracted criticism from Anglo’s shareholders as being too low and “highly opportunistic”.

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Barclays accused of greenwashing over financing for Italian oil company

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Exclusive: Environmental groups say bank is misleading public over ‘sustainable’ financing for Eni as company vastly expands fossil fuel production

Barclays is being accused by environmental groups of greenwashing after helping to arrange €4bn (£3.4bn) in financing for the Italian oil company Eni in a way that allows them to qualify towards its $1tn sustainable financing goal.

Environmental groups have said the London-based bank is deliberately misleading the public by labelling the financial instruments as “sustainable” at the same time that Eni is in the midst of a multibillion-pound fossil fuel expansion drive designed to increase production.

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UK Rwanda policy is ‘kneejerk reaction’ to migration, says Ireland’s deputy PM

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Micheál Martin says UK asylum seekers fearful of being removed to Rwanda are seeking sanctuary in Ireland

The UK government’s Rwanda policy has been described as a “kneejerk reaction” to migration by Ireland’s deputy prime minister, who said an influx of asylum seekers could arrive in Ireland as a result.

Micheál Martin, Ireland’s Tánaiste, reportedly said asylum seekers fearful of being removed from the UK to Rwanda were seeking sanctuary in Ireland.

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Foreign states targeting sensitive research at UK universities, MI5 warns

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Ministers considering more funding to protect important research sites, with China seen as a particular concern

MI5 has warned universities that hostile foreign states are targeting sensitive research, as ministers consider measures to bolster protections.

Vice-chancellors from 24 leading institutions, including Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College London, were briefed on the threat by the domestic security service’s director general, Ken McCallum, and National Cybersecurity Centre (NCSC) chief, Felicity Oswald.

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Two men arrested after torso found in Greater Manchester nature reserve

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Suspects, aged 42 and 68, held on suspicion of murder after discovery of plastic-wrapped lower back, buttocks and thigh

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a torso was found wrapped in plastic at a nature reserve in Greater Manchester.

Part of a dismembered body, consisting of the bottom of the back, buttocks and thigh, were found in clear plastic by a passerby at Kersal Dale Wetlands in Salford on 4 April.

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Sunak under pressure to grant amnesty to unpaid carers fined for rule breaches

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Concern grows over legality of government’s approach as new figures show more than 150,000 carers facing huge penalties

New figures show more than 150,000 unpaid carers are now facing huge fines for minor rule breaches, as MPs, charities and campaigners demanded an immediate amnesty.

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, joined calls to write off the vast debts incurred by tens of thousands of people who care for sick, disabled and elderly relatives after experts raised concerns about the legality of the government’s approach.

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Humza Yousaf in peril as Greens say they will back no confidence motion

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Former coalition partners’ decision brings Scottish first minister to brink of losing vote, which could make his position untenable

Humza Yousaf could be forced to quit as Scotland’s first minister after the Scottish Greens announced they would back a motion of no confidence against him at Holyrood.

The Scottish National party’s former coalition partners declared they would vote next week against the man who had “betrayed” them, hours after he unilaterally ended their power-sharing deal.

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Girl, 13, charged with attempted murder after south Wales school stabbings

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Teenager charged with trying to kill two teachers and fellow pupil after incident at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman

A 13-year-old girl has been charged with attempting to murder two teachers and a fellow pupil in a school playground stabbing in Wales.

The two adults and child all received knife wounds in the incident at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire. Dyfed-Powys police said they were also investigating threats allegedly made by a 15-year-old boy that alluded to the incident.

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Nurses in England took an average of one week off sick for stress last year, data shows

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Chronic workforce shortages have put nursing staff under unbearable pressure, says union chief

Nurses in England took an average of a week off sick last year because of stress, anxiety or depression, NHS figures reveal.

The disclosure has prompted concern that the intense strains nurses face in their jobs, including low pay and understaffing, are damaging their mental health and causing many to quit.

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