Category Archives: UK news

Tory national service policy would leave UK’s poorest areas worse off, IFS warns

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Thinktank says proposal to pay for scheme by scrapping shared prosperity fund would downgrade efforts to level up country

Rishi Sunak’s election pledge to introduce mandatory national service would leave the UK’s poorest regions millions of pounds worse off, a thinktank has warned.

The prime minister announced last weekend that if he was re-elected, every 18-year-old would have to spend time in a competitive, full-time military commission or spend one weekend a month volunteering in “civil resilience”.

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Home Office made mistakes in rush to set up asylum housing, MPs say

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Committee says department pressed ahead with plans without adequate understanding of what would be required

The Home Office has made “unacceptable and avoidable mistakes” in its haste to use disused barracks and a giant barge to house asylum seekers, parliament’s spending watchdog has concluded.

The public accounts committee said the department “does not have a credible plan” to send asylum seekers to Rwanda and has little to show for hundreds of millions of pounds spent so far on the policy or its accommodation plans.

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London Evening Standard to close daily newspaper and launch new weekly

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Chair Paul Kanareck says newspaper’s losses – £84.5m in the past six years – not sustainable

London’s Evening Standard has announced plans to shut its daily newspaper and replace it with a weekly outlet, bringing an end to almost 200 years of publication in the capital.

The newspaper said it has been hit hard by the introduction of wifi on the London underground, a shortage of commuters owing to the growth of working from home and changing consumer habits.

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Lucy Letby inquiry can be broadcast live, judge rules

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Judge says inquiry, due to begin in September, is ‘of profound importance’ and public should be allowed to watch

The Lucy Letby inquiry will examine matters of “profound importance” and should be broadcast live to the public, a senior judge has ruled.

Lady Justice Thirlwall said “the fundamental principle” was in favour of open justice and televised hearings would help inform public understanding.

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Anglo American rejects call by mining rival BHP to extend takeover talks deadline

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British company says concerns not addressed during approach by Australian firm

Anglo American has survived an almost £39bn takeover plot by the Australian mining rival BHP after last-ditch talks over restructuring the 107-year-old company collapsed.

The five-week pursuit came to an end after Anglo rejected BHP’s 11th-hour appeal to extend the takeover talks for a second time, after three failed takeover proposals from the Melbourne-based miner.

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Dua Lipa denounces ‘Israeli genocide’ in Instagram post

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Singer calls for 88 million followers to ‘show your solidarity with Gaza’ following Israeli attack on Rafah

Pop singer Dua Lipa has condemned the military operations in Gaza, describing them as “Israeli genocide” in an Instagram post to her 88 million followers.

Reposting a graphic from the group Artists4Ceasefire, along with the hashtag #AllEyesOnRafah that has trended in the days following Israel’s bombing of the Palestinian city, she wrote: “Burning children alive can never be justified. The whole world is mobilising to stop the Israeli genocide. Please show your solidarity with Gaza.”

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Labour pledges to clear NHS waiting list backlog in England in five years

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Wes Streeting says another Conservative term could result in waiting list swelling to 10m cases

Labour has promised to clear the NHS waiting list backlog in England within five years, with Wes Streeting warning that the health service risks becoming “a poor service for poor people” while the wealthy shift to using private care.

In an interview with the Guardian, the shadow health secretary said that in another Conservative term the total waiting list in England could grow to 10m cases, with healthcare becoming as degraded as NHS dental services.

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Rishi Sunak promises to create 100,000 high-skilled apprenticeships a year

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Conservatives’ policy would be funded by scrapping ‘rip-off degrees’ with high drop-out rates and low job progression

Rishi Sunak has promised to create 100,000 high-skilled apprenticeships a year by scrapping “rip-off degrees” if he wins the general election.

In the latest of a flurry of announcements as the Conservatives try to narrow Labour’s 20-point poll lead, the party pledged to replace “low-quality” university degrees with apprenticeships.

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Bournemouth beach stabbing: man arrested on suspicion of murder

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Dorset police make arrest after fatal stabbing of Amie Gray, 34, on Friday evening

A 20-year-old man from south London has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman was fatally stabbed on a beach in Bournemouth, police have said.

Two women from Poole in Dorset were stabbed on Durley Chine beach at about 11.45pm last Friday. A 34-year-old woman died at the scene while a 38-year-old woman sustained serious injuries and remains in hospital.

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Sussex university students warned they may not graduate if fees remain unpaid

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Those struggling to pay debts include students from overseas who have seen the value of their currency crash

Hundreds of students at the University of Sussex have been warned they may be unable to graduate or re-register for the next academic year if they fail to pay outstanding debts.

Those affected include students from Nigeria and Iran who have been struggling to pay their fees after the value of their currencies crashed. Other international students, as well as UK students, are also among those in debt.

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Kenya begins public hearings into alleged abuses by UK troops

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British soldiers stationed in Kenya have been accused of rights violations and offences including murder

Kenya has launched public hearings into allegations of human rights violations and abuses of power by British troops based in the former colony.

The British Army Training Unit Kenya (Batuk) is an economic lifeline for many in the central town of Nanyuki, where it maintains a permanent base, but soldiers stationed there have also been accused of committing offences including murder.

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Three Labour names in frame with Diane Abbott’s candidacy in doubt

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Three activists with links to Hackney constituency widely talked about as possible replacements to stand for election

Labour could select one of three “credible” candidates to run in Diane Abbott’s seat as it seemed intent on not allowing Abbott to stand for the party despite an investigation into her conduct being completed six months ago.

Abbott, Britain’s first black female MP, was suspended from the party in April last year over a letter in the Observer that seemed to play down suggestions of racism against Jewish people, meaning she was still an independent when parliament was prorogued for the general election on 4 July.

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Man jailed for attempted murder of pregnant ex-girlfriend in south Wales

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Daniel Mihai Popescu given more than 17 years for stabbing Andreea Pintili as she left home in Aberfan

A man who stabbed his pregnant ex-girlfriend weeks before she was due to give birth to their baby has been jailed for 17 years and four months for attempted murder.

Daniel Mihai Popescu, 29, grabbed Andreea Pintili as she left home in Aberfan, south Wales, and told her: “I have a knife and I am going to kill you.”

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Rwanda’s top UK diplomat oversaw use of Interpol to target regime opponents

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Exclusive: Johnston Busingye formally appointed days after UK agreed Rwanda asylum deal with Paul Kagame in 2022

Rwanda’s top diplomat in the UK oversaw the use of the international justice system to target opponents of the country’s rulers around the world, the Guardian can reveal.

New details of the Rwandan government’s suppression of opposition beyond its borders add to concerns about the regime at the heart of Rishi Sunak’s asylum policy.

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Inflation in UK shops falls amid price cuts on furniture and TVs

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Biggest drop since November 2021 as ‘unseasonable’ weather pushes retailers to continue promotions

Shop price inflation has eased to the lowest level since November 2021 after retailers cut the price of big purchases such as furniture and TVs as households keep a tight rein on spending amid cost of living pressures and poor weather.

Prices rose at an annual rate of 0.6% in May, down from 0.8% in April – the slowest pace since November 2021 – according to the latest monitor from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) trade body and the market research firm NielsenIQ.

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Sunak struggles to control Tory party on chaotic fifth day of election campaign

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Prime minister campaigns in Buckinghamshire as his military service plan is criticised and MP defects to Reform

Rishi Sunak struggled to keep control of his fractured party on a chaotic fifth day of the Tory election campaign, as one MP defected to Reform and a minister criticised the prime minister’s pledge to bring back national service.

Sunak was in Buckinghamshire as he sought to get back on the front foot after a bruising start to the snap election, with Tory insiders increasingly worried about his strategy and performance.

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Rachel Reeves will vow to lead most ‘pro-growth’ Treasury in UK history

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Labour will strike balance between workers’ needs and business interests, shadow chancellor to tell bosses

Rachel Reeves will pledge on Tuesday to lead the most “pro-growth” Treasury in UK history if Labour wins the general election.

Addressing business leaders, the shadow chancellor is poised to claim her party would “return to the centre ground of politics” by striking a balance between workers’ needs and business interests.

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Starmer: I’m a socialist and progressive who will always put country first

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Labour leader says damage done to economy by Liz Truss and other Tories means he can’t fulfil some 2020 pledges

Keir Starmer has insisted that he is a socialist and a progressive, but said the country does not have the money to allow him to fulfil some of the pledges he made during the 2020 Labour leadership race.

Starmer, who has been under increasing pressure to spell out whether he will raise tuition fees if Labour wins the election, made a personal speech in Lancing, West Sussex, on Monday, reflecting on how his working class upbringing has informed his politics.

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RAF grounds Spitfire fleet after death of pilot in Battle of Britain air display

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Announcement raises questions about aircraft’s participation in national D-day event in Portsmouth

The RAF has grounded a fleet of Spitfire planes after the death of a pilot over the weekend, raising the prospect of the legendary aircraft being absent from the 80th anniversary of the D-day landings next month.

Sqn Ldr Mark Long – a Typhoon pilot based at RAF Coningsby – was killed in a crash while flying a Spitfire belonging to the Battle of Britain Memorial Fleet as part of a memorial event.

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Rishi Sunak rejects claim he plans to move to California if he loses election – as it happened

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Prime minister dismisses speculation after Tory peer Zac Goldsmith became latest to hint at planned relocation

Starmer is now running through his six first step promises.

Starmer says he is fed up with hearing Rishi Sunak says the UK has “turned the corner”.

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