Category Archives: UK news

Bill banning people born after 2008 from buying tobacco clears UK parliament

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Ministers hope tobacco and vapes bill, which will become law next week, will create a ‘smoke-free generation’

A bill banning anyone born after 2008 from buying tobacco in the UK has completed its progress through parliament in a move that ministers hope will create a “smoke-free generation”.

Under the tobacco and vapes bill anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 will never be able to be legally sold tobacco across the UK, in an effort to save lives and reduce the burden on the NHS.

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Prolific unregulated sperm donor loses UK legal fight to be named as child’s father

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Robert Albon cannot be declared four-year-old’s father because he ran illegal sperm donation business, court rules

A prolific unregulated sperm donor described in the high court as a “highly dangerous man” has lost a legal fight to be named as the father of a child conceived using his sperm.

Robert Albon, who calls himself Joe Donor, was not entitled to be declared the father of a four-year-old child because he was running an illegal sperm donation business, Britain’s most senior family court judge ruled.

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Albanians in UK scapegoated by rightwing media and politicians, says ambassador

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In a letter to the Guardian, Uran Ferizi criticises ‘obsession’ with demonising Albanians

Albanians in Britain are paying the price in schools and workplaces of being scapegoated by rightwing media and politicians, the Albanian ambassador has said.

Uran Ferizi also criticised Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, for comments in parliament where she singled out Albanians when discussing problems with immigration.

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Cabinet Office suggested Mandelson did not need security vetting, says Robbins as he describes ‘pressure’ from No 10 – UK politics live

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Olly Robbins was forced out as Foreign Office permanent secretary over the Peter Mandelson security vetting revelations in the Guardian

The hearing has started.

Emily Thornberry, the chair, started by saying that Robbins did not tell the whole truth about this process when he gave evidence to it in November.

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Teenager charged with arson after attack on synagogue in London

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Boy, 17, charged after footage showed bottle of liquid set alight and thrown through window of Kenton united synagogue in Harrow

A 17-year-old boy has been charged with arson after an attack on a synagogue in north-west London.

The teenager, a British national from Brent, north-west London, who has not been named because of his age, is due to appear at Westminster magistrates court on Tuesday.

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Police investigate whether London arson attacks were planned for weeks

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Criminals paid on behalf of Iran are believed to be behind attacks against Jewish targets, say detectives

Detectives are investigating whether the series of arson attacks in London were planned for weeks with suspects carrying out reconnaissance on the Jewish targets to be firebombed.

The series of attacks against synagogues and other Jewish targets, as well as one premises linked to Iranian dissidents, are believed to be carried out by criminals paid on behalf of Iran, police said.

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Mobile phones to be banned in schools in England under new plans

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Government amendment to children’s wellbeing and schools bill to replace existing guidance with statutory ban

A ban on mobile phones in schools in England is to be introduced by the government to ensure that “critical safeguarding legislation” is passed.

The government will table an amendment to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill in the House of Lords after the bill was held up by peers on opposition benches.

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Baby was sexually abused before being killed by man adopting him, court told

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Boy died aged 13 months after ‘routine abuse’ by Jamie Varley and his partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, jury hears

A baby boy was “routinely ill-treated, sexually abused and physically assaulted” before he was killed by a secondary school teacher adopting him, a jury has heard.

Jamie Varley, the teacher, 37, and his partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, were in the process of adopting Preston Davey.

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Woman charged with attempted murder after car hit pedestrians in London

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Gabrielle Carrington, 29, faces charges after incident on Argyll Street in the early hours of Sunday morning

A woman has been charged with attempted murder after a car hit pedestrians in central London in the early hours of Sunday.

A woman in her 30s remains in a life-threatening condition and a man in his 50s suffered life-changing injuries after they were hit by a car in Argyll Street, Westminster, at approximately 4.30am on Sunday, the Metropolitan police said. A second woman in her 30s suffered minor injuries, the force added.

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How safe is Starmer’s premiership after his Mandelson vetting statement to MPs?

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Despite his explanation and the need for political stability, the PM is still unpopular – and Olly Robbins has yet to give his side of the story

Labour MPs frustrated with the lack of a clear mission from Keir Starmer’s No 10 have often urged the prime minister to be more forceful in his arguments, to prosecute his values, to find an enemy to define himself against.

The prime minister has found one: Olly Robbins. Starmer prosecuted his case against the former Foreign Office chief on Monday with the vigour of his former life at the bar.

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ABF poised to reveal result of Primark and food business demerger plan

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Retail analysts say breaking up food and fashion group would make sense in challenging business environment

Primark may break free from Kingsmill, Twinings and the sugar business this week when Associated British Foods announces plans on a mooted demerger.

The potential split comes at a tricky time for the group controlled by the billionaire Weston family, with its fashion and food arms facing tough competition and rising costs.

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Starmer will not be swayed by Trump’s ‘small and petty’ insults, says Lammy

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Exclusive: deputy PM says UK will not join Iran conflict despite Trump’s sometimes ‘incomprehensible’ social-media barbs

Donald Trump’s insults towards Keir Starmer are “small and petty” and designed to put pressure on the prime minister to change his position on Iran, David Lammy has said, as he insisted the UK would not get dragged into the conflict.

The deputy prime minister argued the US president should be able to “disagree agreeably” with allies rather than publishing attacks on social media, and that US actions had “made things worse, not better” as far as global instability was concerned.

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Judgment day as Starmer faces Commons showdown over Mandelson scandal

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Prime minister to deliver high-stakes statement to MPs over vetting controversy that has put his position in peril

Keir Starmer will deliver a high-stakes statement to MPs on Monday as he struggles to overcome fears inside his government that the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal could yet cost him his leadership.

In what is set to be a dramatic showdown, the prime minister will set out how Mandelson was able to take up his role as UK ambassador without the Foreign Office revealing it had overruled the decision to fail his vetting.

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Starmer is facing his judgment day over Mandelson missteps

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Ahead of a showdown with MPs, prime minister looks like a man who is not really in control in his own government

Keir Starmer has spent much of the last 24 hours working on a plan for what senior government figures are already describing as his “judgment day”: his showdown with MPs on Monday over the latest Peter Mandelson revelations.

That the prime minister was apparently not told of Mandelson’s vetting failure has provoked incredulity across Westminster and accusations he sacked a senior civil servant to save his premiership.

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Starmer would have blocked Mandelson appointment if he had known about failed vetting, ministers say – as it happened

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The prime minister’s leadership is still in the spotlight after Peter Mandelson was appointed US ambassador after he failed security vetting

Our Scotland correspondent Libby Brooks has written this piece on how Scottish voters are being attracted to Reform UK, and how it reflects attitudes to immigration.

It’s Monday evening in Aberdeen, and George Preston is wearing his union flag suit to the Reform UK rally. He joined the party in 2024 as it gained ground in the north-east of Scotland with its first councillor defections from the Scottish Conservatives.

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Vodafone incentivised security staff to fine its own franchisees

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Shopkeepers charged millions of pounds, including alleged £10,000 penalty for mistake that cost firm £7.08

Vodafone incentivised its security staff to increase “clawbacks” levied on its own franchisees, as part of a programme that led to the telecoms group fining its own shopkeepers millions of pounds for seemingly small administrative errors.

The policy – which included one alleged case of a £10,000 penalty for a franchisee whose mistake cost Vodafone £7.08 – involved setting “key performance indicators” (KPIs) for the telecoms group’s internal employees to collect total annual fines of £1.5m from the small business people running the FTSE 100 company’s high street stores.

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Police investigate attempted arson attack at north-west London synagogue

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Minor smoke damage but no injuries reported at synagogue in Harrow, after spate of similar incidents in recent weeks

An attempted arson attack has been reported at a north-west London synagogue, after a spate of similar incidents.

The incident at Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow on Saturday night caused minor smoke damage to an internal room but no injuries or significant structural damage, according to the Community Security Trust, which monitors antisemitism and provides protection for Jewish communities in the UK.

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Reform UK’s Richard Tice allegedly failed to pay £100,000 in corporation tax

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Deputy leader ran shell companies that reportedly did not pay tax on profits from 2020 to 2022, during which time his firm donated £1.1m to party

Richard Tice allegedly failed to pay almost £100,000 in corporation tax to the benefit of his investment company, which in turn made donations to Reform UK, it has been reported.

In response to the report in the Sunday Times, the deputy leader of Reform UK posted a lengthy statement on X, in which he said: “A long career with multiple businesses is bound to feature some errors. Naturally I am always happy to put things right and if numbers need rechecking, of course I will pay what is owed – be that more or less.”

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Carmakers scramble to plug £3bn shortfall for UK loan scandal payouts

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Filings suggest manufacturers’ lending arms have massively underestimated bill from FCA’s £9.1bn redress scheme

Carmakers are under pressure to drum up £3bn to cover payouts for motor finance scandal victims after failing to adequately prepare for a UK-wide compensation scheme that is due to begin this summer.

Company filings show the lending arms of big vehicle manufacturers including Ford, BMW, Stellantis and Volkswagen may have massively underestimated the final costs of the financial regulator’s £9.1bn redress scheme.

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Queen Elizabeth II’s official biographer named as historian Anna Keay

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The author, who will interview members of royal family for book, says being chosen for role is a ‘profound honour’

Anna Keay, a historian whose most celebrated book is about Britain’s republican period, has been confirmed as Queen Elizabeth II’s official biographer.

Keay will interview members of the royal family and the late queen’s friends and servants. She will also have access to the monarch’s personal and official papers held in the royal archives.

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