Category Archives: UK news

British Muslims believe more should be done to improve interfaith relations

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Majority think Britain is a good place for opportunities and freedom to practise their faith, poll finds

Most British Muslims believe more should be done to improve relations between the UK’s different religious communities, according to a research forum on faith.

The Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life (IIFL) looked at the attitudes and social contributions of British Muslims living in the UK. The survey found 71% of British Muslim respondents believed more work should be done to improve relations between different faith groups, and just 22% believed the right amount was being done.

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UK ministers consider ban on MPs engaging with pro-Palestine and climate protesters

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Plans call for ‘zero-tolerance approach’ to groups such as Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Just Stop Oil

Ministers are considering proposals to ban MPs and councillors from engaging with groups such as the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil.

The plans, put forward by the government’s adviser on political violence, John Woodcock, say mainstream political leaders should tell their representatives to employ a “zero-tolerance approach” to groups that use disruptive tactics or fail to stop “hate” on marches.

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UK general election opinion polls tracker: Labour leading as election looms

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Find out who’s up and who’s down in the latest polls – and how many seats each party is likely to win in the next general election

The next UK general election is looming, with most analysts expecting it to be called late this year.

After 13 years of Conservative rule, Keir Starmer’s Labour has been consistently ahead in the polls since the start of 2022.

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Call for Covid memorial wall in London to become permanent monument

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People bereaved by Covid want government recognition and protection for South Bank place of remembrance

Volunteers at the Covid memorial wall are urging ministers to make the monument permanent as Britain marks its first national day of reflection after the pandemic.

The wall runs between Westminster Bridge and Lambeth Bridge on South Bank in London and is looked after by a group of volunteers, who rely on public donations to maintain it.

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Guinea pig abandoned at London tube station with note asking for new owner

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RSPCA take in young rodent after Canning Town staff discover cage in alleyway

A guinea pig has been found abandoned outside an east London tube station, with a note reading: “I need a new owner.”

Staff at Canning Town station discovered the animal, which has been named DiscoPig, alone inside a cage with the piece of paper taped to it.

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Two charged for pouring porridge and jam on Queen Victoria bust in Glasgow

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Women from This Is Rigged campaign group also spray-painted a profanity on the plinth at Kelvingrove Museum

Two members of a campaign group have been charged after they poured porridge and jam on a bust of Queen Victoria and spray-painted the word “cunt” on the plinth at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.

Sorcha Ni Mhairtin, 30, and Hannah Taylor, 23 from This Is Rigged carried out the actions around midday on Sunday before reportedly gluing themselves to the plinth.

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Met police to return lost sim card of bullied schoolgirl who killed herself

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Force was previously unable to locate sim belonging to Mia Janin, 14, after investigation into her death in 2021

Scotland Yard will return the lost sim card and phone of a bullied schoolgirl who killed herself, after the items were found months after her family requested their return.

Mia Janin, a 14-year-old pupil at Jewish free school (JFS) in Kenton, north-west London, died on 12 March 2021. Police admitted losing evidence it had gathered following her death last year – including the teenager’s main phone, second phone and sim card – but have since recovered them.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Seven-year-old girl dies after makeshift boat heading to UK capsizes in France

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Boat carrying 10 other children between seven and 13 years old, along with girl’s pregnant mother, father and three siblings, sank

A seven-year-old girl has died in a canal close to Dunkirk after a makeshift boat carrying 16 people from northern France to the UK capsized, the prefecture in France’s Nord department said.

The boat, which was carrying 10 other children between seven and 13 years old along with the girl’s pregnant mother, her father and three of her siblings, sank with all onboard entering the water.

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Horizon scandal victim uses Brits appearance to urge faster compensation

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Jo Hamilton presented a music award alongside Monica Dolan, who portrayed her in Mr Bates vs The Post Office

A former sub-post office operator has used an appearance at the Brit Awards to urge the speeding-up of compensation for those unfairly prosecuted as part of the Post Office IT scandal.

Jo Hamilton made her appeal alongside the actor Monica Dolan, who portrayed her in ITV’s hit dramatisation of the episode, Mr Bates vs The Post Office. The pair were presenting the first category of the evening at the O2 Arena in London.

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Has anybody seen the Wombles? The hunt is on for TV’s favourite puppets and props

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Bagpuss, the Clangers and Paddington are among the icons of childhood that fans are determined to save

Are you sitting comfortably? Bagpuss is, but Mother Clanger is not. Dougal may be – nobody is quite sure. And the Wombles – well, they haven’t been seen for years.

Not all of these icons of childhood have been given the care they deserve and now some of the leading lights of children’s TV and animation have called for them to be given their own home.

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Brit awards 2024 – full list of winners

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The winners of every category at the 2024 Brits, updated as the ceremony progresses

• Brit awards 2024: women dominate as Raye scores record-smashing six wins
• Brit awards 2024: as it happened

Blur – The Ballad of Darren
J Hus – Beautiful and Brutal Yard
Little Simz – No Thank You
Raye – My 21st Century Blues – WINNER!
Young Fathers – Heavy Heavy

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Labour rattled by Galloway win as Sadiq Khan slams PM over racist ‘poison’

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London mayor says Sunak must be tougher on his party, while Gaza ceasefire fracas piles pressure on many sitting Labour MPs

Sadiq Khan has condemned Rishi Sunak for failing to call out “racist, anti-Muslim and Islamophobic” remarks by a senior Tory MP, following the prime minister’s Downing Street address in which he criticised political extremists.

In a blunt response to Sunak’s unusual intervention, the London mayor said the prime minister had still not fully addressed the nature of the remarks made by former Tory vice-chair Lee Anderson, who said Islamists had “got control” of Khan and London. Khan, one of the most powerful Muslims in public life, warned that the past few weeks had seen “a concerted and growing attempt by some to degrade and humiliate minorities for political and electoral gain”.

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Felled Sycamore Gap tree to go on public display in Northumberland

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The tree will be exhibited at the Sill in Hexham, close to where it once stood

The largest section of the Sycamore Gap tree unlawfully cut down last December is to go on public display, Northumberland national park has announced.

The tree, which stood in a dip next to Hadrian’s Wall, will be exhibited at the Sill, a tourist attraction in Hexham, not far from where it once stood.

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‘Profiteering off children’: care firms in England accused of squeezing cash from councils

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A local authority leader claims private equity groups are exploiting vulnerable youngsters in care homes in the pursuit of profit

Care companies are insisting on unnecessary and expensive support packages for vulnerable children to boost their profits, a council leader has claimed.

Barry Lewis, the Tory leader of Derbyshire county council, said that former family-run businesses acquired by private equity groups were trying to get “as much cash as possible” out of local authorities.

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Gaza airdrops might not be necessary if Israel faced more pressure on aid

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Delivering by parachute is risky and inefficient – and other options could open up if the west were to expend more diplomatic capital

Half an hour before Rishi Sunak launched his assault on British extremism, the foreign secretary, David Cameron issued his own strong statement.

Cameron said the killings of more than 100 Palestinians in Gaza as crowds gathered around aid trucks on Thursday were horrific and required an investigation and accountability. He said the halving of the number of aid trucks entering Gaza in the past month was “completely unacceptable” and that Israel had an “obligation” to ensure significantly more humanitarian aid reached the territory.

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BBC move to axe Doctors is ‘disastrous’, says screenwriter

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Soap has given opportunities to actors, writers and production staff, says Philip Ralph on last day of filming

A screenwriter has described the decision to axe the daytime drama Doctors as “disastrous” and said soaps are collapsing as he marked the last day of filming the show.

The BBC announced in October the show would end in December this year due to “super inflation in drama production”.

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‘I wish I had never come to the UK’: Palestinian academic despairs of getting visas for family stuck in Gaza

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A lecturer doing his PhD on a British Council scholarship in York is frightened for his wife and two small children who are under Israeli bombardment

When Bassem Abudagga heard in 2022 that he had won a British Council scholarship to do his PhD in Britain, he was elated. “I was so proud,” he recalls. “It is what every academic in Palestine hopes for: to gain a qualification from the UK.

“It felt like a turning point for my career, my future, my family. It would shift my prospects to a completely different place.”

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Police aggression towards Gaza march observers ‘on the rise’ in UK as woman says officers knocked her over

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Legal adviser to pro-Palestinian protesters was taken to hospital by passersby after the incident on Westminster Bridge in London

A 71-year-old legal observer has accused a group of police officers of deliberately knocking her over and leaving her bloodied and unconscious on the ground during a Gaza ceasefire protest in London.

Lesley Wertheimer – who was wearing a hi-vis bib with “legal observer” printed on the back – crashed face down into the road when a phalanx of about 30 police officers ran towards Westminster Bridge during the first pro-Palestine demonstration of 2024.

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UK weather: Met Office issues yellow warning for snow in west of England

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Alert says there could be ‘tricky driving conditions in a few places’ after unexpectedly cold overnight temperatures

An unexpected cold snap has prompted the Met Office to issue a yellow weather warning after snow fell across parts of the west of England.

The warning covered an area from south of Bristol to north of Worcester, and extends to Hereford to the west and Swindon to the east.

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Pro-Palestine marches to continue after Sunak ‘extremists’ speech

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Organiser suggests PM consider own MPs’ behaviour after speech about rise in ‘extremist disruption’

Pro-Palestine protests are to continue across the UK on Saturday after Rishi Sunak’s warning that democracy was being targeted by “extremists”.

In an address to the nation on Friday, the prime minister spoke about “forces here at home trying to tear us apart”, in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks by Hamas against Israel.

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