Category Archives: UK news

UK infant formula at ‘historically high’ prices, says watchdog

Posted on by

Competition and Markets Authority launches full-scale investigation after finding costs have risen

The cost of infant milk remains at “historically high” levels despite some price falls in recent months, Britain’s competition watchdog has said, as it launched a full-scale investigation into baby and toddler formula.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found in November that the average price of infant formula had risen by 25% in the past two years and families could save more than £500 over the first year of a baby’s life by switching to cheaper powders. The findings were part of an analysis of pricing in 10 food categories, which also included milk and ready meals.

Continue reading...

Tories may face Blackpool byelection as Scott Benton loses suspension appeal

Posted on by

MP for Blackpool South, who offered to lobby for gambling industry, loses appeal against 35-day Commons suspension

Rishi Sunak may face another difficult byelection after an MP lost his appeal against a 35-day suspension from parliament for lobbying ministers on behalf of the gambling industry.

Scott Benton, the MP for Blackpool South, formerly a Conservative, had asked for a reconsideration of the standards committee verdict that he had committed an “extremely serious breach of the rules”.

Continue reading...

Julian Assange: key dates in the WikiLeaks founder’s case

Posted on by

How Assange went from being questioned in Sweden to living for years in Ecuador’s embassy in London

Julian Assange is to make his final bid for an appeal against a UK judge’s ruling over his extradition to the US.

The WikiLeaks founder is wanted in the US over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information after the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Continue reading...

Minister says government working on sanction options for those involved in Alexei Navalny’s death – UK politics live

Posted on by

Leo Docherty, Foreign Office minister, says government ‘working at pace’ to hold those responsible for Russian opposition leader’s death to account

No 10 has declined to repeat Kemi Badenoch’s claim that the former chair of the Post Office gave an interview “full of lies” about the conversation she had when she sacked him.

At the morning lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson would not adopt the language used by Badenoch in a post on X yesterday and instead claimed that Badenoch believes that the account of what she said given by Henry Staunton is a “misrepresentation”.

Obviously this referred to a conversation that she had with Henry Staunton, and you’ll have seen her words on this; she’s very clear that the interview that he gave was a misrepresentation of her conversation with him and the reasons for his dismissal.

And the government has being clear, and will refute the allegations [that it wanted to slow down compensation to victims]. The government has taken action to speed up the compensation to victims, and we’ve consistently encouraged postmasters to come forward with their claims. Any suggestions otherwise [are] not correct.

Continue reading...

Kemi Badenoch accuses Post Office chair she sacked of seeking revenge

Posted on by

Business minister criticises Henry Staunton after he claimed the government wanted to stall payouts to scandal victims

Kemi Badenoch has accused the Post Office chair she sacked of a “blatant attempt to seek revenge” after he made explosive allegations about the government’s handling of the Horizon scandal.

The business secretary launched an extended attack on Henry Staunton in the Commons on Monday, and claimed that he was under investigation for bullying when she fired him.

Continue reading...

Severn Trent fined more than £2m for ‘reckless’ pollution of River Trent

Posted on by

Huge amounts of raw sewage were discharged into the river between November 2019 and February 2020

Severn Trent has been fined more than £2m for polluting the River Trent near Stoke, with the Environment Agency calling its storm contingency plans “woefully inadequate”.

Huge amounts of raw sewage were discharged into the river from Strongford wastewater treatment works near Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, between November 2019 and February 2020.

Continue reading...

UK minister rules out swap for Briton Vladimir Kara-Murza jailed in Russia

Posted on by

Foreign Office says it will not trade Putin opponent for spies in jail in Britain, despite fears for his life after Navalny’s death

A Foreign Office minister has ruled out a prisoner swap for the imprisoned Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, a British citizen, who MPs have expressed concern about after the death of Alexei Navalny.

Kara-Murza’s wife was now adamant that she wanted everything to be done to get her her husband out of Russia, said the Conservative backbencher Bob Seely, who urged the government to countenance swapping imprisoned spies for the pro-democracy activist who was now the most high-profile Russian political prisoner.

Continue reading...

Closure of UK family scheme for Ukrainians described as ‘cruel’ move

Posted on by

Government defends decision that opposition politicians say could put vulnerable people at risk

A scheme allowing Ukrainians to join family members taking sanctuary in the UK has been unexpectedly closed, in what opposition politicians described as a cruel and “below the radar” move days before the two-year anniversary of Russia’s full invasion.

The Ukraine family scheme is being shut but government officials said a separate Homes for Ukraine scheme would continue to fulfil people’s needs as a way of “simplifying” the process.

Continue reading...

Woman arrested after three children found dead in Bristol

Posted on by

42-year-old woman held on suspicion of their murder sustained non-life-threatening injuries

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after three children were found dead at a property in Bristol, police have said.

Avon and Somerset police said the discovery on Sunday was made after officers attended a concern for welfare call in Blaise Walk, Sea Mills, at about 12.40am. The three young children died at the scene, the force said. The suspect, 42, is in police custody at a hospital.

Continue reading...

Baby among three children found dead in Bristol home, police say

Posted on by

Avon and Somerset police confirm ages of children found at property in early hours of Sunday

Three children found dead at a suburban semi-detached house in Bristol were siblings aged nine months to seven years, police have confirmed.

Avon and Somerset police said a 42-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of their murder sustained injuries but that they were not life-threatening. She remained in hospital and in police custody on Monday evening.

Continue reading...

UK special forces blocked resettlement applications from elite Afghan troops

Posted on by

MoD conducts review but stands accused of conflict of interest while public inquiry investigates conduct of SAS in Afghanistan

Elite Afghan commandos who fought alongside the British military have had their applications to relocate blocked by UK special forces despite evidence that they had served alongside them in dangerous missions against the Taliban.

Documents leaked and shared with BBC Panorama show that Britain’s secretive special forces were given a veto power over resettlement, prompting claims that hundreds of Afghan veterans have been left in limbo or danger in their native country.

Continue reading...

Westminster Abbey agrees ‘in principle’ to return sacred tablet to Ethiopia

Posted on by

Carved wooden tabot has been at Abbey since British forces looted it at Battle of Maqdala in 1868

Westminster Abbey has agreed “in principle” to returning a sacred tablet to the Ethiopian Orthodox church, igniting a debate around restitution claims made by the East African nation.

The tabot – a blackened flat piece of wood featuring a carved inscription that symbolically represents the Ark of the Covenant and the Ten Commandments – has been at the Abbey since British forces returned with it from the Battle of Maqdala, where it was looted in 1868.

Continue reading...

Councils call for funding help as more Ukrainian refugees become homeless

Posted on by

Continuation of war has left more refugees unsettled, with councils stepping in to to relieve most cases of homelessness

Councils have called for urgent review of funding for Ukrainian refugees amid alarm that 9,000 have reported as homeless and many more are needing longer-term support – with no sign of the war ending after two years.

The government announced on Sunday that it would extend by another 18 months the three-year visas of Ukrainians who escaped the war.

Continue reading...

English test scandal: students wrongly accused of cheating launch legal action

Posted on by

Overseas students seek compensation from Home Office for unlawful detention and loss of earnings after it cancelled visas

A group of overseas students who were wrongly accused of cheating in the English language tests they were required to take to renew their study visas have launched legal proceedings against the Home Office, seeking compensation for unlawful detention and loss of earnings.

The government has made payments in at least two cases, but lawyers have expressed frustration at the department’s refusal to agree a standard settlement scheme for wrongly accused students, which they believe would speed up the process of securing justice.

Continue reading...

‘I felt like a criminal’: the ruinous effect of the Home Office’s cheating claims

Posted on by

Sajjad Sohag seeks compensation for false accusation that led to imprisonment and loss of earnings

The morning after Sajjad Sohag returned from his honeymoon, he and his wife were woken by the sound of immigration enforcement officers breaking down the front door of the building in London where they were renting a studio flat.

It was about 6.30am, and he was still half-asleep when officers used a battering ram to force open the door of his first-floor flat. They checked a piece of paper with his photograph on it and said “target identified” when they confirmed it was him. An officer told him he was being detained because he had cheated in an English exam.

Continue reading...

‘It’s not about glorifying crime’: ex-convicts in demand for talks and tours

Posted on by

You can dine with a former mobster for £999, as the ‘true crime’ TV and podcast trend translates into live events

Nearly 30 years after the “hitman” murder for which he was jailed for life, Kevin Lane will take to the stage of the Cambridge Country Club this month to share his thoughts on crime and punishment.

For anyone who saw him recently in the Channel 4 programme Banged Up, explaining to a gobsmacked Tory MP, Johnny Mercer, an unconventional method for smuggling contraband into jail, it will also be a chance to question him about the 24 years he has served behind bars.

Continue reading...

Citizens Advice says Sizewell C costs should not be paid with energy bill hikes

Posted on by

Independent advice provider calls for clarity on funding and says project may offer ‘poor value for money’

Ministers have been urged by Citizens Advice to protect consumers from a hike in household energy bills to pay for the proposed Sizewell C power station, amid international tensions over the rising costs of nuclear projects.

The UK’s largest independent advice provider has raised concerns that the project in Suffolk may offer “poor value for money” and called for greater clarity on its funding, in a letter to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Continue reading...

Amount of fraud in UK more than doubled to £2.3bn in 2023, report finds

Posted on by

Accounting firm BDO also warns of future impact of fraudsters using artificial intelligence to rip off customers

The amount of fraud committed in the UK more than doubled to £2.3bn in 2023, marking the second-biggest year for scams in the last two decades, according to a report that also warns of the future impact of fraudsters using artificial intelligence to rip off consumers.

The accounting firm BDO’s latest FraudTrack report found that the number of reported cases rose by 18% to a three-year high, and the number of high-value cases over £50m increased by 60% year-on-year in 2023. Half of the high-value frauds were over £200m.

Continue reading...

Maritime authorities investigate reported attack on UK-registered cargo ship near Yemen

Posted on by

UK Maritime Trade Operations says military authorities exploring apparent explosion near vessel

The UK is investigating reports that a cargo ship has come under attack off the coast of Yemen, after an apparent explosion close to the vessel on Sunday.

Following the reports of damage to the vessel, the UK Maritime Trade Operations said: “Military authorities are investigating. UKMTO has received a report of an incident 35 NM [nautical miles] south of Al Mukha, Yemen.

Continue reading...