Category Archives: UK news

Rishi Sunak warns of further Yemen airstrikes if Houthi attacks continue

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PM rejects calls from MPs for Commons vote over military action as pressure grows to clarify long-term strategy on Red Sea crisis

Rishi Sunak has warned there could be further bombing of Yemen if Houthi attacks on shipping continue, as he came under mounting pressure from MPs to clarify Britain’s long-term strategy for tackling the deepening crisis.

The prime minister told parliament that a second round of RAF airstrikes, conducted on Monday night with the US, were taken in self-defence and rejected calls for MPs to be allowed a vote on whether to endorse the military action.

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Escaping poverty has become much harder in past two decades, report says

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Six million of the poorest people would need more than double their incomes to move out of hardship, says Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Escaping poverty has become significantly harder over the past two decades, with progress to eradicate hardship in Britain having stalled under the Conservatives since 2010, a major report has warned.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) said levels of hardship had deepened for millions of people across the country since the mid-1990s, having been compounded by years of “political failure” to tackle poverty.

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Non-surgical gastric balloon available on NHS for first time

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Treatment takes 15 minutes and involves swallowing a capsule with no need for surgery, endoscopy or anaesthesia

A non-surgical gastric balloon which helps weight loss by restricting the size of the stomach has been made available on the NHS for the first time.

The treatment, which was approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) in 2020, takes 15 minutes and involves a capsule being swallowed by the patient which is attached to a thin tube.

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Labour pushes bill to tackle persistent school absenteeism

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Opposition day motion seeks to create a council-maintained register of children in England not on the school roll

Labour is planning to use an opposition day debate motion to bring forward legislation for a new register of children who are not in school as part of plans to tackle persistent absenteeism.

New Labour analysis found that “one in three children currently sitting their GCSEs have missed nearly three months of secondary school since the pandemic” and said this was likely to affect academic attainment.

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Alok Sharma condemns government’s oil and gas bill as vote passes first hurdle

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Former Cop26 president abstains from vote saying bill breaks UK’s promise to phase out fossil fuels

Alok Sharma has said the government’s oil and gas bill going through the Commons will not cut household energy costs or create jobs and instead will break the UK’s promise to phase out fossil fuels.

The government’s offshore petroleum licensing bill passed its second reading on Monday night with 293 votes to 211 against. No Conservative MPs voted against it, and Sharma – the former business secretary who served as president of the Cop26 climate talks – abstained. The legislation would place the North Sea Transition Authority under a duty to run annual applications for new offshore oil and gas licences.

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US and UK strike Yemen in latest attempt to stop Houthis targeting ships

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US officials confirmed attacks amid footage of explosions around the capital city of Sana’a

The US and the UK have conducted a further round of strikes against the Houthis in an attempt to stop the rebel group targeting shipping in the southern Red Sea.

A joint statement from both countries said that they had conducted “an additional round of proportionate and necessary strikes” against eight Houthi targets, with the support of Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands.

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James Dyson’s £6m donation to primary school approved despite concerns

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Worries about impact on neighbouring schools of money for Malmesbury primary in Wiltshire, near Dyson’s campus

A £6m donation from Sir James Dyson to help fund the expansion of his local state primary school has been approved by the government, despite concerns about the potential impact on neighbouring schools.

The education secretary, Gillian Keegan, announced on Monday that she had given the green light for the inventor’s donation to Malmesbury Church of England primary school in Wiltshire, which is close to Dyson’s research and development campus.

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Families of four Israeli hostages urge Rishi Sunak to push for their release

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UK PM urged to apply pressure on Qatar to help free Liri Albag, Eliya Cohen and Ziv and Gali Berman

The families of four Israeli hostages have urged Rishi Sunak to apply pressure on Qatar to help free their loved ones.

The father of 18-year-old Liri Albag, the older brother of 26-year-old twins Ziv and Gali Berman, and the girlfriend of Eliya Cohen, also 26, pleaded with the prime minister to do everything in his power to secure their release after 108 days in captivity.

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Sunak’s Rwanda treaty to face first test in House of Lords – UK politics live

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Lords to debate whether it should delay ratification of UK-Rwanda treaty

My colleague Mark Sweney has more dismal news on the economy this morning:

More than 47,000 UK companies are on the brink of collapse after a 25% jump in businesses facing “critical” financial distress in the final three months of 2023, according to a new report.

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Storm Isha live: travel chaos across UK with rail cancellations in Scotland after ‘wild night’

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Disruption expected on Monday as cancellations and delays issued for rail, sea and air with heavy rain and high winds forecast

Train services in Scotland are expected to be suspended until around noon after “a wild night”, Network Rail says.

The railway has recovered quickly this morning following Storm Isha with trees and debris cleared across routes in England and Wales, and route proving trains reporting lines clear.

Passenger and freight services have restarted and a good service is expected in most areas. Passengers should still check before they head out for the latest travel news on trains operators’ websites.

Between 3.30pm on Sunday, 21st January and 2am on Monday, 22nd January, officers dealt with over 1,300 calls from the public, approximately 600 of these related to the storm.

“There is also a continued risk of significant debris on the road network as wind speeds remain high throughout Monday.

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Convicted murderer fears prison ‘hit’ as victim’s family campaign for release

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Jason Moore says he learned of £10k reward to have him stabbed shortly after court of appeal application

A man in prison for a murder of which the victim’s family believes he is innocent says he fears for his life after learning intelligence of a hit ordered on him.

Jason Moore’s conviction for stabbing to death Robert Darby in an east London pub car park in 2005 relied heavily on witness testimony that is now in doubt. The victim’s brother, Tim Darby, is among those campaigning for Moore’s release.

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UK needs ambitious green plan to keep up with allies, says Labour frontbencher

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Jonathan Reynolds calls for version of US Inflation Reduction Act amid row over future of Labour policy

Britain needs its own ambitious green investment plan to keep up with its allies, a Labour frontbencher has said, amid an increasingly bitter row over whether Keir Starmer should stick to his £28bn pledge.

Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow business secretary, said the UK should come up with a version of Joe Biden’s $369bn (£290bn) Inflation Reduction Act, which has provided support to a range of technologies including electric cars and renewable power.

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UK medics told not to report illegal abortions to police

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Royal college voices concern at rise in number of prosecutions of ‘deeply traumatised’ women

Medical staff in the UK should not report women to the police if they believe their patients may have illegally ended their own pregnancy, a professional body is to say.

New guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) will say it is never in the public interest to report women who have abortions to law enforcement agencies, according to the BBC.

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More than 47,000 UK businesses on ‘brink of collapse’, warn insolvency experts

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25% jump in firms facing ‘critical’ financial distress, with property and construction sectors featuring heavily, says Begbies Traynor

More than 47,000 UK companies are on the brink of collapse after a 25% jump in the number of businesses facing “critical” financial distress in the final three months of 2023, according to a report.

It marks the second consecutive quarter-on-quarter period when critical financial distress has risen by a 25%, the latest “Red Flag” report by insolvency specialists Begbies Traynor found.

Construction (7,849)

Support services (7,096)

Real estate & property services (6,228)

Professional services (4,347)

General retailers (3,133)

Telecoms & IT (2,830)

Health & education (2,719)

Media (1,828)

Financial services (1,373)

Food & drug retailers (1,343)

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UK sends UN experts photographs of North Korean shipments to Russia

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Exclusive: Report shows Russian ships loading at North Korean port, amid accusation that Pyongyang supplies missiles and shells

The UK has provided satellite photographs of North Korean cargo shipments to Russia to a panel of UN experts as part of an attempt to trigger an official investigation into arms deals in violation of international sanctions.

North Korea has been accused of supplying ballistic missiles and hundreds of thousands of artillery shells to the Russian government for its war in Ukraine since Vladimir Putin met with Kim Jong-un in Russia’s far east in September.

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New Brexit checks ‘pose existential threat’ to UK fruit and flower growers

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Exclusive: NFU warns blanket import checks from April could fuel long delays and damage future crops

The UK’s fruit and flower growers face an “existential threat” from new post-Brexit border checks that could damage business and affect next year’s crops, the country’s biggest farming body has said.

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) warned that changes to import rules in April, which will impose checks at the border for nearly all young plants coming into the country, could cause long delays and result in plants being damaged or destroyed.

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Fatal stabbing of boy, 17, in Birmingham was case of mistaken identity, police believe

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Detectives still investigating motive after Muhammad Hassam Ali died of his injuries in city centre

A teenage boy was stabbed to death in Birmingham city centre in a case of mistaken identity, police believe.

Muhammad Hassam Ali, 17, died from his injuries after he was stabbed in Victoria Square on Saturday. His family have issued a photo of him, but asked for privacy while they grieve.

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Starmer to defend RNLI and National Trust from ‘desperate’ Tory culture war

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Labour leader’s speech will be his most outspoken response to ‘woke’ politics criticisms by Conservatives

Keir Starmer will defend organisations such as the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the National Trust on Monday, accusing the Conservatives of attacking them to stoke a “desperate” culture war.

The Labour leader will mount a forceful defence of the institutions during a speech to a civil society summit on Monday in his most outspoken response to Conservative criticisms of “woke” politics.

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Border Force hires private vessels for Channel patrols after new fleet delayed

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Contracts, which will cost £36m a year, tendered following news that existing boats will be replaced four years later than planned

The Home Office has had to procure private boats at the cost of £36m a year to help Border Force patrol the Channel for small boats, owing to a delay in plans to replace the current fleet.

Replacing the fleet of five cutters and six coastal patrol vessels, some of which are 20 years old, will now not begin until March 2026, four years later than planned.

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Two adults found dead with children in Norfolk died of stab wounds to neck

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Man, 45, and woman, 36, found dead in house in Costessey were related to two girls to be given later postmortem examinations

Two adults found dead with two children at a house in Norfolk died as a result of stab wounds to the neck, a postmortem examination has found.

The bodies of a 36-year-old woman, a 45-year-old man and two young girls, reportedly aged 12 and seven and believed to be daughters of the male, were found in a house on Allan Bedford Crescent, Costessey, on Friday. All four were related, police said. The man has been named locally as Bartłomiej Kuczyński, a structural engineer, and the 12-year-old daughter as Jasmin Kuczyński.

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