Category Archives: UK news

UK housebuilder Crest Nicholson warns on profits, raising takeover speculation

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Surrey-based construction company has been hit by rising costs and impact of high interest rates

One of Britain’s largest housebuilders, Crest Nicholson, has issued its third profit warning in a matter of months because of rising costs, raising speculation that it could become a takeover target unless its fortunes reverse.

The latest warning comes less than a week before the Surrey-based company will issue its full-year results, which are expected to lay bare the challenging year that housebuilders such as Crest Nicholson have faced amid surging interest rates, which have deterred buyers and caused house prices to fall.

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Man charged over alleged plot to disrupt London Stock Exchange

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Five other people also arrested over plot being investigated by Met police after tipoff from Daily Express

A man has been charged with conspiracy to cause public nuisance after an alleged plot to disrupt the London Stock Exchange and cause “huge economic damage” was revealed.

Sean Middleborough, 31, from Liverpool, will appear at Wirral magistrates court on Monday, the Metropolitan police said.

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UK ‘will wait and see’ before deciding on further Houthi strikes

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Grant Shapps says UK has no interest in wider Yemen conflict as Rishi Sunak prepares to address MPs

The UK has no interest in taking part in any wider conflict in Yemen but is “waiting to see what happens” before deciding whether further military strikes against Houthi forces might be needed, the defence secretary has said.

Discussing the US-led strikes on the Yemen-based rebels in the early hours of Friday, which were aimed at stopping Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, Grant Shapps said the aims of the military operation were always limited.

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French woman ‘heartbroken’ after losing job in UK after Brexit speaks out

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‘I’ve been in love with the UK since I was a little girl’ says woman dismissed after missing official deadline

A French woman has spoken about how she lost her job in Shropshire and was left “heartbroken” about life in the UK because of a mix-up over the immigration process for EU citizens launched after Brexit.

Sophie, who is married to a British man, was in the UK for five years before Brexit but went back to France in 2020 for 18 months after a family tragedy.

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UK government’s free childcare scheme in disarray, charities say

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Thousands of concerned parents reportedly struggling to sign up for flagship offering that starts in April

A flagship government childcare scheme is at risk of “falling apart” with parents struggling to access new free hours and nurseries in the dark about if they can afford to provide care, according to charities.

Parents’ groups have accused the government of planning the new free offering “on the back of a fag packet”, with thousands of “furious” parents struggling to sign up for the scheme, which starts in April.

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Up to 70 Tory rebels could abstain or back amendments to Rwanda bill

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Lee Anderson could be one of ‘six Conservatives on the payroll’ ready to support the amendments

Conservative rebels have said as many as 70 MPs could back amendments or abstain from supporting Rishi Sunak’s flagship Rwanda bill, telling the prime minister he will have “nowhere to go” if he does not toughen up the legislation.

A leading figure on the right wing of the party said at least three junior ministers and six Tories on the payroll, including a vice-chair of the party, had already informed the whips they were “sympathetic” to the amendments.

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Taiwan election: global leaders draw Beijing’s ire for congratulating new president

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China urges US, UK and Japan not to interfere in ‘China’s internal affairs’ after they congratulate Lai Ching-te for election win

Global leaders have congratulated Lai Ching-te for winning Taiwan’s presidential election, praising the high turnout and democratic process – and drawing ire from Beijing, which had hoped to see Taiwan’s ruling party ousted.

Lai won an unprecedented third term in power for the pro-sovereignty Democratic Progressive party (DPP) in Saturday’s election, with more than 40% of the vote. Lai is taking over from the DPP’s Tsai Ing-wen, who has been president since 2016, promising to continue her foreign policy efforts in resisting China’s plans to annex Taiwan.

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Bishop of Chelmsford recalls fleeing Iran in 1980 after brother’s murder

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Rt Rev Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani tells Desert Island Discs how she came to UK at 14 after deadly ambush of elder brother

The Bishop of Chelmsford has told of how her brother was murdered in the aftermath of the Iranian revolution, leading her to flee to Britain as a child.

On Sunday, the Rt Rev Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani will tell BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs about the day her brother Bahram, 24, was killed in an ambush on 6 May 1980, when she was 14.

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Sunak ‘dodging scrutiny’ by failing to appoint chair of Climate Change Committee

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No successor has been named for Lord Deben – and now the independent watchdog’s chief executive has resigned

Rishi Sunak has been accused of trying to avoid scrutiny of his green policies after details surfaced about his government’s failure, over more than 18 months, to appoint a new chair of the independent climate change committee.

Senior environmentalists said they believed Sunak may be deliberately trying to avoid appointing a successor to Lord Deben – who first announced that he was stepping down in July 2022 – until after a general election, so he does not face criticism for his U-turns on green issues.

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Move over Abba: new ‘riskier’ wave of British musicals to challenge West End’s established order

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Theatreland is taking a gamble on a wave of quirky little shows to challenge the big but tired box office beasts

A fresh kind of musical theatre show, set apart by having started life on the fringe or in a small-scale provincial production, is challenging the established order in London’s West End this season.

A wave of new, quirky productions will be taking their places alongside Phantom of the Opera-style classics and all those big, popular musicals that rework a familiar film title or milk a superstar legacy.

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Tiny proportion of e-scooter injuries appear in official UK data

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Study warns that lack of reporting may mask the dangers of still-mostly-illegal scooters on roads and pavements

The majority of e-scooter accidents that involve someone needing hospital treatment are not being recorded in official road accident figures, a new study reveals, sparking fears that their dangers have been underplayed.

The analysis found that just 9% of injuries involving e-scooters and recorded by 20 emergency departments over a two-month period were found in official figures. And just over a quarter of the most serious injuries were recorded in road casualty data.

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Thousands of pro-Palestine protesters march in London

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About 1,700 officers on duty in UK capital to police demonstration on day for action involving 30 countries

Thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday to show solidarity with Palestine and to reiterate calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Demonstrators met on Queen Victoria Street before making their way along Fleet Street towards Parliament Square. The protest, part of a global day of action, comes after the RAF and the US military carried out airstrikes against Houthi bases in Yemen.

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Red Sea crisis could shatter hopes of global economic recovery

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World Bank warns of surging energy prices, slower growth and higher inflation as threat rises of disruption to world trade

A prolonged conflict in the Red Sea and escalating tensions across the Middle East risk having devastating effects on the global economy, reigniting inflation and disrupting energy supplies, some of the world’s leading economists warn this weekend.

Before a statement expected on Monday by Rishi Sunak in the House of Commons about UK and US airstrikes on Houthi sites in Yemen, economists at the World Bank say the crisis now threatens to feed through into higher interest rates, lower growth, persistent inflation and greater geopolitical uncertainty.

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UK cold snap to continue with snow and ice descending from north Scotland

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Met Office warns of travel disruption in Scotland as arctic winds and snow showers move inland from northern coasts

The cold snap will continue across most of Britain throughout Sunday and into early next week, with warnings of potential travel disruption in Scotland.

The Met Office has put in place yellow weather warnings of snow and ice for much of the north of Scotland throughout Sunday and Monday.

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Ed Davey’s approval rating takes a big hit from the Post Office scandal

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Letter shows the Lib Dem leader initially refused to meet a campaigner when he was a minister responsible for the service

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has seen his personal popularity take a significant hit in the wake of the Post Office scandal, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.

Davey was one of a series of ministers responsible for the Post Office during the crisis, holding the role between 2010 and 2012. He has received criticism after a letter emerged in which he refused to meet Alan Bates, the former postmaster and campaigner fighting for justice, telling him: “I do not believe a meeting would serve any useful purpose.”

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Plans to reform private prosecutions after Post Office Horizon scandal

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Improved oversight and a law to strip organisations of their power to take people to court are among measures gaining cross-party support

Plans to overhaul the growing “cottage industry” of private prosecutions are already being urgently examined by ministers in the wake of the Post Office scandal, including measures that could see untrustworthy bodies barred from pursuing them.

Labour is also understood to be drawing up its own reform package this weekend after the outcry prompted by the Post Office’s use of private prosecutions against more than 700 post office subpostmasters. It means that there is growing scope for a cross-party commitment to complete any reforms after the election.

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London bus operator withdraws electric fleet after Wimbledon bus fire

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TfL says GoAhead temporarily replacing route 200 fleet while investigating doubledecker fire on Wimbledon Hill Road

A fleet of electric buses has been taken out of service after a doubledecker caught fire in south London this week.

Transport for London (TfL) said the electric buses had been “temporarily withdrawn” by operator GoAhead.

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Tony Blair was warned about ‘flawed’ Horizon system, memo shows

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Documents released by inquiry into Post Office scandal show ex-PM and adviser discussing concerns

Sir Tony Blair was warned the IT system at the centre of the Post Office scandal was “flawed” before it was rolled out, a document shows.

The warning appears in a memo written to the former prime minister by special adviser Geoff Mulgan in 1998, which has been released by the public inquiry into the scandal.

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Hundreds of thousands expected at weekend protests in London after Yemen strikes

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Saturday’s march for Gaza ceasefire as part of global day of action will be followed by static rally for Israel on Sunday

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to gather in London over the weekend in protest against the war in Gaza as the conflict widens to Yemen.

On Saturday, protesters are expected to gather at Bank Junction at midday as part of a global day of action involving 30 countries, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign said.

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