Category Archives: UK news

UK special forces blocked resettlement applications from elite Afghan troops

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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.

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

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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.

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Councils call for funding help as more Ukrainian refugees become homeless

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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Former Post Office chair says he was told to stall Horizon compensation payouts

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Henry Staunton claims request was made so government could ‘limp into’ the next general election

A former Post Office chair said he was told by a senior civil servant to stall compensation payouts to post office operators so the government could “limp into” the general election.

Henry Staunton, who was sacked by the business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, last month amid anger over the Horizon scandal, said the request came soon after he took up the role in December 2022.

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‘Take the Windrush, then change on to the Suffragette’: onboard the renamed London Overground lines causing controversy

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Mayor Sadiq Khan thinks his new line names for the capital’s ever-expanding rail network bring clarity, but not everyone agrees

The ancient Egyptians saw names as magical. It was said that Isis tricked Ra, the sun god, into telling her his true name, to give her power over him and put her son Horus on the throne.

Londoners have a different take. The Northern line was nearly named TootanCamden in the 1920s, the historian Robert Graves wrote – a pun on the Tutankhamun craze of the time and the line’s route through Tooting and Camden.

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British Gas launches fixed-rate energy deal offering 12% saving on price cap

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Price Promise tariff gives discount on current cap and guarantees to be at least £1 per fuel under April one

British Gas has launched a fixed-rate gas and electricity deal that offers a 12% saving over most existing price-capped tariffs, adding a new choice to the hard-to-navigate home energy market.

For the past two winters, consumers have largely been spared having to seek out the cheapest deal, because, in almost all cases, it was their supplier’s price cap-protected standard tariff.

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HMRC investigations of wealthy ‘tax dodgers’ halve in five years

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The drop in civil inquiries by fraud unit sparks criticism that the authority’s use of its powers of enforcement are waning

The number of civil investigation cases opened by a HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) fraud unit investigating offshore, corporate and wealthy taxpayers has fallen by more than half in five years, figures reveal.

The Observer reported last month that HMRC has not charged a single company under landmark legislation to crack down on tax evasion. Campaigners warned that HMRC was undermining its own deterrents by failing to use its criminal enforcement powers.

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Sunak is warned spending squeeze could lead to Conservative party wipeout at election

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As fresh party infighting erupts after two byelection losses, the right are targeting public service funding to pay for tax cuts while others urge restraint

Rishi Sunak is being warned he risks taking his party further towards disaster by sanctioning a new public spending squeeze in a desperate pursuit of pre-election tax cuts, as more Tories said they feared an election wipeout.

With more infighting erupting this weekend after two huge byelection losses in former safe seats, Treasury officials are examining cuts to public spending should they be needed to fund tax cuts, demanded most vociferously by the right of the party.

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Starmer allies gripped by fear of Labour complacency amid byelection triumphs

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Despite victory in two Conservative safe seats, a Labour government is not a foregone conclusion, say party hawks

For the past few months, with Labour enjoying a stubbornly large double-digit lead in the polls, close allies of Keir Starmer remained obsessed with the notion that complacency will slip into the mindsets of MPs, advisers and activists.

In a breathless week that saw Labour veer from having to abandon one byelection before scooping previously safe Tory seats in two others, the obsessives were given three opportunities to drive their point home.

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Ukrainians can extend UK visas by 18 months in new scheme

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Refugees will have ‘certainty and assurance’ says Home Office, but charities say move insufficient as many face homelessness

Ukrainians who sought sanctuary in the UK after the Russian invasion will be permitted to extend their visas for an extra 18 months, the Home Office has announced.

More than 200,000 Ukrainians visa holders have arrived in the UK since March 2022, with the first visas to expire in March next year. The Home Office said that the new scheme would provide “certainty and assurance” for Ukrainians in the UK.

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Black mental health patients more likely to be injured at hands of police

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Latest figures show racial disparity in use-of-force incidents among inpatients in England

The number of black inpatients injured while being restrained by police in mental health units has risen dramatically – at the same time as the number of non-black inpatients injured has fallen, according to analysis of government data by the Observer.

The Home Office’s police use of force statistics for 2022/23 show that police forces across England recorded 820 incidents of force used in mental health units against black inpatients, resulting in 36 injuries. This is up from the 770 use of force incidents and 27 injuries recorded in 2021/22.

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From beehive to kitchen table: UK beekeepers call for new law to trace honey’s origin

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British producers to back EU’s proposed regulations to stop trade in adulterated honey

Britain’s beekeepers are backing ­proposed new rules to combat fraud in the supply chain, ensuring a jar of honey can be traced on its journey of up to 5,000 miles from the beehive to the shop shelf.

The European parliament has agreed new labelling rules and a project to establish a traceability system for honey from harvesting to the consumer. The proposed rules are part of an overhaul of the “breakfast directives”, including the honey directive.

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Taunts, bullying… then groping: how sexual assaults are increasing in schools

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Billy (not real name) is now being home-schooled after bullying turned into physical violence

Starting secondary school had not been easy for Billy (not his real name). What started as verbal taunts from one boy soon saw him become the target of a group of four boys. Bullying became physical violence. Yet the abuse got even worse, escalating to sexual assault. The group would corner him in the toilets and grope and touch his genitals. Unsurprisingly, Billy’s mental health quickly deteriorated. He is now being home-schooled and he struggles to leave the house because of anxiety.

Billy is receiving support from Embrace, a charity that works with children who have been the victims of crime. He says that he is starting to feel stronger, while his parents say his panic attacks and nightmares are receding thanks to the support he is getting. However, what he experienced was part of an increase in “peer-on-peer abuse” that is worrying schools, police and professionals who work with young people.

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