Singers, artists and co-founder of women’s fiction prize among members of arts world to be recognised
The co-founder of the Glastonbury festival, a bestselling novelist and an organ-playing TikTok sensation are among the recipients of New Year honours from the world of arts and culture.
Michael Eavis, 88, who first hosted the Pilton Pop, Blues & Folk festival at Worthy Farm in 1970, was recognised for services to music and charity.
Continue reading...Bury North MP James Daly makes remark while outlining what New Conservatives group stands for
A Conservative MP has claimed most children who struggle in his constituency are the “products of crap parents”.
James Daly, the MP for Bury North, was outlining what the New Conservatives group of MPs stood for when he presented his perspective on how important a family unit is in giving children “stability”.
Continue reading...While a handful of politicians have openly discussed the stresses of their job, the scale of the problem appears far greater
It was a year after they were made a minister when the MP had the second breakdown of their political career, and realised they simply had no idea what to do next: “I was so terrified. I didn’t know who to talk to. There didn’t seem to be anybody I could trust.
“A family member told me to take time off. But as a minister if you were to say you needed time off sick, the whips would go, ‘Yeah, fine. We’ll get someone else to do your job.’ It’s often easier to keep your head down and pretend.”
Continue reading...Artist says Tony Allen’s surly stewards ended up as the most talked about part of his 2015 ‘bemusement park’
Banksy has paid tribute to a late comedian who trained 100 teenagers to be “the most surly and incompetent employees in the history of hospitality” for his 2015 Dismaland exhibition.
In a rare step, the reclusive graffiti artist has written a piece recalling his time with the comedian Tony Allen, which was read on BBC Radio 4’s obituary programme, Last Word, on Friday.
Continue reading...Broadcaster expected to use Freedom of Information Act to stop full disclosure, tribunal told
The BBC is expected to redact some of the almost 3,000 emails it must release about its handling of the Martin Bashir scandal, a tribunal has heard.
A judge told the broadcaster to hand over the material earlier this month, two-and-a-half years after the journalist Andrew Webb used freedom of information (FoI) laws to ask to see it.
Continue reading...Two were part of group skiing off-piste with instructor when avalanche occurred
A British woman and her son are reported to have died in the French Alps after an avalanche in the Mont Blanc mountain range.
The two were part of a group reportedly skiing far outside the designated slopes with an instructor when the avalanche, measuring 400 metres wide, occurred at an altitude of 2,300 metres near the ski resort of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains in the Haute-Savoie on Wednesday.
Continue reading...New Year’s Eve revellers told to prepare for near-freezing conditions as parts of UK recover from Storm Gerrit
Gusts of up to 75mph (120km/h) are expected to batter the coasts of southern England and Wales this weekend as other parts of the UK continue to recover from the ravages of Storm Gerrit.
The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for high winds in the south-east, south-west, East Anglia and Wales from 11am on Saturday until 3am on Sunday, New Year’s Eve.
Continue reading...Average of 3,631 patients in hospital with Covid during Christmas week, data shows, a rise of 57% in a month
A surge in the number of flu and Covid admissions to hospitals in England is adding to a “storm of pressure” facing the health service, NHS leaders have said.
Figures released on Friday showed that in Christmas week, there were on average 3,631 patients with Covid in hospital, up 57% from the same week in November.
Continue reading...The 22-year-old says his probation conditions meant he was under surveillance and could not work
One of the youngest people to be jailed under Hong Kong’s national security law has fled to the UK, where he claimed asylum in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Tony Chung, 22, was released from prison in June but was required to meet regularly with Hong Kong’s national security police and abide by certain conditions, which included not leaving the territory without authorisation before June 2024.
Continue reading...National Archives papers show prime minister tried in vain to avoid inquiry over Peter Wright’s memoirs
Margaret Thatcher was “utterly shattered” by the revelations in Spycatcher, the memoirs of the retired MI5 officer Peter Wright, files released publicly for the first time reveal.
The files also reveal the dilemmas faced by Thatcher’s government in its futile battle to suppress the book, including whether to agree to the Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer mediating an out of court “solution”.
Continue reading...Annual card spending report says consumers are prioritising travel and nights out and buying value-range groceries amid cost of living crisis
Hard-pressed consumers cut back on eating out and buying new clothes to prioritise spending on travel, entertainment and a visit to the pub over the past year, as soaring inflation and rising bills sharply curtailed the rate of spending growth.
Consumer card spending increased by 4.1% year-on-year in 2023, almost two-thirds lower than the 10.6% rise in 2022, as the sharp increase in the cost of living took its toll on households.
Continue reading...Then PM was advised to ‘encourage’ British Museum to agree long-term loan in return for Greek support
Tony Blair considered a “long-term loan” of the Parthenon marbles to Greece in the hope of support for a London 2012 Olympic Games bid, newly released documents reveal.
Twenty years before Rishi Sunak cancelled a meeting with the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, over the ownership question of the sculptures, Greece was lobbying Blair, the then prime minister, for a long-term loan, bypassing the issue of ownership.
Continue reading...Former prime minister had concerns about being seen to be too close to the Kosovo Liberation Army
Tony Blair was advised to work with militants in Kosovo, some of whom have subsequently been put on trial for war crimes, despite reportedly believing they were “not much better than the Serbs” whose own crimes against humanity he was seeking to end, it has been revealed.
Blair, then the UK prime minister, had grave concerns about being seen to be too close to the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which was fighting against the Serbian nationalist forces led by Slobodan Milošević.
Continue reading...Counsel for ex-MI5 officer Peter Wright suggested role for Australian media tycoon but idea was swiftly rejected
The Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer was suggested as a mediator in the fight by Margaret Thatcher’s government to prevent the publication of Spycatcher, the memoirs of former MI5 officer Peter Wright, according to newly released official papers.
The offer was made by Wright’s Australian counsel – and future Australian prime minister – Malcolm Turnbull as part of a proposed out-of-court settlement, files released by the National Archives show.
Continue reading...Srichand P Hinduja spoke to diplomat over fears of embroiling Labour party in row, National Archives files show
The man at the centre of the “cash-for-passports” scandal two decades ago asked the government if he should delay returning to the UK until after the 2001 general election, newly released official files show.
Srichand P Hinduja was embroiled in a row that ultimately led to the second resignation of Peter Mandelson from the cabinet over his actions when the businessman, who made a £1m donation to the Millennium Dome, was applying for a British passport.
Continue reading...Antonia Hay has had multiple surgeries following infection her father believes came from food bought in Buckinghamshire
A 17-year-old student has been in intensive care for two weeks after she caught a strain of E coli.
Antonia Hay, who has had to undergo multiple surgeries, is believed to have caught the bacterial infection from food at a Christmas market in November.
Continue reading...South Yorkshire police say 46-year-old father-of-two died after coming to aid of a stranger during disturbance
A father-of-two who died after a car was driven into a crowd of people during a disturbance in Sheffield was a “Good Samaritan” who was trying to help a stranger, police said.
South Yorkshire police named the 46-year-old man who died in the incident in College Close, in the Burngreave area of the city, as Christian Marriott.
Continue reading...Exclusive: lack of resources to treat people whose ill health is often worsened by poverty is taking a heavy toll on medics’ wellbeing
Two in three UK doctors are suffering “moral distress” caused by the enfeebled state of the NHS and the damage the cost of living crisis is inflicting on patients’ health, research has found.
Large numbers are ending up psychologically damaged by feeling they cannot give patients the best possible care because of problems they cannot overcome, such as long waits for treatment or lack of drugs or the fact that poverty or bad housing is making them ill.
Continue reading...Nicolás Maduro orders ‘defensive’ manoeuvres as British Navy deploys vessel in territorial dispute
Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro has ordered more than 5,600 military personnel to participate in “defensive” exercises, after the UK deployed a warship to waters off the coast of Guyana in a show of support for the former British colony.
Maduro said he was launching an action “of a defensive nature in response to the provocation and threat of the UK against peace and the sovereignty of our country”.
Continue reading...With another two-point slip from current polling, about 40% of Tory MPs would come from populist right
A catastrophic election defeat could lead to the parliamentary Conservative party tilting towards the populist right, Guardian analysis has indicated.
A projection of the seats the Conservatives would retain if there was a further two percentage point swing to Labour before election day, using data from Electoral Calculus, shows that about 40% of the remaining MPs would come from this wing of the party.
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