Category Archives: UK news

Shares in chip designer Arm soar by more than 50% leaving it valued at $120bn

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Chief executive, Rene Haas, says UK-based firm is benefiting from huge demand for AI-powered products and apps

Shares in Arm have soared by more than 50% after raising profit and revenue forecasts amid red-hot demand for artificial intelligence technology, valuing the UK-based tech company at double the market capitalisation when it floated in September.

Shares in the world’s biggest supplier of design elements for processing chips used in products from smartphones to games consoles opened up 58% on the Nasdaq in the US on Thursday.

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More than a third of cancer patients in England face potentially deadly delays

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Overall NHS figures show 6.37 million patients waiting for health treatment at end of December

More than a third of cancer patients in England are facing potentially deadly delays, leading doctors have said, with thousands of people forced to wait months to begin treatment.

There has also been a significant surge in people experiencing long waits in A&E, though the overall NHS waiting list continues to fall, according to the latest performance data for England.

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Ulez fines scandal: Italian police ‘illegally accessed’ thousands of EU drivers’ data

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Italy’s data protection body investigates claims police shared names and addresses with firm collecting penalties for TfL

The names and addresses of thousands of EU drivers were unlawfully accessed by Italian police and shared with the company that collects Ulez penalties on behalf of Transport for London (TfL), investigators believe.

The Italian data protection authority is investigating claims by Belgium’s government that an unnamed police department misused official powers to pass the personal details of Belgian drivers to Euro Parking Collections, which is employed by TfL to issue fines to enforce London’s low emission zone (Lez) and ultra-low emission zone.

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Italian man removed from UK despite post-Brexit Home Office certificate

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Massimiliano Melargo, who was stopped at airport, has permission to enter and leave UK while awaiting settlement decision

An Italian man has been removed from the UK despite holding a Home Office certificate explicitly stating he has a right to travel in and out of the country while officials process his application to live and work in the country post-Brexit.

Massimiliano Melargo, 27, told how he was detained overnight, separated from his Ukrainian partner, and put on the first plane to Venice by Border Force officials in a step lawyers say contravenes the withdrawal agreement between the EU and the UK.

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UK to send specialist assistance to Turks and Caicos after surge in fatal shootings

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It is the second time in less than two years the Caribbean archipelago is seeing escalating violence, attributed to warring drug gangs

The United Kingdom is sending specialist assistance to the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) following a surge in shooting deaths in the Caribbean archipelago.

Four men were found dead from gunshot wounds on the island of Providenciales on 1 and 2 February, and two more were killed during January.

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UK closer to large-scale conflict than in many years, intelligence official says

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Official cites Ukraine war and China threat and raises concern over turnover of top government ministers

British defence intelligence officials say the UK is closer to a large-scale conflict than at any recent point, as the Middle East crisis intensifies while Russia pursues an expansionist agenda and China develops advanced weapons.

One senior official said the secretive 4,500-strong unit was the busiest it had been in at least a decade, and said the fast turnover of ministers made it harder to ensure key politicians were making informed decisions.

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Council of Europe calls on UK not to process asylum claims in Rwanda

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People may be exposed to abuses such as torture and degrading treatment in Rwanda, says watchdog

Europe’s leading anti-torture watchdog has called on the government to process asylum claims in the UK rather than sending people to Rwanda because of the risk they may be exposed to human rights abuses there.

In a report published on Thursday, the Council of Europe’s committee for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment raises a litany of concerns after an 11-day visit to the UK in March and April last year.

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UK workers must accept lower pay deals to help beat inflation, says Bank ratesetter

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Deputy governor Sarah Breeden also says firms must rein in profits as there is ‘some way to go’ to meet 2% inflation target

Victory in the war on inflation will require British workers to accept lower pay deals and companies to rein in their profits, a senior Bank of England policymaker has said.

Sarah Breeden, one of the central bank’s four deputy governors, said there was still “some way to go” before inflation would fall back to the 2% target set by the government for the Bank to achieve on a sustainable basis.

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Masked protesters could soon face arrest, says Home Office

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Rights groups say proposed police powers for England and Wales are pandering to ‘culture war nonsense’

Protesters who wear masks could face arrest, up to a month in jail and a £1,000 fine under proposed measures that human rights campaigners claim are pandering to “culture war nonsense”.

Police in England and Wales will be given the power to arrest people if they are wearing face coverings at specific demonstrations, the Home Office has said.

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Mobo awards 2024: Central Cee tops winners thanks to megahit Sprinter

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London MC wins best male and song of the year, while Potter Payper beats stiff competition to win album of the year

Central Cee has topped the winners at the 2024 Mobo awards, winning best male for the second year in a row, and best song for Sprinter, his collaborative track with Dave, that dominated the summer months with a 10-week run at No 1.

Elsewhere the awards, which celebrate black musical artistry in the UK and globally, spread the garlands across a diverse range of music, with no one artist dominating.

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No 10 confirms details of PM’s meeting with King Charles in unusual step

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Palace and Downing Street keen to show king is still carrying out core constitutional duties after cancer diagnosis

Buckingham Palace and Downing Street were keen to demonstrate that King Charles remains in close contact with the government on Wednesday, even as he recovers from his first session of cancer treatment.

No 10 took the unusual step of confirming that Rishi Sunak would be telephoning the king in the evening after an agreement with the palace to disclose the information.

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Primodos patients ‘betrayed’ after being left out of health scandals redress report

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Families who may have been affected by hormone pregnancy tests not included in patient safety commissioner’s review

Campaigners have accused the UK government of betraying them after a review of redress for victims of health scandals excluded families who may have been affected by the hormone pregnancy test Primodos.

A report published on Wednesday by the patient safety commissioner, Dr Henrietta Hughes, found a “clear case for redress” for thousands of women and children who suffered “avoidable harm” from the epilepsy treatment sodium valproate and from vaginal mesh implants.

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India’s wealthy ‘fear London is worse than Delhi for muggings’

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Fear of crime in UK capital is one of biggest concerns of rich Indians, says entrepreneur

Indian business people are avoiding being out and about in Mayfair over fears they could be mugged for their expensive watches after a 27% rise in “theft from a person” in London, an entrepreneur has said.

Devin Narang, an entrepreneur, told a meeting attended by David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, that fear of crime in London was one of the biggest concerns of India’s rich elite.

“People are being mugged in the heart of London – in Mayfair,” Narang, a member of the executive committee of the federation of Indian chambers of commerce and industry, said at a meeting in New Delhi, according to the Financial Times. “All CEOs in India have had an experience of physical mugging and the police [in London] not responding.”

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UK weather: Britain braces for Arctic blast of heavy snow and ice

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Met Office issues amber weather warnings with up to 25cm of snow forecast to fall on higher areas

The Met Office has issued two rare amber weather warnings, with heavy snow and ice forecast to hit the UK on Thursday.

One warning is in place from 8am-3pm covering large parts of north Wales and Shropshire. The second runs from noon-6pm and covers the Peak District and southern Pennines.

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Wes Streeting says Labour would reform NHS dentists’ contract within days of taking office – UK politics live

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Shadow health secretary says much of Tory NHS dental plans ‘lifted from what Labour has announced’

During her media round this morning Victoria Atkins, the health secretary, faced awkward questions about funding for NHS dentistry.

In an interview on BBC Breakfast, she repeatedly refused to confirm that the budget for NHS dentistry has fallen over the past decade.

Seeing a minister duck and dive on the reality of dental funding cuts will be hard to swallow for millions who have been left waiting for so long under this government.

The reality is they’ve left our dental services to rot and now think they can rebuild it with a handful of toothpicks.

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Former pop star Gary Glitter must stay in prison, parole panel decides

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Panel said it was not satisfied releasing former singer, jailed for sexually abusing girls, was safe for public

Paul Gadd, known as the former pop star Gary Glitter, has lost a bid to be freed from prison where he is serving a sentence for sexually abusing girls.

Gadd, 79, was automatically released from prison in February 2023, halfway through a 16-year sentence – but was recalled just six weeks later for allegedly viewing downloaded images of children.

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UK house prices rise at fastest rate since January 2023

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Lower mortgage rates lead to increased buyer and seller confidence, says Halifax

UK house prices rose 2.5% in the year to January, recording the biggest increase since January last year, as lower mortgage rates and fading inflationary pressures led to increased buyer and seller confidence, Halifax has said.

January marked the fourth consecutive monthly rise, with a 1.3% uplift on December, the UK’s biggest mortgage lender said, with the average home costing £291,000, £3,9000 more than in December.

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Environment Agency failed to protect River Wye from chicken waste, court to hear

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Campaigners argue in legal challenge that loophole has allowed poultry farmers to pollute river

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The Environment Agency and the UK government failed to protect the River Wye from catastrophic decline by allowing pollution from industrial chicken farming to saturate the land and devastate the protected river, a legal challenge is to argue.

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NHS dentistry ‘recovery plan’ not worthy of the title, dentists say

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British Dental Association says government’s plan does not offer hope to millions struggling to access care

Rishi Sunak has been accused of making a U-turn on his pledge to restore NHS dentistry as experts say his “recovery plan” does not offer enough money to incentivise dentists to take on extra NHS patients.

The prime minister’s long-awaited proposals have been criticised for failing to ringfence funding for the dental sector and reform the NHS dentistry contract, which means millions across the country will continue to struggle to access care.

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Prince Harry returns to UK after King Charles’s cancer diagnosis

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Duke of Sussex makes journey alone, with wife and children remaining at home in California

The Duke of Sussex has enjoyed a brief reunion with the king after taking an overnight flight from California to visit his father following Buckingham Palace’s announcement of the monarch’s cancer diagnosis.

Prince Harry landed at Heathrow shortly after midday following an 11-hour flight from Los Angeles. Travelling alone, the Duchess of Sussex having stayed in the US with the couple’s two children, Harry was pictured being driven from the airport in a black Range Rover with a police escort.

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