Category Archives: UK news

Organised crime making millions from illegal waste dumping in UK, says committee

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Peers say ‘woeful’ record on prosecutions has led to a ‘low-risk, high-reward’ criminal culture

Organised crime groups in the UK are making millions every year from illegally dumping and burning rubbish, peers have told ministers, after an inquiry found a lack of enforcement made it a “low-risk, high-reward” criminal enterprise.

“Criminality is endemic in the waste sector,” a Lords committee told the government on Tuesday, after it found at least 38m tonnes of waste was illegally managed every year, “leading to serious environmental, economic and social consequences”.

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All schools in England with removal grants to be Raac-free by 2029, says Phillipson

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Education secretary promises ‘clear timelines’ are in place to permanently remove crumbling concrete

All schools in England that received grant funding to pay for the removal of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) should be free of it by the end of this parliament, the education secretary has pledged.

Setting out a new timeline for dealing with the crumbling concrete crisis in schools, Bridget Phillipson said: “We inherited a crumbling education estate, but I won’t let that be our legacy.

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Picture of health: going to art galleries can improve wellbeing, study reveals

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Viewing original works of art can relieve stress, cut heart disease risk and boost immune system, first study of its kind finds

Enjoying original works of art in a gallery can relieve stress, reduce the risk of heart disease and boost your immune system, according to the first study of its kind.

Researchers measured the physiological responses of participants while viewing masterpieces by world-renowned artists including Manet, Van Gogh and Gauguin in a gallery.

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Lammy tells Labour to learn from Caerphilly defeat as party seeks reset

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Deputy PM tells MPs party must pick clearer fights that show its values after byelection slump

David Lammy has urged Labour MPs to see the party’s defeat in the Caerphilly byelection as a moment of reflection, arguing progressive governments around the world have recovered from worse to “win big”.

The deputy prime minister pointed to Canada’s Liberals, Norway’s Labour party and Australia’s Labor party as examples of centre-left groups who “roared back” from mid-term slumps to secure significant victories.

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UK’s Eastern Airways suspends operations with all flights cancelled

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Customers urged not to go to domestic airline’s airports as customers and staff offered train travel on suitable routes

The UK domestic airline Eastern Airways has suspended operations and all of its flights have been cancelled.

Customers of the airline, which operated regional services from airports across the UK, are urged not to go to the airport as flights will not be operating, the UK Civil Aviation Authority said.

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Archaeological dig to unearth wreckage of WW2 hero pilot crash under way

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Exclusive: Excavation, overseen by the US Department of Defense, will feature in More 4’s Hidden Wonders TV series

On 26 January 1944, a 23-year-old US pilot was flying a mighty P-47 Thunderbolt on a wartime training exercise when it crashed in Essex.

Locals witnessed the horror of 2nd Lt Lester Lowry’s aircraft diving to the ground and bursting into flames. Lowry was not seen to bail out and he has remained missing in action (MIA) for more than 80 years. Ironically, his plane was named “Lucky Boy”.

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Racist incidents against UK nurses surge by 55%

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Royal College of Nursing calls on government to stop using anti-migrant rhetoric, which it says emboldens racist behaviour

The number of reports by nurses of racist incidents at work has risen by 55% over three years, according to analysis by the nursing union.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) expects to receive more than 1,000 calls this year from nurses seeking advice and support after racist incidents in the workplace, compared with almost 700 cases in 2022.

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Over 1,200 health leaders call for swift passage of UK tobacco and vapes bill

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Experts publish letter as peers prepare to scrutinise draft legislation six months after its second Commons reading

More than 1,200 public health leaders have called for the tobacco and vapes bill to be passed swiftly through parliament to “protect future generations”.

They said in a cross-party letter that the “gamechanging” measures outlined were “far too important to let it slip off the agenda”.

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NHS leaders warn of longer waiting times if demand for extra £3bn not met

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Key Labour pledge under threat as health service faces costs from redundancies, strikes and rising drug prices

NHS bosses are seeking an emergency injection of £3bn to cover unexpected costs and have warned ministers that without it patients will wait longer for treatment and hospitals will start rationing care.

Their move presents a fresh problem for Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, as she tries to find ways to fill an estimated £30bn hole in the nation’s finances in her budget next month.

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Boy thrown from Tate Modern’s 10th floor can now run and swim, says family

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French child, who was six years old at the time of the incident in 2019, suffered life-changing injuries

A boy who was thrown from the 10th floor of Tate Modern in London six years ago can now run and swim limited distances, his family has revealed.

The unnamed French boy, who his parents call their “little knight”, suffered life-changing injuries in the attack in August 2019. Jonty Bravery is serving a minimum 15-year jail term for his attempt to murder the boy.

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Epping sex offender back in custody after release from prison in error

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Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, whose case triggered summer protests in Essex, detained again and faces deportation

A former asylum seeker and convicted sex offender who was released from prison in error is back in custody and faces deportation.

Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, an Ethiopian national, was jailed for 12 months in September for sexually assaulting a woman and a 14-year-old girl and was made the subject of a five-year sexual harm prevention order.

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Keir Starmer shares post-punk passion and revisits musical past

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Prime minister praises Scottish band Orange Juice and shares details about his family life in Radio 3 interview

Keir Starmer has said he is a fan of the Scottish post-punk band Orange Juice and northern soul, in a deep dive of his musical tastes and personal life.

On BBC Radio 3’s Private Passions, Starmer chose a selection of his favourite music including works by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Elgar, and reflected on his own musical journey, which included learning to play violin alongside Norman Cook, AKA Fatboy Slim, at school.

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Reform MP’s remarks about TV adverts were ‘racist’, says Wes Streeting

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Health secretary hardens Labour line after Sarah Pochin said advertising ‘doesn’t reflect our society’

Wes Streeting has accused the Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin of making racist remarks after she said seeing adverts full of black and Asian people “drives her mad”.

The health secretary said Pochin was “only sorry she’s been caught and called out”, adding she had “said the quiet bit loud”, as he warned of a return to “1970s, 1980s-style racism”.

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British Airways pulls Louis Theroux podcast sponsorship after Bob Vylan interview

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Airline says singer’s defiant interview breached its policy on politically sensitive or controversial subjects

British Airways has halted its sponsorship of Louis Theroux’s podcast over an interview with the frontman of Bob Vylan.

The airline has withdrawn its adverts from the journalist’s podcast after he interviewed Bobby Vylan – whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster.

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Met police urge Epping sex offender spotted in London to hand himself in

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Former asylum seeker Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu has been missing since being released from prison in error

Police searching in London for a former asylum seeker and convicted sex offender who was released from prison in error have urged him to hand himself in.

The Ethiopian national Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was jailed for 12 months in September for sexually assaulting a woman and a 14-year-old girl and made the subject of a five-year sexual harm prevention order.

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Labour demands clarity on Tory plan to strip thousands of right to stay in UK

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Anna Turley says legally settled people threatened by Katie Lam’s proposals deserve urgent clarification

Labour has called on the Conservatives to clarify their plan to strip the right to remain permanently in the UK from thousands of people, saying those affected had a right to know what was being proposed.

Anna Turley MP, the Labour chair, has written to Katie Lam, the shadow Home Office minister whose interview about the plans last weekend sparked renewed interest in the policy of retrospectively revoking indefinite leave to remain (ILR) status for large numbers of people.

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Met police take over search for Epping sex offender after London sighting – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed, you can read our full report here

The accidental release of the asylum seeker was a “mind-blowing” blunder, says the MP for Chelmsford.

The Liberal Democrat MP Marie Goldman said on Saturday: “My mind has blown. How this could possibly happen?”

He came out of the airlock, and kept saying to the officers there, ‘Where am I going? What am I doing? I don’t know where I’m going and what I’m doing.’

He was holding a pack of paperwork in his arms, and his bag of bits …

He knew he’d been deported. He came over to me and said, ‘I need you to help me.’

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Cutting cash Isa limit will not boost stock market, MPs warn Rachel Reeves

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Treasury committee says move in November budget could push up mortgage rates instead

Cutting the annual cash Isa allowance will not encourage many savers to switch to shares but could push up mortgage costs, MPs have warned the chancellor.

Adults can put up to £20,000 a year in a tax-free Isa and spread the money between cash and stock market investments as they choose. In the 2023-24 tax year, 66% of all contributions went into cash savings.

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Prince Andrew in advanced talks about moving out of Royal Lodge, reports say

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Buckingham Palace trying to increase pressure on prince to give up home for which he pays ‘peppercorn’ rent

Prince Andrew is reportedly in advanced talks with King Charles’s senior aides about moving out of his Royal Lodge home after a week in which his “peppercorn” rent tenancy has come under scrutiny.

Pressure has mounted on the royal family for Andrew to vacate the 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park amid the continuing controversy over his links to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and the posthumous publication of the memoirs of the prince’s sexual assault accuser Virginia Giuffre.

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