Ed Davey apologises for his role in Post Office Horizon scandal

Lib Dem leader, who was business minister from 2010 to 2012, says he is sorry he ‘did not see through Post Office’s lies’

Ed Davey has apologised for the first time for his role as a minister in the Horizon scandal, with the Liberal Democrat leader saying he was “sorry I did not see through the Post Office’s lies”.

Writing in the Guardian, Davey, whose business minister role from 2010 to 2012 involved oversight of the Post Office, said officials had initially advised him to not meet Alan Bates, who led the campaign into the unjust targeting of post office operators.

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Woman and girl, 3, may have life-changing injuries from substance attack in London

Assault with alkaline corrosive substance in Clapham also injured an eight-year-old girl, police say

A 31-year-old mother and a three-year-old girl have potentially life-changing injuries after an attack with an alkaline corrosive substance in south London.

The attack in Clapham on Wednesday evening also injured an eight-year-old girl, the Metropolitan police said. A hunt for the suspect is under way.

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Vets urged to stop giving pesticide flea treatments after river pollution study

Exclusive: Pet owners risk contaminating their hands with neurotoxins for at least 28 days after application, scientists find

Vets should limit the use of flea treatments containing pesticides on dogs and cats, scientists have said, after a study revealed the vast amount of toxic substances in them that end up in rivers.

Pet owners using these flea treatments risk contaminating their hands with fipronil and imidacloprid, two insecticides, for at least 28 days after the treatment has been applied, according to research by the University of Sussex and Imperial College London.

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Ben Elliot’s Quintessentially warns £29m liabilities could threaten its future

Concierge service for super-rich co-founded by Queen Camilla’s nephew lost £1.5m in latest financial year

Quintessentially, the concierge service for the super-rich co-founded by Queen Camilla’s nephew, Ben Elliot, lost £1.5m in its latest financial year and warned investors it is struggling with £29m of liabilities that could threaten its future as a going concern.

The company that Elliot, a former co-chair of the Conservative party, set up in 2020, reported pre-tax losses of £1.5m in the year to the end of April 2022, compared with a £3.8m loss a year earlier. However, its post-tax losses increased to £12.9m, up from £8m the previous year.

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Owner of UK national lottery operator still in business with Gazprom

Czech tycoon promised Gambling Commission two years ago his
firm would sever Russia ties before taking over the lucrative contract

The Czech billionaire whose company takes over running the UK national lottery from Thursday is still in business with the Kremlin-owned gas company Gazprom, nearly two years after promising regulators he would sever ties with Russia.

The Gambling Commission awarded Allwyn the lucrative 10-year licence to run the lottery, estimated to be worth up to £100bn in sales, in March 2022.

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EasyJet announces ‘grans go free’ deal on holidays to Europe

Offer comes as research shows half of families in UK have never holidayed abroad with grandparents

EasyJet’s holiday wing is offering “grans go free” places on trips to Europe, after research found half of families had never holidayed abroad with their grandparents.

Under the offer, one grandparent on the trip can travel free of charge to countries including Spain, Greece and Italy. The tour operator said it hoped the deal would encourage Britons to take a holiday with three generations of their family or more.

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Dublin not expecting EU objections to new trade rules for Northern Ireland – UK politics live

Irish foreign minister says he does ‘not anticipate any particular difficulties in respect of the EU side’

Back at the home affairs committee James Daly (Con) asks why so few police investigations end up in people being charged.

James Cleverly, the home secretary, says the Crown Prosecution Service is independent. He wants to make sure investigations are as professional as possible.

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Northampton chief constable faces hearing over military service claims

Nick Adderley faces gross misconduct hearing over accusations he wore medal from Falklands war, which took place when he was 15

The chief constable of Northamptonshire police will face an accelerated gross misconduct hearing after allegedly misrepresenting his military service, including wearing a medal from a war he did not fight in.

Nick Adderley, who served as police chief from August 2018 until he was suspended in October, has been accused of wearing a medal from the Falklands war – which took place when he was 15.

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Tearful Sturgeon said the number of lives lost during the pandemic was ‘far too high’ – as it happened

This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here

Sturgeon once again says she wants to be “very clear” that it was not her practice to have lengthy or detailed discussions through “these means” – a reference to WhatsApp.

“It’s not my style,” she insists.

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Northern Ireland to get new Brexit trade rules in deal to restore power sharing

‘UK internal market’ to be created to ease unionist fears over de facto border in the Irish Sea

UK politics live – latest updates

New rules to smooth post-Brexit trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland have been unveiled by the government as part of a deal with the Democratic Unionist party that will restore the Stormont executive and install a Sinn Féin first minister.

A command paper titled Safeguarding the Union was published on Wednesday to allay DUP fears about Northern Ireland’s place in the UK and to end a two-year boycott of power sharing that has destabilised the country.

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Sturgeon admits errors in handling of ‘incredibly stressful’ Covid pandemic

Ex-first minister of Scotland admits to inquiry that she failed to properly record key discussions about crisis

Nicola Sturgeon has admitted failing to properly record key discussions about the Covid crisis after being pressed at the UK Covid inquiry over claims some decisions were too centralised and secretive.

The former first minister, who led Scotland’s response to the pandemic, pushed back tears when she admitted she found the pressure of crisis “incredibly stressful”, and at times wished she had not been in charge.

An admission that crucial discussions with her closest advisers during private “gold command” meetings should have been recorded.

She regretted not telling people about Scotland’s first outbreak, involving 38 cases linked to a Nike conference in Edinburgh in March 2020, as that “had the potential to undermine public confidence”.

She acknowledged she should not have promised journalists in August 2021 that all her WhatsApp messages would be kept, knowing she had been systematically deleting them.

It was inappropriate for her to give the public health expert Devi Sridhar her private SNP email address.

She “thought wrongly” that her chief medical officer, Catherine Calderwood, could remain in post after admitting she breached lockdown rules by visiting her holiday home.

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Legal action launched against ‘rip-off’ secret commissions on UK firms’ energy bills

Thousands of small businesses sue for return of brokers’ fees that often go undisclosed in billing

Business live – latest updates

Businesses across the UK have been forced to pay an extra 10% on average for their gas and electricity because suppliers routinely add third-party broker commissions to their bills, according to a leading litigation law firm.

Thousands of small businesses have joined a group legal action, led by the law firm Harcus Parker, to claw back up to £2bn in undisclosed broker fees added to their energy bills.

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More than 30,000 UK asylum seekers on bail under Rwanda deportation threat

Home Office reveals 33,085 will not have claims examined while government tries to remove them

More than 30,000 asylum seekers are on bail and under the threat of deportation from the UK to Rwanda, the Home Office has disclosed, as James Cleverly insisted that the total backlog of 94,000 cases should instead be referred to as a queue.

A senior official has admitted for the first time that 33,085 people who arrived in the UK by irregular means such as small boats will not have their asylum claims examined while the government attempts to remove them from the UK.

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UK heatwave plan urgently needed to save lives, say MPs

Nature-based solutions such as parks and ponds are recommended – as is giving heatwaves names

The UK urgently needs a plan to prevent thousands of heatwave deaths a year as the climate continues to warm, a cross-party committee of MPs has warned.

More than 4,500 people died in heatwaves in 2022, the MPs’ report said, and this number could rise to 10,000 a year by 2050 without action. Heatwaves are “silent killers”, the MPs said, pushing up heart rate and blood pressure, with those over 65 and with existing health problems most at risk.

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People severely ill with suspected sepsis should be given antibiotics, Nice says

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says national early warning score should be used to assess severity of illness

People who are severely ill with suspected sepsis should promptly be given life-saving access to antibiotics to prevent unnecessary deaths, according to updated guidance from a health watchdog.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has said that the national early warning score should be used to assess people with suspected sepsis aged 16 and over, who are not and have not recently been pregnant, and are in an acute hospital setting or ambulance.

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‘Incomprehensible’ that Abramovich’s Chelsea funds not yet spent on Ukraine

Lords report says UK government must break impasse over details of how frozen assets should be spent

Peers have criticised the UK government for failing to agree a deal with the former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich to spend £2.5bn from his sale of the London football club.

Members of the House of Lords’ European affairs committee have described ministers’ failure to spend the money on Ukraine “incomprehensible”, nearly two years after the sale was agreed.

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New Brexit food checks likely to mean less choice, warn delis

Guild of Fine Food fears European suppliers of specialist produce will stop supplying UK because of red tape

Thousands of delicatessens and other specialist food shops have said new border rules that come in from Wednesday are likely to mean reduced choice of products for consumers.

The Guild of Fine Food (GFF), which represents 12,000 businesses, has raised fears that European suppliers of specialist foods such as cheeses and meats will stop supplying the UK as a result of the additional red tape for imported goods.

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Getting fitter can reduce prostate cancer risk by 35%, study finds

Increase in cardiorespiratory levels of 3% annually found to be beneficial, Swedish research suggests

Men can reduce their risk of prostate cancer by as much as 35% by doing a little more jogging, cycling or swimming, a study suggests.

Boosting cardiorespiratory fitness by only 3% over the course of a year was linked to a much lower chance of developing the disease. The findings prompted the researchers to encourage men to boost their fitness levels to help cut their prostate cancer risk.

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UK population projected to grow to nearly 74m by 2036

Rise of almost 10% over 15 years would see 70m mark passed by 2026, a decade earlier than previously projected

The UK population is projected to grow to 73.7 million by mid-2036, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics, which predicts hitting the 70 million mark a decade earlier than previously thought.

This represents an increase of about 6.6 million, or 9.9%, from the estimated 67 million in mid-2021.

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British police and security services to help protect Paris Olympics

France and UK also agree to deploy more drones and sea barriers to stop small boats crossing Channel

UK security experts will help France to protect the Paris Olympics in a sign of closer cooperation, the Home Office has said.

Both governments also plan to deploy more drones and sea barriers to prevent small boats carrying asylum seekers from crossing the Channel.

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