Lords to debate whether it should delay ratification of UK-Rwanda treaty
My colleague Mark Sweney has more dismal news on the economy this morning:
More than 47,000 UK companies are on the brink of collapse after a 25% jump in businesses facing “critical” financial distress in the final three months of 2023, according to a new report.
Continue reading...Disruption expected on Monday as cancellations and delays issued for rail, sea and air with heavy rain and high winds forecast
Train services in Scotland are expected to be suspended until around noon after “a wild night”, Network Rail says.
The railway has recovered quickly this morning following Storm Isha with trees and debris cleared across routes in England and Wales, and route proving trains reporting lines clear.
Passenger and freight services have restarted and a good service is expected in most areas. Passengers should still check before they head out for the latest travel news on trains operators’ websites.
Between 3.30pm on Sunday, 21st January and 2am on Monday, 22nd January, officers dealt with over 1,300 calls from the public, approximately 600 of these related to the storm.
“There is also a continued risk of significant debris on the road network as wind speeds remain high throughout Monday.
Continue reading...Jason Moore says he learned of £10k reward to have him stabbed shortly after court of appeal application
A man in prison for a murder of which the victim’s family believes he is innocent says he fears for his life after learning intelligence of a hit ordered on him.
Jason Moore’s conviction for stabbing to death Robert Darby in an east London pub car park in 2005 relied heavily on witness testimony that is now in doubt. The victim’s brother, Tim Darby, is among those campaigning for Moore’s release.
Continue reading...Jonathan Reynolds calls for version of US Inflation Reduction Act amid row over future of Labour policy
Britain needs its own ambitious green investment plan to keep up with its allies, a Labour frontbencher has said, amid an increasingly bitter row over whether Keir Starmer should stick to his £28bn pledge.
Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow business secretary, said the UK should come up with a version of Joe Biden’s $369bn (£290bn) Inflation Reduction Act, which has provided support to a range of technologies including electric cars and renewable power.
Continue reading...Royal college voices concern at rise in number of prosecutions of ‘deeply traumatised’ women
Medical staff in the UK should not report women to the police if they believe their patients may have illegally ended their own pregnancy, a professional body is to say.
New guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) will say it is never in the public interest to report women who have abortions to law enforcement agencies, according to the BBC.
Continue reading...25% jump in firms facing ‘critical’ financial distress, with property and construction sectors featuring heavily, says Begbies Traynor
More than 47,000 UK companies are on the brink of collapse after a 25% jump in the number of businesses facing “critical” financial distress in the final three months of 2023, according to a report.
It marks the second consecutive quarter-on-quarter period when critical financial distress has risen by a 25%, the latest “Red Flag” report by insolvency specialists Begbies Traynor found.
Construction (7,849)
Support services (7,096)
Real estate & property services (6,228)
Professional services (4,347)
General retailers (3,133)
Telecoms & IT (2,830)
Health & education (2,719)
Media (1,828)
Financial services (1,373)
Food & drug retailers (1,343)
Continue reading...Exclusive: Report shows Russian ships loading at North Korean port, amid accusation that Pyongyang supplies missiles and shells
The UK has provided satellite photographs of North Korean cargo shipments to Russia to a panel of UN experts as part of an attempt to trigger an official investigation into arms deals in violation of international sanctions.
North Korea has been accused of supplying ballistic missiles and hundreds of thousands of artillery shells to the Russian government for its war in Ukraine since Vladimir Putin met with Kim Jong-un in Russia’s far east in September.
Continue reading...Exclusive: NFU warns blanket import checks from April could fuel long delays and damage future crops
The UK’s fruit and flower growers face an “existential threat” from new post-Brexit border checks that could damage business and affect next year’s crops, the country’s biggest farming body has said.
The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) warned that changes to import rules in April, which will impose checks at the border for nearly all young plants coming into the country, could cause long delays and result in plants being damaged or destroyed.
Continue reading...Detectives still investigating motive after Muhammad Hassam Ali died of his injuries in city centre
A teenage boy was stabbed to death in Birmingham city centre in a case of mistaken identity, police believe.
Muhammad Hassam Ali, 17, died from his injuries after he was stabbed in Victoria Square on Saturday. His family have issued a photo of him, but asked for privacy while they grieve.
Continue reading...Labour leader’s speech will be his most outspoken response to ‘woke’ politics criticisms by Conservatives
Keir Starmer will defend organisations such as the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the National Trust on Monday, accusing the Conservatives of attacking them to stoke a “desperate” culture war.
The Labour leader will mount a forceful defence of the institutions during a speech to a civil society summit on Monday in his most outspoken response to Conservative criticisms of “woke” politics.
Continue reading...Contracts, which will cost £36m a year, tendered following news that existing boats will be replaced four years later than planned
The Home Office has had to procure private boats at the cost of £36m a year to help Border Force patrol the Channel for small boats, owing to a delay in plans to replace the current fleet.
Replacing the fleet of five cutters and six coastal patrol vessels, some of which are 20 years old, will now not begin until March 2026, four years later than planned.
Continue reading...Man, 45, and woman, 36, found dead in house in Costessey were related to two girls to be given later postmortem examinations
Two adults found dead with two children at a house in Norfolk died as a result of stab wounds to the neck, a postmortem examination has found.
The bodies of a 36-year-old woman, a 45-year-old man and two young girls, reportedly aged 12 and seven and believed to be daughters of the male, were found in a house on Allan Bedford Crescent, Costessey, on Friday. All four were related, police said. The man has been named locally as Bartłomiej Kuczyński, a structural engineer, and the 12-year-old daughter as Jasmin Kuczyński.
Continue reading...Forecasters warn of life-threatening gusts in coastal areas as weather causes travel disruption across country
A tornado warning has been issued across parts of Britain as Storm Isha takes hold, with potentially life-threatening gusts and travel disruption expected into Monday.
A “tornado watch” zone was issued for Northern Ireland as well as parts of Scotland and northern England by the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (Torro) on Sunday afternoon. That means a “strong tornado” is possible in those regions.
Continue reading...Former journalist had lived in public eye for almost 30 years as prime suspect in 1996 murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier
Ian Bailey, an English former journalist who was the prime suspect in one of Ireland’s most notorious murders, has died near his home in Bantry, County Cork, at the age of 66. He suffered a heart attack on Sunday.
Bailey had lived in the public eye for almost three decades as the main suspect in the 1996 murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, a French filmmaker who was battered to death near her holiday home in West Cork.
Continue reading...Hundreds follow route to Parliament Square in solidarity with people affected by Israel-Gaza conflict
Without flags, placards or chants, hundreds of people joined a silent multi-faith peace walk in London on Sunday in response to the Israel-Gaza war.
Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus and Buddhists walked side-by-side from Trafalgar Square to Parliament Square and back in solidarity with people affected by the conflict in the Middle East.
Continue reading...Opposition politician Frank Ntwali says country is unsafe and Sunak’s pursuance of policy ‘quite bizarre’
A Rwandan opposition politician who narrowly survived an assassination attempt has condemned the UK’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Kigali.
Frank Ntwali, chair of the exiled Rwanda National Congress (RNC) movement, said the country was unsafe and that Rishi Sunak’s persistence with the policy was “quite bizarre”.
Continue reading...Sir Ephraim Mirvis says use of the term is moral inversion designed to ‘tear open the still gaping wound of the Holocaust’
The chief rabbi has said using the word “genocide” to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza is an “increasingly frequent, disingenuous misappropriation of the term”.
Sir Ephraim Mirvis said the use of the term was a “moral inversion, which undermines the memory of the worst crimes in human history” and was designed to “tear open the still gaping wound of the Holocaust”.
Continue reading...Damage to buildings and flying debris expected as country set to be battered by wind and rain
Storm Isha is set to batter “everybody” in the UK with wind and rain during a “rare” weather cycle, forecasters say.
Winds of up to 80mph will swoop in later on Sunday, potentially causing power cuts and loss of mobile phone signal, while roads and bridges are likely to be shut and transport services could face delays and cancellations in some areas.
Continue reading...Hunt draws comparisons with Thatcher’s tax-slashing chancellor as he claims UK is ready for economic boom
Jeremy Hunt has compared himself to former tax-cutting chancellor Nigel Lawson, as he joined Rishi Sunak in teasing further potential cuts in the spring budget.
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, the chancellor drew comparisons with the late Lawson, who was known for slashing personal taxation while serving in the Thatcher government.
Continue reading...Mayor calls for ‘youth mobility agreement’ in one of the most pro-European interventions by a Labour politician since EU exit
London mayor Sadiq Khan has called for young people to be able to move freely to and from the EU for the first time since Brexit in order to lessen the economic and cultural damage caused by the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.
Speaking to the Observer in one of the most pro-European interventions by a senior Labour politician since the 2016 referendum, Khan said he backs either a bespoke “youth mobility” agreement with EU countries, or changes to post-Brexit visa rules that currently restrict travel and the ability to work in other European countries.
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