Category Archives: UK news

Sunak ‘dodging scrutiny’ by failing to appoint chair of Climate Change Committee

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No successor has been named for Lord Deben – and now the independent watchdog’s chief executive has resigned

Rishi Sunak has been accused of trying to avoid scrutiny of his green policies after details surfaced about his government’s failure, over more than 18 months, to appoint a new chair of the independent climate change committee.

Senior environmentalists said they believed Sunak may be deliberately trying to avoid appointing a successor to Lord Deben – who first announced that he was stepping down in July 2022 – until after a general election, so he does not face criticism for his U-turns on green issues.

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Move over Abba: new ‘riskier’ wave of British musicals to challenge West End’s established order

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Theatreland is taking a gamble on a wave of quirky little shows to challenge the big but tired box office beasts

A fresh kind of musical theatre show, set apart by having started life on the fringe or in a small-scale provincial production, is challenging the established order in London’s West End this season.

A wave of new, quirky productions will be taking their places alongside Phantom of the Opera-style classics and all those big, popular musicals that rework a familiar film title or milk a superstar legacy.

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Tiny proportion of e-scooter injuries appear in official UK data

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Study warns that lack of reporting may mask the dangers of still-mostly-illegal scooters on roads and pavements

The majority of e-scooter accidents that involve someone needing hospital treatment are not being recorded in official road accident figures, a new study reveals, sparking fears that their dangers have been underplayed.

The analysis found that just 9% of injuries involving e-scooters and recorded by 20 emergency departments over a two-month period were found in official figures. And just over a quarter of the most serious injuries were recorded in road casualty data.

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Thousands of pro-Palestine protesters march in London

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About 1,700 officers on duty in UK capital to police demonstration on day for action involving 30 countries

Thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday to show solidarity with Palestine and to reiterate calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Demonstrators met on Queen Victoria Street before making their way along Fleet Street towards Parliament Square. The protest, part of a global day of action, comes after the RAF and the US military carried out airstrikes against Houthi bases in Yemen.

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Red Sea crisis could shatter hopes of global economic recovery

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World Bank warns of surging energy prices, slower growth and higher inflation as threat rises of disruption to world trade

A prolonged conflict in the Red Sea and escalating tensions across the Middle East risk having devastating effects on the global economy, reigniting inflation and disrupting energy supplies, some of the world’s leading economists warn this weekend.

Before a statement expected on Monday by Rishi Sunak in the House of Commons about UK and US airstrikes on Houthi sites in Yemen, economists at the World Bank say the crisis now threatens to feed through into higher interest rates, lower growth, persistent inflation and greater geopolitical uncertainty.

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UK cold snap to continue with snow and ice descending from north Scotland

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Met Office warns of travel disruption in Scotland as arctic winds and snow showers move inland from northern coasts

The cold snap will continue across most of Britain throughout Sunday and into early next week, with warnings of potential travel disruption in Scotland.

The Met Office has put in place yellow weather warnings of snow and ice for much of the north of Scotland throughout Sunday and Monday.

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Ed Davey’s approval rating takes a big hit from the Post Office scandal

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Letter shows the Lib Dem leader initially refused to meet a campaigner when he was a minister responsible for the service

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has seen his personal popularity take a significant hit in the wake of the Post Office scandal, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.

Davey was one of a series of ministers responsible for the Post Office during the crisis, holding the role between 2010 and 2012. He has received criticism after a letter emerged in which he refused to meet Alan Bates, the former postmaster and campaigner fighting for justice, telling him: “I do not believe a meeting would serve any useful purpose.”

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Plans to reform private prosecutions after Post Office Horizon scandal

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Improved oversight and a law to strip organisations of their power to take people to court are among measures gaining cross-party support

Plans to overhaul the growing “cottage industry” of private prosecutions are already being urgently examined by ministers in the wake of the Post Office scandal, including measures that could see untrustworthy bodies barred from pursuing them.

Labour is also understood to be drawing up its own reform package this weekend after the outcry prompted by the Post Office’s use of private prosecutions against more than 700 post office subpostmasters. It means that there is growing scope for a cross-party commitment to complete any reforms after the election.

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London bus operator withdraws electric fleet after Wimbledon bus fire

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TfL says GoAhead temporarily replacing route 200 fleet while investigating doubledecker fire on Wimbledon Hill Road

A fleet of electric buses has been taken out of service after a doubledecker caught fire in south London this week.

Transport for London (TfL) said the electric buses had been “temporarily withdrawn” by operator GoAhead.

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Tony Blair was warned about ‘flawed’ Horizon system, memo shows

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Documents released by inquiry into Post Office scandal show ex-PM and adviser discussing concerns

Sir Tony Blair was warned the IT system at the centre of the Post Office scandal was “flawed” before it was rolled out, a document shows.

The warning appears in a memo written to the former prime minister by special adviser Geoff Mulgan in 1998, which has been released by the public inquiry into the scandal.

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Hundreds of thousands expected at weekend protests in London after Yemen strikes

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Saturday’s march for Gaza ceasefire as part of global day of action will be followed by static rally for Israel on Sunday

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to gather in London over the weekend in protest against the war in Gaza as the conflict widens to Yemen.

On Saturday, protesters are expected to gather at Bank Junction at midday as part of a global day of action involving 30 countries, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign said.

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Rishi Sunak says UK acted in ‘self-defence’ with Yemen airstrikes

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PM defends lawfulness of military action against Houthis as MPs call for parliamentary scrutiny

The prime minister has said the UK acted in “self-defence” with military strikes in Yemen intended to “de-escalate tensions and restore stability to the region”, as he faced calls for greater parliamentary scrutiny.

Speaking from Ukraine, Rishi Sunak said that in the face of this aggression “we will always stand up for the rule of law” after a series of attacks by Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea.

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Sunak seeks stature on the global stage – and to keep trouble away from home

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Foreign policy displays in Yemen and Ukraine may win PM reflected glory – but capping inflationary pressures will be his foremost wish

Returning from an overseas trip last year that had been broadly seen as a success, Rishi Sunak was heard privately observing that a truism of foreign policy is that even when you get things right, voters tend to not especially notice or care.

Time will tell whether Sunak’s decision to throw in the UK’s lot with US-led attacks on Houthi forces will stem a spate of attacks on international shipping. But for now, the strike has won support from the bulk of British MPs, despite a few qualms about a lack of prior parliamentary consultation.

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Labour considers non-dom tax plan that would raise £1bn less than initial pledge

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Party may allow non-domiciles to live in Britain for four years before ending tax break, it is understood

Labour plans to scrap non-dom tax breaks would raise about a billion pounds less than the £3.2bn previously claimed, under an option being considered to allow a four-year grace period for those with the status.

Research suggesting that scrapping the breaks could raise £3.2bn a year was cited by Labour when it announced the plans in 2022 to scrap rules allowing some wealthy people to avoid tax on foreign earnings if they have lived in the UK for less than 14 years.

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Man claimed £18,500 disability benefits after willingly having leg amputated, court told

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Marius Gustavson, 46, known as ‘eunuch maker’, allegedly oversaw ‘lucrative’ UK body modifications group

The ringleader of an extreme body modifications group who was known as the “eunuch maker” claimed £18,500 in disability benefits after willingly having his leg amputated, a court heard.

Marius Gustavson, 46, was the mastermind of a “lucrative” and “widespread” extreme body modifications enterprise in which procedures – including the removal of genitals – were filmed and streamed on his pay-per-view website, the Old Bailey was told.

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Top lawyer urges MPs to review private prosecutions after Post Office scandal

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Bar Council chair Sam Townend KC says parliament should consider formal regulation of growing practice

Parliament should consider formal regulation of the growing practice of private prosecutions to ensure the power is not abused, the chair of the Bar Council has said.

Sam Townend KC said a review of private prosecutions should be launched in response to the Post Office scandal, in which about 3,500 postmasters were accused of theft, fraud and false accounting, and more than 700 prosecuted in cases brought by the organisation.

Gather evidence of the alleged crime, possibly using a private investigator.

Hand over evidence to a lawyer, who will review whether there is sufficient evidence to bring a criminal prosecution.

Make an application at a magistrates court to bring a private prosecution. This will be reviewed and either granted or rejected by a district judge.

The CPS may review the case at any time if the case is referred by the defendant, the private prosecutor or the court. The CPS can take over cases, either to proceed or discontinue.

If you proceed privately, the case will (eventually) be heard in court.

At the end of the case your lawyers can apply for costs to be reimbursed from the defendant and/or the public purse.

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BAE Systems in line for potential windfall from Kazakhstan airline flotation

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Air Astana, which is 49% owned by the British defence firm, announces plans to float on London stock market

Kazakhstan’s national airline has announced plans to float on the London stock market, bringing a potential windfall to BAE Systems, which has been an investor for more than two decades.

Air Astana, which is 49% owned by the British defence company, hopes to list in London and Kazakhstan and raise $120m (£94m). The airline, which is majority owned by the Kazakh sovereign wealth fund, did not say how much of the company would be floated and is yet to confirm an expected valuation range.

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Post Office lied and threatened BBC over programme exposing Horizon scandal, says broadcaster – UK politics live

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Post Office lawyers sent intimidating letters to experts interviewed for Panorama in 2015, says BBC, ahead of latest Horizon inquiry evidence

Chris Jackson, the lawyer acting for the Post Office, has apologised for delays in the disclosure of documents at a hearing in London as part of the inquiry into the Horizon scandal.

He is being questioned by the lead counsel to the Inquiry, Jason Beer KC.

The Post Office has asked me to convey its apologies for the current situation and to assure the inquiry and other core participants that it is a post office priority to get to a position where hearings (and planning and preparation for hearings) can take place from a stable basis.

I think it’s very important to be clear that these were, or the vast majority of these were, Post Office prosecutions brought by the Post Office in relation to their cases.

A small number, at the moment it looks like there may have been three or so, a handful of cases, in the five years that I was director of public prosecutions that were handled by the Crown Prosecution Service.

More details will emerge no doubt ... it’s not clear whether they’re in the cohort of cases of concern or not.

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Yemen strikes: Commons speaker calls for MPs to be urgently updated

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Lindsay Hoyle says he will recall parliament if necessary as minister says no immediate plans for more attacks

The Commons speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, has called for MPs to be updated on military strikes in Yemen “at the earliest possible opportunity”, saying he would recall parliament before Monday if needed for this to happen.

In a statement released by his office following UK involvement in attacks against Houthi forces, Hoyle said: “I was invited to a meeting at the Cabinet Office last night to be briefed about the airstrikes on Houthi rebel bases. I made representations to the deputy prime minister [Oliver Dowden] about the need for the house to be informed at the earliest possible opportunity and that I would be happy to facilitate a recall at any time.”

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