Category Archives: UK news

Post Office minister set to update MPs on Horizon scandal compensation and convictions – UK politics live

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Business minister Kevin Hollinrake to give statement on Horizon scandal and what the government plans to do

James Chapman, a former political editor of the Daily Mail who worked as special adviser for David Davis when he was Brexit secretary for about a year until he left convinced that Brexit was a terrible mistake, says he does not think the “back to square one” line really works as an attack line against Labour.

The trouble with Sunak’s latest slogan is that I suspect a large number of voters think Britain is so broken under the Tories that “going back to square one” sounds like a wholly positive idea

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Paula Vennells to Ed Davey: the people with questions to answer on the Post Office scandal

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Numerous people have been criticised for their role in widespread miscarriage of justice that affected thousands

Over a 16-year period the Post Office wrongfully accused about 3,500 branch owner-operators of theft, fraud and false accounting, resulting in more than 700 prosecutions, despite knowing from at least 2010 that there were faults in the Horizon IT system.

To date no Post Office staff or suppliers have been punished. Here are some of those involved who still have questions to answer for their role in what has frequently been described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history.

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Rish! thinks Rish! is an amazing guy, but condescension is his modus operandi

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He tried to engage the little people and bestow upon them his blessings, but he’s incapable of not talking down to everyone

Surely it can’t go on like this for the rest of the year. If it does, then we will all be driven mad by the end of it. Assuming we’re not already. Rishi Sunak has started 2024 as he means to go on. In full election mode. The prime minister is seemingly no longer interested in governing the country – it’s scarcely registered with him that half the country is flooded. Then again, if your primary mode of transport is a helicopter, I guess you don’t really notice. All that matters is scoring cheap points as he scrabbles around to think of reasons people might vote for him.

On Monday, the first day parliament was back after the Christmas recess, Sunak was in Accrington to deliver yet another of his PM Disconnects to a carefully curated audience of about 100 people who had been rounded up by Conservative head office. Even so, many of those in the hall soon began to wonder if they had been dragged out under false pretences.

John Crace’s book Depraved New World (Guardian Faber, £16.99) is out now. To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copy and save 18% at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply

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Sellafield nuclear safety and security director to leave

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Multiple safety and cybersecurity failings at nuclear waste site were revealed by Guardian last month

The top director responsible for safety and security at Sellafield is to leave the vast nuclear waste dump in north-west England, it has emerged.

Mark Neate, the Sellafield environment, safety and security director, is to leave the organisation later this year.

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Idris Elba calls for immediate ban on machetes and ‘zombie’ knives

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Actor and musician also calls for more funding for youth services as part of campaign to end youth knife violence

Idris Elba has called for more urgent action on youth knife violence – including the immediate banning of machetes and “zombie” knives, and more funding for youth services – saying the time for excuses and delays is over.

Speaking to the Guardian on Monday, the star of Luther and The Wire said society was capable of coming together to solve the problem, adding that experts in youth services and bereaved families needed to be able to sit in the same room as politicians and the police, among others, to achieve that.

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Man with peanut allergy died after slice of pizza, inquest in Newcastle hears

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James Atkinson, 23, who died in 2020, described by parents as having ‘a gift of making others happy’

A 23-year-old man with a peanut allergy who died after eating a slice of takeaway pizza ordered through Deliveroo has been described by his parents as someone who brightened everyone’s day and lived life to the full.

An inquest opened on Monday into the death of James Atkinson, a Newcastle University computer science graduate who had found his “dream job” as a computer programmer in the city.

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Health inequalities ‘caused 1m early deaths in England in last decade’

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Exclusive: Review by Michael Marmot decries 'shocking political failure’ behind differing life expectancies across country

More than 1 million people in England died prematurely in the decade after 2011 owing to a combination of poverty, austerity and Covid, according to “shocking” new research by one of the UK’s leading public health experts.

The figures are revealed in a study by the Institute of Health Equity at University College London led by Sir Michael Marmot. They demonstrate the extent to which stark economic and social inequalities are leading to poorer people dying early from cancer, heart problems and other diseases.

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Manufacturers say UK becoming more competitive as global hub, survey finds

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Findings show British bosses growing in confidence over sector’s prospects despite ‘headwinds of sustained economic challenges’

Britain’s largest manufacturers believe the UK is increasing its competitiveness as a global hub for manufacturing, despite high energy costs, worker shortages and political instability holding back progress.

In a crunch period for the economy before the general election, the manufacturing trade body Make UK and the accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said industry bosses were growing more confident about the sector’s prospects, but “headwinds of sustained economic challenges” still remained.

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Conservatives face ‘obliteration’ as UK in worse state than 2010, Tory MP says

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Danny Kruger said his party would leave the country ‘sadder, less united and less conservative’ than they had found it

The Conservatives face “obliteration” at the next election after leaving the country in a worse state than they inherited it in 2010, a senior Tory MP has said, in a stark assessment of the party’s 13 years in government.

Danny Kruger, a leading backbencher and founder of the increasingly influential New Conservatives group, said the Conservatives risked being ejected from power this year having left the country “sadder, less united and less conservative” than they found it.

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Surgeon who carried out Europe’s first liver transplant dies aged 93

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Prof Sir Roy Calne performed gamechanging operation in 1968, and was responsible for other surgical ‘world firsts’

Prof Sir Roy Calne, the pioneering surgeon who led a team which performed the first liver transplant in Europe, has died at the age of 93.

On 2 May 1968 Calne performed the gamechanging operation at Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge, a year after the US’s first successful liver transplant.

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Channel 4 plans deepest job cuts in over 15 years after TV ad slump

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Exclusive: As many as 200 roles could go as firm seeks to accelerate digital streaming strategy and limit cuts to content budget

Channel 4 is drawing up plans to cut potentially as many as 200 jobs in its biggest round of layoffs in more than 15 years, as it seeks to make savings to weather the worst TV advertising downturn since 2008.

The broadcaster, which has undergone a rapid expansion in recent years with staff numbers swelling to a record level of more than 1,200, aims to dramatically reduce a wage bill that now stands at more than £108m a year.

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Post Office suspected of more injustices over Horizon pilot scheme

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Exclusive: software believed to have resulted in prosecutions even before full system rollout in 1999

The Post Office is suspected of wrongly prosecuting dozens more operators who took part in a pilot scheme of the faulty Horizon system, the Guardian has been told.

Amid growing anger over the treatment of postmasters whose lives have been ruined in the scandal, Whitehall sources have confirmed that a precursor scheme was rolled out in 1995 and 1996 to hundreds of branches in north-east England.

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Rishi Sunak considers plan to exonerate Post Office Horizon scandal victims

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PM reveals government is also considering plans to strip Post Office of its powers to prosecute

Post office operators whose lives have been ruined by the Horizon scandal could be exonerated under plans being considered by the government, Rishi Sunak has said.

The prime minister also confirmed that Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, could strip the Post Office of its powers to prosecute after more than 700 branch managers were wrongly handed criminal convictions.

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Actor drives 150 miles to star in Evita after lead and understudy fall ill

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Jessica Daley rushed to the rescue after Curve theatre in Leicester put out a call for someone who knew the role

An actor travelled more than 150 miles to ensure the show went on after both the lead and understudy became ill and could not perform in a musical.

Jessica Daley travelled from her home in Middlesbrough to the Curve theatre in Leicester to sing the starring role of Eva Perón in a 7.30pm performance of Evita on Saturday.

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UK weather: Storm Henk flooding misery to continue beyond weekend

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1,800 properties estimated to have flooded in England, as forecasters warn of colder weather on the way

The misery and chaos caused by flooding in England is set to continue until at least Monday, according to authorities.

In its latest update, the Environment Agency estimated that more than 1,800 properties had flooded after the heavy, intense downpours brought by Storm Henk.

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UK accused of hypocrisy in not backing claim of genocide in Gaza before ICJ

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Experts say submission to international court of justice on Myanmar six weeks ago makes stance ‘wholly disingenuous’

The UK is facing accusations of double standards after formally submitting detailed legal arguments to the international court of justice in The Hague six weeks ago to support claims that Myanmar committed genocide against the Rohingya ethnic group through its mass mistreatment of children and systematically depriving people of their homes and food.

The UK made its 21-page “declaration of intervention” jointly with five other countries, but it is not supporting South Africa as it prepares to try to convince the ICJ on Thursday that Israel is at risk of committing genocide against the Palestinian people.

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Sunak says he wants to reduce workers’ taxes this year and may cut benefits

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PM sets up possibility of income tax coming down in March and says control of welfare is a priority

Rishi Sunak has said he wants to cut taxes for working people further this year, possibly cutting welfare payments to fund it.

The prime minister said on Sunday his priority before the budget in March would be further tax cuts, which he said would entail stricter controls on public spending and benefits.

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Spanish woman removed from UK after returning from Christmas holiday

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Woman was detained overnight and removed despite presenting Home Office documents showing her right to work and live in UK

A 34-year-old Spanish woman was forcibly removed from the UK after returning from a Christmas holiday near Málaga despite presenting Brexit paperwork to border officials showing she has a right to live and work in the country.

She was flown back to Spain after being detained overnight in Luton airport on 26 December and told she was “wasting her time” if she thought the Home Office documentation she had showing her right to live in the UK was valid.

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‘A national emergency’: UK theatres fear closure after more local funding cuts

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Windsor and Maidenhead scraps cultural budget in wake of similar moves in Suffolk, Bristol, Nottingham and Birmingham

The chill blast of damaging cuts to provincial arts venues has returned to Berkshire this weekend as the cash-strapped local authority becomes the latest to scrap its cultural budget.

Local MP and former prime minister Theresa May was among those to salute a reprieve back in February. But theatre lovers in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead now fear their venues are in jeopardy again, since no cultural funds appear in the next budget.

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Testify under oath about Jeffrey Epstein abuse scandal, Prince Andrew urged

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Duke of York must answer to claims in new documents while ‘facing all the trappings of the law’, says victims’ lawyer

Prince Andrew must testify under oath about his role in the Jeffrey Epstein abuse scandal so that he faces the threat of prison if he lies, a lawyer for several of Epstein’s victims has said.

Amid growing calls for a police investigation into allegations of sexual assault against the royal, Spencer Kuvin, a Florida-based attorney, told the Observer that the Duke of York “needs to answer for what is now coming out” and should give his account with “all the trappings of the law” so that he is legally obliged to tell the truth.

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