Benjamin Myers wins 2023 Goldsmiths prize for ‘vital’ novel Cuddy

Award for mould-breaking fiction goes to multi-genre work – ‘part poetry, part electricity’ – retelling the story of Durham Cathedral

Benjamin Myers has won the 2023 Goldsmiths prize for Cuddy, a novel that combines poetry, prose, play, diary and real historical accounts in retelling the story of the eponymous Anglo-Saxon saint Cuthbert and his connection to Durham Cathedral.

Cuddy “is a book of remarkable range, virtuosity and creative daring”, said judging chair Tom Lee, lecturer in creative writing at Goldsmiths. “A millennia-spanning epic told in a multitude of perfectly realised voices, this visionary story of St Cuthbert and the cathedral built in his honour echoes through the ages.”

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Sunak accused of ‘silly posturing’ by ex-Tory minister after climbdown over pro-Palestine rally

PM backs down over march on Armistice Day after meeting Met chief, with senior party figures critical of his handling of the issue

Rishi Sunak has been accused of “silly puffed-up posturing” by senior Tories after being forced to concede at the 11th hour that a pro-Palestine march planned for Armistice Day will go ahead.

For days minsters have insisted that the march through central London should not proceed out of respect for commemorations being held on 11 November.

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Oil and gas ‘not the problem’ for climate, says UK’s net zero minister

Campaigners call Graham Stuart’s comments ‘laughable’ and say Conservatives are weaponising climate action

Oil and gas are “not the problem” for the climate, but the carbon emissions arising from them are, the UK’s net zero minister has told MPs.

In words that suggested the UK could place yet more emphasis on technologies to capture and store carbon, Graham Stuart said fossil fuel production was not driving climate change, but demand for fossil fuels was.

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‘It’s one of the fundamental issues of our time’: Ben Jamal, the man behind London’s pro-Palestine march

The son of a Palestinian vicar from west Jerusalem and an English mother has helped bring hundreds of thousands of people on to the capital’s streets

“By and large, it’s all been resolved,” said Ben Jamal, the director of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC), of his latest meeting with the Metropolitan police about the pro-Palestine march due to take place on Armistice Day in central London.

A “very long meeting” with officers on Wednesday morning had “focused on ironing out the final details of logistics”. There would be just one final discussion to confirm the precise finishing point of Saturday’s procession from Marble Arch to Nine Elms, close to the US embassy, he said.

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Rishi Sunak says pro-Palestine march on Saturday is ‘proof of UK’s commitment to freedom’ – as it happened

Prime minister says he finds prospect of march ‘disrespectful’ but says freedom includes ‘right to peacefully protest’

Keith is only now asking about Covid. All the questions so far have been about process.

Sedwill says, when concerns about Covid arose, he did not agree to a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee taking place immediately. He wanted to ensure that the meeting was prepared for. And he was concerned that having a Cobra meeting might alarm people.

I felt that a Cobra which might have been convened primarily for communications purposes wasn’t wise. Two days later I was advised there was a genuine cross-government basis for it and I agreed.

May we be plain please as to what you mean by communications purposes. Were you concerned that the Cobra was being called by the DHSC [the Department of Health and Social Care] for presentation purposes, that is to say to make a splash about the role of DHSC, perhaps its secretary of state [Matt Hancock], and that’s why you initially hesitated.

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Most foreign doctors in NHS face ‘racist microaggressions’, survey shows

Findings of ‘thinly veiled, everyday instances of racism at work’ raise fears medical graduates may avoid UK

Three in five foreign doctors in the NHS face “racist microaggressions” at work, such as patients refusing to be treated by them or having their abilities doubted because of their skin colour.

The widespread “thinly veiled, everyday instances of racism at work” experienced by medics trained overseas has been uncovered by a survey of more than 2,000 UK doctors and dentists.

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‘Handed a death sentence’: UK doctor forced to return to Gaza from Egypt

Foreign Office accused of ‘grotesque failure’ as Dr Ahmed Sabra says he and other UK nationals have been sent back over border

A British consultant cardiologist based in Swansea has said he is being “handed a death sentence” after being forced to return to Gaza over the border from Egypt at the Rafah crossing on Wednesday.

Dr Ahmed Sabra said: “I am making a desperate appeal to the public that hold British values to help us. We are being handed a death sentence. Gaza is the most dangerous place in the world.

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Wednesday briefing: Should a pro-Palestine march on Armistice Day be banned?

In today’s newsletter: The Metropolitan police has resisted calls to ban a march in support of a ceasefire in Gaza – but that may not be the end of the story

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Good morning. Claims that a pro-Palestine march planned in London for Armistice Day this weekend poses a threat to the Cenotaph just won’t go away. Yesterday, the justice secretary, Alex Chalk, said that even those with no malicious intent risked supporting extremists at “an extremely important time in our calendar”, and called for the march to be postponed. “The police must stop any odious behaviour at the Cenotaph,” the Conservative MP James Sunderland said. “But far better for the government to ensure that no protest goes near it in the first place.”

Sunderland’s demand may be perplexing to the protesters: the march on Saturday is intended to run from Hyde Park to the US embassy, nowhere near the war memorial in Whitehall.

Israel-Hamas war | Israeli forces are “in the heart of Gaza City”, Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant said, as Palestinian families waving white flags streamed away from the capital on Tuesday. Meanwhile, after Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would take indefinite “security responsibility” for the territory, the White House said that it would oppose any reoccupation of Gaza. For the latest, head to the live blog.

Fossil fuels | The world’s fossil fuel producers are planning expansions that would blow the planet’s carbon budget twice over, a UN report has found. Petrostates’ plans would lead to 460% more coal production, 83% more gas, and 29% more oil in 2030 than would be possible under the internationally agreed 1.5C target, the report said.

Vaping | UK ministers are considering a new tax on vapes in a significant expansion of moves to create a “smoke-free generation” that also includes the gradual introduction of a total ban on smoking for children. The move to tax vapes was one of the few surprise measures in a king’s speech that appeared largely designed to create dividing lines with Labour. Read a summary of measures in the bill.

Covid inquiry | The government body set up to coordinate Covid policy had no warning about Rishi Sunak’s “eat out to help out” scheme and felt “blindsided” by the Treasury over it, the inquiry into the pandemic has been told.

Childcare | Poorer families are being “locked out” of expanded free nursery hours, experts have warned, as Guardian analysis reveals that the number of not-for-profit nurseries in England’s most-deprived areas has fallen sharply. Close to a third of not-for-profit nurseries closed their doors or were taken over by private companies, including private equity firms, in the poorest parts of the country from 2018-2022.

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Afghan former interpreter with British army resettles in UK after legal battle

Ahmad* was approved for relocation to UK before Home Office refusal meant he missed evacuation from Afghanistan in 2021

An Afghan former interpreter with the British army has resettled in the UK with his family after a lengthy legal battle with the government, more than two years after being initially approved for relocation.

Prior to the Taliban takeover, Ahmad* worked as an interpreter in Helmand province. In late 2020 he was approved for relocation to the UK before later facing a Home Office refusal, and missing the opportunity to evacuate as Britain and international allies withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021.

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Imran Hussain: Labour frontbencher resigns in support of Gaza ceasefire

Shadow minister says he wants to be free to strongly advocate his position on Gaza, contrary to Keir Starmer only calling for humanitarian pauses

The shadow minister Imran Hussain has resigned from Keir Starmer’s Labour frontbench in order to “be able to strongly advocate for a ceasefire” in Gaza.

“Over recent weeks, it has become clear that my view on the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza differs substantially from the position you have adopted,” Hussain said in a resignation letter to Starmer published on social media.

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Hunt urged to invest £30bn a year in infrastructure or risk ‘decade in doldrums’

Thinktank says stronger than expected tax revenues have given chancellor scope for bold package in autumn statement

Jeremy Hunt risks condemning Britain to a decade in the doldrums unless he uses this month’s autumn statement to announce a £30bn-a-year investment plan to upgrade public infrastructure, a leading thinktank has warned.

The National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said the chancellor should ignore calls by Tory MPs for pre-election tax cuts and instead focus on measures to boost growth through improvements to transport, digital networks, skills and housing.

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AI Pictionary and a ‘robo-dog’ make UK shops’ hottest Christmas toy lists

Retailers hope new version of top-selling board game plus Dog-E will help fuel festive sales recovery

A new version of Pictionary that pits artist against artificial intelligence and a pet “robo-dog” with a wagging tail are among the toys destined to appear on Christmas lists this year as retailers pray for better sales during the key festive trading period.

With the cost of living crisis looming large over another year’s celebrations, the Toy Retailers Association’s annual DreamToys list of the 20 “hottest” gifts includes a dozen that are under £50. Among them is Pictionary vs AI (£24), a new version of the classic board game that pitches (terrible) human sketches against the might of AI processing power.

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UK housing market is past its ‘peak pain’, declares Savills

Upmarket estate agent says prices will start to bottom out in 2024 as interest rates fall and will return to growth in 2025

Britain’s housing market is past “peak pain” and prices look likely to bottom out by next summer, according to the estate agency Savills.

The average UK house price is projected to fall by 3% in 2024, after a 4% drop this year, the upmarket estate agent and property advisory firm said in its five-year outlook.

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Figure on Led Zeppelin IV cover identified as Victorian Wiltshire thatcher

Fifty-year mystery solved as research suggests picture shows Lot Long, a widower from Mere

For Led Zeppelin fans it is an instantly recognisable image: that of a grey-bearded figure stooping, his leathery hands grasping the pole supporting a bundle of hazel on his back.

But the origin of the image, which forms the centrepiece of the eye-catching front cover of Led Zeppelin IV, has remained a mystery for more than half a century.

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Keir Starmer dismisses king’s speech as ‘exercise in economic miserabilism’ – politics live

Labour party leader criticises speech as ‘admission that government has no faith in Britain’s ability to avert decline’

Here is Ben Quinn’s guide to what will be in the king’s speech.

In a statement about the king’s speech issued overnight, Keir Starmer said:

Britain is crying out for the long-term change that harnesses the ambition of our young people, the innovative drive of our businesses, and the ordinary hope and optimism that exists around every kitchen table.

A government acting in the national interest would deliver a big build programme to kickstart growth in every region and begin to turn around 13 years of decline with a plan for a decade of national renewal.

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Patisserie Valerie fraud trial will not start until 2026, court told

Serious Fraud Office expects to examine 3m documents relating to collapsed bakery chain and charges against four people

The fraud trial of former employees of the collapsed bakery chain Patisserie Valerie will not take place for another two and a half years, a court has heard.

At a trial preparation hearing at Southwark crown court on Tuesday, a date was set for spring 2026, about eight years on from the accounting crisis that led to the collapse of the business.

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Captain Tom’s family lose appeal against demolition of spa complex

Planning Inspectorate says ‘Captain Tom Building’ harms Grade II-listed home where Moore’s daughter and her family live

The family of Captain Sir Tom Moore have lost a planning application appeal for a spa complex in their garden and have been given three months to demolish the structure.

Moore’s daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore, 53, and her husband, Colin, 66, appealed against a demolition order by Central Bedfordshire council for what they have called the Captain Tom Foundation Building in the grounds of their Bedfordshire home.

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Sunak and Johnson pushed repeatedly against autumn lockdown, inquiry told

Covid investigation also told taskforce coordinating pandemic policy had no warning of ‘eat out to help out’

Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson pushed repeatedly against lockdown measures during the second wave of Covid in autumn 2020, with the government’s chief scientist accusing the then chancellor of using “spurious” arguments against new rules, the inquiry into the pandemic has heard.

In a day of evidence that placed increasing focus on Sunak’s role, the inquiry also heard that his flagship “eat out to help out” hospitality scheme was imposed without consulting the government’s Covid taskforce, leaving officials “blindsided” by the Treasury.

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Thousands of lone child asylum seekers left in limbo by Home Office, data shows

Since 2020 more than 7,500 children in UK have waited more than a year for initial asylum decision – and 57 for more than five years

Thousands of lone child asylum seekers have been left in limbo by the Home Office without a decision on their protection claims, with dozens waiting more than five years, official data has revealed.

Home Office data shows that over the past three years more than 7,500 children who travelled alone to the UK waited more than a year for an initial decision on whether or not to accept their asylum claim.

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