Category Archives: UK news

Family pays tribute to woman who died in south Wales explosion and fire

Posted on by

Teams work to establish cause of incident as businesswoman and scientist Danielle Evans is named

The woman who was killed in an explosion and fierce fire at an industrial estate in south Wales has been named as the 40-year-old businesswoman and scientist Danielle Evans.

Her family paid tribute to a “whirlwind of a woman”. They said: “She leaves a gaping hole in her family and friends’ hearts, which will never be replaced. She was an intelligent, caring and beautiful soul. She started her own successful laboratory business, Celtic Food Labs. Poured her heart and soul into it, but the most important things to her were her husband, family, dogs and friends.”

Continue reading...

Hugo Keith KC: dogged fact-finder at heart of Covid inquiry

Posted on by

Lead counsel’s quizzing of leading politicians, officials and scientists has brought him to national attention

It is not the traditional stuff of nightmares.

But you could forgive Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak if their dreams this Christmas are haunted by a mellifluously voiced man in a double-breasted suit asking polite questions that are nonetheless extremely hard to answer.

Continue reading...

Gaynor Lord: police say no evidence of third party involvement after body of a woman found – as it happened

Posted on by

Body found in search for 55-year-old woman who went missing after leaving work in Norwich last Friday afternoon. This live blog is closed

A body has been found in the search for Gaynor Lord, the 55-year-old woman who went missing after leaving work in Norwich last Friday afternoon, Norfolk police have said. Although the body has not been formally identified, Lord’s family have been informed, the force added.

A pair of divers could be seen recovering a body from the River Wensum at about midday on Friday, nearly a week after she was reported missing. The area, marked with an orange buoy, was about 100 metres downstream from where the search had been focused the day before. Officers previously said there was a “high probability” Lord went into the river at Wensum Park near to where a number of her belongings were found, adding there was no evidence of third party involvement.

A body was found in the River Wensum after a “detailed and methodical” search, police have said. Speaking at a press conference in Norwich, chief superintendent Dave Buckley said: “A team of specialist divers have found the body of a female in the River Wensun after a detailed and methodical search over the past few days. Whilst we establish her identity, our thoughts are with Gaynor’s family at this difficult and distressing time.”

A post-mortem examination will be carried out into the body found during the police search for the missing Gaynor Lord, Norfolk Police have said. Chief superintendent Dave Buckley said: “I am keen to say that this remains a missing person inquiry at this stage. “I’m also satisfied at the moment, based on the evidence we have, that Gaynor did not meet anybody on the way to the park and we now have a better understanding of her movements through the city centre. Whilst this is not the outcome we wished for, our search is always predominantly focused on the river and the park.”

Floral tributes to Gaynor Lord have started to be laid near the gates of Wensum Park in Norwich, with three bunches left by 3pm on Friday. One of them said: “Gaynor may you be at peace. God bless your family.”

A body has been found in the search for Gaynor Lord, the 55-year-old woman who went missing after leaving work in Norwich last Friday afternoon, Norfolk police have said.

Continue reading...

Asylum seekers housed at ex-RAF base tried to kill themselves, finds study

Posted on by

Report calls for immediate closure of Wethersfield as conditions causing irreparable harm to residents

Asylum seekers housed in the UK’s largest mass accommodation site have attempted to kill themselves and set themselves on fire because of conditions “no different from Libya”, according to a report.

The controversial Wethersfield site, on a remote military airbase near Braintree in Essex, is in the constituency of the home secretary, James Cleverly, who said earlier this year in a social media post that the site was not “appropriate”.

Continue reading...

British boy missing since 2017 Spanish holiday found in France

Posted on by

Alex Batty was 11 when allegedly abducted by mother and grandfather to give him ‘alternative lifestyle’

A British boy who has not been seen by his legal guardian since he went missing on a family holiday to Spain in 2017 has been found in France.

Alex Batty, from Oldham, was 11 and under the guardianship of his grandmother Susan Caruana when he was allegedly abducted by his mother, Melanie Batty, and grandfather, David Batty.

Continue reading...

Cheshire East council says it faces bankruptcy due to HS2 link cancellation

Posted on by

Local authority covering some of richest areas in England says it spent £11m preparing for rail line

A council in one of the wealthiest parts of the UK has warned it faces potential bankruptcy due to the “devastating” impact of cancelling the northern leg of HS2.

Leaders of Cheshire East council in north-west England said the authority had spent £11m preparing for the high-speed rail link, and this would now have to be written off. Most of this money – £8.6m – had been funded by borrowing and would now have to be funded from the council’s already stretched revenue budget.

Continue reading...

‘High probability’ missing Gaynor Lord went into river, Norwich police say

Posted on by

Police working with officers who investigated disappearance of Nicola Bulley in January as search continues

Police have said there is a high probability that Gaynor Lord, who has been missing since last Friday, went into the river in Norwich, as detectives confirmed they are working with officers who investigated Nicola Bulley’s disappearance.

Lord, 55, disappeared after leaving work in Norwich city centre earlier than scheduled on Friday afternoon, and her belongings – including items of clothing, her mobile phone, glasses and jewellery – were found scattered through Wensum Park later that day.

Continue reading...

Three people convicted of 1996 murder of Caroline Glachan in Scotland

Posted on by

Mother expresses relief at finally knowing who killed her daughter, 14, as Robert O’Brien, Andrew Kelly and Donna Marie Brand are found guilty

Three people have been convicted of the murder of a 14-year-old girl in 1996, with the judge describing their actions as “depraved, brutal and wicked”.

Robert O’Brien, 45, and Andrew Kelly and Donna Marie Brand, both 44, were found guilty of killing O’Brien’s girlfriend Caroline Glachan in West Dunbartonshire.

Continue reading...

MPs arrested for violent or sexual offences ‘face ban from Westminster’

Posted on by

Unions welcome new proposals that lower threshold for risk assessment being triggered

Trade unions have welcomed the publication of new proposals by parliamentary authorities for the exclusion of MPs who are arrested for a violent or sexual offences.

There had been mounting concern about delays to the long-awaited plans. But ministers have now also been urged to bring forward a vote on the issue as soon as the House of Commons returns in the new year after its Christmas recess.

Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak considers curbing social media use for under-16s

Posted on by

Reports suggest a ban is among potential options to protect young people from online harm

Rishi Sunak is considering limiting social media access for teenagers under the age of 16 to try to protect them from online harm, with reports suggesting a potential ban is on the cards.

The government is considering further action despite bringing in the Online Safety Act, which requires social media platforms to shield children from harmful content or face fines of up to 10% of a company’s global revenue.

Continue reading...

Parthenon marbles should return to Athens, says Lord Frost

Posted on by

Architect of Brexit calls for closer Anglo-Greek cultural ties, with sections held elsewhere in Europe also sent back

Britain should be part of a pan-European effort to bring the Parthenon marbles back to Greece, according to an architect of Brexit, who said the UK should make a grand gesture to create closer diplomatic and cultural relations between the two countries.

David Frost, a chief Brexit negotiator, called for a deal between Britain and Greece that would put the long-running dispute to bed, with the sculptures returned to Greece for the first time since the early 1800s when they were taken by Lord Elgin. At present they are in the British Museum’s collection.

Continue reading...

Rwandan politician who criticised Sunak’s bill fears for her safety

Posted on by

Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza has received threats after saying Rwanda was not a safe place to send refugees

A Rwandan opposition politician who publicly criticised the UK’s deportation deal this week fears for her safety after a presidential adviser condemned her for “waging war on her compatriots”.

Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, who wrote a column in the Guardian on Tuesday questioning her country’s treatment of refugees, said she has become concerned about the fallout from the criticism after the aide, an ally of Paul Kagame, wrote she was “maligning Rwanda” in international media.

Continue reading...

Miscarriage of justice watchdog reviews murder conviction of ex-MI6 informant

Posted on by

Criminal Cases Review Commission re-examines case of Wang Yam, who was convicted of 2006 murder of Allan Chappelow in London

The case of Wang Yam, a former MI6 informant convicted of the murder in 2006 of Allan Chappelow, a reclusive author and photographer, is being re-examined by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

The move comes after developments in forensic DNA analysis, which led to the successful appeal of Andrew Malkinson, whose 2004 conviction for rape was overturned in July.

Continue reading...

Scott Benton faces Commons suspension over lobbying to give Tories potential byelection headache – UK politics live

Posted on by

Commons standards committee recommends 35-day suspension for Scott Benton, who had Conservative whip suspended in April

Rishi Sunak has said that he is open to considering ways in which his Rwanda bill can be “improved”.

With Conservative rightwingers and centrists both wanting to amend the bill, in opposite directions, when it returns to the Commons in the new year, Sunak signalled that the government would be open to accepting some changes.

I’ve been very consistently clear, as have all ministers, if there are ways that the legislation can be improved, to be made even more effective — with a respectable legal argument and maintaining the participation of the Rwandans in the scheme — of course we would be open to that, who wouldn’t be?

This is a damning report from the cross-party standards committee, clearly concluding that Scott Benton seriously breached parliamentary rules in flaunting his position as a parliamentarian in exchange for remuneration.

This is not an isolated case, but comes off the back of a wave of Tory sleaze and scandal.

Continue reading...

Bank of England keeps interest rates on hold as concern about economy grows

Posted on by

Interest rates will need to stay high for sufficiently long to return inflation to 2% target

The Bank of England has said Britain is facing a tougher job to crush persistently high inflation than other advanced nations, as it kept interest rates on hold at the highest level since the 2008 financial crisis.

Pushing back against expectations in financial markets for a deep round of interest rate cuts next year, the central bank said there was still a long way to go before it could declare victory on inflation, despite a worsening outlook for the UK’s stagnant economy.

Continue reading...

Currys boss: minimum wage hike shows government does not ‘care’ about retail

Posted on by

Planned 10% UK increase as business rates rise will put pressure on already overburdened industry, says Alex Baldock

The boss of Currys has accused the government of failing to “understand or care” about UK retailers by pushing through a “big hike” in the UK’s minimum wage.

Alex Baldock’s comments come weeks after chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced plans to increase the legal minimum wage for the UK’s lowest paid workers to £11.44 an hour, representing a hike of almost 10%, from April 2024. The move will force employers to pay full time workers around £1,800 more per year.

Continue reading...

Guardian and Observer charity appeal passes £350,000 in donations

Posted on by

Donations in support of refugee and asylum seekers have got off to a strong start thanks to our readers

The Guardian and Observer charity appeal in support of refugee and asylum seekers has received more than £350,000 in donations from generous readers in less than a week since it launched.

The 2023 appeal is raising money for three charities – Refugee Councils of Britain, Refugees at Home, and Naccom – that support homeless and destitute asylum seekers and refugees and campaign for a fairer and more humane treatment of people arriving in the UK after fleeing war and persecution.

Donations can be made online by credit card, debit card or PayPal, or by phone on 0151 284 1126. We are unable to accept cheques.

Continue reading...

Thames Water appoints Chris Weston as boss with up to £2.3m package

Posted on by

Former British Gas executive tasked with leading turnaround in face of debts and controversy over sewage

Thames Water has appointed a former British Gas executive as its new boss with a pay package of up to £2.3m a year and tasked with leading a crucial turnaround as it faces mounting debts and controversy over dumping sewage in Britain’s waterways.

Chris Weston replaces Sarah Bentley, who resigned with immediate effect in June amid a backlash over the firm’s poor environmental track record. Weston will take up the role on 8 January.

Continue reading...

Sadiq Khan: plans to cut migration will trigger London recruitment crisis

Posted on by

Exclusive: Key sectors of capital’s economy worth billions to exchequer could be left understaffed, mayor warns

Sadiq Khan has said ministers’ plans to cut legal migration will lead to a “full-blown recruitment crisis” in London, with vacancies in hospitality alone still higher than they were pre-pandemic.

Net migration to the UK boosted the UK population by 672,000 in the year ending June 2023, and about half (48%) of the country’s foreign-born population live in London or the south-east of England.

Continue reading...

Eight in 10 convicted in UK over child abuse images avoid prison, NCA says

Posted on by

National Crime Agency calls for tougher sentencing and a new offence of running abuse websites

Eight out of 10 people in the UK caught with images of children being sexually abused avoid going to jail, the head of the National Crime Agency has revealed.

Graeme Biggar, the director general of the NCA, said some had been caught with thousands of images but avoided imprisonment, and others had been given rehabilitation orders and suspended sentences and then reoffended.

Continue reading...