Category Archives: UK news

Local action to replace London march for Palestine this week, say organisers

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Groups behind ceasefire protests attended by hundreds of thousands say there will be events across UK

More than 100 pro-Palestine events demanding a ceasefire in Gaza are due to take place across the UK this weekend, but there will be no large-scale national march in London, according to organisers.

Organisers of the pro-Palestine marches that have drawn hundreds of thousands of people to London’s streets have planned smaller action in villages, towns and cities rather than holding a national march in the capital this Saturday, citing the challenges of coordinating weekly national protests and growing support across the country. The next large national march in central London would be held on 25 November, they said.

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Keir Starmer bruised in fight with Labour party he did not want

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Critics say Labour leader missed chance to sound more sympathetic to Palestinian suffering and accept that a Gaza ceasefire call was implied

For the last few weeks, Keir Starmer has been trying to avoid a confrontation with his party over Gaza. With dozens of MPs preparing to rebel and vote for the Scottish National party’s amendment calling for a ceasefire in the region, the Labour leader and his top team held a series of difficult meetings as they tried to thrash out a compromise.

The rebels suggested Labour submitted an amendment of their own, which Starmer agreed to. But they were also desperate for him to use the word “ceasefire”, and on that point he refused to budge.

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Starmer facing more frontbench resignations if Gaza policy does not change

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Exclusive: Labour leader is target of growing anger in party over how he has handled vote on Israel-Hamas war

Keir Starmer faces more resignations from Labour’s frontbench if he does not shift his policy on Gaza, amid growing anger in the party over how he has handled the vote on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The Labour leader suffered the biggest rebellion of his tenure on Wednesday night as 10 frontbenchers resigned or were sacked from his team after voting for a Scottish National party motion that called for a ceasefire.

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MoD revelations add to sexual harassment crisis within wider military

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Complaints compiled by 60 senior civilian women follow reports of rape, assault and bullying across forces

• 60 women at MoD complain of widespread ‘toxic’ behaviour
• ‘The eyes tracking me is awful’: edited extracts

It is impossible not to conclude from the latest revelations that the Ministry of Defence faces a crisis of sexism, an epidemic of harassment – and in some cases the allegations are far worse.

The complaints, compiled by 60 senior civilian women in the department, include allegations so comprehensive it gives the impression its culture of sexism is institutionalised.

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Peers and MPs pledge to block Sunak’s Rwanda plan as Braverman labels it ‘magical thinking’

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Fast-track bill, after supreme court ruling barring deportation flights, would be ‘wildly unpopular legislation’ says Tory peer

Rishi Sunak’s target of flying out asylum seekers to Rwanda by next spring is in doubt, with opposition parties and some Conservative peers having pledged to try to block emergency legislation intended to rescue the plan.

In another blow to the prime minister, Suella Braverman, the home secretary that Sunak sacked on Monday, dismissed his ideas as “magical thinking”, setting out her own rival plan to make sure removals begin swiftly.

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Scottish minister blames sons watching football for £11,000 iPad roaming bill

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SNP’s Michael Matheson, health secretary of Scotland, apologises after initially charging bill to Holyrood

Michael Matheson, Scotland’s embattled health secretary, has apologised “unreservedly” after admitting he failed to properly disclose that his sons had largely run up an £11,000 iPad bill which he had initially charged in full to taxpayers.

In a personal statement to MSPs on Thursday, Matheson said he had referred himself for possible investigation by parliament for breaching its code of conduct, as he fought against mounting calls to resign from opposition leaders.

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UK government to present full law to set aside supreme court Rwanda decision

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Decision to table primary legislation in parliament puts in doubt Rishi Sunak’s aim for flights to begin leaving for Rwanda by spring

Rishi Sunak’s government will present a full law to parliament to set aside the supreme court’s ban on sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, setting up a probable battle with MPs and peers and putting in doubt the aim for flights to begin leaving by spring.

The law could be published within a fortnight, after next week’s autumn statement, and it will be primary legislation, meaning it will have to pass through all the normal stages of the Commons and Lords, Downing Street has said.

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No 10 says it will produce ‘emergency’ bill to show Rwanda safe country ‘in coming weeks’ – as it happened

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Downing Street says legislation will make clear ‘Rwanda is safe’ and will address court’s concerns after policy ruled unlawful. This live blog is closed

At his Institute for Government Q&A Sir Mark Rowley, commissioner of the Metropolitan police, refused to say what he felt about Lee Anderson, the Conservative party deputy chair, declaring yesterday that ministers should just ignore the supreme court judgment saying the Rwanda police was unlawful. Asked to respond, Rowley just said:

Politicians hold me to account, I don’t hold them to account.

Starmer travelled north of the border just hours after a revolt within his party over a ceasefire in Gaza resulted in the resignation of eight of his frontbenchers.

The Labour leader highlighted what he described as the “failure” of the UK government to negotiate a trade deal with India, a key exporter for Scotch whisky.

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Not illegal for Gaza protesters to climb on war memorial, says Met chief

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Home secretary says demonstration at Royal Artillery Memorial ‘deeply disrespectful’ and he is looking at giving police new powers

The actions of pro-Palestinian protesters who climbed on to a war memorial were “inflammatory” but not illegal, the Metropolitan police commissioner said on Thursday, as the government said it would consider giving police new powers to prevent “offensive” demonstrations.

Video footage appears to show at least two pro-Palestinian protesters clambering on the Royal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner, central London, on Wednesday evening, timed to coincide with a vote on calls for a ceasefire in Gaza in the Commons.

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UK ministers’ efforts to revive Rwanda policy likely to fail, lawyers say

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Government accused of ‘magical thinking’ and ignoring facts on the ground that led to supreme court judgment

Lawyers have said that UK ministers’ latest plans to get their high-profile Rwanda policy off the ground are unlikely to overcome the legal obstacles that defeated them in the supreme court on Wednesday.

After the five judges unanimously rejected the government’s plans to deport people seeking asylum in the UK to the east African country, Rishi Sunak said that he would ensure the flights could go ahead by legislating that Rwanda was safe.

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Cleverly ‘determined’ to get removal flight to Rwanda before general election

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Home secretary says legally binding treaty will be drafted ‘within days’ despite policy being ruled unlawful

Ministers are “absolutely determined” to get a removal flight to Rwanda off before the next election, and will finish drafting a legally binding treaty with the country “within days”, the home secretary, James Cleverly, has said, after the policy was ruled unlawful.

Cleverly, who was made home secretary in the reshuffle earlier this week, said the controversial policy was already having “a deterrent effect” on people smugglers.

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UK medicines regulator approves gene therapy for two blood disorders

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MHRA authorises uses of Casgevy as a potential cure for sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia

The UK’s medicines regulator has authorised the use of a world-first gene therapy as a potential cure for two inherited blood disorders.

The treatment, Casgevy, for sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia, is the first to be licensed that uses the gene-editing tool known as Crispr, whose inventors were awarded the Nobel prize in 2020.

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Rail strikes: Aslef announces industrial action in December

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Drivers to stage fresh series of 24-hour strikes and overtime ban, as RMT signals possible breakthrough

The train drivers’ union, Aslef, will stage a series of one-day strikes and call an overtime ban across England’s operating companies at the start of December, ratcheting up the national rail dispute again.

Drivers at each company will strike for 24 hours on dates between Saturday 2 and Friday 8 December, and will refuse to work overtime between Friday 1 and Saturday 9 December, causing more disruption for operators that rely on rest day working.

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Thursday briefing: What next after courts rejected Sunak’s Rwanda asylum policy – again

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In today’s newsletter: After the supreme court rejected plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, the government is considering its options

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Good morning.

580 days after the government pledged to send some asylum seekers thousands of miles away to Rwanda for processing and settlement, the UK supreme court has rejected the plans, undermining Rishi Sunak’s key pledge to reduce migration. It is a crushing blow for the prime minister, who is now facing a rightwing rebellion from his MPs while also dealing with a huge, costly policy failure.

Israel-Hamas war | Eight Labour frontbenchers including Jess Phillips have resigned as Keir Starmer was hit by a major rebellion over a vote for a ceasefire in Gaza. Overall, 56 Labour MPs voted against the Labour leader’s instruction. The UN security council has backed a resolution calling for “urgent extended humanitarian pauses” allowing aid access.

China | The US president, Joe Biden, has said that his summit meeting with China’s Xi Jinping has brought substantial progress, including agreements on limiting narcotics trafficking and restoring military lines of communication, as well as opening up conversations on the risks posed by artificial intelligence. However, the meeting had not brought the US and China any closer on Taiwan, which remains a dangerous sticking point.

Housing | Leaked documents have revealed that government safety experts last year warned that many tower blocks built from concrete panels that may pose a collapse risk have not been fixed. The news comes as hundreds of families were evacuated from Barton House, a 15-storey tower block in Bristol, over fears an explosion could pose “risk to the structure”.

Science | Nasa’s James Webb space telescope has revealed a planet where specks of sand fall as rain. The groundbreaking observations give an unprecedented glimpse of a strange and exotic world beyond our solar system that features silicate sand clouds and rain, scorching temperatures, raging winds and the distinct burned-matches scent of sulphur dioxide.

Crime | Two 12-year-old boys have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 19-year-old man was stabbed to death in Wolverhampton on Monday, West Midlands police have said.

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Large parts of Port Talbot steelworks could be shut under Tata Steel cuts plan

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Unions say move could force Tata’s automative steel factory at Llanwern to close, costing 600 jobs

Large parts of the Port Talbot steelworks will be closed or mothballed for years, and would leave the plant and its few remaining workers reliant on imported steel, according to proposals under consideration by the owner, Tata Steel.

Tata Steel has briefed union representatives on the proposals but has yet to announce a final decision. Workers, who marched through the town in protest on Saturday, were left in limbo two weeks ago after the company’s board in India decided to pull an announcement about its plans for the plant at the last moment.

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More than half of UK and Ireland seabirds in decline, census finds

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Species populations falling, with some decreasing due to loss of habitat and less food availability

More than half the seabird species breeding on British and Irish coasts have declined over the last 20 years, according to the most comprehensive census to date.

Eleven of 21 nesting seabirds species have fallen, five species have remained stable and five have increased, some because of targeted conservation work, according to the Seabirds Count survey.

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Private firms harming NHS patients by failing to deliver medicines, Lords report warns

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‘Real and serious problems’ in UK medical homecare sector going unaddressed due to failures in regulation, damning review says

Private healthcare companies are harming NHS patients in their own homes by failing to deliver vital medicines, and then escaping censure amid an alarming lack of oversight by ministers and regulators, members of the House of Lords have warned.

More than 500,000 patients and their families rely on private companies paid by the NHS to deliver essential medical supplies, drugs and healthcare to their homes. The homecare medicines services sector is estimated to be worth billions of pounds.

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Rishi Sunak ‘working on new Rwanda treaty’ after deportation policy ruled unlawful – UK politics live

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Prime minister says he is prepared to ‘revisit legal frameworks’ to stop the boats as supreme court says policy is unlawful

Reed says the court has had to decide whether the Rwanda policy breaches the non-refoulement rule.

The policy is in the Home Office’s immigration rules, he says.

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NHS lifestyle scheme has ‘huge benefits’ for people at risk of diabetes, study finds

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International study finds those on England programme have bigger drops in BMI, blood sugar and bad cholesterol

People at risk of diabetes reduce their weight and levels of bad cholesterol after undergoing “lifestyle counselling” in the NHS’s diabetes prevention programme, a major international study has found.

The health service launched the programme in 2016 to help prevent patients in England from developing diabetes through intensive weight loss, diet and exercise goals. Prediabetic patients referred to the scheme attend at least 13 group sessions over nine months. Latest figures from NHS England show that 1.3 million people have been referred to the scheme so far and 120,000 patients are due to take part this year.

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Rishi Sunak faces backlash from rightwing Tory MPs over Rwanda ruling

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At least six MPs to submit letter of no confidence, says Andrea Jenkyns, who has already submitted her own

Rishi Sunak is facing a fresh backlash from rightwing Conservative MPs who are pushing for emergency legislation to overrule the supreme court’s decision on the UK government’s Rwanda deportation plan.

At least six MPs will submit letters of no confidence in the prime minister, according to Andrea Jenkyns, a rebel backbencher who has already submitted her own.

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