Category Archives: UK news

Sunak says HS2 decision should not be ‘rushed’ as he rejects claim dithering has derailed Tory conference – live

Posted on by

Prime minister says he will not make a ‘premature decision’ about where the high speed rail line will end

Nigel Farage has said that parts of the Conservative party are now like Ukip.

The former leader of Ukip and the Brexit party is attending the conference partly in his capacity as a GB News presenter. But he is also a popular figure with some Tories, and yesterday he was a prominent supporter in the audience as Liz Truss called for tax cuts at a rally.

I’ve been very consistent with the things that I’ve said over quite a long time. I’ve never really shifted from those views, whether it’s regards borders, increasing population, attitudes towards below small business, net zero, taxes. What’s interesting is there’s now a wing of the Conservative party that has woken up to these things and they’re now saying them.

Well, if you asked the delegates here, you might be surprised by the answer.

I think what people want from their prime ministers and their leaders is to do things that are going to make a difference to their lives.

I don’t think people are as interested in how much money is in my bank account. They’re interested in what I’m doing for them.

Continue reading...

Greggs keeps prices on hold as sales leap and it opens new shops

Posted on by

Britain’s biggest bakery chain says cost inflation is easing, although staff costs are rising

Greggs, Britain’s biggest bakery chain, said it had no plans to raise its prices before Christmas after its cost inflation eased, as sales soared over the last three months.

The retailer raised its prices in June, when some products went up by 5-10p.

Continue reading...

Rare medieval Cheddar brooch found in Somerset field to go on display

Posted on by

Silver and copper alloy disc from days of King Alfred hailed as one of the most important finds of its kind

When it emerged from the earth it was dull, corroded and battered, the centuries it had spent lying beneath a Somerset field having taken their toll.

Now restored and gleaming, the Cheddar brooch, a rare early medieval piece regarded as one of the most important finds of its kind, is going on display at a museum close to where it was found by a metal detectorist.

Continue reading...

Dolled up: Design Museum to host Barbie exhibition next year

Posted on by

The London museum has been granted special access to the world-famous toy’s archives in California and will explore her history ‘through a design lens’

If this summer’s blockbuster movie has left you longing for more Barbie in your life, help is at hand. An exhibition on the history of the world-famous long-legged doll is to open at the Design Museum in London next year.

The museum says it has been granted special access to the Barbie archives in California, and dozens of rare and unique items will be displayed to tell the story of the brand over the course of 65 years.

Continue reading...

Sikh separatists gather in London to protest after activists’ deaths

Posted on by

Demonstrators stage protest outside Indian high commission questioning UK government’s response to killings

Supporters of the Sikh separatist Khalistan movement gathered outside the Indian high commission in central London to call for the UK government to stand alongside Canada after the killing of a prominent Sikh leader.

Monday’s protest on Aldwych came two weeks after Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said his government was looking at “credible allegations potentially linking” India with the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in British Columbia. Nijjar, who was 45, was killed on 18 June in a hail of gunfire outside his place of worship.

Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak refuses to make ‘premature decision’ over HS2

Posted on by

PM declines to reveal if Manchester to Birmingham line will be scrapped amid speculation over soaring costs

Rishi Sunak has insisted he is not going to be forced into a “premature decision” over the fate of the HS2 high-speed rail line as speculation about the multibillion pound project continued to overshadow the Conservative conference.

“I am not going to be forced into a premature decision because it is good for someone’s TV programme,” the prime minister told BBC Breakfast.

Continue reading...

Sunak fails to hand WhatsApp messages from time as chancellor to Covid inquiry

Posted on by

Exclusive: PM claims he has changed phone since running the Treasury and did not back up the messages

Rishi Sunak has failed to hand over his WhatsApp messages from his time as chancellor to the Covid inquiry despite the high court ruling that ministers should disclose their communications for scrutiny.

In his witness statement to the public inquiry, seen by the Guardian, the prime minister claimed that he did “not have access” to the messages during the period running the Treasury because he had changed his phone several times and failed to back them up.

Continue reading...

Kemi Badenoch failed to declare meeting with Rupert Murdoch

Posted on by

Business secretary privately met media mogul in apparent breach of ministerial code of conduct

Kemi Badenoch failed to declare a meeting that she held with Rupert Murdoch days after she was appointed to the cabinet – in a breach of transparency rules.

The business and trade secretary reacted angrily on Monday on social media after it was revealed that she had privately met the media mogul and other executives from his News Corp company in New York in September 2022.

Continue reading...

Is HS2 destined for the rubbish heap or could its northern leg be saved?

Posted on by

Furious city mayors make a plea for the project north of Birmingham amid ugly scenes at Tory conference

So what does cancelling HS2 north of Birmingham look like? There were ugly scenes at the Conservative conference hall even before the official death knell sounds: an uneasy HS2 minister batting off questions as above his pay grade, furious metro mayors declaring battle, railway leaders’ heads spinning at the logic.

In the real world, it’s even worse. From the massive crater and demolished homes, business and public spaces outside London Euston station to the hundreds of millions spent on compulsory purchases of houses on the original routes north from Birmingham, the consequences of a train line that may never exist are all too tangible. About 30,000 people are working on the scheme – and many of those believed they would have jobs for the long term.

Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak prepares to confirm scrapping of Manchester leg of HS2

Posted on by

Tory mayor of West Midlands says PM in danger of ‘cancelling the future’ as bitter row threatens to derail conference

Rishi Sunak has become embroiled in a bitter row with regional politicians, the transport industry and members of his own party as he prepared to announce the cancellation of the multibillion high speed rail line to Manchester.

The prime minister is set to call an emergency cabinet meeting on Tuesday at the Conservative party conference in Manchester, where ministers are expected to give their approval to the biggest infrastructure climbdown in a generation.

Continue reading...

Mobile phone ban in English schools ‘smokescreen’ to mask real issues, say critics

Posted on by

Most schools had policies before government’s plan, and there are concerns about safety and implications for carers of outright ban

Glyn Potts, head teacher at Newman Roman Catholic College in Oldham, could not hide his irritation at the morning headlines announcing a government ban on mobile phones in state schools in England.

His school, like the vast majority, already has a mobile phone policy. “All banned and have been for 10 years,” he said, dismissing the announcement by the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, as a “smokescreen” to distract from the real challenges facing schools, such as underfunding, teacher recruitment and providing for pupils with special educational needs.

Continue reading...

UK passport images database could be used to catch shoplifters

Posted on by

Civil liberty campaigners warn Chris Philp’s plans to integrate databases are an ‘Orwellian nightmare’

Britain’s passport database could be used to catch shoplifters, burglars and other criminals under urgent plans to curb crime, the policing minister has said.

Chris Philp said he planned to integrate data from the police national database (PND), the Passport Office and other national databases to help police find a match with the “click of one button”.

Continue reading...

Tory MPs should ‘get behind’ Sunak, says Andrew Mitchell

Posted on by

International development minister warns colleagues jostling for position not to be ‘self-indulgent’

Tory MPs should get over their “excess of doom and gloom” about their electoral prospects and “get behind” Rishi Sunak, a cabinet minister has said, with a veiled warning to colleagues jostling for position not to be “self-indulgent”.

The international development minister, Andrew Mitchell, suggested on Sunday that rival groups of Conservative MPs, who have been proposing an array of policy ideas at the party conference in Manchester, should be more disciplined before the election.

Continue reading...

‘Braverman knows exactly what she’s unleashing’: Ken Loach on his latest, and possibly last, film

Posted on by

The Old Oak, about tensions in a former mining village when refugees arrive, has touched a nerve more raw now than when filming began

The veteran film-maker Ken Loach is famous for storylines that depict life’s bleakest injustices. But his latest film has touched a political nerve that is more raw now than when it was conceived before the pandemic.

Loach, now 87, has said that The Old Oak, which opened in cinemas on Friday, will be his last in a career spanning more than six decades. The six-week shoot was challenging, he says, but plays down the difficulties of making a big film at his age with the sight in one eye almost gone.

Continue reading...

NHS England leaders believe 2m operations and appointments lost to strikes

Posted on by

Leaders say hidden total may be double official tally, as junior doctors, consultants and radiographers prepare more strikes

As many as 2m outpatient appointments and operations have been cancelled as a result of NHS strikes – double the official total – hospital bosses believe.

The NHS Confederation said the true number of care sessions hospitals are not able to provide due to staff walkouts is far higher than the NHS’s 1m figure because so many hospitals now do not book any patients in on strike days, to save having to reschedule them.

Continue reading...

UK families ‘eating less healthily’ due to cost of living crisis

Posted on by

BBC Good Food Nation survey finds 19% of Britons eating more processed foods because they are cheaper

Families are eating less healthily and turning to ready meals and processed foods due to the cost of living crisis, a study has found.

More than two-thirds of people (69%) said they considered themselves to be healthy eaters but 28% said they were eating less nutritious food because it is too expensive, according to the BBC Good Food Nation survey.

Continue reading...

Catholic and C of E primary schools in England ‘take fewer Send pupils’

Posted on by

LSE research suggests faith-based admissions requirements deter disadvantaged children

Church of England and Roman Catholic primary schools take fewer pupils with disabilities or special needs than other local schools in England, according to research that suggests faith-based admissions requirements deter pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The findings led the author, Dr Tammy Campbell of the London School of Economics, to conclude that faith schools “serve as hubs of relative advantage” for children from more affluent families who were less likely to have special needs.

Continue reading...

Charity challenges home secretary’s claims about ‘economic migrants’

Posted on by

Refugee Council study suggests asylum claims by three out of four crossing Channel would be granted

Suella Braverman’s claim that most asylum seekers are economic migrants has been challenged by an analysis which suggests that three out of four people crossing the English Channel in small boats this year would be granted asylum if their claims were processed.

Using Home Office statistics on Channel crossings, the Refugee Council said that 74% of arrivals in 2023 would be recognised as asylum seekers, an increase from 65% last year.

Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak claims putting reducing inflation ahead of tax cuts Thatcherite and ‘deeply Conservative’ – UK politics live

Posted on by

Prime minister says ‘the best tax cut we can give is to cut inflation’ after Michael Gove says taxes should be cut before general election

The BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg is starting. As well as Rishi Sunak, Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, is also being interviewed.

Q: Do you still think we’ve had enough of experts?

Economic forecasting was invented to make astrology look respectable.

Continue reading...

Campaigners urge Prince William to rewild Dartmoor farmland

Posted on by

William became largest private landholder in the national park when he inherited Duchy of Cornwall

Campaigners are urging Prince William to invest in significant rewilding across swathes of Dartmoor’s predominantly farmed land.

The land became William’s after he inherited the Duchy of Cornwall, an extensive landholding including the largest privately owned area of Dartmoor national park, from his father, King Charles, when he succeeded to the throne.

Continue reading...