Category Archives: UK news

Starmer to seek EU-wide returns deal for asylum seekers

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Labour leader working on ‘quid pro quo’ deal of migrant quotas from bloc in return for sending back those who arrive illegally

Keir Starmer has revealed that he would seek an EU-wide returns agreement for asylum seekers who come to Britain, as he vowed to “smash the gangs” behind small boat crossings.

Labour believes that any agreement with Brussels would have to be “quid pro quo”, meaning accepting quotas of migrants from the bloc in return for sending back people who arrive illegally. The system would reportedly work via applications in UK embassies on the continent, and prioritise people with family already in the UK.

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Rishi Sunak blocked rebuild of hospitals riddled with crumbling concrete

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Exclusive: Delay to work on five buildings in 2020 led to warnings of ‘catastrophic’ safety risk

Rishi Sunak blocked plans to rebuild five hospitals riddled with crumbling concrete three years ago, prompting warnings of a “catastrophic” risk to patient safety, the Guardian has learned.

Just two of the seven hospital rebuilding projects requested by the Department for Health were signed off by the Treasury at the 2020 spending review when Sunak was chancellor and Steve Barclay, now the health secretary, was his chief secretary.

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Sunak branded ‘inaction man’ at PMQs as Starmer attacks record on schools, prisons and China – UK politics live

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Labour leader accuses government of failing to heed warnings which has led to series of crises this week

Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question at PMQs.

Yesterday it emerged that ministers are mulling over a plan to tweak the triple lock for pensions so that what might be a bumper 8.5% increase in its value next year ends up being marginally less generous, at 7.8%.

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Unity seeks to clarify new game engine charges amid outrage from developers

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Games creators attack the fees, due for implementation in 2024, as company executive dials back on initial plan

Tech company Unity has sought to clarify its decision to charge a controversial new fee to game developers. A blogpost on its official site last night announced the company would be introducing a “runtime fee”, which would require developers to pay a fixed sum each time a game built using the Unity Engine was installed by a player.

Unity stipulated that the fee would only be chargeable after a game made $200,000 (£160,000) in 12 months and had at least 200,000 lifetime game installs, but developers nevertheless vented outrage on social media.

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Boris Johnson made to ‘look like a chump’ as ex-aide shuns Tories in Lords

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Dan Rosenfield decides to sit as independent after being nominated by former PM in resignation honours list

Boris Johnson’s former chief of staff Dan Rosenfield has decided not to sit on the Conservative benches following his elevation to the Lords in a move that has outraged some Tories, with one saying it made the former prime minister “look like a chump”.

Rosenfield, a former Treasury official, was one of several ex-aides nominated in June for peerages in Johnson’s resignation honours list.

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‘Farcical’: China’s media gives short shrift to British spying allegations

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Fallout from revelations has dominated news in UK but in China it has caused barely a ripple

The fallout from revelations that two people were arrested in the UK for allegedly spying for China has dominated British news since the story broke. In the heavily state-controlled media in China, however, it has caused barely a ripple.

It took more than a day for state-controlled press to run the story, reporting a short statement from its embassy in London and then comments from the foreign affairs ministry.

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Man arrested over bully XL crossbreed attack on girl, 11, in Birmingham

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West Midlands police arrest 60-year-old man over attack on Saturday that left Ana Paun with shoulder and arm injuries

A man has been arrested after a dog attack in Birmingham which left an 11-year-old girl with serious injuries.

Footage shared on social media showed the dog, an American bully XL and Staffordshire bull terrier crossbreed puppy, running through the street after breaking free from its collar.

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Selfie-takers caused pony to fall to death at Welsh beauty spot, says charity

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Visitors to Gower urged to maintain distance after spate of incidents, including newborn foal falling off cliff

Visitors to a Welsh beauty spot have been warned not to go close to ponies to take selfies after a newborn foal fell to its death from a cliff.

In another incident a woman was injured when she was kicked by a gypsy cob pony on the Gower peninsula in south-west Wales, while ponies have also been injured or killed by cars and disturbed by drones.

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Exiled Chinese dissidents alarmed by ‘spy’ arrest of Westminster researcher

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Activists call for reassurances to be given to those who gave information to parliamentarians

Finn Lau’s meeting with a Westminster researcher who was later arrested on suspicion of spying for China lasted just 20 minutes. Nearly a year later he is mulling the potential consequences.

Lau, an exiled Hong Kong pro-democracy activist with a £100,000 bounty on his head, has a lingering suspicion that some of his ideas for putting more pressure on China appear not to have made it beyond their meeting.

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Record numbers expected as Europe’s biggest arms fair opens in London

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Egypt, Vietnam and Indonesia among countries sending delegations to four-day DSEI at ExCeL

Europe’s biggest ever arms fair got under way in London on Tuesday with record numbers expected to attend, boosted by interest from countries with controversial human rights records.

Authoritarian Egypt and Vietnam are among those sending delegations, defence sources said, as well as Indonesia and India – all countries whose arms-buying strategies have been affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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UK nears agreement to cooperate with EU border force

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Frontex deal would be Sunak’s third with EU as prime minister but would not address small boats crisis

Rishi Sunak is on the verge of securing an agreement for cooperation between the UK and the EU’s border protection agency, Frontex in a further sign of thawing post-Brexit relations.

The deal is expected to mirror other agreements Frontex has with “third country” states, including one with Albania, which agreed to renew its 2019 accord.

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Boris Johnson government ‘always hoped’ Northern Ireland protocol would collapse – UK politics live

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Lord Frost, Brexit negotiator for former PM, tells House of Lords that government never wanted ‘unsatisfactory’ protocol to work

Rayner says Labour will update trade union laws to make them fit for the 21st century.

The laws affecting union reps and officials do not take into account technological advancements, she says.

First, we will update regulations to outlaw the use of predictive technologies for blacklisting and safeguard against singling out workers for mistreatment or the sack without any evidence of human interaction.

Second, we will act to end the loophole that allows employers to pass the dirty work down to third party contractors, so that any third party found to be carrying out blacklisting can legally be held to account.

The Tories pushed through the 2016 Trade Union Act, preventing fair bargaining and holding back living standards.

And this year they gave us the minimum service levels bill [the Strikes Act] …

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Two in five inpatients in England report health decline while on NHS waiting list

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New CQC report also finds growing number of patients think there are too few nurses to care for them

Two in five people admitted to hospital for planned care in England last year had their health worsen while they were on the NHS waiting list, a major survey reveals.

The finding emerged in a new report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) that also found that growing numbers of patients think there are too few nurses on duty to care for them.

39% of patients would like to have been admitted sooner.

Almost one in five (18%) felt they waited “far too long” to get a bed once they had been admitted – a big rise on the 8% who said that in 2020.

Only 52% thought there were always enough nurses on duty.

Discharge was often unsatisfactory for patients, with only 48% given enough notice about when they would leave and only 45% told how their post-hospital care would happen.

Hospital care was less good than before Covid struck in 2020, patients said.

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Poundland moves to buy 71 Wilko sites with possible jobs guarantee for staff

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PwC says owner plans to reopen stores under Poundland brand throwing lifeline to as many as 1,800 staff

Poundland is to acquire up to 71 Wilko sites that it intends to reopen under its own brand in a deal that could throw a lifeline to some of the about 1,800 staff who will lose their jobs at the stricken retailer.

Under the deal struck by administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) with Poundland’s parent company Pepco, the sites will be acquired only after all 408 Wilko stores are shut and more than 12,000 staff made redundant.

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Ban on single-use vapes in UK may ‘flood market with illegal products’

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Ministers said to be planning to legislate against the devices because of concerns about children’s health

Leading doctors and councils have welcomed reports that ministers are preparing to ban single-use vapes in the UK, but others have expressed fears a ban could lead to a “flood” of illegal products on the market.

The reports of plans to stop the sale of disposable e-cigarettes come as fears grow about their environment impact and the health risks they pose to the large number of teenagers taking up vaping.

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Big Panda author using proceeds to set up animal sanctuary in Swansea

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Exclusive: James Norbury says he is fulfilling pledge made after his debut book landed him a six-figure deal

The self-taught artist and writer James Norbury was living below the poverty line and volunteering with a cat charity when his self-published book was snapped up by a leading publisher in 2021.

After repeated rejection by literary agents, the six-figure deal was all the more astonishing for him being a debut author and he vowed to invest money he earned in creating a sanctuary for animals.

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UK ‘mortgage meltdown’ looms amid ‘terrifying’ growth in arrears

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Jump in borrowers unable to make payments with landlords particularly hit and ‘worse to come’

Mortgage arrears jumped by 13% in the second quarter of the year to the highest level since 2016, according to Bank of England figures that underscore the stress in the UK mortgage market.

Rising interest rates and unemployment over recent months have put pressure on household disposable incomes, forcing some families to cut or suspend their monthly mortgage payments.

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V&A to look after ancient Yemen stones found in London shop

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Museum agrees to care for stelae dating from second half of first millennium BC until it is safe to return them

The V&A is to look after four ancient carved funerary stones that were found by police in a shop in east London in a historic agreement with Yemen.

The stelae, which date from the second half of the first millennium BC, come from necropoli that have been looted in recent years.

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Brother of Briton held in India says UK government is ‘more talk and no action’

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Gurpreet Singh Johal calls for increased pressure to free brother Jagtar after Rishi Sunak raised case with Narendra Modi

The brother of a British man held in an Indian jail for six years fears the UK government is “more talk” and “no action”, after Rishi Sunak raised the case with Narendra Modi at the recent G20 summit in Delhi.

Jagtar Singh Johal, 36, claims to have been tortured and forced to make a confession since he was detained in India in 2017. He faces terrorism charges and the first stages of his trial have only just got under way after repeated delays caused by disputes over evidence. He denies the charges, and he could face a death sentence if convicted.

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Woman arrested after death of girl, two, found in Hampshire pond

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Child was in Kingsley pond near Bordon and woman in her 40s is being held on suspicion of murder

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a two-year-old girl, who was found unresponsive in a village pond in Hampshire, died in hospital.

Police called at the toddler’s home in Kingsley, Hampshire just after 5pm on Sunday, after receiving a report that she had gone missing from the property.

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