Category Archives: UK news

MPs furious over being kept in dark about alleged spying for China

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House speaker tells Commons that ‘MPs who needed to be told were told’ at time of aide’s arrest in March

MPs have vented their fury over a six-month silence that followed an aide operating at the heart of parliament being arrested on suspicion of allegedly spying for China and accused of passing information to Beijing in breach of the Official Secrets Act.

They voiced concern on Monday that the gap meant they had been unable to take their own security precautions, amid wider concern that individual pro-democracy activists could be put at risk by any security lapse.

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Rishi Sunak says he told China actions to undermine British democracy are ‘completely unacceptable’

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Prime minister says he told Li Qiang, the Chinese prime minister, at G20 that Chinese interference with the work of parliament will ‘never be tolerated’

Simon Clarke, who was the levelling up secretary during the Liz Truss premiership, has defended the government’s decision not to explicitly label China as a threat. In posts on X, or Twitter as many of us still call it, he said:

There are legitimate reasons why it is difficult for ministers to say China is a threat – that’s the nature of international relations. What matters more than words is that our policy choices change to reflect the undoubted danger of China’s actions.

Here I think the Government’s record stands up pretty well. You have the soft power of our new Pacific trade bloc membership in the CPTPP (which notably does not include China) and you have the hard power of the new AUKUS alliance - itself a response to Chinese aggression.

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Sarah Burton to leave fashion house Alexander McQueen after two decades

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The brand’s creative director shot to international fame for creating the Princess of Wales’s wedding dress

Sarah Burton, the creative director of Alexander McQueen who designed the Princess of Wales’s wedding dress, is leaving the fashion house after more than two decades.

In a statement released on Monday, Kering, the brand’s parent company, announced that its show on the 30 September during Paris fashion week will be Burton’s last.

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Spy allegations add fuel to heated Tory debate over China

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Investigation into parliamentary aide comes as two main groups on China have descended into rivalry

Many of the debates inside the Conservative party about how western democracies should handle China are entirely common across Europe and the US, but somehow they have been conducted in a more heated and personalised way.

One reason may be the confused and slow leadership on China shown by the government, symbolised by the refusal to follow Germany in publishing a China strategy. Others blame the entrenched factionalist political culture created by Brexit, and the narcissism of small differences. But the revelations that someone under investigation for allegedly being a Chinese spy was operating at the centre of Tory debates will only make the atmosphere worse. The person in question has insisted he is completely innocent.

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Collapse-risk concrete found in Houses of Parliament

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Presence of Raac in Palace of Westminster poses no ‘immediate risk’, parliamentary spokesperson says

The collapse-risk concrete at the centre of a crisis in school buildings has been found in parliament.

The presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) poses no “immediate risk”, a parliamentary spokesperson said.

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Red fire ant colonies found in Italy and could spread across Europe, says study

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Researchers identify 88 nests of destructive invasive non-native species near Syracuse in Sicily

An invasive non-native ant species has become established in Italy and could rapidly spread through Europe to the UK with global heating, a study warns.

The red fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, has a powerful sting, damages crops and can infest electrical equipment including cars and computers.

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Former rubbish dump in Essex becomes UK’s third largest solar farm

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Ockendon solar farm to generate enough clean electricity to power the equivalent of 15,000 homes


The largest solar farm in Europe to be built on a closed landfill site has begun generating renewable electricity from a former rubbish dump in Essex.

The Ockendon solar farm, the third largest in the UK, includes more than 100,000 solar modules covering 70 hectares (173 acres) of land.

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Some MPs came close to suicide, says ex-Tory minister Rory Stewart

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Former leadership contender says life of politician puts ‘almost unsustainable’ strain on mental health

The former Conservative minister Rory Stewart has said some fellow MPs came very close to killing themselves when he was in the Commons, and the life of a politician placed an “almost unsustainable” strain on people.

Stewart, who was international development secretary and stood to be Tory leader before leaving the Commons in 2019, said other former colleagues experienced “total breakdowns in public”.

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Suella Braverman pushes for ban on American bully XLs after attack

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Home secretary calls breed ‘clear and lethal danger’ after attack on 11-year-old girl in Birmingham

Suella Braverman is pushing for a ban on American bully XL dogs, arguing they are a “clear and lethal danger”, particularly to children.

The home secretary announced she has commissioned urgent advice on outlawing the dogs after she highlighted an “appalling” attack on an 11-year-old girl in Birmingham.

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Sunak refuses to make pensions triple lock election commitment

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PM says he will not speculate over policy as he grapples with how to fund tax cuts demanded by Tory MPs

Rishi Sunak has refused to commit to keeping the pensions triple lock in the next Conservative manifesto, as he grapples with how to fund tax cuts demanded by his own MPs.

The prime minister told reporters during the G20 summit in Delhi that the triple lock – which guarantees that pensions will rise by at least 2.5%, and by either inflation or earnings if they are higher – remains government policy.

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UK firms ‘slow output and rein in hiring as borrowing costs rise’

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Survey of businesses gives further indication that Bank of England could limit future interest rate rises

Businesses are pulling back on hiring and slowing their output under the strain of rising borrowing costs, according to a study that gives a further signal that the Bank of England could limit future interest rate rises.

A modest pickup in manufacturing in August failed to prevent a slowdown in broader UK private sector economic activity, a survey of businesses by the accountancy firm BDO found.

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MPs express anger after arrest of parliamentary researcher over alleged spying for China

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Man is known to have had unescorted access to large parts of the Westminster estate

MPs have reacted with alarm after it emerged that a parliamentary researcher with links to senior Conservatives and potential access to sensitive information had been arrested over allegations of spying for China.

The man, who is in his 20s and was arrested in March along with another person, is known to have held a parliamentary pass, allowing him unescorted access to large parts of the Westminster estate.

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Prisoner in critical condition after stabbing at HMP Wandsworth

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Attack comes in the week that Daniel Khalife escaped from the jail in south-west London

An inmate at HMP Wandsworth is in a critical condition in hospital after being stabbed inside the prison.

The Metropolitan police and London ambulance service were called at about 3.20pm on Sunday to reports of an assault inside the facility in south-west London after an “incident” between prisoners.

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Rishi Sunak challenges premier Li after ‘spying for China’ arrests

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PM expresses concerns over Chinese interference in UK parliament after two men arrested under Official Secrets Act

Rishi Sunak has challenged the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, over Chinese interference in the UK parliament, after two men were arrested amid allegations that a parliamentary researcher spied for Beijing.

The prime minister met Li on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Delhi in an unplanned meeting hours after the Sunday Times revealed the researcher, who is understood to have had links to senior Conservative MPs, had been arrested along with another man.

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Revealed: covert deal to cut help for pupils in England with special needs

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Government contract aims to reduce the number of specialist care plans by a fifth

The government has quietly signed a contract targeting 20% cuts to the number of new education plans for children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) to bring down costs, the Observer can reveal.

Then junior education minister Claire Coutinho – recently promoted to the cabinet as energy secretary– subsequently told MPs that no targets were in place.

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UK’s net zero ambitions at risk after ‘disastrous’ offshore wind auction

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Industry figures and the TUC warn of missed carbon reduction targets and lost jobs unless government boosts green investment

Fears are growing that existing offshore wind projects could be shelved, after industry insiders warned that “disastrous” handling by the government had created a big shortfall in future renewable energy.

Ministers revealed last week that no additional offshore windfarms will go ahead in the UK after the latest government auction. No bids were made in the auction, after the government ignored warnings that offshore schemes were no longer economically viable under the current system.

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Caribbean nations set to demand royal family makes reparations for slave trade

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Lloyd’s of London and Church of England also to be approached over role in past exploitation

Caribbean nations are preparing formal letters demanding that the British royal family apologise and make reparations for slavery.

National reparations commissions in the region will also approach Lloyd’s of London and the Church of England with demands of financial payments and reparative justice for their historic role in the slave trade.

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Rishi Sunak tells G20: UK will resist ‘hair shirt’ policies on net zero pledge

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The prime minister suggested to the summit that he wanted to limit the impact of green measures on British consumers

Read more: Rishi who? Sunak slips down pecking order in scramble to court India

Rishi Sunak has said he will resist “hair shirt” policies designed to reduce carbon emissions and achieve Britain’s net zero pledge, amid an intensifying Tory row over the party’s commitment to tackling the climate crisis.

Tensions have been growing within the party all summer over its green policies, with some cabinet figures and the right of the party calling for a rethink on measures such as the phasing out of gas boilers and the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. The prime minister has also backed “maxing out” oil and gas reserves.

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Liz Truss to ‘share lessons’ of her time in government in new book

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The former PM blames lack of support for Conservative ideas as part of her downfall during her 49-day premiership

Liz Truss is writing a book about her 49 days as prime minister, which will argue the main cause of her downfall was a lack of “support for Conservative ideas” – and too much support for the “global Left”.

The former prime minister wants to see a “Conservative movement revival” and has decided to “share the lessons” from her time in government, where she was “often the only conservative in the room”.

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