Category Archives: UK news

Hamas holding up to 10 Britons hostage in Gaza, says foreign secretary

Posted on by

James Cleverly says updated figure of those captured in attack on Israel is ‘not an unreasonable estimate’

Up to 10 Britons are being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, the foreign secretary has said, higher than previous informal estimates.

Israel estimates that 126 people from different countries are being held hostage, with reports previously suggesting six of those taken were British. Up to 17 British people, including children, are thought to be dead or missing since the conflict began last weekend.

Continue reading...

Bad management has prompted one in three UK workers to quit, survey finds

Posted on by

Study shows widespread concern over quality of managers, with 82% of bosses deemed ‘accidental’, having had no formal training

Almost one-third of UK workers say they’ve quit a job because of a negative workplace culture, according to a new survey that underlines the risks of managers failing to rein in toxic behaviour.

Research carried out by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) pointed to widespread concern about the quality of management, and its impact on workers’ daily lives.

Continue reading...

Two-thirds of prisons officially overcrowded in England and Wales

Posted on by

HMP Wandsworth holding more extra prisoners than any other jail despite recent high-profile problems

Two-thirds of prisons in England and Wales are officially overcrowded, with HMP Wandsworth holding more extra prisoners than any other jail despite the alleged escape of a terror suspect last month.

In September there were 663 more men in Wandsworth than the 950 the south London prison has “good, decent” accommodation for, under the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) definition. That means prisoners sharing cells designed for one, often with a toilet in the middle shielded by a curtain.

Continue reading...

SAS had ‘gone too far’ in Afghanistan, inquiry into claims of unlawful killings told

Posted on by

Memo by military police chief said there was ‘no shortage of detractors’ in Whitehall of elite unit’s conduct

Senior figures in Downing Street were calling in 2016 for the SAS to have its “wings clipped” as it emerged that a growing number of suspected murders of Afghan civilians were being investigated by military police.

Critics of the elite unit’s behaviour were led by Jeremy Heywood, who at the time was cabinet secretary to the then prime minister, Theresa May, according to a memo cited last week during a public inquiry into allegations of unlawful SAS killings in Afghanistan.

Continue reading...

Ambiguous Japanese eco-drama wins London film festival top prize

Posted on by

Evil Does Not Exist, directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, is about community’s fight against ‘glamping’ development

A Japanese eco-drama about a lakeside community’s resistance to a corporate “glamping” development in their beautiful unspoilt village has won the top prize at the London film festival.

Evil Does Not Exist, directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, tells the story of a community fighting to preserve its principles and the integrity of the natural world. They are up against a Tokyo company that has bought up swathes of nearby land, intending to turn it into a destination for well-off city tourists.

Continue reading...

Stella McCartney’s plans for remote Scottish home stir controversy

Posted on by

Local council receives more than 50 objections to scheme, many on environmental grounds

Plans for an “unashamedly contemporary” house for the fashion designer Stella McCartney in a remote Scottish coastal area have received dozens of objections on environmental grounds.

In a planning application, McCartney’s architects insist the glass-fronted home near Roshven on the west coast would enhance the landscape and “retain the wild nature of the site”.

Continue reading...

Scientists build traps to manage UK’s rising number of Chinese mitten crabs

Posted on by

Voracious, furry-clawed crustaceans are being controlled ‘to protect the environment’

It is classified by conservationists as one of the 100 worst invasive alien species in the world. Now, a group of scientists are hoping they have found a way to deplete the UK’s rapidly growing Chinese mitten crab population and prevent the crustaceans, which can grow bigger than a 10-inch dinner plate and have distinctive furry claws, from “eating us out of house and home”.

The group has constructed and installed the UK’s first Chinese mitten crab trap at Pode Hole in Lincolnshire, to catch the voracious predators as they migrate downstream to mate.

Continue reading...

Sunak promises Israel ‘unqualified support in face of evil’ – but makes no mention of Gaza’s plight

Posted on by

Keir Starmer also backs Israel but issues call for all parties to act in line with international law

Rishi Sunak has voiced “unequivocal” UK support for Israel “not just today, not just tomorrow, but always” in a lengthy statement to mark one week since Hamas militants murdered 1,300 Israeli civilians and soldiers, and took more than 150 people hostage. The prime minister’s remarks – in which he makes no mention of the plight of innocent Palestinians now trapped in Gaza, or the need for their safe evacuation – come amid growing political tensions in the UK over how to respond to Israel’s retaliatory bombing of Gaza, and its orders to more than 1 million Palestinians to flee their homes for their own safety.

Senior Labour figures believe the Conservatives are deliberately trying to paint them as less supportive of Israel, and to suggest that some on the left of the party are somehow sympathetic to Hamas and antisemitic, because they are pro-Palestinian.

Continue reading...

Keir Starmer enjoys ‘glitter-bomb bounce’ in polls as Tories fear only an economic upturn can save them

Posted on by

Labour leader’s personal popularity jumps after party conference speech in Liverpool was interrupted by protester

Keir Starmer appears to have enjoyed a “glitter-bomb bounce” from the Labour conference, a new Observer poll suggests, amid Tory concerns that only an economic upturn can reverse their party’s fortunes.

The Labour leader was covered in glitter by a protester at the start of his Labour conference speech in Liverpool last week. He responded by taking off his jacket, rolling up his sleeves and telling delegates he favoured “power, not protest”.

Continue reading...

Prisons plan could add 1,000 places in England and Wales amid overcrowding

Posted on by

Use of portable buildings and more doubling up in cells could be part of package to be announced next week

Prisoners in England and Wales could be moved into portable buildings or released early as part of a huge extension of the electronic tagging scheme, as the justice secretary considers creative measures to solve the overcrowding crisis.

Alex Chalk KC is expected to reveal a package of measures on Monday that could add 1,000 prison places across the estate, the Guardian understands.

Continue reading...

Online daters warned of fraudsters posting fake celebrity profiles

Posted on by

Police say romance fraud has ‘soared’ but true extent unknown as many victims do not come forward

Police have warned online daters of the risks of fake celebrity profiles after a woman lost about £5,000 to a romance fraudster posing as TV chef James Martin.

Nottinghamshire police said the scam is part of a trend where fraudsters pose as celebrities on dating profiles to lure fans.

Continue reading...

DUP making ‘progress’ in post-Brexit trade talks, says Donaldson

Posted on by

Party leader tells conference DUP will not revive power-sharing in Northern Ireland unless concerns are addressed

The Democratic Unionist party (DUP) is making “progress” in talks with the UK government over post-Brexit trading arrangements but the party will not revive power-sharing in Northern Ireland unless its fundamental concerns are addressed, Jeffrey Donaldson has said.

The DUP leader told the party’s conference in Belfast on Saturday he wished to restore devolved government in Northern Ireland but would “not be afraid to say no” to any deal he deemed inadequate.

Continue reading...

Tens of thousands of protesters across UK call for a free Palestine

Posted on by

Fifteen arrested at march in London, while demonstrations also take place in Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen

Tens of thousands of people have marched through cities across the UK calling for a free Palestine as tensions grew over an impending Israeli ground offensive in Gaza.

Protesters gathered in Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and London, carrying flags and flares and calling for world leaders to condemn the actions of the Israeli army.

Continue reading...

Reader, they lived there: campaign to save Brontës’ Bradford birthplace as it goes on sale

Posted on by

A crowdfunding drive led by TV presenter Christa Ackroyd aims to make the first home of the literary siblings a tourist destination and source of inspiration

Around a million visitors a year beat a path to Haworth, the small West Yorkshire town nestling in the windy moors of the Worth Valley – mainly to see the home of the Brontë sisters.

The house that writers Charlotte, Anne and Emily shared with their father, church minister Patrick, and their wayward brother Branwell is a major tourist attraction. Visitors wander around the parsonage and surrounding cobbled streets to soak up the atmosphere of just how the Brontës lived two centuries ago.

Continue reading...

‘It was a plague’: Killarney becomes first Irish town to ban single-use coffee cups

Posted on by

A blanket ‘bring or buy’ reusable scheme has been introduced in the town, which was getting through 23,000 cups a week

Killarney used to accept it as a price of being a tourist town: ubiquitous disposable coffee cups spilling from bins, littering roads and blighting the area’s national park.

The County Kerry town went through about 23,000 cups a week – more than a million a year – adding up to 18.5 tonnes of waste.

Continue reading...

BBC building sprayed with red paint in ‘protest over Israel-Hamas coverage’

Posted on by

Palestine Action says it was behind incident in London, accusing BBC of ‘manufacturing consent for Israel’s war crimes’

A pro-Palestinian protest group has claimed responsibility for throwing red paint over the BBC’s headquarters, accusing the broadcaster of having “blood on its hands” over its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.

The organisation Palestine Action identified itself as being behind the incident, which took place early on Saturday morning at Broadcasting House. It alleged that the broadcaster was “manufacturing consent for Israel’s war crimes”.

Continue reading...

Labour and Lib Dems in bitter battle over Mid Bedfordshire byelection

Posted on by

Disagreements over who is best placed to take Nadine Dorries’s seat could threaten tactical voting strategies at general election

The fierce byelection battle in Mid Bedfordshire is poisoning relations between Labour and the Lib Dems and risks denting informal cooperation to remove the Tory government, senior Labour figures have warned.

An incredibly close three-way battle has emerged in the seat formerly held by Boris Johnson ally Nadine Dorries, who quit after being refused a place on the former prime minister’s peerages list. Labour and the Lib Dems are both convinced they have the better chance of overturning the colossal 24,664-vote majority and pulling off one of the biggest byelection wins in history this week.

Continue reading...

‘It’s a poor product ’: leading UK chefs join campaign to cast farmed salmon off menu

Posted on by

Ethical concerns over sustainability and welfare have seen venues offering new choices to ubiquitous ‘chicken of the sea’

Salmon has undergone a rapid transformation in recent decades. Once a special treat, it is now ubiquitous. From drinks reception canapés to wedding functions, Christmas smoked salmon or simply wrapped in foil and baked on a week night, salmon is everywhere.

Scotland is world renowned for salmon production, and the fish makes up 40% of its total food exports; it is also Britain’s most valuable food export. Healthy, low in saturated fats and high in omega-3, salmon is a success story.

Continue reading...

Germany invites UK to reach improved Brexit trading deal

Posted on by

Finance minister offers standing invitation to ‘intensify your trade relationship to the EU’

The German finance minister has issued an open invitation to the UK to reach a new deal to improve Brexit trading relations that would reduce trade barriers and “obstacles in daily business life”.

Christian Lindner told the BBC: “This is a standing invitation for the UK: if you want to intensify your trade relationship to the EU, call us. We really appreciate the United Kingdom and its values, its people … and I would really, really appreciate it if we can intensify [the trade relationship] again.”

Continue reading...

London police defy ban on badges linked to far right and white supremacy

Posted on by

Met officers seen wearing divisive ‘thin blue line’ symbol at sensitive protests despite orders to remove them

Metropolitan police officers are openly defying orders not to wear badges appropriated by the far right and linked to white supremacy.

In July, the force’s chief, Mark Rowley, banned officers from wearing the “thin blue line” badge saying that in the US an equivalent symbol had been used by “hard-right groups”.

Continue reading...