Exclusive: after newborn son was murdered, family say repeated calls to Countess of Chester’s medical director were unanswered
Demands for a statutory inquiry into the Lucy Letby murders have intensified after a bereaved family accused the hospital of “a total fob off” when they pleaded for answers.
The parents, whose newborn son was murdered and his twin poisoned, said they tried repeatedly to meet the hospital’s medical director but their calls went unanswered.
Continue reading...Ministers had planned to issue visa waivers to cover staff absences on barge housing asylum seekers
The Home Office considered drafting in workers from overseas using a visa waiver scheme in the event of an outbreak of an infectious disease on the controversial Bibby Stockholm barge to accommodate asylum seekers, according to documents seen by the Guardian.
The barge is moored in Portland, Dorset. It was opened to asylum seekers on 7 August as a key part of the government’s “small boats week” to signal that it was implementing its undertakings to move asylum seekers out of hotels. However, in a blow to this policy the barge was evacuated just four days later after legionella bacteria was found in the barge’s water pipes.
Continue reading...Maritime horror, after Dutch sailing ship Batavia wrecked off western Australia, set TV show in motion
The hit TV reality show The Traitors was originally going to involve a recreation of a real-life murderous mutiny onboard a 17th-century Dutch ship, with programme contestants pushed into the sea when voted out.
Jasper Hoogendoorn, who oversaw the programme’s development, said the show was inspired by the voyage of the Batavia, a Dutch ship which was shipwrecked off Australia in 1629.
Continue reading...Profession faces long task to reassure families and patients that crimes and apparent failings will not be repeated
At hospitals around the UK nurses continue to pull on fresh scrubs and prepare for another day caring for patients. But many have been “rocked to the core” by the Lucy Letby case and some fear the foundation of public trust has been shaken.
That was the message from senior nurses on Tuesday as the horror of the child killer’s sentencing sank in and the profession braced for a long task to reassure families and patients that Letby’s crimes, and the institutional failings that appeared to have allowed them to continue, were truly an anomaly.
Continue reading...Africa minister says civilian death toll horrific and UK is to send evidence to UN
War crimes and atrocities against civilians are being committed in Darfur, western Sudan, the UK’s Africa minister Andrew Mitchell said on Tuesday, becoming one of the first western officials to identify that the fighting in Sudan has developed into more than a power struggle between two rival factions.
Mitchell said there was growing evidence of serious atrocities being committed, describing the civilian death toll as horrific in a statement released by the Foreign Office. “Reports of deliberate targeting and mass displacement of the Masalit community in Darfur are particularly shocking and abhorrent. Intentional directing of attacks at the civilian population is a war crime.”
Continue reading...Article says Commons could bypass the parliamentary standards machinery after Labour leader says MP should be forced out. This live blog is closed
Starmer says there is a massive mismatch between what the government is saying about how things are going well with the economy, and the lived experience of people.
O’Brien suggests the two teenagers Starmer met today would have been happier if Starmer was still committed to getting rid of tuition fees.
I do think the current scheme is unfair and ineffective and that is why we will change it, so the current scheme will be changed by the incoming Labour government and we will set out our plans.
I am not going to pretend that there isn’t huge damage to the economy and that has meant that some of the things that an incoming Labour government would want to do we are not going to be able to do in the way we would want in the way that we would want.
We are working up our proposals on that and I will fully come back and talk them through when we got them.
Continue reading...Group guards bricks until morning as local people tell of ‘major lack of trust’ over what could happen next
As large building machinery started arriving on the site of the Crooked House pub on Monday night, fears for the remains of the much-loved building grew – with locals wondering what might happen to it under the cover of darkness.
But one group of people used to staying up all night – the Black Country Paranormal Society – stepped in to guard the site perimeter and make sure all remaining bricks made it to the morning.
Continue reading...Survey shows devastating impact of Brexit on music sector, says Independent Society of Musicians
Almost half of UK musicians and workers in the music industry have had less work in the EU since Brexit than before it, and more than a quarter have had no EU work at all, according to a survey.
The impact of Brexit on the music sector had been devastating, said the Independent Society of Musicians (ISM), which carried out the survey. Restrictions had impaired the viability of making a living as a musician, it said.
Continue reading...Research found MRI is significantly more accurate than current tests, which are linked to overdiagnosis and overtreatment
Using MRI scans to screen men for prostate cancer could reduce deaths from the disease significantly, researchers have suggested.
Scientists said current tests, which detect the level of the protein prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the blood, have been linked to overdiagnosis and overtreatment of low-risk cancer.
Continue reading...Research found 53% of teenagers in England who had been referred to services did not achieve a pass in both subjects
Children in England who are referred to social services at any point in their childhood are twice as likely to fail GCSE maths and English, according to new research published ahead of results day on Thursday.
Analysts looked at 1.6m pupils’ exam results over a three-year period and found that 53% of teenagers who had been referred to social care – as detailed in the Children in Need census – did not achieve a grade 4 pass in both English and maths GCSE.
Continue reading...Updated guidance covers verbal and written comments, displaying or sharing images and physical contact
Doctors will be expected to demonstrate “zero tolerance” of sexual harassment, the General Medical Council has announced.
For the first time, new professional standards, published on Tuesday, introduce explicit rules on sexual harassment towards colleagues.
Continue reading...Half have maximum of a month’s worth of rent put by as costs rise, Shelter survey finds
A third of working tenants in England do not have enough savings to pay rent if they lose their job, putting them at risk of losing their home, according to research by the housing charity Shelter.
Record rents and the rising cost of other household bills are putting tenants’ finances under pressure and mean many are unable to set money aside for emergencies.
Continue reading...Almost one in three people aged 18-34 have been messaged by staff after giving personal details to a business
Almost one in three people aged 18-34 have received unwanted romantic contact after giving their personal information to a business, a UK poll has shown.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has called for recipients of such texts to come forward to help the regulator gather evidence of the impact of this phenomenon.
The ICO has an online form for people who want to report an experience of unwanted contact.
Continue reading...Watchdog says policy on prescribed drugs could lead to a medical emergency and endanger lives
A watchdog has condemned the Home Office for confiscating life-saving prescription drugs from people it detains.
Rules requiring guards to take away prescribed medicines from people at short-term holding facilities (STFHs), where migrants can be detained for up to 24 hours, could lead to a medical emergency and endanger their lives, says the annual report of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) for the North East, Midlands and Yorkshire & Humber STHF published on Tuesday.
Continue reading...A profit warning from housebuilder Crest Nicholson has compounded fears of a housing market slowdown, as Rightmove data reveals a further drop in asking prices
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said that while weak house price data (as was “hardly a surprise”, Crest Nicholson’s profit warning has “laid bare the the scale of the impact of a housing slowdown on the housebuilding sector.”
Sales of new homes have plunged alarmingly and, while not all developers in the space are created equal, the news, allied to Rightmove’s latest reading on the property market, has had a knock-on effect on share prices in the rest of the sector this morning.
The £7,000 drop in the average asking price observed by Rightmove in the last month, allied to a big drop in transaction volumes, is the kind of statistic to make estate agents distinctly uneasy.
Continue reading...Judge said ‘lifelong harm has been caused in horrific circumstances’ as he addresses empty dock
The mother of twin boys, Children E and F, now reads her statement. Child E was murdered and Child F survived an insulin poisoning the following day. She says:
Our world shattered when we encountered evil disguised as a caring nurse. The heartbreak and shock left me feeling confused and numb. How could [Child E] collapse so suddenly after spending the day cuddling with us?
It was a living nightmare. Little did I know that the nightmare of pain and hurt would continue, emotionally battering me throughout my children’s lives.
We felt cheated, deceived, and utterly heartbroken once more.
He was buried in that gown, a gift from the unit chosen by Lucy. I feel sickened by the choice we made. Not a single day passes without distress over this decision.
We had to organise her funeral. The service took place the day before her due date. Her ashes were buried in a tiny box on her actual due date. Those weeks were particularly difficult… my arms, my heart, my life felt so painfully empty.
I needed to be her mum in every way … I questioned if I missed something. Did I do something wrong? I missed my daughter.
I love being a mum but, at the same time, live with grief and depression … I never feel good enough. I feel I have let myself go. My marriage is also scarred by all the hurdles we went through ... I feel not only that I lost [Child D] but I lost all those years of my life too.
I had a car crash after a nervous breakdown. I considered ending it all. I couldn’t continue and I didn’t want to. I was hoping that if I went to the other side I would see and be with my daughter.
We wanted justice for [Child D] and that day has come.
Continue reading...Prime minister says he is ‘not complacent’ and figures showing fall in crossings compared with 2022 show his approach is working
Rishi Sunak and Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, were both given a chance to show off their painting skills when they visited a nursery in Harrogate this morning. According to PA Media, they were both painting bees. Keegan’s bee would merit a gold star. Sunak’s looks more like a parrot with a squint.
In his pooled TV interview, Rishi Sunak also stressed the government’s commitment to extending access to free childcare. He said:
It is really important to me that young families have access to high quality affordably childcare. That is why the government is expanding its offer of free childcare.
Currently working families can access 30 hours of free childcare for three and four-year-olds. As part of our big reforms we are extending that all the way down to little ones as young as nine months.
Continue reading...Former nurse will never be released from prison as judge describes ‘deep malevolence bordering on sadism’
The serial killer nurse Lucy Letby will never be released from prison after a judge sentenced her to a rare whole-life term for the “sadistic” murder of seven babies.
Letby, 33, is one of only three women alive to have been given such a jail term in the UK. She was sentenced at Manchester crown court on Monday.
Continue reading...The over-55s account for biggest rise in trainee teachers in England, with a 75% increase in applications
The work and pensions secretary, Mel Stride, recently suggested that unemployed people over 50 should consider delivering takeaways.
But the army of missing workers Stride was seeking are looking to do something more productive with their time: this year, the over-55s accounted for the biggest rise in new trainee teachers in England, with a 75% increase in applications.
Continue reading...High-profile companies reportedly discussed cutting ties with the business lobby group
The Confederation of British Industry will step back earlier than planned from its role in a boardroom diversity initiative involving the UK’s biggest companies, as the business lobby group struggles to recover from sexual misconduct allegations.
The CBI had been at the heart of the Change the Race Ratio campaign, which champions racial and ethnic minority representation on UK company boards and leadership teams, with some of its staff helping to run it.
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