Category Archives: UK news

More pain in store – tough-talking Bank raises UK interest rates and a few eyebrows

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Rise to 5.25% comes as no surprise but Bank of England’s language will frighten many

If it isn’t hurting it isn’t working. That was the message from John Major, then chancellor, in 1989 during a previous period when interest rates were being used to combat high inflation. And it was the message rammed home by the Bank of England on Thursday.

Any hard-pressed households or struggling business looking for comfort from Threadneedle Street would have been disappointed by news that the pain will continue and is likely to intensify. Interest rates may not yet have peaked.

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Weekend winds expected to disrupt UK ferry and train travel

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Gusts of up to 65mph forecast to hit English and Welsh coasts on Saturday along with prolonged rain

Ferry and rail passengers have been warned of cancellations and delays as gusts of up to 65mph (105km/h) are forecast to batter the English and Welsh coasts at the weekend.

The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for wind in parts of England and Wales from 6am on Saturday until 9pm the same day, and prolonged rain was forecast.

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Budget retailer Wilko set to call in administrators, risking 12,000 jobs

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Household goods retailer with about 400 stores files notice of intention as it tries to secure finances

Budget retailer Wilko has said it plans to appoint administrators in a move that could put 12,000 jobs at risk.

The household and garden products retailer, which has about 400 stores, said in a notice of intention filed at the high court on Thursday that it had appointed the advisory firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in recent months to try to find a buyer in an attempt to secure additional cash needed to keep trading.

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Bank of England warns interest rates will remain high for at least two years

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Policymakers vote for quarter-point rise to 5.25% – the 14th hike in a row – but BoE rules out prospect of recession

The Bank of England has warned businesses and households that the cost of borrowing will remain high for at least the next two years as it raised interest rates for the 14th consecutive time to 5.25%.

Ruling out the likelihood of a recession over the next two years, policymakers blamed strong wages growth in recent months for the need to increase interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to the highest level for 15 years.

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Foreign Office failed to notice torture of British academic in UAE, watchdog finds

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Parliamentary ombudsman says Matthew Hedges was let down by UK government during imprisonment

The UK’s parliamentary ombudsman has found that the Foreign Office “failed to notice signs of torture” when officials visited a British academic imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates.

Matthew Hedges was convicted on spying charges by the UAE in 2018 after travelling to Dubai to conduct research for his PhD at Durham University. He spent six months in prison, where he has said he had been handcuffed, drugged and questioned for hours, before being pardoned from a life sentence for spying.

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Bibby Stockholm will be housing people within weeks, says Oliver Dowden

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Deputy PM ‘confident’ asylum barge will soon be used and that fire safety concerns will be taken into account

Checks are still taking place on a barge designed to house asylum seekers, with the first group due to be housed there within “weeks”, the UK’s deputy prime minister has suggested.

Oliver Dowden said he was confident the Bibby Stockholm in Portland, Dorset, would become operational soon and that the government would “take into account those concerns” when pressed over fears raised about fire safety.

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UK Brexit checks on fresh food from EU delayed for fifth time, reports say

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Government source reportedly says there are concerns extra red tape could fuel further inflation

Brexit checks on fresh farm produce coming to the UK from the EU have been delayed for the fifth time, according to reports.

The decision to suspend plans to enforce the controls, which have been applied in the other direction to British exports to the EU since January 2021, is due to be announced imminently, according to the Financial Times.

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Firefighters demand meeting with Bravermen over asylum barge safety fears

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Fire Brigades Union questions large numbers kept on Bibby Stockholm and lack of exit points

Suella Braverman is facing demands from firefighters for an urgent meeting over the safety of a giant barge meant for asylum seekers amid a deepening row over whether it is a “deathtrap”.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has questioned a lack of exit points, the narrowness of corridors and increased occupancy on the Bibby Stockholm in a letter sent to the home secretary on Wednesday. Originally built with 222 cabins, the barge is now expected to contain more than 500 people in Portland, Devon.

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UK aid budget cuts are ‘death sentence’ for world’s most vulnerable children

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Save the Children and Oxfam urge government to restore aid budget back to 0.7% of national income

UK aid cuts are a “death sentence” for children in the world’s most dangerous places, aid charities have warned after an internal government report revealed the impact of budget reductions on the most vulnerable.

The government faced calls from NGOs including Save the Children and Oxfam to restore the aid budget back to 0.7% of national income, after the potential effects of cuts were outlined in grim detail by an assessment produced by civil servants.

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Energy bosses at No 10 summit warn investor confidence is waning

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Chiefs say UK’s troubled economy and political uncertainty is dampening enthusiasm for clean energy rollout

The bosses behind Britain’s multibillion-pound clean energy rollout have warned the government that the UK’s difficult economic circumstances and political uncertainty have taken a toll on investor confidence.

About 20 industry bosses representing companies from across the sector attended a summit at No 10 to discuss their plans to invest more than £100bn in the UK economy.

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Anti-vaxxer guilty of harassing Matt Hancock on London tube

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Geza Tarjanyi barged into former health secretary on train while shouting conspiracy theories

An anti-vaccine protester who accused Matt Hancock of murdering people during the coronavirus pandemic has been found guilty of harassment.

The former health secretary feared being pushed down an escalator by Geza Tarjanyi, 62, of Leyland, Lancashire, who shoulder-barged him and “shouted ridiculous conspiracy theories” on two separate occasions on 19 and 24 January.

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Nose-picking healthcare workers more likely to catch Covid, data suggests

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Rhinotillexis may be underestimated cause of transmission between staff, say researchers

Nose-picking should be given greater consideration as a potential health hazard, researchers have said, after finding healthcare workers who engaged in rhinotillexis were more likely to catch Covid than those who refrained.

Scientists in the Netherlands say research has previously found healthcare workers who had direct contact with Covid patients were more likely to catch Covid than those who did not.

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Operation Midland: ‘reasonable grounds’ to investigate two witnesses, police say

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Pair accused of lying during investigation into claims of VIP paedophile ring made by fantasist Carl Beech

There are “reasonable grounds” to suspect two people perverted the course of justice by allegedly making false abuse claims against a string of high-profile figures, a police force has said.

The pair, known only as witnesses A and B, are accused of lying during Operation Midland, launched in 2014 off the back of lurid and false allegations made by fantasist Carl Beech, who was later jailed for 18 years.

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Asda publishes daily petrol prices online after pressure from watchdog

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Other retailers say they are working with government on implementing industry-wide comparison service

Asda has begun publishing local fuel prices at its forecourts online, becoming the first retailer to launch the service following pressure from the competition watchdog and MPs over widened profit margins at the pump.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has called on the government to introduce legislation to ensure fuel retailers provide up-to-date pricing for a new industry-wide comparison service.

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Meta to ask EU users’ permission to show targeted advertising

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Facebook and Instagram’s parent company will stop harvesting audience data to create profiles for advertisers after regulatory rulings

Facebook and Instagram are to ask EU users for permission to show them personalised adverts, in a concession that challenges the platforms’ core money-making strategy.

The social media networks’ parent company, Meta, announced the change after a series of regulatory rulings struck down the company’s legal justification for harvesting audience data to create user profiles that can be targeted by advertisers.

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Women’s health at risk from UK aid cuts, Foreign Office warned

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Thousands more women will be forced into unsafe abortions and die in pregnancy and childbirth, ministers told

Hundreds of thousands more women will face unsafe abortions and thousands will die in pregnancy and childbirth as a result of UK aid cuts in 2023-24, Foreign Office ministers were warned in an internal assessment.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) published its programme allocations for the next two years last month, showing that official development assistance (ODA) spend is due to rise marginally in 2023-24 and then increase by 12% in 2024-25 to £8.3bn.

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TUC urges Bank of England to halt ‘reckless’ interest rate increases

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Unions say widespread job losses in recent months have left UK ‘teetering on the brink of recession’

The TUC has urged the Bank of England to call a halt to interest rate increases after warning that widespread job losses in recent months have left the UK “teetering on the brink of recession”.

Employment had fallen in more than half of Britain’s 20 industrial sectors in the three months to June, the union body said as it predicted a fresh increase in the cost of borrowing would put tens of thousands more livelihoods at risk.

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Kemi Badenoch casts doubt on electric car targets over job loss fears

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Mandate for carmakers to sell increasing number of zero-emissions vehicles could be weakened, business secretary hints

Kemi Badenoch has suggested electric vehicle mandates could hamper investment in Britain and lead to job losses, in a sign that another of the government’s green pledges is in doubt.

The business secretary was discussing the automotive industry’s concerns about a rule to be introduced in January that will require manufacturers to ensure at least 22% of new sales in the UK are of emissions-free models, rising each year to reach 80% by 2030.

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Jailing shoplifters will not address root causes, says senior Tory

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Sir Bob Neill criticises government plan for failing to consider mental health and addiction problems of many offenders

Ministers cannot “warehouse” addicts and people with mental health problems who commit crimes such as shoplifting, a senior Conservative MP has said in response to a plan to give shoplifters mandatory sentences.

Sir Bob Neill, the chair of the Commons justice select committee, said the new policy would “pump low-level offenders” into almost-full jails at huge public expense and do nothing to change the “chaotic lives” of offenders.

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Bibby Stockholm asylum barge is ‘potential deathtrap’, say firefighters

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FBU to write to Home Office with overcrowding concerns after first group’s arrival delayed due to safety issues on Dorset-based vessel

Firefighters have accused ministers of attempting to house asylum seekers on a “potential deathtrap” after health and safety officials prompted a further delay to the use of a giant barge until next week.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said it is planning to write to the Home Office about overcrowding and access to fire exits on the vessel. The health and safety officials’ intervention had already led to the postponement of the arrival of the first men who were due to stay on the 222-bedroom Bibby Stockholm in Portland, Dorset.

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