Category Archives: UK news

Jim Ratcliffe’s charity cleared by regulator after preliminary investigation

Posted on by

Foundation set up by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the UK’s richest person, had provided funding for a luxury clubhouse at ski club

The Charity Commission has closed a preliminary investigation into concerns about governance at a charity set up by the UK’s richest person, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, which helped fund a £16m luxury clubhouse for an exclusive French Alps club where he and his daughter have skied for years.

The UK charity watchdog announced on Thursday that it had closed its “regulatory compliance case” into the Jim Ratcliffe Foundation after finding that “the charity’s activities further its purposes and that there is no further role for the regulator”.

Continue reading...

Independent Scotland would base citizenship on current Irish model

Posted on by

Plans, unveiled by Humza Yousaf, include significantly reducing application fees

An independent Scotland would adopt an “open and inclusive” approach to citizenship based on the current Irish model, according to proposals set out in a Scottish government paper.

The plans, unveiled by Humza Yousaf on Thursday, include ditching citizenship tests and significantly reducing application fees in contrast to Westminster’s “regressive” approach to migration.

Continue reading...

Spurs billionaire Joe Lewis pleads not guilty to securities fraud

Posted on by

Lewis, whose family owns Tottenham Hotspur FC, is accused of ‘brazen’ insider trading

Lawyers for the British billionaire Joe Lewis have accused prosecutors of making an “egregious” mistake, as the 86-year-old pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of securities fraud and conspiracy.

Lewis, who heads the family that owns Tottenham Hotspur FC, was arraigned on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court with 16 counts of securities fraud and three of conspiracy to commit fraud, which prosecutors called a “brazen” insider trading scheme to enrich his friends, lovers and employees, including two private jet pilots.

Continue reading...

Art dealer ordered to pay £111,000 over missing painting by Mexican artist

Posted on by

Esperanza Koren told London court she didn’t know whereabouts of Bosco Sodi’s painting

An art dealer has been ordered to pay £111,000 over a missing abstract painting compared to a giant “burnt digestive biscuit” by a judge in a London court.

The court heard that the piece by the Mexican artist Bosco Sodi – a round painting with a cracked surface built up using natural pigment, sawdust, wood pulp, natural fibres, water and glue – went missing after being loaned to the London art dealer Esperanza Koren in 2012.

Continue reading...

Home Office ordered to change rules that restrict help for trafficking victims

Posted on by

Court rules all potential victims must be assessed for support, after policy disqualified people with criminal convictions

A high court judge has ordered the home secretary to change a key part of a trafficking policy introduced just months ago.

In an urgent hearing on Wednesday, lawyers representing trafficking victims said they were at risk of human rights violations such as slavery, servitude and forced labour if the policy continued.

Continue reading...

Devon and Cornwall police chief investigated over serious allegations of sexual offences

Posted on by

Will Kerr has been suspended from duty with criminal and disciplinary investigations under way

The chief constable of Devon and Cornwall is under criminal investigation over serious allegations of sexual offences, the police watchdog for Northern Ireland has announced.

Will Kerr has been under investigation for several months over allegations dating back to his time as a senior officer in the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). He is understood to have denied any wrongdoing.

Continue reading...

NatWest was caught out by Nigel Farage’s deft political game

Posted on by

Tory anger over Coutts affair led to bank’s board feeling it had no choice but to sack CEO Alison Rose

Just after 5.40pm on Tuesday afternoon, the two people in charge of NatWest Group put out a joint statement. Dame Alison Rose, its chief executive, admitted she had been the source for an incendiary BBC story about Nigel Farage’s accounts at its exclusive private bank, while Sir Howard Davies, the bank’s chair, expressed his support for her remaining in charge of the lender.

Eight hours later, the bank had performed a dramatic reversal, having catastrophically misjudged the mood of its largest shareholder, the UK government. After last-minute interventions from both the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, board members convened for a late-night virtual call that was to spell the end of Rose’s 31-year career with the bank.

Continue reading...

Sunak and Hunt accused of ‘damaging UK plc’ over NatWest boss’s exit

Posted on by

Concerns raised over anonymous briefings that triggered early-hours resignation of Dame Alison Rose

The prime minister and the chancellor have been accused of “damaging UK plc” and failing to follow due process amid concern over anonymous briefings that triggered the early-hours resignation of NatWest boss Dame Alison Rose.

“There is a real sense of disquiet that political pressure has led to a midnight exit for such an important banking CEO,” an official at the City regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, told the Guardian. “They should have allowed due process.”

Continue reading...

NatWest boss Alison Rose resigns over Nigel Farage Coutts account row

Posted on by

Former Ukip leader obtained report suggesting media coverage of his political views was considered in Coutts closure decision

Dame Alison Rose, the chief executive of NatWest Group, has stood down after a row over the closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account with the private bank Coutts, which NatWest owns.

Rose has resigned from the banking group after the former UK Independence party leader complained to the BBC about a report that claimed his accounts with Coutts were closed for commercial reasons. The broadcaster has since apologised and amended its story.

Continue reading...

Nigel Farage calls for NatWest bosses to go after chief executive resigns over Coutts row – business live

Posted on by

Live coverage of business, economics and financial markets as UK bank replaces leader following late night board meeting

The minister in charge of overseeing the UK’s financial services has said that “it is right” that Alison Rose has resigned from NatWest Group, calling the closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account “unacceptable”.

Andrew Griffith, the City minister, said the resignation “would never have happened” had NatWest Group’s subsidiary, Coutts, not withdrawn the account “due to someone’s lawful political views”.

Continue reading...

Wednesday briefing: Why you can’t find an NHS dentist in England

Posted on by

In today’s newsletter: From poor dentist pay to rising prices and low governmental investment, NHS dentistry has slowly fallen apart – this is how

• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First Edition

Good morning.

In 2021 more than 2,000 dentists quit the NHS, and in 2022 a BBC survey found that nine out of 10 of the dental practices that still offer NHS services are not accepting new adult patients – eight in 10 are not taking on any more children. That has left millions without access to basic healthcare, resulting in “dental deserts” across England, and the problem is only set to get worse as more and more dentists leave the profession.

Banks | Dame Alison Rose, the chief executive of NatWest Group, has stood down after a row over the closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account with the private bank Coutts, which NatWest owns.

Education | Smartphones should be banned from schools to tackle classroom disruption, improve learning and help protect children from cyberbullying, a landmark report by Unesco has recommended. The UN’s education, science and culture agency said there was evidence that excessive use reduced educational performance and emotional stability in children.

Italy | Five people have died in the past 24 hours as two extreme weather events split Italy between wildfires in the south and violent storms in the north. Fires in Sicily led to the temporary closure of Palermo airport after temperatures in the city climbed to 47C on Monday.

Transport | Railway workers who wear stickers supporting a campaign to stop the closure of almost 1,000 ticket offices are being threatened with disciplinary action, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has said.

Saudi Arabia | The kingdom has spent at least $6.3bn in sports deals since early 2021, more than quadruple the previous amount spent over a six-year period, in what critics have labelled an effort to distract from its human rights record.

Continue reading...

‘Put learners first’: Unesco calls for global ban on smartphones in schools

Posted on by

Major UN report issues warning over excessive use, with one in six countries already banning the devices

Smartphones should be banned from schools to tackle classroom disruption, improve learning and help protect children from cyberbullying, a UN report has recommended.

Unesco, the UN’s education, science and culture agency, said there was evidence that excessive mobile phone use was linked to reduced educational performance and that high levels of screen time had a negative effect on children’s emotional stability.

Continue reading...

Make nurseries exempt from VAT and business rates to boost wages, say MPs

Posted on by

Committee also says government has more work to do to tackle structural problems in early years childcare

Ministers should remove business rates and VAT from nurseries so that they are able to pay their staff more, a group of MPs have recommended.

In the spring budget, Jeremy Hunt pledged to reform the childcare system, including by offering parents of children aged nine months to three years 30 hours a week of free childcare in term-time, which was expected to cost £4bn. The government claimed that it would reduce childcare costs for a family by almost 60%.

Continue reading...

Tax relief system needs overhaul to prevent abuse, say MPs

Posted on by

Treasury committee report says tax system is too complicated and finds two-thirds of relief policies are uncosted

Almost £200bn of tax reliefs handed to businesses and individuals each year should come under greater government scrutiny to prevent fraud and abuse, according to an all-party group of MPs.

The Treasury committee said in a report published on Wednesday that “a systematic review” into more than 1,000 tax reliefs was needed after MPs found HM Revenue and Customs did not have the resources to monitor how tax breaks and deductions were used.

Continue reading...

UK inaction let Wagner group flourish and grow, say MPs

Posted on by

Foreign affairs select committee condemns government’s ‘dismal lack of understanding’ about group’s hold in Africa

A decade-long failure by the British government has allowed the Wagner network to grow, spread its tentacles deep into Africa and exploit vulnerable countries, according to a highly critical report from the UK’s foreign affairs select committee.

It called on the government to proscribe the Wagner group in the UK and to make a far more concerted effort to stop it using the City of London as a financial centre.

Continue reading...

‘Like Squid Game’: British tourists in Rhodes on their holidays from hell

Posted on by

Holidaymakers booked into luxury hotels but sleeping in a sports hall feel let down by tour operators but are touched by the kindness of locals

“Have you ever watched Squid Game? This is how it feels.” The words of one British tourist, among the last remaining of 700 holidaymakers put up in an evacuation centre in Rhodes after fleeing the raging wildfires, summed up the chaos and panic that many had experienced as dream holidays had gone up in smoke.

Susan Johnson, 64, from Salisbury, had arrived in Rhodes on Saturday night for a luxurious stay in a five-star hotel, but after landing she had been bussed to Venetokleio sports hall, where she had spent the following four days. She was growing increasingly tired and frustrated and was in pain. “We’re still not sleeping at night,” she said on Tuesday morning. “You don’t sleep properly.”

Continue reading...

Sunak’s tweet associating Labour with ‘criminal gangs’ labelled ‘desperate and pathetic’ by shadow cabinet minister – UK politics live

Posted on by

Jim McMahon, MP for Oldham and shadow environment secretary, criticises prime minister for tweet about Labour and immigration law firms

Michael Gove has been accused of showing how “disjointed” the government’s net zero strategy is by Greenpeace UK.

In a statement released after Gove’s media interview round this morning, in which the levelling up secretary appeared to firm up the government’s commitment to at least one green target, while signalling that others might be relaxed (see 10.04am), Doug Parr, Greenpeace UK’s director of policy, said:

Michael Gove has demonstrated how disjointed the government’s new strategy is. If ministers genuinely want to help lower costs for households, they should be doing everything in their power to switch our homes, energy and transport systems away from expensive, climate-wrecking fossil fuels and run them instead on clean technology and cheap renewables.

Mr Gove is right to reaffirm the government’s commitment to ending the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030 – and Sunak should now do the same, whilst making the transition as easy as possible for people with extensive charging infrastructure and the promised mandate on manufacturers. But allowing more oil and gas drilling, delaying the phase-out of gas boilers and giving landlords longer to insulate the homes of renters will only keep bills high and continue to fan the flames of climate change.

The leaders discussed recent developments on the battlefield and the continued progress by Ukrainian forces despite the challenging conditions. The prime minister added that he was appalled by the devastation caused by recent Russian attacks on Odesa.

Discussing the Black Sea grain initiative, the leaders agreed on the importance of ensuring grain was able to be exported from Ukraine to reach international markets. The prime minister said the UK was working closely with Turkey on restoring the grain deal, and we would continue to use our role as chair of the UN security council to further condemn Russia’s behaviour.

Continue reading...

Ofgem to clamp down on rogue energy brokers ‘ripping off’ care homes and faith groups

Posted on by

Exclusive: Move follows outcry from small firms, charities and others about hidden commission fees

Rogue energy brokers are to be brought to heel by the industry regulator in a crackdown seeking to stop small firms being ripped off by their strongarm tactics and hefty fees.

Under proposed rules to be put forward by Ofgem on Wednesday, energy suppliers would be forced to come clean on the billions in secret broker commissions they load on to business contracts.

Continue reading...

Sciensus’s licence partly suspended after death of cancer patient

Posted on by

Regulator acts after firm paid millions by NHS for healthcare gave patients wrong chemotherapy dose

Britain’s health regulator has partly suspended the manufacturing licence of Sciensus, a private company paid millions by the NHS to provide vital medicines, after the death of a cancer patient who was given the wrong dose of chemotherapy.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it had taken “immediate” action under regulation 28 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 law “where it appears to the MHRA that in the interests of safety the licence should be suspended”.

Continue reading...

Rhodes wildfires are climate wake-up call, says UK minister

Posted on by

Patrick Courtown sounds warning as evacuation flights head to Greek island to rescue stranded Britons

Wildfires in Rhodes are a “wake-up call” on the effects of the climate crisis, a UK government minister has said, as empty planes were sent to the Greek island to help bring home stranded Britons.

After a mass evacuation from parts of Rhodes, members of the House of Lords were told the situation was “stabilising” and there was no immediate need for the government to advise people to stop travelling there.

Continue reading...