Category Archives: UK news

British Museum director Hartwig Fischer resigns after suspected thefts

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Fischer to step down after blunders prompt international embarrassment and questions about systemic failures

The head of the British Museum has resigned and his deputy has stepped back over its handling of the suspected widespread theft of artefacts following a string of blunders that have prompted international embarrassment and questions about systemic failures.

Hartwig Fischer said on Friday he accepted responsibility for the museum’s failure to properly respond to warnings about the suspected thefts of thousands of objects in 2021.

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Glyn Razzell: man convicted of killing wife to face strict checks if released

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Restrictions to man who still denies killing Linda Razzell include informing police of relationships and not selling story to media outlets

A man convicted of murdering his estranged wife more than 20 years ago faces stringent restrictions if he is finally released from prison, ranging from having to inform the authorities if he begins a romantic relationship to not selling his story to a newspaper or documentary maker.

Glyn Razzell, who is in prison for murdering his wife, Linda Razzell, in 2002, has insisted at a Parole Board hearing that he would pose no risk if he is freed but has been told he will face wide-ranging checks.

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Tory frustration with Nadine Dorries grows as former party whip calls for clarity – UK politics live

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John Penrose is the latest MP to voice their frustration after Dorries said she was quitting but then failed to do so

MPs will try to oust Nadine Dorries as an MP next month amid growing calls for her to follow through on her vow to resign, PA media reports.

The Liberal Democrats will table a bill when parliament returns on 4 September that they hope will result in her suspension.

For months Nadine Dorries has treated the people of Mid Bedfordshire with contempt and taken them for granted.

As thousands of people struggle to get a GP appointment and face steep hikes to their mortgages, Nadine Dorries continues to be missing in action. What’s worse is that the Conservatives just don’t seem to care that they’re letting people down.

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Woman filmed kicking and slapping a horse cleared of animal cruelty

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Sarah Moulds, 39, bemoans ‘trial by social media’ that followed video of her striking pony going viral

A former teacher who lost her job after she was filmed kicking and striking a horse has been cleared of animal cruelty.

Sarah Moulds, 39, was found not guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, her grey pony named Bruce Almighty.

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Woman arrested after eight-year-old girl dies in Portsmouth balcony fall

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Suspect, 43, held over child neglect after girl believed to have fallen from sixth-floor flat

An eight-year-old girl has died after apparently falling from a balcony in a tower block in Portsmouth.

A 43-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of child neglect and was being questioned by police about the fall at Pickwick House, to which police and paramedics were called at 6.50pm on Thursday. About a dozen police cars were seen parked outside the 11-storey block of flats and a wide cordon was in place.

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‘They’re huge this year’: UK fruit pickers hail bumper blackberry crop

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‘Just about perfect’ weather conditions mean berries are abundant – ideal for bank holiday weekend foraging

The sun shone at the right time but not too harshly, and the rain provided just about the perfect amount of watering. As a result, gardeners, foragers and fans of fruity puddings in many parts of the UK are relishing one of the most abundant, juiciest blackberry crops for years.

“It’s a really good year,” said John Myers, the head gardener at the National Trust’s Ham House in London. “Conditions have been just about perfect. We had a nice May and June when the temperatures were good. June was warm but not too hot, allowing the flowers to take up enough nutrients and the pollinators to do their thing. Then after June we had quite a lot of rain, which did the berries a world of good, plumping them up. In the last few weeks it’s been warm, meaning they’ve ripened really well.”

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Two men injured after another homophobic attack in south London

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Couple assaulted in Brixton with one needing stitches six days after stabbing of two gay men in Clapham

Two men were injured last weekend after the second homophobic attack in south London in six days, prompting politicians and campaigners to blame a rise in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.

Michael Smith, 37, a teacher, and his partner, Nat Asabere, 41, a dancer and talent scout, were waiting for a bus on Saturday night in Brixton after attending Black Pride when they were punched repeatedly by a stranger. Smith was left needing stitches to his lower lip and Asabere has suffered headaches since.

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Overweight adults with high blood pressure a third more likely to die early, study finds

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Up to 31% of global population estimated to have metabolic syndrome due to three or more unhealthy traits

Millions of middle-aged adults who are overweight with even slightly raised blood pressure, cholesterol or glucose levels are about a third more likely to die early, research suggests.

They also face a 35% higher risk of heart attacks or strokes and will experience them two years earlier than their peers. The stark findings are being presented at the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology, the world’s largest heart conference. They represent more evidence of the immediate dangers posed by the global obesity crisis.

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Record north-south gap in top GCSE grades blamed on ‘London-centric policies’

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North-east school leaders call for government to recognise challenges for pupils in different parts of England

The largest gap on record between top GCSE grades awarded to pupils in London and those in north-east England has prompted warnings of a “continuing widening” in the north-south education divide.

School leaders in the north-east accused the government of “London-centric” policies, while Labour said it showed that “levelling up is dead and buried” through the failure to help disadvantaged communities.

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Alice Winn wins 2023 Waterstones debut fiction prize for In Memoriam

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Novel described as ‘truly stunning feat of fiction’ tells love story of two first world war soldiers

Alice Winn has won the 2023 Waterstones debut fiction prize for her novel In Memoriam, which has been described as a “truly stunning feat of fiction”.

The novel, inspired by archive clippings from a student newspaper, chronicles the love story between two first world war soldiers. It was announced as the winner at a ceremony in London on Thursday evening.

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Call for ministers to be more open about finances after Rishi Sunak code breach

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Standards commissioner’s ruling has set precedent, says Labour MP who first asked PM about wife’s interest in childcare agency

Ministers may need to be more transparent about their financial interests after a “significant ruling” that found Rishi Sunak failed to declare his wife’s interest in a childcare agency, the MP who triggered the inquiry has said.

Catherine McKinnell, the Labour MP who first asked him about the potential conflict of interest, said the ruling set a precedent that meant ministers were likely to have to make greater disclosures in relation to their interests when questioned in parliament.

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Serious Fraud Office drops 10-year corruption inquiry into Kazakh miner ENRC

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UK agency also shuts other high-profile cases including Rio Tinto investigation

The UK’s Serious Fraud Office has abandoned a criminal investigation into the Kazakh mining group ENRC, ending a decade-long corruption inquiry mired in controversy.

The SFO updated its website on Thursday with a notice that it had closed the case after concluding there was “insufficient admissible evidence” to prosecute the company.

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Record asylum backlog deals another blow to Sunak’s immigration pledges

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Pressure to reduce backlog remains acute as arrivals continue and accommodation problems mount

In a landmark speech on immigration last December, Rishi Sunak made a series of bold and apparently undeliverable commitments. He promised to stop the flow of small boats to the UK, increase the amount of non-hotel accommodation for asylum seekers and abolish the backlog of unprocessed asylum cases by the end of 2023.

The government’s spiralling difficulties in addressing the first and second pledges have been evident throughout the summer, with footage of new boat arrivals broadcast nightly, and complications with the opening of the Bibby Stockholm accommodation barge mounting up. The failure to address the asylum backlog was starkly exposed in Thursday’s release of the quarterly immigration statistics.

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Amazon may ditch Clarkson’s Farm over his Sun column comments on Meghan

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Streaming platform yet to decide, but its executives were ‘shocked and disappointed’

Clarkson’s Farm could be cancelled after its next series, with Amazon bosses saying they were “shocked and disappointed” by its presenter’s comments about the Duchess of Sussex.

The third series of the hit show about life on Jeremy Clarkson’s Cotswolds farm is being filmed for release in 2024 but Amazon bosses said they have yet to decide if the programme will return for a fourth run.

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Women with ME tend to have more symptoms than men, study suggests

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Study of chronic fatigue syndrome also finds women are more likely to develop worse symptoms over time

Women with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) tend to have more symptoms than men and are more likely to develop increasingly severe symptoms over time, according to initial results from a major study.

It is already known that women are at higher risk of CFS, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), and the latest study, called DecodeME, provides new insights into how their experience differs from men. The study found that women who have ME/CFS for more than 10 years are more likely to experience increasingly severe symptoms as they age.

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Probation service pays undisclosed sum to ex-contractor after racial harassment

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Lloyd Odain was subjected to discrimination, including monkey chants, in 2019 while working for the service

HM Prison and Probation Service has paid an undisclosed settlement to a former contractor who endured racial discrimination and harassment, including monkey chants.

Lloyd Odain, who worked for the probation service, was subject to incidents of racial discrimination by another contractor in 2019.

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Nice calls for routine use of at-home faeces tests for bowel cancer screening

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Hopes guidance could help diagnose colorectal cancer faster and cut NHS waiting times for colonoscopies

At-home faeces tests could spare tens of thousands of people in England and Wales from having to undergo invasive procedures to rule out bowel cancer.

It is hoped the move could help diagnose colorectal cancer faster and cut NHS waiting times by reducing the need to refer people for a colonoscopy.

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Charities watchdog criticises Care4Calais for administrative misconduct

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Inquiry finds, however, that charity acted lawfully in challenging government’s asylum policy through courts

Care4Calais, a refugee charity providing humanitarian aid to thousands of migrants living in appalling conditions in northern France, has been criticised by the charities watchdog over what it called administrative misconduct.

The three-year Charity Commission inquiry criticised the former chief executive and board of the charity and highlighted examples of lax internal financial controls, governance failings, poor record keeping and complaints handling.

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Ofcom urged to investigate Virgin Media broadband contracts

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Terms and conditions allow firm to raise bills at any time and by an unlimited amount, Which? claims

Virgin Media is facing calls for the telecoms watchdog to urgently investigate the legality of its broadband contracts, under which it can increase bills at any time and by unlimited amounts.

The consumer champion Which? has concluded that Virgin Media’s terms and conditions may amount to unfair contract terms and could be in breach of the Consumer Rights Act. It has written to Ofcom calling on it to intervene.

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