Category Archives: UK news

‘I’m not commenting on speculation’: Mark Harper refuses 10 times to answer questions on HS2

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In an excruciating BBC interview, the transport minister sticks resolutely to the party line on rail link … and fails to answer the question

Mark Harper is not the first cabinet minister to suffer a difficult early-morning interview, but the transport secretary seemed oddly blindsided by a quizzing about the future of HS2. No fewer than 12 times he dismissed the issue as “speculation”. If only there were a senior figure from the Department for Transport to clear things up? Here is an edited version of his awkward interview with the BBC Today Programme’s Mishal Husain:

Husain Has something changed on HS2 plans since the last update to parliament in June?

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Private jet service for rich dog owners condemned by climate campaigners

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UK-based charter firm launches ‘ludicrous’ £8,166 Dubai-London route for clients who want to fly with pets

Environmentalists have condemned a “ludicrous” private jet service that transports wealthy people’s dogs, which this week ran its first flight from Dubai to London.

For £8,166, one way, customers were able to sit with their dogs on their laps and sip champagne as they travelled from Al Maktoum international airport to Farnborough in a Gulfstream IV-SP jet.

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Rail passengers in England face further strike disruption

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Saturday train services halted as Aslef drivers begin industrial action in long-running pay dispute

Rail passengers are facing another day of disruption as a strike by train drivers halts virtually all national rail services in England.

Members of the Aslef union have started a 24-hour walkout in the long-running pay dispute, targeting the start of the Conservative party conference in Manchester.

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Black History Month to celebrate women and UK’s Windrush generation

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Hundreds of events lined up for October, with focus on role black women have played in shaping British history

Black History Month launches with hundreds of events planned across the UK in October, with celebrations focusing on the contributions of black women and the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush.

First celebrated in the UK in October 1987, Black History Month has since morphed into a big cultural and political event to highlight the historical and contemporary contribution of black Britons.

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Flying Scotsman involved in ‘slow speed’ crash in Scottish Highlands

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Several people received minor injuries after the heritage train was involved in a ‘shunting’ incident, according to police

Several people were injured after two trains, one of which was the famous Flying Scotsman, collided at “slow speed” in the Highlands of Scotland, police said.

The crash happened at Aviemore railway station in the Cairngorms at 7.10pm on Friday. The station is home to Strathspey Railway, a heritage line that takes visitors on steam trains in northern Scotland.

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Sandwich price shocks but meal deal costs rise less than average food inflation

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Pret a Manger’s ‘posh’ cheese and pickle sandwich grabbed headlines for its £7.15 price tag, but it’s not all gloom

It’s not often that a cheese and pickle sandwich turns heads, but this week Pret a Manger’s “posh” version grabbed headlines after a tweet decrying its £7.15 price tag went viral.

Although that included VAT for eating in, the social media post shone a spotlight on the rising cost of lunch on the go, as the soaring cost of ingredients has been passed on to consumers.

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Sunak ‘backs drivers’ with curbs on 20mph limits and bus lanes

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Low-traffic neighbourhoods and fines also face clampdown under plans condemned by active travel groups

Rishi Sunak has pledged to end “anti-car measures” as he set out a series of ideas to prioritise the needs of drivers at the likely expense of other road users such as bus passengers, cyclists and pedestrians.

Outlining what he called a “long-term plan to back drivers”, the prime minister unveiled a clampdown on 20mph limits, bus lanes, low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), and the ability of councils to fine drivers who commit offences.

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UK outspends rest of Europe on housing asylum seekers by at least 40% a person

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Exclusive: Report by aid campaign One finds costs now take up nearly a third of the official aid budget

The UK is spending 40% a person more than any other European country on housing asylum seekers with the costs taking up nearly a third of the official aid budget, which forced a 16.4% cut in the amount of aid spent overseas in 2022.

The findings come in a report by One, the aid campaign, which argues the proportion of the aid budget being spent on housing refugees in the UK is totally out of sync with its neighbours and is making the British aid budget both unpredictable and unmanageable

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Police chief investigated over wearing Falklands medal despite being 15 at time of war

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Head of Northamptonshire force faces questions over allegations about potentially misrepresenting service record

A chief constable once tipped to lead Scotland Yard is under investigation after being accused of wearing a Falklands war combat service medal despite being a 15-year-old sea cadet at the time of the conflict.

Nick Adderley, 57, who leads Northamptonshire police, has been pictured regularly wearing the South Atlantic medal and rosette, which is awarded to anyone who served in the Falklands combat zone in 1982.

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UK mortgage approvals hit six-month low as interest rates cool market

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Number of house sales also fell in August compared with a year earlier, says HMRC

UK mortgage approvals fell in August to their lowest level in six months, as high interest rates cooled the housing market.

The Bank of England said net mortgage approvals for house purchases fell from 49,500 in July to 45,400 in August and were down by a third from the same month last year.

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Hampshire police officer sacked for using ‘extreme’ force against detainees

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Force apologises to victims, who included a traumatised woman, for Sgt Simon Lythgoe’s ‘inexcusable’ behaviour

A police officer and power-lifting champion has been dismissed after using “extreme” force against two detainees, including a traumatised woman.

Hampshire police described the actions of Sgt Simon Lythgoe, who was based on the Isle of Wight, as inexcusable and apologised to his victims.

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Sunak claims ‘anti-motorist’ policies are against British values as he aims to limit 20mph speed zones – UK politics live

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PM preparing to curb English councils from introducing speed limits ahead of party conference

UK sanctions have been imposed on Russian officials involved in “sham” elections in annexed Ukrainian territory, the Foreign Office has announced.

Labour is currently on course to win a majority of 90 in a general election, according to polling published by the Times.

Rishi Sunak’s projected 196-seat tally would be the worst recorded by any Conservative leader since William Hague’s 166 in 2001. Labour’s 372 seats would give Sir Keir Starmer a comfortable working majority of 90, the party’s biggest since 2001.

Highlighting the Tories’ vulnerabilities in their traditional southern heartlands, the Liberal Democrats would be returned with 36 seats and 10.8 per cent of the vote, a marked improvement on the 15 seats they hold at present.

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Police watchdog: Met officer who shot man dead in 2015 must face hearing

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Independent Office for Police Conduct orders misconduct hearing into incident in which Jermaine Baker was killed

A Metropolitan police firearms officer who shot dead an unarmed man at point blank range should face a hearing for gross misconduct which could see him sacked, the police watchdog has said.

The officer, known only as W80, shot dead Jermaine Baker, 28, in 2015 as he prepared to try and free a prisoner from custody near Wood Green crown court, in north London.

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Howzat? Tortoise, 82, has cricket ball-sized bladder stone removed

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Joey the tortoise, from Cornwall, is recovering after surgery to remove 150g growth

Joey, an 82-year-old tortoise in Cornwall, is recovering from surgery after the removal of a bladder stone the size of a cricket ball.

Two veterinary surgeons had to cut through Joey’s shell to remove the growth, which at 150g was almost three times the weight of a tennis ball.

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Guernsey museum brings Renoir’s art to island that inspired him

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Exhibition honours French impressionist whose landscapes have helped island create jobs and forge global ties

The island of Guernsey may be best known as a tax haven for the super-wealthy, a pleasant holiday destination, and for the rich milk its docile cows produce.

But thanks to a brief sojourn by Pierre-Auguste Renoir 140 years ago, and the bold thinking of culture lovers on the island, it is becoming a draw for art fans.

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UK economy makes stronger recovery from pandemic than first thought

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Revisions to figures show stronger performance than Germany and France but momentum starts to stall

The UK economy made a faster recovery from the Covid pandemic than previously estimated, according to revisions to official figures revealing a stronger performance than Germany and France.

In a boost for Rishi Sunak before the Conservative party conference in Manchester beginning this weekend, revised figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed gross domestic product was 1.8% above pre-pandemic levels at the end of the second quarter this year.

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Rishi Sunak refuses to endorse Suella Braverman’s claim multiculturalism has failed – UK politics live

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The PM instead praised the UK’s ‘fantastic multicultural democracy’, saying the nation has done an ‘incredible job of integrating people’

The former SNP minister Fergus Ewing has claimed his party no longer stands up for Scotland as he was suspended for a week after a disciplinary vote by fellow MSPs.

The sanction, which was backed by 48 votes to nine with four abstentions, came about after Ewing voted against the SNP-Green government in a no-confidence motion against the Scottish Green minister Lorna Slater.

The SNP I joined would never have asked me, or indeed any other elected politician, to choose between loyalty to party and loyalty to constituents …

It was never an ordinary political party because it was one which put Scotland first.

Fergus is a long standing MSP, he has been a minister, he understands the procedures here and what the outcome is of voting in the way that he did.

No, you are and you’re her direct line boss. So why didn’t you deal with that situation, as her boss?

The way it works for MPs is slightly different, in the sense that they themselves are elected by their constituents and we have a separate process for them stopping the job that they’re in. It is not my ability to do that, actually. Ultimately people elect their MPs regardless of who the prime minister is.

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Councils ‘on their knees’ as they face record £3.5bn funding shortfall

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Research finds 114 councils in England, Scotland and Wales facing budget gaps of more than £10m

Councils are facing a record cash shortfall of more than £3.5bn in the coming year with jobs and services facing cuts, according to analysis.

Data compiled by Unison, the trade union, found that there were 114 councils in England, Scotland and Wales – almost a third – facing shortfalls of more than £10m. It said 15 councils were likely to be in the red by more than £40m next year.

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Loose language leaves Labour accused of flip-flop on private schools

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Shadow ministers used ‘charitable status’ as shorthand for main goal of introducing tax changes

Has Labour flip-flopped on stripping private schools in England of their charitable status? Senior party figures from Keir Starmer down have certainly been guilty of using loose language, conflating such a move with their plan to apply VAT to private school fees and other tax breaks.

Starmer said in July last year: “When I say we are going to pay for kids to catch up at school, I also say it’ll be funded by removing private schools’ charitable status.”

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Birmingham PhD student guilty of using 3D printer to build ‘kamikaze’ drone

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Mohamad al-Bared used technology at Coventry home to make drone designed to deliver a warhead or chemical weapon for IS

A Birmingham University PhD student has been found guilty of using a 3D printer at home to build a “kamikaze” drone designed to deliver an explosive warhead or chemical weapon for Islamic State (IS) terrorists.

Mechanical engineering graduate Mohamad al-Bared, 27, was found guilty of using a 3D printer to make the drone at his Coventry home while sending weekly updates to IS.

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