Category Archives: UK news

‘Rightwing, illiberal’: Labour MP Jon Cruddas condemns Keir Starmer’s ‘witch-hunt’

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MP says moves to discipline Neal Lawson, who heads pressure group Compass, are a ‘disgrace’

A senior Labour MP claims today that Keir Starmer’s party has fallen under the control of a “rightwing, illiberal” faction that is embarking on a “witch-hunt” not only against the Corbynite left but also anyone with an independent voice.

In an extraordinary intervention, Jon Cruddas, the MP for Dagenham and Rainham, says that moves by the party to discipline and possibly expel Neal Lawson, a former speechwriter for Gordon Brown who now heads the pressure group Compass, are a “disgrace” in a party built on pluralist values and traditions.

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Man and woman arrested over ‘suspicious’ death of girl, 2, in Suffolk

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Investigations ongoing after body of toddler found in Ipswich on Friday morning

A man and a woman have been arrested over the “suspicious” death of a two-year-old girl. Police said they found the body of the toddler at a property in Sidegate Lane, Ipswich, Suffolk, on Friday morning.

Investigations at the property are ongoing and officers said the death was being treated as suspicious.

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British holidaymakers warned of risk of disruption from French riots

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Foreign Office updates travel advice for France, saying location and timing of clashes is unpredictable

British holidaymakers travelling to France have been warned they could face disruption after four nights of unrest in reaction to the police killing of a 17-year-old boy of Algerian and Moroccan descent.

The Foreign Office has changed its travel advice, warning of the potential for disruption to travel, curfews and that the “location and timing of riots are unpredictable”.

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Councils in England hit by ‘unsustainable’ £450m bill for free bus passes

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LGA says services being put at risk by huge cost and calls way Whitehall funds scheme not fit for purpose

Councils in England are being hit by a “completely unsustainable” annual bill of more than £450m to prop up the free bus pass scheme, according to an analysis.

The Local Government Association (LGA), which calculated the figure, said the enormous cost was putting services at risk.

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Direct Line ordered to review five years of car claims after underpayments

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Insurer told to reassess vehicle write-offs to identify any unfair settlements

Britain’s second-biggest car insurer, Direct Line, has been ordered to go back through five years of claims after admitting it had underpaid some customers who had their cars and vans written off.

After an investigation into the car insurance market that began in December 2022, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), this week ordered Direct Line to conduct a review of claims where vehicles had been written off “to identify any policyholders who received unfair settlements and provide them with appropriate redress”.

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Many high-street frappés contain more sugar than a Mars bar

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Which? finds some Starbucks, Costa Coffee and Caffè Nero coffees contain more sugar than recommended daily allowance

An iced coffee is a cool pick-me-up on a hot day, but it might not be the caffeine boosting your mood as many of the blends sold by well-known high street coffee chains contain more sugar than a Mars bar or can of Coke.

The consumer group Which? looked at the sugar load in frappés and Frappuccinos being served up this summer by three of the biggest coffee chains, Starbucks, Costa Coffee and Caffè Nero, and found many “regular” size drinks contained more than an adult’s recommended daily allowance.

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Jeremy Clarkson’s Sun article on Meghan was sexist, says press regulator

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The Sun will have to print a front-page statement explaining that its columnist was found to have discriminated against the duchess

Jeremy Clarkson discriminated against the Duchess of Sussex when he used an article in the Sun to describe his “hatred” of her with a series of sexist tropes, a press regulator has ruled.

Clarkson used his national newspaper column to describe how he hated Meghan on a “cellular level” and suggested she had used “vivid bedroom promises” to transform Prince Harry into a “warrior of woke”.

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NHS plan: the numbers are impressive, but where are the new ideas?

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Health bosses will welcome tens of thousands of new recruits, but the plan has little to say on how to change the culture to keep them

It was on 8 November 2017 that Jeremy Hunt, the then health secretary, first promised that the government would bring forward a long-term, comprehensive plan to end the NHS’s lack of staff.

It would, he said, be the “first proper NHS workforce plan that we have had since 2000”. And the plan would emerge quickly, he added, reflecting the urgency of tackling what has become the most debilitating of the NHS’s many problems – shortages of staff, everywhere.

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Plans to shorten medical training put quality of NHS care at risk, doctors say

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Unions say government proposals to cut training by a year and introduce apprenticeships could dilute skills

Plans to shorten medical training could dilute the calibre of doctors entering the NHS in England and damage the quality of care patients receive, doctors’ leaders have warned.

Government proposals to cut doctors’ time in medical school from five to four years, and to introduce medical apprenticeships, could “water down” training for health service staff, they said.

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Pope Francis holds meeting with Julian Assange’s wife

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‘He understands Julian is suffering and is concerned,’ says Stella Assange after audience with pontiff

Pope Francis has met Stella Assange, the wife of the imprisoned WikiLeaks founder, who said the pope’s gesture in receiving her was evidence of his “ongoing show of support for our family’s plight” and concern over the suffering of her husband, Julian.

After the audience, Stella Assange said Francis had sent a letter to her husband in March 2021, during a particularly difficult period. “He has provided great solace and comfort and we are extremely appreciative for his reaching out to our family in this way,” she told the Associated Press. “He understands that Julian is suffering and is concerned.”

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Kevin Spacey a ‘sexual bully’ who assaulted four men, UK court told

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Hollywood actor accused of abusing his power and getting a thrill out of predatory and aggressive behaviour towards the men

The Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey was a “sexual bully” who abused the power and influence that his reputation and fame gave him to assault four men, a court has heard.

The Hollywood star is accused of getting a sexual thrill out of his predatory and aggressive behaviour towards the men, who had the “misfortune” of attracting his attention. Spacey is alleged to have performed a sex act on one man while he was asleep and grabbed others with such force that it was painful or took their breath away.

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Watchdog rejects Johnson’s suggestion Sue Gray’s Labour job meant she was not impartial investigating Partygate– UK politics live

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Advisory committee on business appointments says it has seen ‘no evidence’ that Gray’s decision-making was affected despite ex-PM’s claim

NHS England has just published its 150-page long-term workforce plan. It’s here.

The government is keen to present it as an NHS plan, not a government plan, and at the moment you cannot find it prominently on the No 10 or Department of Health and Social Care websites.

This is our longer-term, strategic approach to workforce planning. In a nutshell we will:

1. Train more staff

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Sue Gray given six-month waiting period for Keir Starmer job

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Former senior civil servant will start work as Labour leader’s chief of staff in autumn after watchdog recommendation

Sue Gray will start work as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff by the autumn after a ruling by the watchdog on post-government jobs but is facing a rap on the knuckles from the Cabinet Office alleging she broke the civil service code.

Starmer said he was delighted that Gray would be starting her job in his office before the next election, after the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) said she needed to wait six months after leaving her role in the Cabinet Office last March.

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NHS radiographers in England vote to strike over pay

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Society of Radiographers members reject offer, pushing for deal they say could help cut waiting lists

Thousands of radiographers in England have voted to go on strike for the first time in the increasingly bitter healthcare pay dispute.

The Society of Radiographers (SoR) secured sufficient turnout and votes in 43 NHS trusts to go on strike in a ballot that closed on 28 June. More than 150 trusts had a majority in favour of action but not all met the turnout threshold.

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Over 24,000 UK asylum seekers could be sent to Rwanda despite court ruling

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Home Office sent 24,083 letters of intent warning refugees they were being considered for forcible removal

More than 24,000 asylum seekers from about one-third of the world’s countries could face removal to Rwanda by the UK Home Office in the future, even though the scheme was found to be unlawful in the court of appeal on Thursday.

Home Office data obtained under a freedom of information request shows that, between January 2021 and March 2023, 24,083 asylum seekers were issued with letters warning them that they were being considered for forcible removal to Rwanda.

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Fifteen-year-old boy and man, 23, killed in north London stabbing

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Another man aged 28 has stab wound not thought to be life-threatening after incident in Archway

A 15-year-old boy and a 23-year-old man have been stabbed to death in north London.

The teenager died at the scene in Elthorne Road, Archway, after the stabbing at 11.30pm on Thursday, while the man was taken to hospital where he was later pronounced dead. A 28-year-old man was found with a stab wound that was not life-threatening.

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Oligarch hit by Ukrainian sanctions has UK residency and was given ‘golden visa’

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Pavel Fuks, a Ukrainian who made a fortune in Russia and is under investigation for fraud, was granted special visa for the rich in 2012

An oligarch who made a fortune in Russia and is under Ukrainian sanctions has UK residency after being granted a special visa for the rich.

Pavel Fuks, a Ukrainian national who had sanctions imposed in 2021, is also under criminal investigation for fraud and tax evasion in his home country. But the Guardian has established that Fuks, known as a regular at an exclusive Mayfair restaurant, was granted a so-called golden visa in 2012, followed by indefinite leave to remain in the UK in 2017. “It’s effective as of today,” his spokesperson said.

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Cabinet Office will not investigate groping allegations against Daniel Korski

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Daisy Goodwin expresses disappointment with government response to formal complaint against Tory ex-mayoral hopeful

The Cabinet Office will not investigate allegations that the former Conservative mayoral hopeful Daniel Korski groped a woman when he worked in Downing Street 10 years ago.

Daisy Goodwin, the novelist and TV producer who made the claim, said she was disappointed, and questioned why there was no dedicated body that investigated serious allegations against MPs and advisers.

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Government aims to boost NHS with thousands more doctors and nurses

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NHS England could have 12,500 extra doctors and nurses by 2028 under the service’s first long-term workforce plan

Thousands more doctors and nurses will be trained in England every year as part of a government push to plug the huge workforce gaps that plague almost all NHS services.

The number of places in medical schools will rise from 7,500 to 10,000 by 2028 and could reach 15,000 by 2031 as a result of the NHS’s first long-term workforce plan.

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MP Lee Anderson faces rebuke over GB News promotional film

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Tory party’s deputy chair used parliamentary rooftop setting to publicise TV show, in apparent contravention of rules

The Conservative MP Lee Anderson faces a telling off for using a parliamentary rooftop to film a promotion video for his GB News TV show, with unauthorised photography or filming not permitted on the parliamentary estate.

The serjeant at arms, who is responsible for upholding order in the Commons, will contact Anderson, the Conservative party deputy chairman, over the Twitter footage.

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