Category Archives: UK news

UK government launches campaign to tackle loneliness at universities

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Campaigners criticise ‘tokenistic’ initiative started after polling showed almost all students experience bouts of loneliness

Millions of teenagers across Britain will arrive at university for the first time on Monday as freshers’ week begins.

Almost all will experience bouts of loneliness with nearly half being worried they will be judged if they admit to it, according to a sample of 1,000 students, collected by YouGov for the government.

Spend time helping other people, such as volunteering with student groups or by offering a regular conversation to someone feeling isolated

Keep in touch with friends and family over the phone

Arrange something fun to do with your current friends

Join a club or society at university to connect with others who have similar interests

Do things you enjoy, such as playing sport, reading or listening to music

Be open to everyone, as university is a great place to meet people from all different backgrounds

Remember some people only share the good things happening to them on social media so try and avoid comparison

Talk to someone you trust about how you feel

Get in touch with the university’s student services about the welfare and support it can provide

Remember that others may be feeling similar, so you are not alone

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National Trust reports record £179m annual spend on conservation

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Membership steady and income from legacies tops £70m in financial year

The National Trust spent a record £179.6m on the conservation of its historic buildings and collections in the last year in the face of significant challenges regarding rising costs.

Its coffers were boosted by an increase in the number of visitors to pay-for-entry venues and record amounts bequeathed in legacies, its annual report says.

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Proportion of UK house sellers cutting asking price reaches ‘highest in over a decade’

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More than 36% of properties have had asking price cut at least once — the highest figure since 2011

UK house sellers are cutting their asking prices at the fastest rate in more than a decade, after high interest rates dampened demand for property this summer.

The proportion of homes on the market which have had at least one price reduction is at its highest level since January 2011, the property website Rightmove has reported.

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Doctors’ strike to disrupt care ‘unlike anything seen before’, warn NHS officials

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Consultants and junior doctors will take joint action this week for the first time in escalating pay dispute

NHS officials have warned that doctors’ strikes this week are likely to cause disruption to patient care “unlike anything before”, as Wednesday will see consultants and junior doctors taking joint strike action for the first time in the escalating dispute over pay.

Junior doctors, who have already staged five days of industrial action this year, will now strike again from 20 to 22 September – the first day of which coincides with action by consultants.

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BBC ‘urgently looking into issues raised’ by Russell Brand allegations

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Corporation says accusations span a number of years, including 2006 to 2008, when comedian worked for Radio 2

The BBC has said it is “urgently looking into the issues raised” by the publication of allegations of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse against Russell Brand.

The Sunday Times published allegations this weekend that Brand had sexually assaulted four women after a years-long investigation into claims about his behaviour in collaboration with Channel 4’s Dispatches.

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Labour will not say how many migrants it would accept in EU returns deal

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Keir Starmer dismisses Tory claims of plan to oversee 100,000 extra arrivals as ‘complete garbage’

Labour will not say how many more migrants it would accept under a returns deal with the EU if it comes to power, as senior party figures insist that they do not want to be bound by quotas.

Keir Starmer said this week that if he became prime minister, he would seek a deal with the EU to return some new arrivals to mainland Europe while allowing others to enter Britain.

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Portsmouth exhibition celebrates Royal Navy’s role in ocean exploration

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Worlds Beneath the Waves at the National Museum of the Royal Navy marks 150 years since HMS Challenger expedition

From the early days of deepwater exploration when it took a crew of 250 to keep the ship steady enough to collect samples, to the modern-day era of hi-tech minisubs, a century and a half of oceanographic missions is being celebrated.

An exhibition at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth has been launched to mark 150 years since HMS Challenger’s remarkable circumnavigation of the world in search of the mysteries of the deep – a mission that led to the discovery of thousands of new species of sea creature and the Mariana Trench.

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Charities can campaign on ‘issues that provoke strong emotions’ – watchdog

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Exclusive: In wake of RSPB tweet controversy, Charity Commission says voluntary sector entitled to engage in political activity

Charities should not hold back from engaging in political activity and on emotive issues on social media such as race or immigration, even where they risk triggering controversy, the voluntary sector watchdog has said.

Guidance to be issued by the Charity Commission this week makes it clear charities are entitled to campaign robustly online in support of their mission and beneficiaries. To do so they must have the backing of their trustee boards, keep within the law, and act with “respect and tolerance.”

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Majority of Scottish voters support assisted dying bill, poll reports

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YouGov finds 77% in favour of proposal to allow terminally-ill people to take their own lives

A large majority of Scottish voters support proposals to allow terminally-ill people to take their own lives, according to a poll released by campaigners for assisted dying laws.

A new bill to legalise assisted dying in Scotland is due to be published by the Scottish parliament later this year, in a fresh attempt by its supporters to get the measure enacted for the first time in the UK.

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Key ‘Bidenomics’ architect calls for spending ‘race to the top’ on green tech

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Biden adviser Heather Boushey urges UK and Europe to increase climate friendly investment to reboot growth

Governments around the world must drastically increase public investment in green technologies to combat global heating and drive sustainable economic growth, a top adviser to President Joe Biden has said.

Heather Boushey, a member of the White House council of economic advisers, said countries including the UK needed to ramp up green investment to reboot economic growth, boost energy security, and protect against future inflation shocks.

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Eleven peers have not sat in Lords for at least a year after failing to take oath to king

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Ex-supreme court president among those whose failure to take oath means they cannot sit or vote in second chamber

Lady Hale, the former president of the supreme court, is among 11 peers who appear to have neglected their duties in the House of Lords after failing to take an oath to King Charles – a requirement for them to perform any part of their constitutional role.

Among the other peers is Harry Carter (Lord Carter of Haslemere), a top lawyer working in Downing Street, who was appointed a peer by Theresa May nearly four years ago but has never taken part in the House of Lords.

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Liz Truss to claim her economic plan would have saved government £35bn

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Former PM set to give speech defending her time in charge and explaining spending decisions

Liz Truss will claim that Rishi Sunak’s government has spent £35bn more than she would have as prime minister, in a speech on Monday.

The short-lived prime minister will use a speech at the Institute for Government to defend and explain her time in charge, nearly a year on from the ill-fated mini-budget that helped end her premiership.

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Russell Brand accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse

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Claims related to seven-year period are detailed in Times and Channel 4 investigation after actor had already denied allegations

Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse over a seven-year period at the height of his fame.

The allegations between 2006 and 2013 were the result of a joint investigation by the Sunday Times, the Times and Channel 4 Dispatches. Brand denies the allegations.

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Rishi Sunak is less trusted on the UK economy than recent Tory PMs, poll finds

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Prime minister can find comfort in ranking above Liz Truss, however

Rishi Sunak is seen as less competent on economic affairs than most recent Conservative prime ministers, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.

The prime minister has made reducing inflation one of his key priorities, as well as reducing debt and avoiding a recession. Much of his pitch has been on his economic management skills as a former chancellor.

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Horace Ové, pioneering black British film-maker, dies aged 86

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Knighted in 2022, Trinidad-born Ové directed the first black British feature and documented the arrival of reggae to the UK

Horace Ové, regarded as the pioneer of black British film-making, died on Saturday at the age of 86, his son has announced.

Ové directed the first black British feature, Pressure, in 1976 and was also the first to document the arrival of reggae music to the UK with 1971’s Reggae.

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Labour wants new EU links in a reset of British foreign policy

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Ties with Europe are a top priority, says shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, as he calls for Britain to play a lead role in world affairs

The shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, has proposed regular meetings between UK and European Union ministers, as part of a major reset of British foreign policy under a Labour government.

Lammy, who was attending a gathering of centre-left leaders in Montreal, Canada, with the Labour leader Keir Starmer, told the Observer it was high time the UK took up its place again, after Brexit, as a lead player in world affairs. “A UK that is isolated and missing is felt across the world. It is definitely the case that the international community want Britain back,” he said.

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Daniel Burke: body found in Ukraine in search for missing British man

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Relatives of Manchester man, 36, receive support as UK and Ukraine officials work on identification

A body has been found in Ukraine in the search for a British man who was reported missing a month ago.

Relatives of Daniel Burke lost contact with him in mid-August while he was on his most recent visit to Ukraine.

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Labour and Tories neck and neck in byelection race for Mid Beds, poll says

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Survey reveals Labour more likely than Lib Dems to overturn Conservatives’ 25,000 majority in Nadine Dorries’s former seat

• Read more: byelection duel could gift Mid Beds to Tories

Labour and the Conservatives are neck and neck in the battle for the previously safe Tory seat of Mid Bedfordshire, according to a poll that suggests a split “progressive” vote could allow Rishi Sunak’s party to retain the constituency.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats are making a full-tilt effort to win the seat from the Conservatives after the resignation of Nadine Dorries, a close ally of Boris Johnson, who eventually quit after being denied a place on the former prime minister’s resignation honours list.

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Staff shortages an issue amid ‘deeply worrying’ prison deaths in England

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Inquests flag up gaps in the care of prisoners in relation to at least nine deaths in custody since 2021

Prison understaffing and workload issues have been flagged in at least nine inquests into deaths in custody since the start of 2021, according to an Observer analysis of coroners’ reports.

Issues raised include gaps in monitoring of prisoners due to understaffing, a lack of prison-based clinical staff and shortcomings in the keyworker programme. Coroners have also repeatedly identified problems with staff training and the assessment, care in custody and teamwork (ACCT) process for prisoners identified as being at risk of suicide or self-harm.

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