Category Archives: UK news

Ban on single-use vapes in UK may ‘flood market with illegal products’

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Ministers said to be planning to legislate against the devices because of concerns about children’s health

Leading doctors and councils have welcomed reports that ministers are preparing to ban single-use vapes in the UK, but others have expressed fears a ban could lead to a “flood” of illegal products on the market.

The reports of plans to stop the sale of disposable e-cigarettes come as fears grow about their environment impact and the health risks they pose to the large number of teenagers taking up vaping.

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Big Panda author using proceeds to set up animal sanctuary in Swansea

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Exclusive: James Norbury says he is fulfilling pledge made after his debut book landed him a six-figure deal

The self-taught artist and writer James Norbury was living below the poverty line and volunteering with a cat charity when his self-published book was snapped up by a leading publisher in 2021.

After repeated rejection by literary agents, the six-figure deal was all the more astonishing for him being a debut author and he vowed to invest money he earned in creating a sanctuary for animals.

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UK ‘mortgage meltdown’ looms amid ‘terrifying’ growth in arrears

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Jump in borrowers unable to make payments with landlords particularly hit and ‘worse to come’

Mortgage arrears jumped by 13% in the second quarter of the year to the highest level since 2016, according to Bank of England figures that underscore the stress in the UK mortgage market.

Rising interest rates and unemployment over recent months have put pressure on household disposable incomes, forcing some families to cut or suspend their monthly mortgage payments.

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V&A to look after ancient Yemen stones found in London shop

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Museum agrees to care for stelae dating from second half of first millennium BC until it is safe to return them

The V&A is to look after four ancient carved funerary stones that were found by police in a shop in east London in a historic agreement with Yemen.

The stelae, which date from the second half of the first millennium BC, come from necropoli that have been looted in recent years.

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Brother of Briton held in India says UK government is ‘more talk and no action’

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Gurpreet Singh Johal calls for increased pressure to free brother Jagtar after Rishi Sunak raised case with Narendra Modi

The brother of a British man held in an Indian jail for six years fears the UK government is “more talk” and “no action”, after Rishi Sunak raised the case with Narendra Modi at the recent G20 summit in Delhi.

Jagtar Singh Johal, 36, claims to have been tortured and forced to make a confession since he was detained in India in 2017. He faces terrorism charges and the first stages of his trial have only just got under way after repeated delays caused by disputes over evidence. He denies the charges, and he could face a death sentence if convicted.

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Woman arrested after death of girl, two, found in Hampshire pond

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Child was in Kingsley pond near Bordon and woman in her 40s is being held on suspicion of murder

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a two-year-old girl, who was found unresponsive in a village pond in Hampshire, died in hospital.

Police called at the toddler’s home in Kingsley, Hampshire just after 5pm on Sunday, after receiving a report that she had gone missing from the property.

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MPs furious over being kept in dark about alleged spying for China

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House speaker tells Commons that ‘MPs who needed to be told were told’ at time of aide’s arrest in March

MPs have vented their fury over a six-month silence that followed an aide operating at the heart of parliament being arrested on suspicion of allegedly spying for China and accused of passing information to Beijing in breach of the Official Secrets Act.

They voiced concern on Monday that the gap meant they had been unable to take their own security precautions, amid wider concern that individual pro-democracy activists could be put at risk by any security lapse.

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Rishi Sunak says he told China actions to undermine British democracy are ‘completely unacceptable’

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Prime minister says he told Li Qiang, the Chinese prime minister, at G20 that Chinese interference with the work of parliament will ‘never be tolerated’

Simon Clarke, who was the levelling up secretary during the Liz Truss premiership, has defended the government’s decision not to explicitly label China as a threat. In posts on X, or Twitter as many of us still call it, he said:

There are legitimate reasons why it is difficult for ministers to say China is a threat – that’s the nature of international relations. What matters more than words is that our policy choices change to reflect the undoubted danger of China’s actions.

Here I think the Government’s record stands up pretty well. You have the soft power of our new Pacific trade bloc membership in the CPTPP (which notably does not include China) and you have the hard power of the new AUKUS alliance - itself a response to Chinese aggression.

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Sarah Burton to leave fashion house Alexander McQueen after two decades

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The brand’s creative director shot to international fame for creating the Princess of Wales’s wedding dress

Sarah Burton, the creative director of Alexander McQueen who designed the Princess of Wales’s wedding dress, is leaving the fashion house after more than two decades.

In a statement released on Monday, Kering, the brand’s parent company, announced that its show on the 30 September during Paris fashion week will be Burton’s last.

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Spy allegations add fuel to heated Tory debate over China

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Investigation into parliamentary aide comes as two main groups on China have descended into rivalry

Many of the debates inside the Conservative party about how western democracies should handle China are entirely common across Europe and the US, but somehow they have been conducted in a more heated and personalised way.

One reason may be the confused and slow leadership on China shown by the government, symbolised by the refusal to follow Germany in publishing a China strategy. Others blame the entrenched factionalist political culture created by Brexit, and the narcissism of small differences. But the revelations that someone under investigation for allegedly being a Chinese spy was operating at the centre of Tory debates will only make the atmosphere worse. The person in question has insisted he is completely innocent.

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Collapse-risk concrete found in Houses of Parliament

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Presence of Raac in Palace of Westminster poses no ‘immediate risk’, parliamentary spokesperson says

The collapse-risk concrete at the centre of a crisis in school buildings has been found in parliament.

The presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) poses no “immediate risk”, a parliamentary spokesperson said.

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Red fire ant colonies found in Italy and could spread across Europe, says study

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Researchers identify 88 nests of destructive invasive non-native species near Syracuse in Sicily

An invasive non-native ant species has become established in Italy and could rapidly spread through Europe to the UK with global heating, a study warns.

The red fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, has a powerful sting, damages crops and can infest electrical equipment including cars and computers.

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Former rubbish dump in Essex becomes UK’s third largest solar farm

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Ockendon solar farm to generate enough clean electricity to power the equivalent of 15,000 homes


The largest solar farm in Europe to be built on a closed landfill site has begun generating renewable electricity from a former rubbish dump in Essex.

The Ockendon solar farm, the third largest in the UK, includes more than 100,000 solar modules covering 70 hectares (173 acres) of land.

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Some MPs came close to suicide, says ex-Tory minister Rory Stewart

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Former leadership contender says life of politician puts ‘almost unsustainable’ strain on mental health

The former Conservative minister Rory Stewart has said some fellow MPs came very close to killing themselves when he was in the Commons, and the life of a politician placed an “almost unsustainable” strain on people.

Stewart, who was international development secretary and stood to be Tory leader before leaving the Commons in 2019, said other former colleagues experienced “total breakdowns in public”.

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Suella Braverman pushes for ban on American bully XLs after attack

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Home secretary calls breed ‘clear and lethal danger’ after attack on 11-year-old girl in Birmingham

Suella Braverman is pushing for a ban on American bully XL dogs, arguing they are a “clear and lethal danger”, particularly to children.

The home secretary announced she has commissioned urgent advice on outlawing the dogs after she highlighted an “appalling” attack on an 11-year-old girl in Birmingham.

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Sunak refuses to make pensions triple lock election commitment

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PM says he will not speculate over policy as he grapples with how to fund tax cuts demanded by Tory MPs

Rishi Sunak has refused to commit to keeping the pensions triple lock in the next Conservative manifesto, as he grapples with how to fund tax cuts demanded by his own MPs.

The prime minister told reporters during the G20 summit in Delhi that the triple lock – which guarantees that pensions will rise by at least 2.5%, and by either inflation or earnings if they are higher – remains government policy.

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UK firms ‘slow output and rein in hiring as borrowing costs rise’

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Survey of businesses gives further indication that Bank of England could limit future interest rate rises

Businesses are pulling back on hiring and slowing their output under the strain of rising borrowing costs, according to a study that gives a further signal that the Bank of England could limit future interest rate rises.

A modest pickup in manufacturing in August failed to prevent a slowdown in broader UK private sector economic activity, a survey of businesses by the accountancy firm BDO found.

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MPs express anger after arrest of parliamentary researcher over alleged spying for China

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Man is known to have had unescorted access to large parts of the Westminster estate

MPs have reacted with alarm after it emerged that a parliamentary researcher with links to senior Conservatives and potential access to sensitive information had been arrested over allegations of spying for China.

The man, who is in his 20s and was arrested in March along with another person, is known to have held a parliamentary pass, allowing him unescorted access to large parts of the Westminster estate.

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Prisoner in critical condition after stabbing at HMP Wandsworth

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Attack comes in the week that Daniel Khalife escaped from the jail in south-west London

An inmate at HMP Wandsworth is in a critical condition in hospital after being stabbed inside the prison.

The Metropolitan police and London ambulance service were called at about 3.20pm on Sunday to reports of an assault inside the facility in south-west London after an “incident” between prisoners.

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Rishi Sunak challenges premier Li after ‘spying for China’ arrests

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PM expresses concerns over Chinese interference in UK parliament after two men arrested under Official Secrets Act

Rishi Sunak has challenged the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, over Chinese interference in the UK parliament, after two men were arrested amid allegations that a parliamentary researcher spied for Beijing.

The prime minister met Li on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Delhi in an unplanned meeting hours after the Sunday Times revealed the researcher, who is understood to have had links to senior Conservative MPs, had been arrested along with another man.

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