Category Archives: UK news

NHS nurses strike in England could reach ‘end of the road’ this week

Posted on by

Royal College of Nursing raises doubts over whether enough members will get postal votes in on time

The rolling strikes by NHS nurses could “hit the end of the road” this week as the leader of the Royal College of Nursing raised doubts over whether sufficient numbers of members would get their postal votes in on time.

The RCN union’s ballot on further industrial action in England will close on 23 June but its general secretary, Pat Cullen, has for the first time suggested an affirmative result is in doubt.

Continue reading...

Sunak urged to rethink visit by Chinese official linked to forcible removal of dissidents

Posted on by

Liu Jianchao accused of directing fugitive recovery operations targeting regime’s opponents

A cross-party group of British MPs and peers has written to the prime minister urging him to reconsider a decision to allow a visit this week by a senior Chinese government official accused of overseeing the forcible repatriation of hundreds of dissidents back to China, including some from the UK.

Liu Jianchao, the head of the international department of the Communist party of China central committee, is due to speak at the Chatham House thinktank and meet UK parliamentarians.

Continue reading...

AstraZeneca considers spinning off its China business

Posted on by

UK’s largest stock-market-listed firm weighs up Hong Kong or Shanghai listing to shield it from geopolitical tensions

AstraZeneca is considering spinning off its business in China and listing it in Hong Kong or Shanghai to shield the multinational drugmaker from geopolitical tensions.

Britain’s largest stock-market-listed company has drawn up the plans in attempt to protect its business from the fallout from increasing tensions between China and the US and its allies.

Continue reading...

MPs voting on report that found Boris Johnson misled parliament – UK politics live

Posted on by

Theresa May says parliament must punish MPs who break rules as Penny Mordaunt says Johnson ‘undermined democratic process’

At the Labour event Keir Starmer is now speaking. He starts with a jibe at the SNP, saying the tide is turning in Scotland.

Turning to energy policy, he says Labour wants to promote security.

Can we still achieve great things? Can we unite and move forward? Can we still change, can we grow, can we get things done, can we build things? New industries, new technologies, new jobs; will they come to our shores, or will the future pass us by?

You can put it even more starkly. Around the world people want to know, are we still a great nation? If the question is about the British people, the answer is emphatically: yes.

Continue reading...

Unit tasked with reforming Home Office after Windrush scandal being disbanded

Posted on by

Exclusive: Staff say ‘there’s a lot still to do’ and worry decision signals ‘rolling back’ on promises of change

The Home Office unit responsible for reforming the department after the Windrush crisis has been quietly disbanded, after the UK home secretary, Suella Braverman, let it be known that she believes it is time to “move on”, the Guardian has learned.

Staff working in the transformation directorate, the unit handling changes meant to prevent a repeat of the scandal, were told in an online meeting that it would be closing at the end of this month.

Continue reading...

Suella Braverman tells police to ramp up use of stop and search

Posted on by

UK home secretary says police have her full support in using tactic to prevent violence and save lives

Suella Braverman has called on police to increase the use of stop and search powers “to prevent violence and save more lives”.

In a statement aimed at all 43 forces in England and Wales, the home secretary said officers who used the powers had her “full support”.

Continue reading...

UK strikes laws must conform with international rules, says UN agency

Posted on by

Intervention by International Labour Organization ‘hugely embarrassing’ for government, says TUC

The UN’s labour standards body has told the UK government it must make changes to highly controversial new strikes laws, which critics say threaten the fundamental rights of British workers.

The International Labour Organization (ILO), a UN agency, said the UK needed to “ensure that existing and prospective legislation is in conformity” with international rules on freedom of association, and added that the government must seek technical assistance from the agency’s experts.

Continue reading...

Dozens of Tory MPs expected to abstain in vote on committee’s Partygate report

Posted on by

Rightwingers claim Boris Johnson suspension ‘unnecessarily high and fierce’ after findings he deliberately misled parliament

Dozens of Tory rightwing MPs are preparing to abstain from voting in the Commons on Monday over the parliamentary investigation that found Boris Johnson deliberately misled MPs, in a sign of support for the former prime minister.

Between 60 and 70 MPs with constituencies in the “red wall” were said to be feeling “incredibly warm” towards Johnson, after he urged his parliamentary supporters not to vote against the committee’s findings.

Continue reading...

Online safety bill: changes urged to allow access to social media data

Posted on by

Campaigners say bill in ‘serious peril’ of passing without powers to make platforms more transparent

Online safety experts will struggle to sound the alarm about harmful content if landmark legislation does not allow independent researchers to access data from social media platforms, campaigners have warned.

The government is being urged to adopt amendments to the online safety bill enabling researchers to access platform data in order to monitor harmful material. Access would be overseen by Ofcom, the communications watchdog, and would protect user privacy.

Continue reading...

Labour shadow minister meets CBI boss, suggesting boycott may be ending

Posted on by

Jonathan Reynolds and new DG Rain Newton-Smith hold ‘warm’ meeting after party cut ties due to sexual misconduct scandal

The Labour party has moved closer to ending its boycott of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), in an early sign that steps to rehabilitate the crisis-hit UK lobby group may be working.

Labour on Sunday confirmed its shadow business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, had met the new CBI director general, Rain Newton-Smith, last week.

Continue reading...

Who was at Conservative HQ Christmas party during Covid lockdown?

Posted on by

New Partygate video shows Tory officials at party at height of pandemic. We look at who was there

A new Partygate video that shows Conservative officials dancing, joking and drinking during lockdown has forced thousands of people across the UK to relive harrowing memories of the sacrifices they made during lockdown.

Michael Gove has apologised and said their actions were “indefensible”, but he refused to back calls for some of the attendees to lose honours they were given by Boris Johnson, who has been found guilty of misleading parliament over the Partygate scandal.

Continue reading...

New British mayor of Mallorcan town to start work with nice cup of tea

Posted on by

Teacher from west Sussex says victory was down to strong manifesto and knowing everyone in Sant Joan

The new mayor of Sant Joan, a small town of 2,000 people that sits in the centre of Mallorca, likes to joke that his main priority when he begins work on Monday will be ensuring a kettle is installed in his office.

Last month’s regional and local elections – which left the ruling Socialists with a bloody nose, triggered a snap general election and caused the conservative People’s party (PP) to forge a coalition with the far-right Vox party to rule the Valencia region – have also had unexpected consequences in Sant Joan.

Continue reading...

Model embryo with heartbeat replicates cells in early pregnancy

Posted on by

Exclusive: Scientists used stem cells to create the structures, which were unable to develop into a foetus

Scientists have created a model human embryo with a heartbeat and traces of blood in an advance that offers an extraordinary window into the first weeks of life.

The synthetic structure, created from human stem cells without the need for eggs, sperm or fertilisation, replicated some of the cells and structures that would typically appear in the third and fourth week of pregnancy. But it was specifically designed to lack the tissues that go on to form the placenta and yolk sac in a natural embryo, meaning that it did not have the theoretical potential of developing into a foetus.

Continue reading...

‘Indefensible’: Michael Gove apologises for Tory HQ Partygate video

Posted on by

But levelling up secretary insists Shaun Bailey and Ben Mallet should keep their honours

Michael Gove has apologised for a new Partygate video that shows Conservative officials dancing and laughing as they broke Covid lockdown rules, deeming their actions “terrible” and “indefensible”.

The video, obtained by the Mirror, shows members of staff drinking alcohol at the gathering in London on 14 December 2020, and mocking lockdown rules the public were following at the time. At least 24 people were in attendance, including Shaun Bailey – made a peer in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list – whose campaign team organised the event. He left before the video was taken.

Continue reading...

EU countries accuse TfL debt collectors of breaching data protection laws over London penalty fines

Posted on by

Belgium and Dutch vehicle licensing agency say citizens’ details obtained unlawfully to issue driving fines

Two EU countries have accused Transport for London’s debt collection agency of breaching data protection laws to obtain the names and addresses of citizens in order to issue fines for driving in the capital.

Motorists from across Europe have been hit with penalties, some totalling thousands of pounds, for driving in London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (Ulez). Penalty notices are being sent to foreign motorists who enter the capital without pre-registering their vehicle, and the Guardian has revealed hundreds of drivers have been fined despite driving emissions-compliant cars.

Continue reading...

Tory peer faces questions over links to cryptocurrency lobbying firm

Posted on by

Exclusive: James Wharton is helping to forge Westminster connections for the cryptocurrency sector

A former campaign manager to Boris Johnson who was appointed to lead an education quango is facing fresh questions over his role in a cryptocurrency lobbying firm.

James Wharton, a peer and former MP who chairs the Office for Students (OfS), has launched a new public affairs company that pledges to “help clients navigate the complexities of Whitehall and Westminster” and specialises in “disruptive” highly regulated sectors.

Continue reading...

Nicola Sturgeon: ‘I’ve done nothing wrong’

Posted on by

Scotland’s ex-first minister returns home after arrest as poll suggests Labour on course to defeat SNP

Scotland’s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said “I’ve done nothing wrong” as she returned home for the first time following her arrest last Sunday.

Her statement came as a Sunday Times poll suggested Labour would defeat the SNP at the next election for the first time since 2010 to become Scotland’s largest party at Westminster.

Continue reading...

Can Boris Johnson emulate Donald Trump and make a comeback? No chance

Posted on by

Half of all Tory voters take a dim view of the former prime minister whereas the ex-president has a strong Republican support

There are two very big differences between the situation confronting Boris Johnson and that facing the man with whom he is frequently compared, Donald Trump – namely, popularity and context.

Johnson is weaker than Trump. First, because he is less popular with Conservative voters than Trump is with his Republican supporters. About half of 2019 Conservative voters disapprove of Johnson’s performance in office. And at the time he left office, 40% or more rated him as untrustworthy, dishonest and/or incompetent.

Continue reading...

Sunak, Hunt and homebuyers brace for an economic Big Wednesday

Posted on by

The midweek inflation bulletin could be the most significant piece of government data published this year

This Wednesday will mark the longest day of the year and not long after the sun comes up the Office for National Statistics (ONS) will publish its latest cost of living bulletin. To say the data is eagerly awaited is an understatement. There is unlikely to be a more significant piece of official data released in the current parliament.

The reason is simple. Despite raising interest rates 12 times since December 2021 in an attempt to quell upward price pressures, inflation is proving harder to shift than the Bank of England imagined.

Continue reading...

Adam Kay tells of life ‘transformed’ by two babies

Posted on by

Writer of comic medical memoir This is Going to Hurt reveals surrogacy on BBC’s Desert Island Discs

Adam Kay, the author of This is Going to Hurt, the bestselling “secret diary” of a junior doctor, is now the father of two babies, he has revealed.

Kay, who was portrayed by Ben Whishaw in the Bafta-winning BBC1 adaptation of his comic memoir, said life with his husband, TV producer James Farrell, has been “absolutely transformed for the better” by the arrival through surrogacy of their two children.

Continue reading...