Category Archives: UK news

Tony Abbott and John Howard join Jordan Peterson-led group looking at ‘meaning of life’

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Alliance for Responsible Citizenship includes prominent Brexit voices and Bjørn Lomborg, who has questioned the urgency of the climate crisis

The former prime ministers Tony Abbott and John Howard are among six Australians who have joined a global group fronted by Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson and backed by a pro-Brexit hedge fund billionaire and a Dubai-based investment group.

The group – The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (Arc) – has been gathering high-profile figures from politics, industry, academia and thinktanks for an inaugural three-day conference in London in late October.

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Hong Kong protesters allegedly attacked by Chinese activists in Southampton

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Police investigate after footage apparently shows three men assaulting a man and a woman

Police are investigating after footage emerged apparently showing pro-Hong Kong demonstrators being violently attacked by a group of Chinese activists in Southampton.

The alleged incident occurred after a rally to mark the anniversary of the 2019 protests for democratic changes in Hong Kong.

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Three Britons confirmed dead in Egypt boat fire

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Three were among group of diving enthusiasts reportedly on six-day stay onboard boat when fire broke out

Three British tourists have been confirmed dead after a fire onboard a diving boat off Egypt’s Red Sea coast, a day after they were declared missing after a frantic search by the captain and crew.

Twelve other divers and 14 crew, including the captain of the Hurricane, were rescued after abandoning the ship on Sunday morning. The group had sailed out to Elphinstone reef, a famed diving spot roughly 12km offshore and 30km from the resort town of Marsa Alam.

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What’s behind the rise in dog attacks? – podcast

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Seven people have been killed by dogs in the UK so far this year. Simon Usborne reports on the worrying increase in attacks

Deaths and serious injuries sustained in dog attacks are rising rapidly in the UK. So far this year seven people have been killed in such incidents. For years the average was stable, at about three deaths a year, but something has changed recently. During the Covid pandemic, dog ownership rose sharply as people took on pets as companions. But that’s only part of the story.

The reporter Simon Usborne tells Nosheen Iqbal the increase in demand for dogs allowed unscrupulous dealers to enter the market and sell to unsuitable owners. There are also new breeds to contend with: the American bully, a type of bulldog, has become notorious for a seemingly disproportionate involvement in serious incidents. There are calls for the breed to be banned.

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Ofsted school inspection reforms ‘nowhere near enough’

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Sister of Ruth Perry, who killed herself after her primary was downgraded, ‘disappointed’ single-word judgments not removed

Changes by Ofsted to the way it inspects schools have been criticised as “nowhere near enough” to reduce the resulting high levels of stress involved, which were linked to the recent death of a popular headteacher.

The reforms announced by Amanda Spielman, Ofsted’s chief inspector, are intended to ease the burden felt by school leaders such as Ruth Perry, 53, the head of a primary in Reading who killed herself earlier this year after an Ofsted inspection lowered her school’s grade from “outstanding” to “inadequate”.

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UK business leader diversity has not increased since George Floyd death

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Nearly 70% of office workers say their firms have not increased number of black, Asian or ethnic minority leaders

The number of senior business leaders from ethnically diverse backgrounds has not significantly increased since the death of George Floyd sparked global protests and $50bn (£40bn) of corporate pledges to address racial inequality in the workplace.

Three years on from the killing of Floyd at the hands of US police officers, which prompted chief executives including Apple’s Tim Cook and David Solomon of Goldman Sachs to declare that leaders also need to do more to address racial disparities in their own companies, nearly 70% of office workers say their firms have not increased the number of black, Asian or ethnic minority leaders.

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Albania is a ‘safe’ country, cross-party MPs group finds

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People who flee to seek sanctuary in UK should not routinely be granted asylum, home affairs select committee report says

Albania is a “safe” country and people who flee from there to seek sanctuary in the UK should not routinely be granted asylum, according to a report published on Monday from a cross-party group of MPs.

The report from the home affairs select committee found little evidence to indicate significant numbers of Albanian nationals are at risk in their own country but accepted that some Albanians making asylum claims, mainly women, have been trafficked. It recommends that this group should be returned to Albania only if appropriate safeguards are in place.

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Economic growth to pick up but risks to recovery ‘elevated’, say UK forecasts

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Households and firms can expect more financial pain despite Britain dodging technical recession, says KPMG

Britain will be left with deep scars from the pandemic despite narrowly escaping a second recession within three years and growing signs of an economic pick up, according to new forecasts.

A new report by the accountancy firm KPMG has found that the economy has enjoyed a better start to the year than it had thought, and is now expected to grow by 0.3% this year, compared with its previous prediction of an uplift of just 0.1%.

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Woman arrested after two people found dead in Stoke-on-Trent

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Staffordshire police visited residential property after being called to an incident at a car wash

A 49-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the deaths of two people in Stoke-on-Trent.

Staffordshire police made the arrest after calling at a house on Flax Street in the city and discovering two people injured inside. They died at the scene despite the efforts of paramedics.

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Families of East Sussex couple pay tribute to ‘funny and loving pair’

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Derek Martin to appear in court charged with murder after Josh and Chloe Bashford found dead at home

The families of a married couple who were found dead at their home have paid tribute to the “funny and loving pair” as a man is due to appear in court charged with their murder.

The bodies of Josh Bashford, 33, and 30-year-old Chloe were found at their home in Newhaven, East Sussex, on Friday.

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Three British tourists missing in Egypt after boat catches fire

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Search party launched after 12 British nationals and 12 Egyptian crewmembers aboard scuba diving vessel rescued

Three British tourists are missing after a scuba diving boat they were cruising in caught fire off Egypt’s Red Sea coastline on Sunday, authorities have said.

A further 12 British nationals were rescued along with 12 Egyptian crew members and were brought to safety at the nearby diving resort of Marsa Shagra, about 13 miles (21km) north of the town of Marsa Alam, according to a statement from the Red Sea State governor’s office and security sources.

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NHS to deploy street mental health teams to help England’s rough sleepers

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Exclusive: £3.2m plan aims to curb rise in people sleeping rough as councils cut homelessness budgets

The NHS will deploy street mental health teams in English locations from Devon to Doncaster in an attempt to curb a rise in rough sleeping in England.

Fourteen outreach teams will aim to get more rough sleepers on to a path to counselling, medication or other treatments and will seek out people “who have often been through incredibly traumatic experiences to ensure they get the help they need”, said Prof Tim Kendall, NHS England’s clinical national director for mental health.

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Harvey Weinstein tried to bully me, reveals Joseph Fiennes

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The Handmaid’s Tale actor says the disgraced movie mogul threatened to end his Hollywood career

Joseph Fiennes, star of the television series The Handmaid’s Tale and of the 1998 hit movie, Shakespeare in Love, has explained why he turned down the chance to play major roles in a run of Hollywood blockbusters early in his career.

It was, he said, a reaction to bullying pressure put on him by Harvey Weinstein, who wanted to take control of his life, and Fiennes does not regret the decision.

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UK food giant calls for higher fat, sugar and salt taxes

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Danone boss urges ministers to help people make healthy choices

One of the country’s biggest food firms has said ministers should consider taxing products high in fat, sugar or salt to combat the obesity crisis.

Danone UK & Ireland, which sells the Actimel yogurt drink brand, says government intervention is required to ensure consumers are offered healthier products. It says some food firms in the UK have not shown “enough appetite to change”.

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‘Sold a dream’: migrant workers at children’s care chain left without pay for months

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They came to fill gaps in a sector desperate for staff. Now an Observer investigation finds Indian nurses stuck in debt and despair, and wounded by broken promises

Nurses hired from abroad to work for one of Britain’s biggest social care chains have been left in debt and are in some cases suicidal after being stranded without pay for months.

They have also been paid lower wages than they were told they would receive and were in some cases given false promises about their accommodation and employment terms, an Observer investigation has found.

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Thousands of Afghan refugees in UK set to be made homeless

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Downing Street crisis meeting hears that about 8,000 who arrived under Operation Warm Welcome will be evicted this summer with nowhere to go

Thousands of Afghan refugees in the UK face homelessness this summer, the government was warned last week at a secret crisis meeting in Downing Street.

Council officials told No 10 and Home Office civil servants that about 8,000 Afghan refugees, allowed into the country in 2021 under the slogan Operation Warm Welcome, are due to be evicted from hotels as early as August because of a government deadline, yet have nowhere to go.

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Labour says ‘Tory mortgage penalty’ costs homeowners extra £7,000 a year

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Opposition finds fallout of Liz Truss mini-budget has raised average mortgage interest payments by £150 a week in two years

Homeowners are being hit with a “Tory mortgage penalty” of £7,000 a year with interest rates triple what they were two years ago, according to Labour.

Pat McFadden, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, blamed what he called the “reckless economic gamble” taken by the Conservatives during September’s mini-budget when Liz Truss was prime minister.

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This week’s corrections | For the record

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Same-sex couples’ rights | Democrat/Democratic

• An article overlooked Italy when it said Japan was the only G7 country that denies same-sex couples the right to marry. However, it is currently the case that Japan is the only country in the G7 that denies same-sex couples the right to marry or enter into a civil union (“G7 spotlight piles the pressure on Japan to accept same-sex marriage”, 2 April, p30).

• An opinion piece used the terms “Democrat president” and “Democrat priorities”. However, as our style guide reminds us: “Democrat is a noun, Democratic an adjective … The distinction is important because the Republicans use ‘Democrat’ as an adjective, eg ‘Democrat party’, in a pejorative way” (“So what if Biden trips up? On the political stage, his footwork is the fanciest seen in decades”, 4 June, p41).

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Labour attacks ‘coward’ Boris Johnson as parties prepare for byelection – UK politics live

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Angela Rayner says former PM has no respect for voters, as Keir Starmer and Ed Davey turn focus to winning new seat

We’ve got a bit more from Ed Davey, who has accused Boris Johnson of having “a track record of deceit and lies”.

I never thought he was fit to be an MP, let alone prime minister. He has a track record of deceit and lies.

But I hope today is not just about Boris Johnson. I think it’s about the whole Conservative party who put him there in the first place.

I think there should actually be a general election.

I think the chaos and division in the Conservative party, the fact that they’re so out of touch on the cost of living, on the NHS, it means we’ve got to put the country out of its misery with these Conservatives.

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Man held on suspicion of murder after two people found dead in East Sussex

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Bodies of man, 33, and a 30-year-old woman discovered at a house in Newhaven on Friday evening

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the bodies of two people were found at a house in East Sussex.

Officers attended a property in Lewes Road, Newhaven, shortly after 7pm on Friday and found a 33-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman, who were pronounced dead at the scene.

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