Kimberley Sampson and Samantha Mulcahy died in 2018 after caesarean sections by the same surgeon in Kent
A coroner has criticised an NHS trust over the deaths of two new mothers with herpes.
Kimberley Sampson, 29, and Samantha Mulcahy, 32, died in 2018 after having caesarean sections six weeks apart by the same surgeon at hospitals in Kent.
Continue reading...Two demonstrators removed almost immediately after sounding air horns and throwing confetti on the stage
Two Just Stop Oil protesters disrupted the opening night of the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall after running on to the stage, setting off confetti cannon and sounding air horns.
The pair were taken off stage at the west London venue within moments of unfurling their orange banners on Friday evening, according to footage on social media.
Continue reading...Dorset police conclude Dorset Belle pleasure cruiser did not contribute to Joe Abbess and Sunnah Khan drowning in May
No criminal offences were committed in relation to the death of two young swimmers off Bournemouth beach in May, a police force has concluded.
A man in his 40s who was initially arrested on suspicion of manslaughter will face no further action, Dorset police said on Friday.
Continue reading...The hiring of former PM and Treasury chief was to lend credibility to broader Beijing brand, intelligence watchdog told
David Cameron’s appointment as vice-chair of the £1bn China-UK investment fund and Sir Danny Alexander’s appointment as vice-president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank were in part engineered by the Chinese state, parliament’s intelligence and security committee (ISC) found.
Their appointment was to lend credibility to Chinese investment as well as the broader Chinese brand, according to confidential evidence given to the intelligence watchdog.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Move penalises courses with a high proportion of working-class or minority ethnic students, critics say
Rishi Sunak will force universities to limit the number of students taking “low-value” degrees in England, a measure which is most likely to hit working class and black, Asian and minority ethnic applicants.
Courses will be capped that do not have a high proportion of graduates getting a professional job, going into postgraduate study or starting a business, the prime minister will announce on Monday.
Continue reading...Former prime minister condemns ‘procrastination’ and says no country is in greater need of accession
Boris Johnson has criticised Nato’s “mealy mouthed procrastination” and called for a timetable to be drawn up for Ukraine to join the alliance, after this week’s difficult summit in Lithuania.
Writing in his weekly column in the Daily Mail, the former prime minister said it was “no wonder” that Volodymyr Zelenskiy “found it hard” to conceal his frustration at the joint declaration released on Tuesday that stopped short of outlining a roadmap to Nato membership.
Continue reading...Party hopes election candidates will all be singing from the same hymn sheet after event in Stratford-on-Avon
Keir Starmer is whisking his top 100 prospective parliamentary candidates to Stratford-on-Avon this weekend for a crash course in message discipline, media training and the art of campaigning.
The Labour leader will be hoping they gain communications inspiration in the birthplace of William Shakespeare as the party trains them in its election strategy.
Continue reading...Sweltering temperatures in Europe directing low-pressure systems towards UK and yellow wind warning is in place
Sweltering temperatures in Europe are forecast to lead to 55mph winds and heavy rain in the UK due to low-pressure systems being directed towards the country.
The Met Office has issued a yellow wind warning that is in place across south-west England and Wales until Friday evening, while another covering areas of central and southern England will come in on Saturday morning.
Continue reading...Saudi heir’s official visit would be first since he was accused of being behind killing of Jamal Khashoggi
The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has been invited to the UK on an official visit in late autumn, the first such visit by the heir to the Saudi throne since he was accused of masterminding the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist and dissident.
Numerous UK ministers have been to Saudi Arabia in the interim, and senior Saudi ministers have also come to the UK, including the foreign minister, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.
Continue reading...Education Secretary Gillian Keegan urges BMA to ‘look at’ pay offer as union says proposed increase fails to address years of underpay
Almost 1,000 workers at Gatwick Airport, including baggage handlers and check-in staff, are to strike in a dispute over pay.
Members of Unite employed by four private contractors will walk out for four days from 28 July and again for four days from 4 August, PA reported.
Our members at Gatwick airport undertake incredibly demanding roles and are essential to keeping the airport and airlines working, yet their employers somehow think it is acceptable to pay them a pittance.
As part of Unite’s unyielding focus on the jobs, pay and condition of its members, the union has drawn a line in the sand and is committed to eradicating the scourge of low pay at the airport.
It is a good use to have all kids in school.
That’s not what we want headteachers doing all of their days. But to be honest, right now, if that works to get somebody in school, it’s worth it.
Continue reading...CPRE London hopes to surround capital in trees by weaving existing areas of green belt in outer boroughs
An environmental charity is bidding to create an “M25 for nature” that would encircle London in woodland, hedgerows and street trees to boost biodiversity, carbon capture and wellbeing.
The countryside charity CPRE London hopes to weave together existing areas of green belt in the city’s 18 outer boroughs to create an uninterrupted ring of trees around the capital.
Continue reading...Health unions suggest industrial action likely to continue as Gillian Keegan defends 6% rise on the table
A senior cabinet minister has urged health unions to take the government’s pay offer “seriously”, after union bosses warned the proposed deal would drive doctors out of the profession and could lead to further strikes.
Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, defended the offer of a 6% pay rise for junior doctors a day after the government accepted the recommendations of the public sector pay review bodies.
Continue reading...Voicing support for traffic schemes has no statistically significant effect on re-election chances, study finds
Councillors who publicly declare support for low-traffic neighbourhoods do not suffer at the polls as a result, research suggests, indicating that the schemes might not be as politically divisive as is often believed.
The study also indicates that local politicians who openly express displeasure about LTNs do not suffer consequences in elections, although Labour councillors may benefit from a slightly positive effect.
Continue reading...‘Polissoir’, discovered in Valley of Stones nature reserve, was used about 5,000 years ago to hone tools such as axes
At first glance it looked like nothing more than a rugged boulder jumbled among many others on the floor of a valley in the West Country.
But a smooth, glossy dip in the stone indicated that it was something very special – a vanishingly rare “polissoir”, or polishing stone, used 5,000 years ago by Neolithic people to hone tools such as axes.
Continue reading...Campaign aims to put onus on men to stop violence against women as figures suggest most already feel country safe place for women
A campaign aimed at making young men reflect about violence against women and domestic abuse is being launched in Wales as new figures suggest most already feel the country is a safe place for women and almost 40% believe enough has been done to fill the gender equality gap.
The “Sound” campaign, which the Labour-controlled government hopes will help tackle the crisis of toxic masculinity, is aimed at men between the ages of 18 and 34, and will try to reach them via social media, podcasts, digital television and streaming channels.
75% of men think Wales is a safe place to be a woman.
37% believe the country has gone far enough in closing the gender equality gap.
39% believe efforts to achieve women’s equality have led to discrimination against men.
43% believe traditional masculinity is under threat.
64% underestimate the prevalence of violence against women.
There was a very low understanding of terms such as love-bombing, gaslighting and coercive control.
Younger men were both more likely to agree that traditional masculinity is under threat – and to describe themselves as feminists. They also perceived scenarios involving physical abuse as less harmful and wrong compared with older age groups.
Continue reading...Council orders contractor to immediately remove material made by firm implicated in 2017 disaster
Materials made by a company implicated in the Grenfell Tower disaster have been installed on a pair of nearby council tower blocks during fire safety works, in a move met with outrage in the west London community.
Insulation made by Kingspan, the firm that provided some of the combustible foam on the tower, which went up in flames on 14 June 2017 killing 72 people, was discovered last week on the Adair and Hazelwood towers, a few hundred metres from Grenfell.
Continue reading...Questions continue to be raised about £38,500 for travel to Tory events, now declared to be from millionaire Akhil Tripathi
Rishi Sunak has changed his expenses declaration over the funding of private jet travel to Tory events after questions were raised about why they were recorded as coming from a small company linked to a multimillionaire businessman.
Sunak’s latest declaration now names the donor of £38,500 to pay for air travel by the prime minister and staff as Akhil Tripathi, a British-Indian medical tech entrepreneur who made a fortune from an anti-snoring device.
Continue reading...Public service workers in England offered 5%-7% rises but departments must fund them from existing budgets
Health union leaders have reacted furiously to a warning from Rishi Sunak that his offer of a 6% pay rise this year was final and that “no amount of strikes” would change his mind, as they began their longest walkout yet in England.
The British Medical Association said the government was “driving doctors away” from the health service and had missed an opportunity to put a credible pay offer on the table to end strikes when it accepted all the recommendations of the pay review bodies.
Continue reading...The government has offered rises of between 5% and 7% to workers including teachers and doctors
Millions of public sector workers ranging from teachers to prison offers are in line for pay rises of between 5% and 7% as part of a government offer that could head off some strikes.
Before the announcement, ministers had stressed the need for “discipline” at a time of rising inflation. Rishi Sunak said pay increases could not “fuel the fire” of inflation running at 8.7%.
Continue reading...Tearful actor says ‘there was a rush to judgment’ in Hollywood after allegations were made against him in 2017
Kevin Spacey broke down in tears on Thursday as he said his “world exploded” when sexual abuse allegations against him first emerged in 2017, saying: “I lost everything.”
The two-time Oscar winner tried to compose himself as he told jurors his acting work dried up and his fortune dwindled in the face of mounting legal bills.
Continue reading...