Regulator approves bid by open-access operator Go-op to run trains in south-west England from late next year
The UK’s first co-operatively owned railway service could begin running trains in the south-west of England late next year.
The Office of Road and Rail (ORR) has approved a bid from open-access operator Go-op to run several new services between Swindon, Taunton and Weston-super-Mare, and compete with Great Western Railway on the line.
Continue reading...Mel Stride said there must be no suggestion of the UK going back into the EU single market or customs union
In news that will disappoint those of you who enjoy a Liberal Democrat stunt, PA has just reported that Ed Davey will not, as was planned, be taking a bus-driving lesson at a depot in Oxfordshire, due to logistical issues. Instead he will be visiting high-street businesses.
It is part of a campaign by the Liberal Democrats to get Labour to keep the bus fare price cap at £2 in England when it extends the scheme into next year.
The fare cap increase is like a bus tax for people across the country, impacting bus users and commuters already struggling to make ends meet. MPs must be given a say on this bus fare hike on behalf of their constituents.
Our communities have already paid too high a price for years of Conservative neglect and incompetence. This bus fare hike will hit cherished local businesses and high streets, many of which are already struggling.
Uncertainty around Labour’s first budget and high interest rates played their part, but [the GDP figures are] still a blow for Rachel Reeves, as [it] underlines difficulty of reaching her ambitious growth target.
Some in Labour want to recalibrate economic focus away from growth and towards cost of living ie “will people feel better off by time of next election?”
Continue reading...Plan is forming for digitally focused show to expand and grow the brand in a fractured media landscape
When the BBC confirmed the news this week that Gary Lineker was leaving Match of the Day at the end of this season, the presenter’s official reaction was limited to a terse 21-word statement that he was “delighted” at signing a new contract to cover the FA Cup and 2026 World Cup.
The former England striker was – unsurprisingly – more expansive about leaving the BBC’s flagship football programme after 25 years on his own podcast, the Rest is Football, on Thursday. “All things have to come to an end,” he mused. “I think the next contract, they’re looking to do Match of the Day slightly differently. So I think it makes sense for someone else to take the helm.”
Continue reading...Duke is ‘one of two claimants whose claims are still live’ against NGN, court told, the other being ex-MP Tom Watson
The Duke of Sussex is continuing his lawsuit against the publisher of the Sun over allegations of unlawful information gathering, the high court has heard.
Prince Harry “is one of two claimants whose claims are still live” against Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN), his barrister David Sherborne said, with the other being the former deputy Labour leader Tom Watson. The court was told 39 cases had been settled since a previous hearing in July.
Continue reading...Actor ‘honoured’ to recite story and hopes it ‘brings warmth and encouragement’ to children and families
The British actor and Hollywood star Gary Oldman has said he is “very honoured” to read a special CBeebies bedtime story for Children in Need.
The 66-year-old Oscar and three-time Bafta winner will recite the story during Friday night’s 2024 edition of the charity fundraising show. The story of “warmth and encouragement and hope” has been written specifically for Children in Need by Claire Taylor and is based on a true story, with illustrations from Tim Budgen.
Continue reading...Judge Robert Miles says former chief Michael Thomson and four others knowingly participated in fraud
Investment firm London Capital & Finance (LCF), whose failure in 2019 triggered one of Britain’s biggest retail investment scandals, operated as a Ponzi scheme, a London judge ruled on Thursday.
The high court said former chief executive Michael Thomson and four others had knowingly participated in the fraud, misled investors and misappropriated assets in a ruling welcomed by LCF’s joint administrators, which brought the case.
Continue reading...Police say family of 17-year-old have asked for privacy after she was fatally struck by car on motorway in Somerset
A teenage girl who fled a stationary police vehicle on the M5 and was fatally struck by a car has been named as Tamzin Hall.
The 17-year-old from Wellington, Somerset, died after being struck by a vehicle travelling southbound on the motorway between Bridgwater and Taunton shortly after 11pm on Monday.
Continue reading...Naccom report says gaps in state support have led to more than 1,940 refugees having no accommodation
Homelessness among refugees has doubled in the last year to reach record levels as charities hand out tents and sleeping bags to those forced to live on the streets for the first time, according to research.
The No Accommodation Network (Naccom), an umbrella organisation for 140 frontline organisations working with asylum seekers, refugees and other migrants across the UK, has collated the data and shared it with the Guardian.
Continue reading...Turkish national accused of supplying engines and boats to cross-Channel smugglers in Belgium and northern France
A suspected supplier of “hundreds” of small boat engines used by people smugglers to transport asylum seekers across the Channel has been arrested in Amsterdam, officials said.
A 44-year-old Turkish national was arrested on Wednesday after arriving at Schiphol airport, the UK’s National Crime Agency said. The suspect was due to be extradited to Belgium to face charges of being involved in human trafficking as part of a criminal organisation.
Continue reading...Work and pensions secretary confirms stance, as Wes Streeting faces criticism for saying law could bring NHS cuts
Liz Kendall has become the first cabinet minister to confirm she will vote for the assisted dying bill since it was published, as the row intensified over the proposed law change.
Some supporters of assisted dying have expressed anger after Wes Streeting, the health secretary and an opponent of the plan, warned it could be a potential drain on NHS resources.
Continue reading...Analysis lays bare huge challenge of mismanaged waste on eve of UN plastic treaty talks in Busan
Global plastic production must be reduced to tackle the immense challenge of plastic pollution, according to an analysis published on the eve of crucial talks to hammer out the world’s first legally binding treaty on plastic waste.
Mismanaged plastic waste, which leaches into the environment and can be harmful to health, will double to 121m tonnes by 2050 if limits are not placed on the production of plastic, according to Samuel Pottinger, the lead author of the research.
Continue reading...Christian and Muslim groups say medics who refuse to help patients die not protected in England and Wales bill
A significant proportion of NHS medical staff are likely to exercise a conscience clause if assisted dying is legalised by parliament.
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater’s private member’s bill stipulates that no doctor would be under any obligation to participate in assisted dying.
Continue reading...Matthew Pennycook says Tory position now unclear on cap on tax rises that was in place when Kemi Badenoch was local government minister
A minister has criticised her Tory shadow for talking about “joy” in the health sector about the funding it received.
Karin Smyth, a health minister, said it was a strange word to use given the state of NHS finances left by the last government.
Many in the health sector would have been pleased to hear the announcement of the extra funding going into the NHS [in the budget], only for the joy to be struck down by the realisation of a broken manifesto promise not to raise national insurance contributions.
This was only compounded further on the discovery that a raft of frontline care providers – care homes, hospices, care charities, pharmacies, GPS, to name but a few – found themselves not exempt from the NI rises, leaving them with crippling staff bills and the threat of closure and redundancies.
He talks about joy. There was no joy when we inherited the mess that they left back in July.
The chancellor took into account the impact of changes to national insurance when she allocated an extra £26bn to the Department of Health and Social Care.
There are well established processes for agreeing funding allocations across the system, we are going through those processes now with this issue in mind.
The British government needs to start now indicating for them what they believe is the tipping point at which they believe a referendum would be called.
Continue reading...Louise Haigh says she hopes to ensure a repeat of the air traffic control failure of August 2023 never happens again
Airline passengers will benefit from tougher enforcement of consumer protection laws following an inquiry into the August 2023 air traffic control meltdown, transport secretary Louise Haigh has said.
She said she wants to ensure “all passengers feel confident when they fly”.
Continue reading...Company close to technical default on some of its debt, underlining UK industry’s precarious state
Southern Water’s debt has been downgraded to junk status by the credit rating agency Moody’s in a decision that underlines the precarious state of the UK water industry.
Moody’s said Southern’s “history of material operational and financial under-performance” could imperil its plan, announced last month, to borrow £4bn from investors.
Continue reading...Shares in fashion brand jump as ‘urgent’ cost-cutting programme announced following half-year losses
Burberry has unveiled a £40m cost-cutting programme as its new chief executive pledged to “stabilise the business” with a turnaround plan aimed at reviving the fortunes of the ailing British luxury fashion brand.
Joshua Schulman, the former Coach boss who replaced his ousted predecessor, Jonathan Akeroyd, in July, said the company was “acting with urgency” after straying too far from its roots of “timeless core collections” and outerwear, including trench coats and scarves with its distinctive Burberry check.
Continue reading...Asset manager Oaktree out of running as backer but businessman has ‘high confidence’ he will get finance
The British owner of the New York Sun has said his £550m offer to buy the Daily and Sunday Telegraph is still on track, despite a big potential backer not joining the bid.
Dovid Efune entered exclusive talks to buy the Telegraph titles last month after submitting the highest bid in the second round of the auction for the titles.
Continue reading...Worn at Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, the necklace has possible links to the downfall of Marie Antoinette
A mysterious diamond-laden necklace with possible links to a scandal that contributed to the downfall of Marie Antoinette has sold for $4.8m (£3.8m) at an auction in Geneva.
The 18th-century item of jewellery containing approximately 300 carats of diamonds had been estimated to sell at the Sotheby’s Royal and Noble Jewels sale for $1.8-2.8m.
Continue reading...Collection of 1,700 pieces dating from third to 20th century is highest-value gift of objects in UK museum history
The British Museum has been given a private collection of Chinese ceramics worth about £1bn, the highest-value object donation in UK museum history.
The 1,700 pieces dating from the third to the 20th century have been given permanently by the trustees of the Sir Percival David Foundation. They had been on loan to the London museum since 2009.
Continue reading...Holly LeGresley, 37, and Adriana Orme, 56 uploaded content of monkeys being tortured to online chat groups
Two women have been jailed for their parts in a global monkey torture network described by a judge as “depraved, sickening and wicked”.
Holly LeGresley, 37, and Adriana Orme, 56, were jailed for two years and 15 months respectively for uploading content of monkeys being tortured to online chat groups.
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