Category Archives: UK news

Ministers urged to shelve illegal migration bill until supreme court ruling after 11 defeats in Lords – UK politics live

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Purpose of the bill is now ‘dead’, says crossbench peer Alex Carlile after yesterday’s vote in House of Lords

Rishi Sunak has posted a message on Twitter saying that he looks forward to continuing working with Jens Stoltenberg, who has had his term as Nato’s secretary general extended.

According to the Sun’s Harry Cole, at cabinet Sunak praised Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, as the only other credible candidate for the job who was not a former prime minister. Stoltenberg is a former Norwegian PM.

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Food inflation starting to fall, says Sainsbury’s as sales rise

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Like-for-like sales up 9.8% in quarter and supermarket says it has put more than £60m into cutting prices of basics

Food inflation is starting to fall, according to the boss of Sainsbury’s, who said shoppers were putting more items in their baskets as it began to cut prices on some basics.

Simon Roberts, the chief executive, said the supermarket was “putting all our energy and focus into battling inflation” as household budgets were “under more pressure than ever”.

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Average rate on five-year fixed mortgage deal in UK climbs above 6%

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Rate is at highest level since last November, and average two-year fix is now 6.47%

A typical five-year fixed mortgage deal in the UK now has an interest rate of more than 6%, putting further pressure on borrowers who are hoping to buy a home or reaching the end of their existing deals.

Data from the financial information firm Moneyfacts shows the cost of a five-year deal for homeowners rose to 6.01% on Tuesday, up from 5.97% on Monday. It is the highest level since last November, after mortgage rates had been driven up by the mini-budget chaos of last autumn.

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Court hears councils’ legal challenge over London Ulez expansion

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Five Tory-led councils seeking to block mayor’s plans to extend ultra-low emission zone to whole of capital

A legal challenge to plans to expand London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) to the whole of the capital will be heard in the high court on Tuesday as five Conservative-led councils seek to block the proposals.

The Ulez is due to expand at the end of August from the boundary of the north and south circular roads to throughout Greater London, requiring drivers of the most polluting vehicles to pay a fee when using them in the area.

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Food bank use a ‘personal decision’, says veterans minister

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Johnny Mercer says food bank use not an accurate measure of poverty after reports of some military personnel relying on them

The use of food banks is a personal decision for some people and not an accurate measure of levels of poverty across the UK, the veterans minister has said.

Johnny Mercer argued that food banks remained a lifeline for “some dire cases” but that it was “not correct” to say people used them only when they had no choice.

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‘Stay in your crease’: Anthony Albanese offers Rishi Sunak advice following controversial Ashes dismissal

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  • Australian PM says he wishes his UK counterpart well
  • Rishi Sunak had claimed Australia contravened ‘the spirit of cricket’

The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has offered some advice to his UK counterpart after Rishi Sunak weighed into the controversy over Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal at Lord’s on Sunday.

Mr Albanese said on Tuesday he understood Sunak’s disappointment.

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Watchdog summons UK bank bosses to discuss weak savings rates

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Financial Conduct Authority to meet executives on Thursday as part of its investigation into savings market

UK bank bosses have been summoned to a meeting with the financial watchdog this week amid mounting concerns that they are profiting from rising interest rates by offering paltry savings rates to customers.

Executives from the big high street names Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest, HSBC and Barclays, as well as from smaller lenders, are due to attend a meeting at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on Thursday to discuss concerns that savings rates are lagging far behind the soaring costs of mortgages and loans.

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China accuses UK of protecting ‘fugitives’ after bounty put on Hong Kong democracy activists

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Chinese embassy in London tells UK to ‘stop interfering’ in China’s affairs, as Hong Kong leader says overseas activists will be ‘pursued for life’

China has accused the UK of protecting fugitives after the British foreign secretary criticised Hong Kong’s decision to offer HK$1m bounties for the arrest of eight democracy activists based overseas, as the territory’s leader said the group would be “pursued for life”.

In a statement late on Monday, China’s embassy in London said: “British politicians have openly offered protection for fugitives. This is crude interference in Hong Kong’s rule of law and China’s internal affairs.”

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MPs vote to ban public bodies from boycotting Israel and other countries

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Government wins Commons vote despite more than 80 Tory backbenchers joining Labour in abstained on the vote

MPs have voted to ban public bodies from boycotting Israel and other countries, despite scores of Conservative MPs not backing the bill, some of whom said the ban was illiberal and others that it would hamper action against China.

The government won a vote on Monday night on the economic activity of public bodies bill, despite the opposition of Tory backbenchers, after Labour abstained on the vote.

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Defeats for small boats bill in the Lords as Channel crossings set new record

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Peers voted against government-proposed measures on detention and deportation of asylum seekers

The government’s small boats bill has suffered a series of defeats in the House of Lords, as Channel crossings in June by people seeking asylum set a new record.

Peers voted on Monday to limit the time that children and pregnant women who claim asylum after arriving by irregular means can be detained, and backed preventing LGBTQ+ people from being deported to a country where they would have a well-founded fear of persecution.

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Sue Gray ‘breached civil service code’ over Keir Starmer job, inquiry finds

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Civil inquiry finds official’s talks over role without telling bosses is ‘prima facie’ breach of code

A Cabinet Office investigation has said Sue Gray apparently breached the civil service code by discussing a role with Keir Starmer without telling her Whitehall bosses, prompting a vehement fightback by Gray’s allies, who said the inquiry was arbitrary and politically motivated.

Jeremy Quin, a Cabinet Office minister, said a civil inquiry found a “prima facie” breach of the code about outside interests to be clear and transparent – meaning an apparent contravention of the rules based on first impressions.

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Two arrested over Islington stabbing of Leonardo Reid, 15, and 23-year-old man

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Pair – aged 27 and 17 – arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder over stabbing on Thursday

Detectives have arrested two men suspects over a double murder in north London in which 15-year-old Leonardo Reid and a 23-year-old man were killed.

The pair – aged 27 and 17 – were arrested on Monday evening on suspicion of murder and attempted murder and are in custody at a north London police station.

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Labour considering graduate-led nurseries to fight inequality

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Exclusive: Bridget Phillipson says early-years education key to improving life chances

More graduate teachers would be parachuted into nurseries under plans being considered by Labour to improve education for under-fours, the Guardian has learned.

There could also be more nursery places in primary school settings as the opposition works up proposals to drive up standards and formally integrate early years into the English education system.

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Nigel Farage row: minister warns banks against closing accounts

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Tom Tugendhat asks Treasury to review whether banks are blacklisting those with controversial views

It should be “completely unacceptable” for banks to close accounts on “political grounds”, a Home Office minister has said, as Conservatives weighed in on a so-called freedom of speech row prompted by claims from Nigel Farage.

Tom Tugendhat, the security minister, was speaking in parliament after the culture secretary, Lucy Frazer, urged regulators to take action against banks that shut off access to people with controversial views.

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Australia’s actions in Ashes Test not in the spirit of cricket, says Rishi Sunak

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Spokesperson says PM agrees with Ben Stokes about Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal at Lord’s

Rishi Sunak has weighed into the row over Jonny Bairstow’s controversial dismissal at Lord’s on Sunday, saying Australia did not act in the spirit of the game.

Downing Street said it was the prime minister’s belief that the Australian team had contravened the spirit of cricket by stumping Bairstow out when the England batsman appeared to believe the ball was not in play during a heated final day of the second Ashes test.

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‘Translation is an art’: why translators are battling for recognition

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Like any author, translators want to receive credit for their work instead of being treated as an afterthought

They have often been overlooked in the artistic and literary process, but translators have long claimed they have the power to change everything.

There are tales of myths being born, societies being forged and cities destroyed with just a slip of the pen, such as the supposed translation error that allegedly led to the US deciding to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, or the speculation about life on Mars after the mistranslation of an Italian astronomer.

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Monday briefing: Labour’s key U-turns under Keir Starmer

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In today’s newsletter: the Labour leader may well win the next election – but why are so many of his policies being ditched?

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Good morning.

Keir Starmer has undergone a political transformation since he became leader of the Labour party. During the leadership contest, he positioned himself as a “colleague and friend” of former leader Jeremy Corbyn, in whose shadow cabinet he had served. His list of policy pledges presented him as a more competent version of Corbyn, with none of the political baggage.

NHS | Seven in 10 people in the UK believe charges for NHS care will creep in over the next decade, ending the health service’s record of being free at the point of use, polling has found. Ahead of the service’s 75th birthday this week the Guardian also asked five experts for their ideas on how to make the NHS thrive again.

House of Lords | Two British peers were among 50 people who attended a party organised by the Russian ambassador to the UK at his opulent residence in west London last month. The event was to mark the creation of a Russia independent of the Soviet Union.

Scotland | Orkney could leave the UK to become a self-governing territory of Norway after its council opted to explore “alternative forms of governance”. The archipelago off the north coast of Scotland will also consider changing its legal status within Britain as it seeks to provide more economic opportunities.

Israel | As many as 50 Conservative MPs are threatening to rebel against a government proposal that would impose fines on public bodies, including local councils, that seek to mount boycotts against Israel. The scale of the unease on a foreign policy issue has caught government whips by surprise.

France | The riots over the police shooting of teenager Nahel M appeared to ease after five nights of unrest that have seen thousands arrested and widespread destruction. French media reported that police made 49 arrests nationwide yesterday, down significantly from more than 2,000 over the previous two days.

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GMB accuses gas network of ‘money-grabbing’ cuts to pension scheme

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Exclusive: Cadent Gas, owned by Australia asset manager Macquarie, is considering closing its defined benefit scheme

The former owner of crisis-hit Thames Water has been accused by union leaders of staging a “cost-cutting money grab” at another critical UK infrastructure asset under its control, as it emerged that Cadent Gas is considering cuts to its pension scheme.

Macquarie, the Australian banking powerhouse that owned Thames for a decade, has led a consortium controlling Cadent since 2016. Cadent, Britain’s biggest gas network, serving 11 million people, was formerly part of National Grid.

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Tory donor accused of using bullying legal threats to suppress a report

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David Davis said Mohamed Amersi ‘silenced’ Margaret Hodge, chair of parliamentary anti-corruption group

A major Conservative donor has been accused of using bullying legal threats to suppress a report by the veteran Labour MP Margaret Hodge, which alleged he was “mired in an international corruption scandal”.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Thursday, the former Tory cabinet minister David Davis accused Mohamed Amersi of having “effectively silenced” Hodge, chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on anti-corruption and responsible tax.

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M&S offers money off children’s clothes in exchange for used school uniforms

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Promotion is designed to help parents who are struggling to afford clothes amid cost of living crisis

Families are being offered money off children’s clothes in Marks & Spencer if they donate school uniform hand-me-downs, as part of a push designed to help parents struggling to afford them amid the cost of living crisis.

The second-hand uniform collected will be sold via Oxfam’s high street chain as well as via a new “back-to-school” eBay shop. The tie-up is an extension of M&S’s existing “shwopping” partnership with Oxfam, in which customers drop off old clothing in exchange for loyalty card perks.

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