Latest action on 2 June comes between two days of strikes by Aslef and will bring further disruption to football final
The RMT has announced another rail strike on Friday 2 June, the day before the men’s FA Cup final, warning that the government “cannot wish the dispute away”.
About 20,000 RMT members working for the 14 major rail companies in England will strike for 24 hours in the long-running dispute over pay and conditions.
Continue reading...PM also says Japanese businesses have invested £18bn in UK as he visits country for G7 summit
Rishi Sunak has arrived in Tokyo to announce a new defence partnership with Japan and support £18bn of private business deals, ahead of the G7 summit aimed at addressing the threats of Russia and China.
Before the gathering of world leaders in Hiroshima on Friday, Sunak is meeting Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, to discuss more defence cooperation in the face of China’s increasing belligerence towards Taiwan.
Continue reading...Republican-led group expected to lobby Ben Wallace at informal lunch meeting during Westminster visit
A Republican-led group of China hawks from the US Congress will visit Westminster on Friday where they are expected to meet the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, for lunch and press for the UK to take a tougher line on Beijing.
The 11-strong delegation is led by the Republican congressman Mike Gallagher, who chairs a high-profile, newly created China committee. Some fear a strident anti-Beijing tone will alienate centrist and left-leaning politicians in the UK.
Continue reading...Higher education regulator asks 23 institutions for contingency plans in case of sudden interruption of income
England’s higher education regulator has warned universities against over-reliance on tuition fees of students from China, as Rishi Sunak backtracked on his earlier pledge to close UK branches of the Beijing-sponsored Confucius Institute.
The Office for Students (OfS) wrote to 23 universities with high numbers of Chinese students on Thursday, asking to see their contingency planning in case of a sudden interruption to overseas recruitment.
Continue reading...BBC claims online listening increase offsets live decline, while Rajar figures show Greatest Hits and LBC gaining audience
Radio 4’s Today Programme has lost 800,000 listeners in the past year as they switched to podcasts and rival talk radio shows.
The agenda-setting breakfast discussion programme has been trying to reinvent itself in recent months, adopting a more informal tone for parts of the show. It has also had to deal with Rishi Sunak’s government cutting access to government ministers as part of a deliberate communication strategy.
Continue reading...Investigation into premature deaths of more than 450 people at community hospital will be ‘decisive’, say Kent and Essex police
Police investigating the deaths of hundreds of patients at a community hospital say they have identified 19 suspects.
An independent police investigation was launched into Gosport War Memorial hospital, in Hampshire, after inquiries found that hundreds of patients had their lives shortened through the use of opioids.
Continue reading...On flight to Japan for G7, PM says ‘economic optimism is increasing’ and insists Brexit is working
Rishi Sunak has been accused of being out of touch with ordinary families after claiming the economy was looking up and people’s household incomes were “hugely outperforming” expectations despite the cost of living crisis.
On a flight to Japan for the G7 summit of world leaders, the prime minister said that despite consumers struggling with high inflation and the cost of food and energy, there were “lots of signs that things are moving in the right direction” with the economy.
Continue reading...PM expected to unveil Hiroshima accord at meeting with Japan’s Fumio Kishida amid fears of China’s rising militarisation
Rishi Sunak will seek to build a stronger defence with Japan amid fears of China’s rising militarisation as he travels to Tokyo and Hiroshima for the G7 summit.
The prime minister will be accompanied by his wife, Akshata Murty, on their first official visit since he entered No 10 for the meeting of leaders from the US, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, Italy and the EU.
Continue reading...Labour leader accuses Conservative government of killing the dream of home ownership
House prices need to fall in relation to people’s incomes, Keir Starmer has said, in a sign the Labour leader is willing to take on the objections of existing homeowners to get more people onto the property ladder.
Starmer told the British Chambers of Commerce annual conference on Wednesday that he believed prices should come down to make homes more affordable as he accused the Conservatives of killing the dream of home ownership.
Continue reading...Chair of Hinduja Group and his family had estimated collective fortune of more than £28bn
SP Hinduja, the billionaire patriarch of Britain’s richest family and chair of the globe-spanning Hinduja Group conglomerate, has died in London at the age of 87, his family have confirmed.
Srichand P Hinduja, who was known as SP or Sri, had dementia, according to reports.
Continue reading...Dowden stands in for Rishi Sunak as prime minister travels to Japan for G7
Keir Starmer has confirmed that Labour would seek to improve the Brexit deal that the UK has with the EU. Asked about the reports that the car manufacturer Stellantis wants the trade and cooperation agreement renegotiated because it believes that in its current form it puts manufacturing jobs in the UK at risk, Starmer told BBC Breakfast the UK needed “a better Brexit deal”. He said:
Look, we’re not going to re-enter the EU. We do need to improve that deal. Of course we want a closer trading relationship, we absolutely do. We want to ensure that Vauxhall and many others not just survive in this country but thrive.
Keir Starmer is absolutely right to say developers and landowners need to be prevented from deliberately slowing the rate at which they build houses to drive up prices – local authorities need more control to direct housebuilding where it is most needed.
And he’s bang on when he says targeting the green belt for ‘expensive executive housing’ upsets local communities because that’s not the homes that are needed. We’re facing a bona fide housing crisis, with an entire generation effectively priced out of home ownership. What’s more, far too many people are barely able to afford their rent.
Continue reading...IOPC confirms West Yorkshire police had contact with victims and man charged with their murder in days before killings
Police were in contact with a man and a woman who were victims of a suspected double murder in the days before their deaths, a watchdog has confirmed.
Katie Higton, 27, and Steven Harnett, 25, were killed in a suspected knife attack at Higton’s house in the Dalton area of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, between Sunday and Monday.
Continue reading...Twitter owner and Tesla chief defends tweet about George Soros after being accused of antisemitism
Elon Musk has said he will continue sending controversial tweets even it loses him money, as he defended himself against accusations of antisemitism over tweets about George Soros.
The Twitter owner and Tesla chief executive said he is “allowed to say what I want to”, as he defended a tweet posted on Tuesday saying the billionaire financier “reminds me of Magneto” – the Jewish villain in the X-Men series.
Continue reading...Announcement to take decision away from councillors comes after local party called ‘dysfunctional’
The national Labour party has announced it will appoint the next leader of the city council in Birmingham, taking the decision away from councillors, after a damning internal report said the local party was “dysfunctional” and dominated by “personality-driven factionalism”.
The move would in effect oust the current leader, Ian Ward, who was re-elected as leader of the UK’s largest local authority after a contest in May last year, and his deputy, Brigid Jones.
Continue reading...E.ON Next, Octopus and Good Energy did not supply final bill on time to many households that had switched
Three energy suppliers have been made to pay compensation totalling £8m for failing to supply a final bill on time to more than 100,000 households that had switched provider.
The energy regulator for Great Britain, Ofgem, said E.ON Next was ordered to pay £5.5m to almost 95,000 customers because it did not provide them with a final bill within six weeks of moving to another supplier, nor did it pay compensation for the delay within 10 days of the missed deadline.
Continue reading...Ex-Brexit party MEP says there is no ‘given right’ to low food prices despite families struggling with cost of living
Families should go without cheese sandwiches if they cannot afford the ingredients, Ann Widdecombe has said.
The former Brexit party MEP said there was no “given right” for low food prices, despite being told families “cannot afford to feed their children” and were having to make huge sacrifices as the cost of living crisis deepens.
Continue reading...Campaigners say development of huge Rosebank field in North Sea would drive climate breakdown
The Norwegian government is facing growing pressure to scale back its huge global fossil fuel expansion plans – including the development of a controversial new oilfield in the North Sea.
Climate activists from around the world descended on Stavanger in Norway last week to attend the AGM of the state-owned oil and gas giant Equinor. They warned that its plans to develop the huge Rosebank field in the North Sea, as well as other mega-projects in Canada, Brazil and Suriname, would drive climate breakdown with devastating consequences for humanity.
Continue reading...Carmakers call on Britain to change rules on batteries that they say threaten electric vehicle production
Three big global carmakers have called on the UK government to renegotiate the Brexit deal, saying rules on where parts are sourced from threaten the future of the British automotive industry.
Ford and Jaguar Land Rover have joined Stellantis, which owns the Vauxhall, Peugeot and Citroën brands, to warn the transition to electric vehicles will be knocked off course unless the UK and EU delay stricter “rules of origin”, due to kick in next year, that could add tariffs on car exports.
Continue reading...Investor Brian Basham alleges that Lee Harpin threatened to blow the whistle on voicemail interception
A leading Mirror journalist allegedly blackmailed the company as it attempted to cover up phone hacking, the high court was told on Tuesday.
Lee Harpin, who held a number of senior roles at the People and Sunday Mirror, was alleged to be a known phone hacker whose understanding of illegal behaviour at the newspaper group caused anxiety at board level.
Continue reading...Scheme provided falsified passports to formers suspect in Stephen Lawrence case and Irish crime boss
The ringleaders of a gang that specialised in supplying fake passports to high-level criminals allowing them to evade arrest and identification have been jailed.
Anthony Beard, 61, paid individuals for expired passports and applied for renewals using photographs of criminals who paid up to £20,000 to start new lives in Dubai, Portugal and Spain.
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