Heritage body wants to build 1,065-space car park at Lyme Park despite net zero by 2030 pledge
The National Trust has been criticised for its “car-dependent business model” after revealing plans to build the Peak District’s biggest car park while pledging to be net carbon zero by 2030.
The heritage body wants to build a 1,065-space car park at Lyme Park, a stately home set in 560 hectares (1,400 acres) on the fringes of the national park, just outside Greater Manchester.
Continue reading...Officials claim material on Jimmy Lai constituted political slogans but David Davis calls heavy-handed approach ‘completely daft’
Parliamentary security guards confiscated reports and leaflets about Hong Kong from attenders of an event in Westminster in case they caused political upset, the Guardian has learned, in a move condemned by a senior Conservative MP as “completely daft”.
Officers on the parliamentary estate forced people attending a meeting of the all-party parliamentary group on Hong Kong last Monday to hand over copies of a report by the group about press freedom there, as well as leaflets campaigning for the release of the media tycoon Jimmy Lai.
Continue reading...Former US president lands in Aberdeen on trip in which he will open course at controversial resort
The former US president Donald Trump has arrived in Scotland to visit his golf courses.
He arrived at Aberdeen airport at about 11.30am and was met by two pipers, a red carpet and 10-vehicle motorcade.
Continue reading...Project hopes Beatles classic will ‘unite the world’ and show victims of the conflict that they’ll never walk alone
An ambitious campaign to create the world’s biggest sing-along as an expression of solidarity with Ukraine during the Eurovision song contest is gaining momentum.
The #HelpUkraineSong project is aiming to “unite the world through music” by getting as many people as possible to sing the Beatles’ With a Little Help from My Friends at noon on Saturday 13 May.
Continue reading...Nurses union head clashes with Steve Barclay over plans to protect patients and RMT rows with Mark Harper about striking on eve of Eurovision final
The Royal College of Nursing has clashed with the government over whether sufficient exemptions have been made to protect patient safety during the nurses’ strike in England that started on Sunday evening.
The clash came as a row erupted between the leader of the train drivers’ union and the transport secretary, who had criticised a planned strike on the eve of the Eurovision song contest final for its impact on Ukraine.
Continue reading...Complexity of system and perception of government handouts as ‘shameful’ stopping people from accessing much-needed support
Millions of UK households are collectively missing out on at least £19bn a year in unclaimed welfare benefits, at a time when many are forced to use food banks or run up debt as they struggle with rising living costs, according to new estimates.
Lower income households are failing to claim benefits and other cash support for which they are eligible, according to a study by the consultancy Policy in Practice. Some families could be forgoing as much as £4,000 a year.
Continue reading...Opposition leader says party would change current system, in which PM has final say on who gets job
Keir Starmer has said Labour would make sure the BBC chair is independently appointed after Richard Sharp’s resignation following his failure to declare that he had helped Boris Johnson get a loan.
The Labour leader suggested the party would reform the system, in which the prime minister currently has the final say on who gets the job.
Continue reading...Mark Harper and Labour MP back ‘homage of the people’, but republicans say it ‘holds people in contempt’
A cabinet minister has said he “hopes people do” swear the proposed oath to the king on the day of his coronation, as republicans described it as “an offensive and tone-deaf gesture that holds the people in contempt”.
The transport secretary, Mark Harper, said he would be swearing the oath, to be known as a “homage of the people” and pointed out that MPs already “pledge allegiance to his majesty” on taking their seats.
Continue reading...Boat with 38 people onboard got into difficulty in Channel and left to drift back towards France, FOI request shows
A boat carrying 38 people, including children, that got into difficulty crossing the Channel was not rescued when it reached UK waters but was instead allowed to drift back towards France, according to internal maritime logs.
Ministry of Defence officials, who were managing small boats in the Channel at the time, told the Guardian in January that they disputed that the stricken dinghy had entered UK waters.
Continue reading...FCDO asks any British nationals hoping to leave war-torn country to reach airport in Port Sudan by noon local time on Monday
The UK government has announced plans to carry out an additional evacuation flight from Sudan on Monday, after previously suggesting that efforts to bring British nationals out of the war-torn country had concluded.
In a statement on Sunday, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) urged any UK nationals still hoping to leave Sudan to make their way to the airport in Port Sudan, on the Red Sea coast, by noon local time (11am BST) on 1 May.
Continue reading...Invoice for ex-PM’s time at Kent mansion when foreign secretary is thought to include sums for missing bathrobes and party business
Liz Truss is disputing part of a £12,000 bill sent to her by the Cabinet Office relating to her use of the grace-and-favour Chevening house while she was foreign secretary.
The bill mostly covered hospitality but also included missing items, such as some bathrobes, and dates back to last summer when she was fighting the Conservative leadership campaign against Rishi Sunak.
Continue reading...American visitors to the UK have risen sharply in number – and it may be because they are choosing to mix business with leisure
It’s the travel trend that never quite took off. Ever since American trader Ben Hockett made millions during the 2008 global financial crisis by trading online from an Exmouth pub, travel marketers have tried to sell the concept of mixing holidays with work.
But now blended travel – or “bleisure”, as it was known in the 00s heyday of portmanteau neologisms – seems to be having a moment.
Continue reading...Top gardeners advise use of tougher varieties that can cope with extremes of heat and cold as conditions disappoint growers
Gardeners are being urged to grow plants that can cope with extreme heat and cold after the Royal Horticultural Society was bombarded with letters from members asking why species they had cultivated successfully for years were now dying.
“It seems to be because of the temperature fluctuations,” said Nikki Barker, a senior horticultural adviser at the RHS. “We’ve gone from severe drought with an initially very mild autumn that turned cold. It’s the combination of weather patterns rather than one single event. And plants find it hard to deal with that fluctuation.”
Continue reading...Sarra Eljak and Mustafa Abbas missed the last flight as 220km trip to airbase was too dangerous for their children
A couple who both work for the NHS missed the last UK evacuation flight out of Sudan on Saturday, believing the journey to be “too dangerous”.
The doctors must now find an alternative means of fleeing the war-torn country.
Continue reading...Leader pledges a radical, reforming Labour government with aid to first-time buyers and a revamp of tuition fees among the party’s targets
• Read more: ‘I want Labour to be the party of home ownership,’ says Starmer
Keir Starmer today pledges to lead a radical, reforming Labour government that is bolder than Tony Blair’s on public service reform, as he announces plans to accelerate housing building and get more young people on to the property ladder.
In an interview with the Observer before Thursday’s local elections, the Labour leader insists he will more than match Blair for radical ideas on overhauling public services including the NHS. “This will be a bold and reforming Labour government bringing about real change that I hope will be felt through the generations,” Starmer said.
Continue reading...With local polls on Thursday, the Labour leader must convince voters his party can fix the Tories’ mistakes – and make bold, eye-catching pledges
• Read more: ‘I’ll be bolder than Blair on public service reform,’ says Starmer
Keir Starmer is being shown around the Royal Crown Derby factory in the east Midlands city, and the reasons for choosing the venue are clear. We are days away from crucial local elections on Thursday and the coronation of King Charles III will take place two days later.
The visit has been carefully choreographed to convey messages about respect for tradition, and how Labour has changed. A big party media team is up from London and their attention to detail is impressive – reminiscent of New Labour before the 1997 general election.
Continue reading...British subjects asked to form a ‘chorus of a million voices’ and make oath of loyalty while watching service
Members of the public watching the coronation on television, online and in parks and pubs will be invited to swear aloud their allegiance to the monarch in a “chorus of millions of voices” to be known as the Homage of the People.
People around the UK and abroad will be invited to say the words “I swear that I will pay true allegiance to your majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God”, in a declaration that replaces the traditional homage of peers.
Continue reading...MP questions police response that troll who tried to have her children removed was ‘entitled’ to call her an ‘extremist’
The Labour MP Stella Creasy believes police have given online trolls “the green light to target the children of politicians” after she was subject to a baseless complaint to social services.
Creasy was investigated by her local council after it received a report from a troll who was trying to have her children taken away from her.
Continue reading...Opinium poll shows slump in personal ratings of Rishi Sunak, with 26% approving of his performance and 44% disapproving
Labour’s lead over the Conservatives stands at a commanding 18 points, according to the last Opinium poll for the Observer before a huge set of local elections.
With more than 8,000 council seats across 230 authorities in England up for election on Thursday, the Tories had been hoping that polls would tighten as they attempt to avoid heavy losses in both the red wall of old Labour seats and the blue all – south-eastern seats where, traditionally, they have been strong.
Continue reading...Investigation reveals that at least 440 people appear to have been abandoned in the weeks before the worst Channel disaster in 30 years
• Read more: ‘Horror beyond words’: how Channel distress calls were ‘ignored’
Hundreds of vulnerable migrants were abandoned to their fates after the UK coastguard “effectively ignored” reports of small boats in distress during the days leading up to the worst Channel disaster in 30 years when at least 27 people died, an Observer investigation suggests.
Around 440 people appear to have been left adrift after the coastguard sent no rescue vessels to 19 reported boats carrying migrants in UK waters, according to an analysis of internal records and marine data seen by the Observer and Liberty Investigates.
Experts said the failure to act appears to breach international law.
Continue reading...