Category Archives: UK news

Calls for stricter UK oversight of workplace AI amid fears for staff rights

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Campaigners, unions and MPs raise concerns about surveillance and use of ‘management by algorithm’

Campaigners, trade unions and MPs are calling for stricter oversight of the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace, amid growing concerns about its effect on staff rights.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is holding a half-day conference on Tuesday to highlight the challenges of ensuring workers are treated fairly, as what it calls “management by algorithm” becomes increasingly prevalent.

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Calls for jump-racing ban after Grand National horse deaths

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Animal rights group Animal Aid says change needed after ‘brutal horrors’ at Aintree as three horses die during festival

Animal rights campaigners have called for jump racing to be banned and “much more stringent” safety measures put in place for the sport after three horses died at the 175th annual Grand National festival.

The third fatality, Hill Sixteen, is said to have suffered a broken neck at the first fence at the Aintree racecourse in Liverpool before being put down.

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Royal Mail and Communication Workers Union reach deal on pay

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Agreement in principle follows strikes and 11 months of negotiations over pay, jobs and conditions

Royal Mail and union leaders have reached an agreement in principle after 11 months of negotiations in a dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

Royal Mail said it had reached a negotiators’ agreement with the Communication Workers Union (CWU), the details of which will be made public once it has been ratified by the union’s executive committee, which is expected to take place next week.

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NHS crisis deepens as nursing union plans ‘mega strike’ in England

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Doctors could join coordinated strike as Royal College of Nurses announce national ballot on mass action

England’s biggest nursing union is to ballot its members on whether to join a “make or break” mega-strike that would lead to mass action by nurses in every hospital trust in the country, the Observer can reveal.

The move by the Royal College of Nursing to “up the ante” by holding a single national vote – rather than conducting ballots in each individual trust as it did last October – would, if passed, mean twice as many trusts being hit by industrial action by nurses as have been so far.

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Bromley councillor Shaun Slator expelled from Conservative party over rape tweet

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Councillor, who is currently sitting as an independent, says he is ‘disappointed’ by decision and will be appealing

A Conservative councillor who said an alleged rape victim was probably a prostitute has been expelled from the party.

Shaun Slator, who currently sits as an independent councillor on Bromley council, made the comments on Twitter in response to a news report about a rape inquiry in Plumstead, south-east London.

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Rishi Sunak scraps plans for new smart motorways in England

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Fourteen smart motorways removed from government road-building plans over cost and safety fears

The building of new smart motorways is being cancelled as Rishi Sunak acknowledged concerns about safety and cost.

Fourteen planned smart motorways – including 11 that are already paused and three earmarked for construction – will be removed from government road-building plans, given financial pressures and in recognition of the lack of public trust.

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Orient Express to axe UK section after 41 years due to Brexit

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Luxury train operator cuts service ahead of biometric passport checks so passengers will have to join train in Paris

When the Orient Express began operating in the 19th century, passports were optional – the only paperwork required by British travellers was a copy of the Thomas Cook Continental Timetable.

But Brexit and 21st-century biometric checks are killing off the romance of crossing borders for modern passengers looking for the nostalgia of the luxury train journey that inspired Agatha Christie and Hollywood.

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End of an era as London’s famed Sylvanian Families shop shuts

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Magnet for thousands of collectors of furry toys will close doors next week

Nineteen-year-old Molly Bell arrived in London early last week from Brisbane. By Wednesday, she had found her way to a tiny toy emporium in a nondescript street in north London to fulfil a dream. She needed to move fast as the Sylvanian Families shop, selling the eponymous toy animals and their habitats, closes on 22 April after more than 30 years.

Since 1992, the charming Highbury shop has been a magnet for thousands of collectors of the anthropomorphic animals – a magical grotto reminiscent of a bygone idyll.

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CBI president apologises over sexual misconduct allegations

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Brian McBride says business lobby group was on firm ground in sacking director general Tony Danker

The president of Britain’s most influential business lobby organisation has apologised for a spate of sexual misconduct allegations and “toxic culture” that has left the Confederation of British Industry fighting for its future.

Speaking publicly for the first time, Brian McBride apologised to those alleging various forms of sexual misconduct, which span several years, by senior figures at the organisation, including an allegation of rape, first reported in a Guardian investigation last month.

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Three people arrested amid animal rights protest at Grand National

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Police say suspects held on conspiracy to cause public nuisance as activists gather at Aintree racecourse

Police have arrested three people at Aintree racecourse ahead of the Grand National.

A 25-year-old woman from London was detained outside the venue at about 11.20am on Saturday while a man was arrested around 30 minutes later. They were both arrested on suspicion of conspirapy to cause public nuisance.

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Further England nurses’ strikes present ‘severe challenge’ to NHS

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NHS leader says threat of joint strike with junior doctors could pose hardest challenge yet

A 48-hour nurses’ strike in England in May will present “severe challenges”, and the threat of coordinated industrial action with junior doctors could pose the “most difficult challenge” to date, an NHS boss has said.

Speaking after a four-day junior doctors’ strike ended at 7am on Saturday, Sir Julian Hartley, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said fresh strike action announced by the Royal College of Nursing from 30 April until 2 May, and the possibility of stoppages continuing into next winter, was “extremely worrying and concerning”.

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Forty families a day threatened with no-fault evictions since Tories vowed to ban them

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Exclusive: Labour figures show scale of issue in England despite Conservatives vowing to abolish the practice four years ago

An estimated 40 families have been threatened with a “no-fault” eviction every day in England in the four years since ministers first promised to scrap them, analysis shows.

The Conservatives first promised to end the practice in 2019, but the government has yet to pass legislation despite repeated promises from ministers and former prime ministers.

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Lack of NI government puts net zero targets at risk, UK climate adviser warns

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Climate Change Committee says little hope of getting on track if Stormont power sharing not restored soon

The prolonged lack of devolved government in Northern Ireland threatens to seriously hamper the country’s ability to hit the ambitious emissions reduction targets enshrined by law in its climate act, the chief executive of the UK’s Climate Change Committee (CCC) has said.

There has been no power-sharing government in place to advance work on meeting these commitments since Northern Ireland’s Climate Change Act, which includes a 2050 net zero target, was passed last spring.

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‘Something special’: same-sex couple wed in UK year on from fleeing Ukraine

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Yulia and Tetiana knew they would have to marry abroad – but never in the context of an invasion

Yulia and Tetiana had spent a while deliberating over a date for their wedding before they decided it had to be 1 March – exactly a year to the day they fled the war in Ukraine.

“That date should be a sad anniversary, the anniversary of us leaving our old life behind, but we decided to rewrite this story and made it our special anniversary,” said Tetiana, 42. “We lost a lot and there is a lot of evil in this world, but we’ve turned that evil into something good.”

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Nurses will strike again in England after voting to reject government pay deal

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RCN members refuse offer recommended by union leaders by 54% to 46% in ballot

Nurses are to launch fresh strike action across England later this month after rejecting the government’s pay offer, sparking fears stoppages could go on until Christmas.

In a major blow to ministers, union leaders and health service bosses, members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) voted narrowly, by 54% to 46%, on a turnout of 61%, to reject the government’s offer of a 5% pay rise this year and a cash payment for last year.

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Murder inquiry launched after shooting death of teenager in north London

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Police say they want to speak to people among large group present in area of incident, after death of Tyler McDermott, 17

A murder investigation has been launched after a teenager died following a shooting in north London. Tyler McDermott, 17, died on Friday afternoon after the incident in the early hours of Thursday.

Scotland Yard said it was vital that officers spoke to a “large group of people” who may have heard or seen something suspicious in the area of the shooting in Norman Road, Tottenham.

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Two Met police officers sacked over messages about Katie Price’s son

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Officers sent offensive messages about Harvey Price, who is disabled, to colleagues in WhatsApp group

Two Metropolitan police officers have been dismissed over offensive messages that they shared in a WhatsApp group, including some that made fun of Katie Price’s disabled son.

The two serving officers and six former colleagues were found guilty of gross misconduct after sending sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic and ableist comments in a group called Secret Squirrel Shit between 2016 and 2018.

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Royal College of Nursing rejects government pay offer and announces new strike – as it happened

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This live blog has now closed, you can read more on this story here

Nurses in England are preparing to go on strike until Christmas after members of the country’s biggest nursing union voted against the government’s pay deal, the Guardian has learned.

The Royal College of Nursing will announce that members have rejected the government’s offer and will at the same time announce a new ballot for more aggressive strikes likely to last for the next six months.

The vote has closed and the figures are being verified. There is no result until that point. We will make an announcement later today and tell our members first.

Members of the GMB union at the company’s Coventry fulfilment centre will walk out on Sunday for three days.

Further strikes are planned from April 21 to 23.

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Senior UK civil servants could strike after ‘unconscionable’ pay offer

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Government’s limiting of average pay rise to between 4.5% and 5% prompts fresh strike dates and possible FDA ballot

The UK’s most senior civil servants could take their first strike action in more than a decade after ministers imposed an average pay rise of between 4.5% and 5%, in a move described as “unconscionable” by union leaders.

The Cabinet Office published pay remit guidance limiting awards to an average of 4.5%, plus an additional 0.5% for the lowest pay bands.

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