Category Archives: UK news

Pope Francis holds meeting with Julian Assange’s wife

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‘He understands Julian is suffering and is concerned,’ says Stella Assange after audience with pontiff

Pope Francis has met Stella Assange, the wife of the imprisoned WikiLeaks founder, who said the pope’s gesture in receiving her was evidence of his “ongoing show of support for our family’s plight” and concern over the suffering of her husband, Julian.

After the audience, Stella Assange said Francis had sent a letter to her husband in March 2021, during a particularly difficult period. “He has provided great solace and comfort and we are extremely appreciative for his reaching out to our family in this way,” she told the Associated Press. “He understands that Julian is suffering and is concerned.”

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Kevin Spacey a ‘sexual bully’ who assaulted four men, UK court told

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Hollywood actor accused of abusing his power and getting a thrill out of predatory and aggressive behaviour towards the men

The Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey was a “sexual bully” who abused the power and influence that his reputation and fame gave him to assault four men, a court has heard.

The Hollywood star is accused of getting a sexual thrill out of his predatory and aggressive behaviour towards the men, who had the “misfortune” of attracting his attention. Spacey is alleged to have performed a sex act on one man while he was asleep and grabbed others with such force that it was painful or took their breath away.

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Watchdog rejects Johnson’s suggestion Sue Gray’s Labour job meant she was not impartial investigating Partygate– UK politics live

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Advisory committee on business appointments says it has seen ‘no evidence’ that Gray’s decision-making was affected despite ex-PM’s claim

NHS England has just published its 150-page long-term workforce plan. It’s here.

The government is keen to present it as an NHS plan, not a government plan, and at the moment you cannot find it prominently on the No 10 or Department of Health and Social Care websites.

This is our longer-term, strategic approach to workforce planning. In a nutshell we will:

1. Train more staff

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Sue Gray given six-month waiting period for Keir Starmer job

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Former senior civil servant will start work as Labour leader’s chief of staff in autumn after watchdog recommendation

Sue Gray will start work as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff by the autumn after a ruling by the watchdog on post-government jobs but is facing a rap on the knuckles from the Cabinet Office alleging she broke the civil service code.

Starmer said he was delighted that Gray would be starting her job in his office before the next election, after the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) said she needed to wait six months after leaving her role in the Cabinet Office last March.

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NHS radiographers in England vote to strike over pay

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Society of Radiographers members reject offer, pushing for deal they say could help cut waiting lists

Thousands of radiographers in England have voted to go on strike for the first time in the increasingly bitter healthcare pay dispute.

The Society of Radiographers (SoR) secured sufficient turnout and votes in 43 NHS trusts to go on strike in a ballot that closed on 28 June. More than 150 trusts had a majority in favour of action but not all met the turnout threshold.

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Over 24,000 UK asylum seekers could be sent to Rwanda despite court ruling

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Home Office sent 24,083 letters of intent warning refugees they were being considered for forcible removal

More than 24,000 asylum seekers from about one-third of the world’s countries could face removal to Rwanda by the UK Home Office in the future, even though the scheme was found to be unlawful in the court of appeal on Thursday.

Home Office data obtained under a freedom of information request shows that, between January 2021 and March 2023, 24,083 asylum seekers were issued with letters warning them that they were being considered for forcible removal to Rwanda.

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Fifteen-year-old boy and man, 23, killed in north London stabbing

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Another man aged 28 has stab wound not thought to be life-threatening after incident in Archway

A 15-year-old boy and a 23-year-old man have been stabbed to death in north London.

The teenager died at the scene in Elthorne Road, Archway, after the stabbing at 11.30pm on Thursday, while the man was taken to hospital where he was later pronounced dead. A 28-year-old man was found with a stab wound that was not life-threatening.

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Oligarch hit by Ukrainian sanctions has UK residency and was given ‘golden visa’

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Pavel Fuks, a Ukrainian who made a fortune in Russia and is under investigation for fraud, was granted special visa for the rich in 2012

An oligarch who made a fortune in Russia and is under Ukrainian sanctions has UK residency after being granted a special visa for the rich.

Pavel Fuks, a Ukrainian national who had sanctions imposed in 2021, is also under criminal investigation for fraud and tax evasion in his home country. But the Guardian has established that Fuks, known as a regular at an exclusive Mayfair restaurant, was granted a so-called golden visa in 2012, followed by indefinite leave to remain in the UK in 2017. “It’s effective as of today,” his spokesperson said.

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Cabinet Office will not investigate groping allegations against Daniel Korski

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Daisy Goodwin expresses disappointment with government response to formal complaint against Tory ex-mayoral hopeful

The Cabinet Office will not investigate allegations that the former Conservative mayoral hopeful Daniel Korski groped a woman when he worked in Downing Street 10 years ago.

Daisy Goodwin, the novelist and TV producer who made the claim, said she was disappointed, and questioned why there was no dedicated body that investigated serious allegations against MPs and advisers.

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Government aims to boost NHS with thousands more doctors and nurses

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NHS England could have 12,500 extra doctors and nurses by 2028 under the service’s first long-term workforce plan

Thousands more doctors and nurses will be trained in England every year as part of a government push to plug the huge workforce gaps that plague almost all NHS services.

The number of places in medical schools will rise from 7,500 to 10,000 by 2028 and could reach 15,000 by 2031 as a result of the NHS’s first long-term workforce plan.

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MP Lee Anderson faces rebuke over GB News promotional film

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Tory party’s deputy chair used parliamentary rooftop setting to publicise TV show, in apparent contravention of rules

The Conservative MP Lee Anderson faces a telling off for using a parliamentary rooftop to film a promotion video for his GB News TV show, with unauthorised photography or filming not permitted on the parliamentary estate.

The serjeant at arms, who is responsible for upholding order in the Commons, will contact Anderson, the Conservative party deputy chairman, over the Twitter footage.

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Battle over Rwanda deportations to continue as No 10 gears up for appeal

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Sunak insists Rwanda is safe country to be sent to after court rules in favour of charities and 10 asylum seekers

The bitter legal battle over the government’s flagship immigration policy is set to reach new heights after Downing Street insisted it would fight to overturn a ruling that sending refugees to Rwanda was unlawful.

Charities and others were jubilant on Thursday after judges at the court of appeal ruled in favour of campaign groups and 10 affected asylum seekers, while the opposition claimed the policy at heart of Rishi Sunak’s “Stop the Boats” pledge was now unravelling.

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Head of British army could quit in row over further cuts

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Gen Sir Patrick Sanders is said to have told defence secretary that the army cannot take more reductions

The head of the British army could resign, allies say, amid a fierce row over further proposed cuts to land forces in the run-up to a special defence review responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Interviews have already begun to replace Gen Sir Patrick Sanders, who has served only a year as chief of the general staff, and friends of the military leader say he may quit even sooner if the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, imposes further cuts.

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Key Madeleine McCann witness says Met police ignored tipoff for nine years

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German man says he first contacted Scotland Yard about suspect Christian Brückner in 2008

The man who tipped off police about Christian Brückner, the main suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, has said his initial approach to the Metropolitan police in the year after she disappeared was ignored and he was only taken seriously when he contacted them again nine years later.

The German man, identified only as Helge B, said he had approached Scotland Yard in 2008, suspecting Brückner’s involvement in the child’s abduction, but he heard nothing back from them. Publicity around the 10th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance in 2017 prompted him to contact them again, after which they acted on his information, he said.

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Thames Water could delay accounts as turmoil in water industry grows

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Firm refuses to say when it will publish annual report; pressure builds on regulator Ofwat

Thames Water has refused to say when it will publish its annual report and accounts, which had been expected by investors next week, as concerns mount over the company’s financial viability.

The risk of delay will add to the turmoil engulfing England’s 11 privatised water companies, after a day in which board directors, ministers and regulators scrambled to restore calm as discussions continued over a potential temporary nationalisation of Thames Water.

The Environment Agency (EA) announced it was sending specialist investigators into water companies across England to secure evidence in the biggest criminal investigation into illegal sewage dumping since privatisation.

The experienced City troubleshooter Sir Adrian Montague was parachuted in to take over as chairman of Thames, a role he will take up on 10 July.

The prime minister’s spokesperson said it was for Ofwat “in the first instance” to monitor the financial resilience of water companies, adding to pressure on the regulator.

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Tourist from England suspected to have carved name on Colosseum wall

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Male suspect reportedly from Bristol could face a prison term of up to five years for the widely condemned act

Italian police have identified a man from England as the suspected culprit behind an inscription carved into a wall of the Colosseum, after a four-day search.

A young man wearing a blue flowery shirt was filmed by an onlooker using a key to scratch his and his girlfriend’s name into an internal wall of the 2,000-year-old monument last Friday. If convicted, the suspect could face a hefty fine and prison term under Italy’s strict cultural heritage protection laws.

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Boy died in bus collision after friend unlocked e-scooter, inquest told

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Family calls for more restrictions on underage access to electric scooters after Mustafa Nadeem was killed last December

A 12-year-old boy was killed while riding a hired Voi e-scooter unlocked by a 14-year-old friend using their father’s account, an inquest has heard, as his family called for stricter measures to prevent children using loopholes to access them.

Mustafa Nadeem suffered fatal injuries when he rode an e-scooter along the pavement and accidentally collided with a pedestrian causing him to fall on the road into the path of a bus in Birmingham on 6 December last year.

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Crown estate enjoys huge rise in profits thanks to offshore wind

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Fees for accessing UK seabeds help boost profits to £443m while King Charles says some of surplus will go towards public good

The crown estate has generated record profits of almost half a billion pounds from Britain’s offshore windfarms, as talks continue over how much of the windfall should be shared with King Charles.

The royal property manager made £443m in profits in its last financial year, up by almost £130m from the year before, in large part thanks to payments made by renewable energy companies for the right to access the seabed.

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Asylum seekers at Manston may have been treated inhumanely, report finds

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Council of Europe team raised a wide range of concerns based on visit to Kent detention centre last year

Many asylum seekers may have been subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment at Manston holding facility in Kent, according to a report.

A seven-strong delegation from the Council of Europe’s prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment committee carried out a “rapid reaction” visit to Manston over 25-28 November due to concerns about conditions there, a visit that officials described as “relatively rare” in these circumstances.

Some people absconded from Manston.

One-sixth of those who arrived in small boats were lone children.

Some people were detained at Manston for up to 15 days after being granted bail.

Three different Home Office databases did not communicate well with each other.

There were two documented cases of migrants trying to strangle themselves with seatbelts while segregated in a cell van on the site. The delegation invoked human rights legislation to ensure that the cell van was removed from the site, a stipulation that the Home Office has complied with.

There were cases of people being detained for up to 43 days at Manston.

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