Police say man and woman admitted to hospital with serious injuries after incident in Dartford
Two people were shot at a house in Kent in what witnesses described as a “chilling” hostage situation involving a standoff with police.
The incident in Priory Road, Dartford, happened on Saturday afternoon. Kent police said a man and a woman were admitted to hospital with serious injuries consistent with gunshot wounds. They remain in a serious condition.
Continue reading...Stuart Murphy says other cities in running but stresses chances of either northern city hosting opera company
Liverpool and Manchester are “really strong contenders” to be the new home of the English National Opera (ENO), its chief executive has said, after the cultural body was forced to leave London.
Stuart Murphy, who steps down later this year, said three potential bases would be selected by the end of May and a winner chosen by the end of this year.
Continue reading...ASA reports rise in complaints about ads that mislead customers about benefits of treatments like Botox
The advertising watchdog is banning growing numbers of advertisements that exaggerate the benefits of health and beauty treatments such as Botox, lip fillers and diet aids.
The Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) action is part of a crackdown against beauty clinics and manufacturers of aesthetic products over how they promote themselves.
Continue reading...Jean-Luc Mélenchon also criticises French TV coverage while National Rally MP hails ‘magnificent’ ceremony
Almost 9 million people watched King Charles’s coronation live on TV in France, where the pomp and ceremony sickened the radical left while impressing the far right.
As the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who is close to Charles, attended the service at Westminster Abbey, congratulating the monarchy who he said were “friends to France”, the French media’s massive focus on the event – with souvenir front pages and lengthy TV specials across different channels – caused high emotions across the polarised political landscape.
Continue reading...Experts say neighbourhood varieties will suit an area’s pollinators, and that caution is needed when buying generic seed mixes
Gardeners hoping to establish a wildflower patch in their gardens should be wary of generic seed mixes and stick to local blooms to best serve wild pollinators, experts have said.
Conservationists are urging people to source not just native wildflowers but to find out what grows naturally in their neighbourhood by getting out in their area and looking for inspiration in existing meadows, verges and nature reserves. They should then use this as a guide to ensure they are collecting or buying the most suitable wildflowers for their gardens.
Continue reading...Prime minister returns to Australia on Sunday after joining in pledge to new monarch, a decision backed by colleagues
Anthony Albanese’s decision to pledge allegiance to King Charles at the monarch’s coronation has been described as “crucial” by his own government, despite the prime minister’s stance as a staunch republican.
The prime minister on Sunday said it was an honour to represent Australia at the coronation, where he entered Westminster Abbey behind Governor-General David Hurley and the national flag-bearer, soccer star Sam Kerr.
Continue reading...Experts believe the UK has adopted a segregated immigration policy which favours those fleeing Ukraine
The Home Office has been accused of operating an “unashamedly racist” refugee system after refusing to offer people fleeing fighting in Sudan a safe and legal route to the UK, in stark contrast to the schemes offered to those escaping the war in Ukraine.
With the final evacuation flight from Khartoum to the UK having left last week, a lack of options from the UK government has crystallised concern that it has adopted a segregated immigration policy. No safe and legal routes have been made available to help Sudanese refugees flee and there is no sign of an announcement outlining a new scheme to deal with the fallout of the conflict.
Continue reading...Head of Republic among those detained on coronation route with environmentalists and women’s safety campaigners also held
Scotland Yard has been accused of an “incredibly alarming” attack on the right to protest after police used new powers to arrest the head of the leading republican movement and other organisers of an approved demonstration just hours before King Charles III’s coronation.
Graham Smith, the chief executive of Republic, had been collecting drinks and placards for demonstrators at the main site of the protest on Trafalgar Square two hours before the king was due to arrive at Westminster Abbey when he was stopped along with five others by police on nearby St Martin’s Lane.
Continue reading...Peter Kyle rejects predictions Labour will not win enough seats for outright majority in Commons
A senior Labour MP has predicted the party will not need to go into coalition after the next general election, despite results from this week’s local elections showing they could be short of an overall majority.
Labour gained 536 seats and took control of another 22 councils as it became the largest party in local government for the first time since 2002.
Continue reading...Deaths of 18-year-old near Dagenham Heathway station and man in late 20s on Mare Street follow that of Walthamstow schoolboy
Three people were stabbed to death in separate incidents in east London over a period of less than eight hours as the bank holiday weekend began on Friday.
Murder investigations began after the deaths of an 18-year-old and a man in his late 20s, the Met police said, while detectives are still hunting for the killers of a 16-year-old who was ambushed as he left school and stabbed to death.
Continue reading...Headteacher of Kelmscott school in Walthamstow says killing of 16-year-old was ‘darkest of days’
A 16-year-old boy was ambushed as he left a school in east London and stabbed to death on Friday in a “senseless attack”.
The pupil at Kelmscott school, Walthamstow, was met outside by his attackers who were “waiting for him”, an eyewitness said. He tried to escape but was stabbed a short distance away outside an auto parts store as other pupils watched.
Continue reading...Football club says how spectators choose to react to God Save the King is a ‘personal choice’
The British national anthem has been met with resounding boos at Anfield, with Liverpool fans drowning out the music with heckles before their fixture against Brentford hours after King Charles’s coronation.
Liverpool supporters could also be heard chanting “Liverpool, Liverpool” in what has become somewhat of a tradition whenever the national anthem is played at the ground.
Continue reading...Coronation comes after anti-monarchy protesters arrested in central London. This blog is now closed
My colleague Alexandra Topping is out and about with the crowds in central London early this morning:
Crazy scenes around the streets of the coronation route London this morning, which have been heaving since the very early hours as people hope to secure a good spot.
Continue reading...Company challenged over advice that one expert says will enable families to avoid paying tax on private school fees
A boutique tax advisory firm run by the Scottish National party’s new auditors has been accused of potentially running a tax avoidance scheme to help parents who are paying private school fees.
Signature Tax, an offshoot of AMS Accountants Group, offers clients “tailored tax solutions” on its website, including advice on paying fees in a “tax efficient manner”.
Continue reading...The WikiLeaks founder writes that he has been captive in the prison for more than four years ‘on behalf of an embarrassed foreign sovereign’
Julian Assange has written a letter to King Charles ahead of his coronation inviting him to visit the UK prison where the WikiLeaks founder has been captive for more than four years “on behalf of an embarrassed foreign sovereign”.
The letter is the first document the Australian journalist and WikiLeaks founder has written and published since his time in Belmarsh prison in London and accounts the horrors of his life there.
Continue reading...Crowning of new king and queen will include UK’s biggest military spectacle in 70 years
Foreign royalty, heads of state and other dignitaries from around the globe have descended on London for the crowning of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, which will include a military spectacle unmatched in Britain in 70 years.
Seven thousand troops will be on parade with 19 military bands in a coronation procession stretching one mile from front to rear, the most at any state occasion since the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
Continue reading...London fire brigade suggest smoke probably caused by train’s brakes and police say nobody hurt in incident
Passengers climbed out of the smashed windows of a tube train at Clapham Common station in London on Friday evening amid a fire alert.
A video posted on social media shows a man with a hammer cracking one of the Northern Line tube windows to allow travellers trapped inside to get out, while other videos show smashed windows.
Continue reading...Modern slavery team reveals further allegations of people being trafficked to London for body parts
The Metropolitan police is investigating more cases of organ trafficking in the UK after new victims came forward following the first conviction for the offence under modern slavery laws.
Detectives from Scotland Yard’s modern slavery and child exploitation team have said they are investigating more allegations of people being trafficked for their body parts to London and other areas of the UK.
Continue reading...Judge says Ike Ekweremadu was ‘driving force’ in scheme to take kidney for his sick daughter from man brought to London
A senior Nigerian politician has been sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison in the UK for being the “driving force” in a plot to harvest a kidney for his sick daughter from a young man he had trafficked to London.
Ike Ekweremadu, 60, a former deputy president of the Nigerian senate, his wife, Beatrice, 56, and Dr Obinna Obeta, 51, were found guilty by an Old Bailey jury in March in the first organ trafficking conviction under the Modern Slavery Act.
Continue reading...Dignitaries arriving in London ahead of tomorrow’s ceremony as people already gather to line procession route
A children’s biography of King Charles III has topped the UK book chart before the coronation on 6 May.
Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara’s King Charles is part of the Little People, Big Dreams series, which includes illustrated biographies of notable figures such as Stephen Hawking and Michelle Obama.
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