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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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”.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.”
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...Rejection of pay deal underlines nurses’ fury at state of health service as RCN’s handling of dispute is questioned
Friday’s announcement by the Royal College of Nursing that its members had rejected the pay offer on the table for NHS workers dashed any remaining hopes in Downing Street of drawing a neat line under months of debilitating strike action across the public sector.
As nurses kicked off the first strike action in the RCN’s history before Christmas, the union was demanding a pay rise of 19%. In January, its general secretary, Pat Cullen, urged the health secretary, Steve Barclay, to “meet me halfway here”, and conceded that 10% might be acceptable.
Continue reading...Such products doing ‘notably better’ than fresh items, data from Kantar reported by BBC shows
British shoppers are switching from fresh to frozen food as they try to keep down spending amid the cost of living crisis, retail data suggests.
The soaring cost of the weekly shop has been a significant factor in the squeeze on UK households, with food price inflation running at 18.2% amid high energy prices and shortages of salad vegetable because of bad weather in Europe.
Continue reading...Palace refusing to explain why official state gifts worn by Princess of Wales and Camilla are not in the royal collection
Buckingham Palace is refusing to explain why 11 pieces of jewellery potentially worth £80m that were official gifts to the royal family are not held in a trove of national heritage.
The jewels, which have been worn by Queen Elizabeth II; Camilla, the Queen Consort, and Catherine, Princess of Wales, are not contained in the royal collection, the custodian of culturally significant items held in trust for the nation.
Continue reading...Number of house sparrows spotted has dropped by nearly 60% since 1979, according to RSPB annual survey
House sparrows are the most spotted bird in UK gardens for the 20th year in a row, according to new data. This comes despite the decline of the bird’s population, with nearly 22 million house sparrows lost from the country since 1966.
Roughly 1.5 million house sparrows were spotted in gardens between 27 and 29 January this year, according to people who took part in the Big Garden Birdwatch, the garden wildlife survey conducted by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
Continue reading...Chris McCausland says Channel 4 show gave him the experience of ‘being the most able’ competitor
It has recently been called one of television’s most ridiculous reality shows. But the new Channel 4 series Scared of the Dark will help audiences understand sight loss, a contestant has said.
The blind comedian Chris McCausland is one of eight famous faces who stepped out of the spotlight and into a pitch-black bunker for eight days for the experiment, hosted by Danny Dyer. It will show how they cope with the pressures of light deprivation and humanity’s primal fear of the dark.
It’s a Knockout, BBC One, 1966 Giant obstacle-based physical series that spawned a Europe-wide and royal version.
Touch the Truck, Channel 5, 2001 Dale Winton-fronted endurance show featured contestants holding on to a truck for the longest to win it.
Naked Jungle, Channel 5, 2000 A nudist Crystal Maze meets It’s a Knockout, fronted by Keith Chegwin.
Shafted, ITV, 2001 Robert Kilroy-Silk’s ill-fated show created TV’s most infamous catchphrase, “to share or to shaft”.
Celebrity Shark Bait, ITV, 2005 Richard E Grant and Ruby Wax were among the stars locked in a metal cage in shark-infested waters.
Hole in the Wall, BBC One, 2008 Teams of celebrities tried to jump through shapes in a moving wall.
Heads or Tails, Channel 5, 2009 Justin Lee Collins oversaw contestants flipping a coin to try to win £1m.
Don’t Scare the Hare, BBC One, 2011 Contestants carried out a mad series of challenges against a giant robotic hare.
That Puppet Game Show, BBC One, 2013 The Muppets’ short-lived move into gameshows.
The Jump, C4, 2014 Insurance nightmare celebrity ski jump show created 34 casualties.
Flockstars, ITV, 2015 Celebrities attempt sheepdog trials.
Wild Things, Sky One, 2015 Couples dressed as animals competed on a woodland obstacle course.
Apocalypse Wow, ITV2, 2021 Gladiators meets BDSM.
Naked, Alone and Racing to Get Home, Channel 4, 2023 Race Across the World in the buff.
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