Special set with UK’s favourite flowers including the sunflower and purple iris to feature on collection of 10 stamps
The first stamps to bear King Charles’s silhouette are to be released on a special set celebrating the nation’s favourite flowers. The image of the king’s uncrowned profile, in silver and facing to the right, features on a collection of 10 stamps with images including the sweet pea, the sunflower and the purple iris.
Continue reading...Prison specialising in people convicted of violent crimes was changed into a category C training prison in October
A prison which specialised in people convicted of violent crimes has been “thrown into chaos” by a policy change introduced by Dominic Raab’s Ministry of Justice to cope with a national rise in inmate numbers, an official watchdog has found.
HMP Aylesbury was “suddenly and without sufficient consultation, notice or support” changed into a category C training prison in October, the chief inspector of prisons said.
Only four out of every 10 prisoners went into settled accommodation on release from custody.
Just 8% of those available for work went into employment.
Recall rates were high, with 30% on average being returned to custody – four in 10 of these were within 28 days of being released.
There is an 30% shortfall of full-time employed probation officers in post against the required staffing level of 6,160.
Continue reading...Programme spent £2.7bn between 2016 and 2021 but is fragmented and lacks a clear rationale, report says
Britain’s aid programme to India is fragmented, lacks a clear rationale and does little to counter the negative trends in human rights and democracy in the country, the government’s aid watchdog has found.
The findings are likely to be used by those who claim the UK government risks using its aid programme to deepen its relationship with India, including seeking free trade deals, rather than attempting to reduce poverty, which is the statutory purpose of UK aid.
Continue reading...‘Staggering’ figures from the National Police Chiefs’ Council show that less than 1% of those accused have been sacked
More than 1,500 police officers have been accused of violent offences against women and girls over a period of six months, and less than 1% have been sacked, according to new figures.
Overall, 1,483 unique allegations were reported against 1,539 police officers – or 0.7% of the workforce. There were 1,177 cases of alleged police-perpetrated violence, including sexual harassment and assault, reported between October 2021 and April 2022, according to data from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).
Continue reading...Crowd demonstrate in Westminster as MPs debate government’s controversial immigration reforms
Hundreds of people have gathered in Parliament Square to protest against the government’s controversial new asylum and migration law as MPs debated the measures in the Commons.
The crowd, which first congregated around the Winston Churchill statue, chanted “What do we want? Safe passage. When do we want it? Now”, and “Who built the NHS? Migrants built the NHS.” Many held placards, which read “migrants and refugees welcome here: blame austerity, not migrants”.
Continue reading...US president said he intended to visit Northern Ireland and Irish Republic in meeting with Rishi Sunak
Joe Biden has confirmed he plans to visit Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement.
He was told by Rishi Sunak “we’d love to have you” when the pair held a face-to-face bilateral meeting on the fringes of the Aukus summit.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Home secretary’s ‘racist’ immigration plans condemned by former Tory campaigner
Suella Braverman should consider her position for putting forward “cruel and heartless” immigration policies that discriminate against war refugees of colour, a former Home Office adviser has said.
Nimco Ali, a one-time Conservative campaigner who in December left her job as an adviser on violence against women, said the home secretary was “the wrong person not just for the Conservative party but for the country”.
Continue reading...Scheme allowing nuclear materials in Australian submarines worries experts about precedent of safeguard removal
The Aukus scheme announced on Monday in San Diego represents the first time a loophole in the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has been used to transfer fissile material and nuclear technology from a nuclear weapons state to a non-weapons state.
The loophole is paragraph 14, and it allows fissile material utilised for non-explosive military use, like naval propulsion, to be exempt from inspections and monitoring by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It makes arms controls experts nervous because it sets a precedent that could be used by others to hide highly enriched uranium, or plutonium, the core of a nuclear weapon, from international oversight.
Continue reading...First of new vessels expected to be seaworthy by the end of 2030s, with Australia receiving theirs in early 2040s
The UK’s nuclear-powered submarine fleet could double in size as plans were revealed for the new “Aukus” vessels to be based on a British design.
In a bid to counter the growing threat from China, the UK’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, vowed alongside his US and Australian counterparts to stand “shoulder to shoulder” to protect peace in the Indo-Pacific given its implications for security across the world.
Continue reading...‘Rotational forces’ of US and UK nuclear-powered submarines set to visit Australia from 2027 as part of landmark pact
Australia is to embark on one of its most significant, expensive and geopolitically consequential military tasks in a century: the push to acquire, operate – and eventually build – nuclear-powered submarines.
The program is forecast to cost $268bn to $368bn between now and the mid 2050s, most of it beyond the first four-year budget period, and will depend on help from the US and the UK.
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Continue reading...Campaigners warn that government and water companies have not done enough to conserve water supplies
River levels across the UK have been at record lows and are likely to be “devastated”, as new data forecasts broadly dry weather until at least May.
Campaigners have warned that the government and water companies have not done enough to conserve water supplies by building reservoirs and fixing leaks, as months of low rainfall could cause some areas to run out of water.
Continue reading...French pop singer invites Sigur Rós, Jim Jarmusch and more for June festival at London’s Southbank Centre
Christine and the Queens has announced the artists who will be performing at this year’s Meltdown festival, which he is curating.
Taking place at London’s Southbank Centre, 9-18 June, Christine and the Queens promised “art to save the city – to free its contours and enliven the soul”, and will himself perform twice on the closing weekend.
Continue reading...Stock markets fail to be reassured by Joe Biden’s intervention, as SVB failure is followed by Signature
Global financial markets have come under severe pressure after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, despite governments on both sides of the Atlantic taking extraordinary measures to maintain confidence in the banking system.
On a day conjuring up memories of the 2008 financial crisis, the US president, Joe Biden, sought to restore calm by insisting the US banking system remained safe, while HSBC stepped in to buy the UK arm of the failed technology lender after a deal brokered by the British government and the Bank of England.
Continue reading...Silicon Valley Bank UK has been sold to HSBC for £1, in a deal that protects depositors’ money says Treasury and Bank of England
Here’s Sky’s Ed Conway:
Important developments.
Continue reading...Downing Street declines to say whether PM has confidence in BBC director-general after furore over Match of the Day presenter
The former journalist and Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell praised Lineker for his “professionalism, accountability and integrity” and Tim Davie for “admitting they got it wrong” after the BBC apology.
Before the BBC statement, the former BBC director of news James Harding told Radio 4’s Today programme that the corporation had got itself into a bit of a muddle over impartiality.
Continue reading...Humza Yousef, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan vying to succeed Nicola Sturgeon who quit last month
Tens of thousands of Scottish National party members will cast their votes from Monday to select their party leader and Scotland’s next first minister, after a snap election forced by Nicola Sturgeon’s shock resignation.
Polling began at noon on Monday with Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s health secretary, vying to become the country’s first minority ethnic first minister, against Kate Forbes, the finance secretary, and Ash Regan, a former community safety minister and the outlier candidate.
Continue reading...Number of buildings believed to have been destroyed as police say emergency services responding
A major incident has been declared after a suspected gas explosion destroyed a number of properties on a street in south Wales.
South Wales police said emergency services were responding to the incident on the junction of Field Close and Clydach Road in Morriston, a community in Swansea.
Continue reading...Analysts say US Federal Reserve will probably reject further increase in borrowing costs next week
The world’s most powerful central banks could be forced to stop raising interest rates after the Silicon Valley Bank crisis, economists have said, amid growing signs of financial stress linked to rapid increases in borrowing costs over the past year.
Analysts said the US Federal Reserve would probably leave interest rates on hold at its decision next week, as the meltdown at the California-based technology lender ripples through global financial markets.
Continue reading...PM says British Museum collection is funded by taxpayers and protected by law
Rishi Sunak has vowed to protect the Parthenon marbles from being returned to Greece, saying they remain a “huge asset” to the UK.
The prime minister stuck by commitments made by his predecessors Liz Truss and Boris Johnson to safeguard the treasures at the British Museum in London.
Continue reading...‘Tell me, how does this end?’ asked US general David Petraeus during first push to Baghdad in 2003
The French statesman Georges Clemenceau once said: “War is a series of catastrophes that results in a victory.” In the case of the invasion of Iraq, however, the war that began 20 years ago started in victory and has ended in a series of catastrophes.
The main US military pullout from Iraq was ultimately completed by 2011, finally answering the question posed by Gen David Petraeus during that first push to Baghdad in 2003: “Tell me, how does this end?” Yet the long shadow of the invasion still looms over the international order, staining the reputation of those who instigated it and the political process itself, and dealing a heavy blow to the self-confidence that the west felt in the years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
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