Category Archives: UK news

Heathrow told to cut passenger charges in move that could lower fares

Posted on by

Decision by Civil Aviation Authority comes despite airport having argued for higher fees

Heathrow airport has been ordered to cut average passenger charges by about 20% next year, in a move that could translate to lower ticket prices for travellers.

The decision by the UK regulator the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) comes despite Heathrow having argued for higher fees, which are charged to airlines and are used to fund baggage handling, security and other costs across the airport’s terminals.

Continue reading...

Cardiff car crash: police confirm four separate missing persons reports made

Posted on by

Gwent and South Wales police also confirm more than 46 hours passed between last sighting and wreckage being found

Two police forces heavily criticised for their response to a crash that killed three young people and left two seriously injured have confirmed more than 46 hours passed between the group’s last sighting and their wrecked car being found and that four separate missing persons reports were made to them.

Gwent and South Wales police also confirmed that the last sighting of the car was only about 2.5 miles from where it was found, which will raise more questions over why it took so long for the five to be discovered.

The last confirmed sighting of the five people was at 2am on Saturday in Pentwyn, about 2.5 miles from where they were found.

The crash happened during the early hours of Saturday, with the exact time to be confirmed by the investigation, including by studying CCTV and automatic number plate recognition footage.

The first missing report was made to Gwent police at 7.34pm on Saturday; further missing person reports were made to Gwent police at 7.43pm and 9.32pm. Another missing person report was made to South Wales police at 5.37pm on Sunday.

At 11.50pm on Sunday the police helicopter was asked to search an area of Cardiff, which resulted in the vehicle being located in a wooded area off the A48.

Gwent police officers, who were in the area conducting inquiries, discovered the Volkswagen Tiguan vehicle at 12.15am on Monday.

Continue reading...

UN refugee agency ‘profoundly concerned’ by UK’s illegal migration bill saying it amounts to an asylum ban – politics live

Posted on by

UNHCR says bill extinguishes the right to seek refugee protection in the UK for those who arrive irregularly

Downing Street has said that Rishi Sunak is going to Dover to meet frontline officers dealing with small boat crossings. He will then return to London for a press conference later in the afternoon.

One of the questions raised by Rishi Sunak’s small boats bill – or illegal migration bill, to give it its formal name – is to what extent ministers believe it will work, and to what extent they are not that bothered about whether it works because they believe that, if it fails, they will be able to use this in election campaign against Labour.

Unlike Labour who have voted against taking action on this issue, this government has a plan to break the business model of people ­smugglers.

A plan to do what’s fair for those at home and those who have a legitimate claim to asylum – a plan to take back control of our borders once and for all.

Labour and others who oppose these measures are betraying hard-working Brits up and down the country - they don’t have any answers themselves but they will still seek to block us in parliament.

Continue reading...

Schools in England seeing more pupil absences on Fridays

Posted on by

Change in parents’ work patterns since Covid may have led to pupils staying home

Schools in England are seeing “a huge amount” of pupil absence on Fridays with children staying at home with their parents following a shift in attitudes post-Covid, MPs have been told.

Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, told the education committee that persistent absence from schools is “one of the issues of our age” and called for a “razor sharp focus” on the problem.

Continue reading...

UK gender pay gap for higher-educated parents has grown since 1970s – study

Posted on by

Research finds ‘motherhood penalty’ is greater than 40 years ago, with mothers making 69% of fathers’ wages

The pay gap between mothers and fathers with post-school education has increased since the late 1970s in the UK, according to research.

As the world marks International Women’s Day on Wednesday, research from the University of Kent has found that the gap in pay between higher-educated mothers and fathers – the “motherhood penalty” – is greater now than 40 years ago.

Continue reading...

UK will miss out on EU’s ‘massive’ increase in arms spending for Ukraine

Posted on by

Only EU and Norwegian firms will be able to take advantage of joint procurement agreement, says leaked paper

Britain’s defence industry is to be blocked from profiting from the EU’s vast increase in spending on arms for Ukraine, under a leaked plan seen by the Guardian.

A “massive order” of ammunition, ranging from small arms to 155mm artillery rounds, is being prepared in Brussels but only EU and Norwegian manufacturers will be able to take advantage.

Continue reading...

Greggs to open 150 new stores despite rising staff and energy costs

Posted on by

Britain’s biggest bakery chain says it expects cost inflation of between 9% and 10% this year

Greggs has said higher wage and energy bills are weighing on its profits but it plans to push ahead with opening 150 new stores this year as well as trialling a 24-hour drive-through outlet.

Britain’s biggest bakery chain, known for its sausage rolls and steak bakes, said costs had risen by 9% last year and would continue to be a challenge in the year ahead.

Continue reading...

1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady to stand down as MP at next election

Posted on by

Powerful voice of Tory backbenchers says he will no longer contest Altrincham and Sale West seat

Sir Graham Brady, whose role as chair of the Conservative party’s 1922 Committee saw him usher three prime ministers out of Downing Street in four years, is to step down as an MP at the next election.

The most powerful backbencher of his political generation, Brady released a statement to his local newspaper saying it was time to “bring this fascinating and fulfilling chapter of my life to a close”.

Continue reading...

UK shoppers slash spending as price rises and energy bills bite

Posted on by

February figures from BRC highlight impact of cost of living crisis on British economy before budget

UK consumers sharply cut back their spending in February as soaring living costs damaged household finances, retailers have warned, despite strong sales of jewellery and fragrances for Valentine’s Day.

Highlighting the impact of the cost of living crisis on the economy before Jeremy Hunt’s budget next week, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said sky-high energy bills and the rising cost of a weekly shop were forcing shoppers to cut back.

Continue reading...

Producers feared David Attenborough would catch bird flu and die during filming

Posted on by

Plans to film veteran broadcaster close to birds for Wild Isles series pulled over concerns about his health

Television producers feared David Attenborough would catch bird flu and die during filming for his latest series – likely to be the veteran broadcaster’s last job on location.

Wild Isles, which premieres on Sunday, will be Attenborough’s first landmark series on the natural history of Britain and Ireland. Filmed over the course of three years, the five-part series aims to shine a light on the challenges affecting the British Isles and celebrate nature that exists on our doorsteps.

Continue reading...

UK among most liberal countries on divorce and abortion, survey reveals

Posted on by

Global study shows significant shift in UK attitudes on matters such as casual sex and assisted dying

The UK has overtaken Canada, Germany and Australia to become one of the world’s most socially liberal nations towards divorce and abortion, the latest wave of a global study has revealed.

Significant increases in the last five years in people saying the practices are justifiable is mirrored by sharply increasing acceptance of homosexuality, casual sex and prostitution over the same period, the World Values Survey found.

Continue reading...

Missing black and Asian people less likely to be found by police, report finds

Posted on by

Lower proportion of cases are solved in comparison with incidents involving white people, charity research suggests

Missing persons cases involving black and Asian people are less likely to be resolved by police than those involving white people, research suggests.

Black and Asian children are also likely to be missing for longer, the report, published by the charity Missing People, found.

Continue reading...

Braverman seeks to backdate Channel crossings law amid fears of rush

Posted on by

Proposed law, criticised as cruel and unworkable, could be made to apply retrospectively from Tuesday

Refugees who cross the Channel in small boats from Tuesday could face detention and deportation under a new migration law that Labour and charities have called “unworkable” and “cruel”.

In an acknowledgment that the law will prompt a fresh rush of refugees across the Channel, the Home Office is seeking to make the illegal migration bill apply retrospectively from the day it is introduced to parliament, the Guardian has been told.

Continue reading...

UK weather: Tuesday night could be coldest of year so far, Met Office warns

Posted on by

Temperatures could plummet to -15c in some sheltered Scottish areas with snow cutting off some rural areas

Tuesday night could be the coldest this year so far, the Met Office has warned, with fears that Arctic air could cut off some rural communities and cause power and transport chaos.

Temperatures could fall as low as -15c in some sheltered Scottish areas, with locations that have seen snowfall especially vulnerable.

Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak’s asylum plan could lead to more small boats crossings in short term, says border officials’ union – live

Posted on by

Immigration Service Union says criminals will get people across channel before rules change

Good morning. Rishi Sunak started the year with two urgent, intractable problems in his in-tray. Last week he unveiled a solution to the Northern Ireland protocol problem which has attracted more support, and less opposition, than had been expected. Tomorrow he will unveil his legislation to “stop small boats”.

Sunak announced the key elements of his plan in December. There has been more briefing over the weekend, but nothing that substantially alters what we were told three months ago, and nothing that addresses the claims made by many experts in asylum law who argue that trying to stop small boat crossings by legislating to say that people who arrive in the UK illegally will be banned from claiming asylum here just won’t work. The Nationality and Borders Act passed last year already says migrants arriving in the UK illegally are not eligible to claim asylum, but the small boats keep coming.

Not as things stand at the moment. In fact, it’s actually going to be the converse when these things are published and announced in this way.

What it actually does is fuel the service, if you like, that the criminals provide.

Continue reading...

Tory plan to stop small boats will fuel people smuggling, says expert

Posted on by

Immigration Services Union says legislation would divert people on to lorries, as Labour condemns cynical attempt to ‘dupe’ public

New government plans to prevent people from arriving in the UK on small boats which include a permanent ban on them ever settling in the UK are unworkable, the immigration workers’ union and Labour have said.

Rishi Sunak is set to publish new legislation this week aimed at detaining and deporting anyone who enters the UK via unofficial means such as crossing the Channel, as used by just over 45,000 people in 2022.

Continue reading...

Three people found dead in Cardiff car crash after group of five went missing

Posted on by

Police had called for information about two men and three women who had not been seen after a night out

Police searching for three women and two men reported missing after a night out in south Wales have found three of them dead following a car crash.

Two others have been taken to hospital with serious injuries after the crash in the St Mellons area of Cardiff.

Continue reading...

How retrofitting the UK’s old buildings can generate an extra £35bn in new money

Posted on by

Heritage and property groups outline plan to boost energy efficiency at historical sites to create jobs, cut emissions and meet net-zero targets

Retrofitting the UK’s historicsl buildings, from Georgian townhouses to the mills and factories that kickstarted the Industrial Revolution, could generate £35bn of economic output a year, create jobs and play a crucial role in achieving climate targets, research has found.

Improving the energy efficiency of historical properties – those built before 1919 – could reduce carbon emissions from the UK’s buildings by 5% each year and make older homes warmer and cheaper to run, according to a report commissioned by the National Trust, Historic England and leading property organisations.

Continue reading...

Trial begins of man accused of murdering Olivia Pratt-Korbel

Posted on by

Thomas Cashman also charged with attempted murder of Olivia’s mother, Cheryl, and Joseph Nee in Liverpool last year

The trial of Thomas Cashman, the man accused of murdering nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in Liverpool last August, is to begin on Monday.

Cashman, 34, is due to stand trial for murder at Manchester crown court in a case that is expected to last four weeks, after he pleaded not guilty in December.

Continue reading...

More than half of ambulance workers have seen patient die because of delay

Posted on by

GMB union calls findings based on views of more than 1,200 NHS ambulance workers in England and Wales ‘utterly terrifying’

More than half of ambulance workers have seen a patient die because of a delay in reaching them after a 999 call or overcrowding in A&E, a new survey has found.

The findings, from a survey of frontline paramedics and other ambulance staff, are another stark illustration of the patient safety risks created by the crisis in NHS urgent and emergency care.

Continue reading...