Police hold a 71-year-old man as DCI John Caldwell remains in a critical condition
Police investigating the attempted murder of a senior officer in Northern Ireland have made a sixth arrest.
DCI John Caldwell remains critically ill after the attack in Omagh on Wednesday night in which he was shot in front of his young son.
Continue reading...Jewish MP left party four years ago over its handling of the issue under Jeremy Corbyn
Luciana Berger has returned to the Labour party after an invitation and apology from Keir Starmer, four years after leaving the party over its handling of antisemitism cases.
“The Labour party has turned a significant corner under Keir’s leadership,” Berger said in a tweet on Saturday. “I’m pleased to be returning to my political home.”
Continue reading...The former chair of the supermarket chain was a big donor to Blair and Brown but cut off his support under Corbyn
Keir Starmer’s election war chest has been given an extraordinary boost after one of the biggest New Labour-era donors returned to the party fold with a £2m donation, the Observer can reveal.
David Sainsbury, who was consistently one of the largest donors under the last Labour government before withdrawing his support, has now renewed his backing with his first multimillion-pound donation since 2016.
Continue reading...Figure has surged over the past 10 years with pressure growing for officers to be sacked on the spot
Shocking figures obtained by the Observer show roughly one in 100 police officers in England and Wales faced criminal charges, including for sexual offences, last year alone.
An Observerinvestigation has found that the Police Federation, the staff association for police officers, received 1,387 claims for legal support from members facing criminal charges in 2022.
Continue reading...The designer of the glasshouses at Kew Gardens fell out of favour – but supporters of a new museum hope to change all that
One major name is missing from the line-up of great British architects that students learn have shaped the way that Britain looks. And it is a name with quite a ring to it: Decimus Burton.
Now members of the Decimus Burton Society believe they are about to put that right by establishing this Victorian classical revivalist’s place alongside better known titans such as Christopher Wren, John Nash and Edwin Lutyens. A new museum celebrating his achievements is on the drawing board and awaits approval this spring.
Continue reading...Family of Laurel Aldridge, reported missing on 14 February, informed of discovery in Arundel, West Sussex
Police searching for Laurel Aldridge, sister-in-law of actor Mackenzie Crook, have found a body.
Aldridge, 62, was reported missing from her home in the village of Walberton, near Arundel in West Sussex, on 14 February and was last seen at Slindon Cricket Club about two and a half miles away.
Continue reading...Meeting between Charles and Ursula von de Leyen cancelled, reports say, as Varadkar says deal ‘inching towards conclusion’
Rishi Sunak is facing criticism after reports that a meeting between King Charles and the president of the European Commission was cancelled days before the announcement of an expected deal on the Northern Ireland protocol.
According to reports, there had been plans for an in-person meeting between the king and Ursula von der Leyen, as part of a trip to the UK to seal the deal on the Brexit trading arrangements.
Continue reading...Energy prices, Brexit and climate crisis mean growers lack confidence to plant crops, says NFU deputy
Shortages of some fresh fruit and vegetables such as tomatoes and cucumbers could be the “tip of the iceberg”, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has said.
Certain products are hard to come by in UK supermarkets due to poor weather reducing the harvest in Europe and north Africa, Brexit rules and lower supplies from UK and Dutch producers hit by the jump in energy bills to heat glasshouses.
Continue reading...Police say man in his 20s died after car carrying three people went through railings into river in Bedminster area
A man in his 20s has died after a car went into a river in Bristol.
Avon and Somerset police were called to York Road in the Bedminster area of the city at about 1.30am on Saturday.
Continue reading...Conversation with Francis Bacon emerges amid the row over updating controversial language in the children’s author’s books
One of Roald Dahl’s best-known characters was the Enormous Crocodile, “a horrid greedy grumptious brute” who “wants to eat something juicy and delicious”.
Now a conversation the author had 40 years ago has come to light, revealing that he was so appalled by the idea that publishers might one day censor his work that he threatened to send the crocodile “to gobble them up”.
Continue reading...Artefacts, video and 3D model tell tragic story of the Gloucester, which ran aground carrying future king
The remains of a 17th-century royal shipwreck will go on display in Norwich as part of an exhibition exploring its last voyage.
The Gloucester sank off the Norfolk coast in 1682 while carrying the future king of England, Scotland and Ireland, James Stuart, then the Duke of York.
Continue reading...This live blog has now closed, you can read more on this story here
Forbes interrupted her maternity leave following the birth of her baby daughter last summer to run to be the next SNP leader.
I want to lead Scotland into better days. I have a vested interest in achieving this, not least for the sake of my daughter’s future.
Scotland needs a leader who is bold, brave and energised. My vision centres on delivering a strong growing economy that expands the tax base and reinvests in tackling poverty and making our public services sustainable.
We need somebody competent, who voters trust, who speaks the truth, who has integrity and commitment … I’m the only candidate with a strong grip on the economy and our finances.
If anything, can be said of me in the past week it is that I am willing to be honest and open, even at the cost of my leadership bid and my career.
Continue reading...PM under pressure to follow EU and US in taking step over fears Chinese-owned app poses cybersecurity risk
Rishi Sunak has been urged to ban government officials from using TikTok in line with moves by the EU and US, amid growing cybersecurity fears over China.
Officials in Europe and the US have been told to limit the use of the Chinese-owned social video app over concerns that data can be accessed by Beijing.
Continue reading...Firm responds to calls from vets who say pictures fuel demand for flat-faced breeds, which often have serious health complaints
Moonpig is to stop selling cards featuring pictures of pugs and French bulldogs after criticism from vets and campaigners who fear the images fuel demand for the breeds, which often have serious health complaints.
Last year, the British Veterinary Association (BVA) wrote to the Greeting Card Association and card retailers, including Moonpig, Paperchase and WH Smith, urging them to stop using pugs and other flat-faced dogs on cards.
Continue reading...Move would come after four months of intense negotiations and mark an end to two-year standoff with EU
Rishi Sunak is poised to announce a deal to end the protracted row over the post-Brexit Northern Ireland protocol as soon as Monday, the Guardian has been told.
The move would come after four months of intense negotiations and mark an end to a two-year standoff with the EU. But in a huge political gamble for the prime minister, it may trigger a fresh battle with pro-Brexit Conservative backbenchers in the European Research Group (ERG) and the Democratic Unionist party (DUP).
Continue reading...Growers say they do not get paid enough by supermarkets, as supply of leeks also comes under threat
Apples and pears could be the next food shortage in the UK, after it emerged that British growers are planting just a third of the number of trees needed to maintain orchards, saying their returns from selling to supermarkets are unsustainable.
Ali Capper, head of the British Apples & Pears trade association which represents about 80% of the industry in the UK, said 1m new trees would have to be planted each year to maintain the UK’s 5,500 hectares (13,590 acres) of production.
Continue reading...Family pay tribute to man they described as ‘a journalist to his bones’
Margaret Thatcher’s former press secretary Sir Bernard Ingham has died at the age of 90 after a short illness, his family has said.
Ingham was a journalist with the Guardian in the 1970s before going into communications for the government. He served as press secretary for Thatcher for almost her entire time as prime minister.
Continue reading...Chemicals company says disruption from Ukraine war, rising costs and inflation will continue this year
The German chemicals company BASF has said it will cut 2,600 jobs as Europe’s largest economy braces for recession triggered by the energy crisis that intensified after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago.
The year was “dominated by the consequences of the war in Ukraine and in particular by increased raw material and energy prices”, BASF said in a statement on Friday. It paid additional energy costs of €3.2bn (£2.8bn) globally during 2022.
Continue reading...After the first quake hit, 77 Britons were deployed to join teams from around the world. Here, some recount their experiences
British search-and-rescue specialists deployed to Turkey after its earthquake on 6 February have recalled the scenes of devastation that they encountered, as the country and its southern neighbour Syria were hit by two more tremors this week.
“If we were still out there [this week], we would have been in those buildings,” said Wayne Ward, a firefighter for Lancashire’s rescue service, and one of 77 British specialists deployed to Turkey in the days that followed the first quake.
Continue reading...They stopped short of Boris Johnson’s demand for UK to ‘break the ice’ and supply Ukraine with fighter jets
UK political leaders have marked the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with a renewed call to support Kyiv with additional weaponry – but stopped short of the firm commitments on fighter jets demanded by Boris Johnson.
With James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, in New York for a meeting of the UN security council, Rishi Sunak hosted the Ukrainian ambassador at Downing Street, with a national minute’s silence planned for 11am on Friday.
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