Footage showed girl being punched, kicked and having her hair pulled on Monday
MPs have called for an investigation into a school after a black pupil was the victim of a serious suspected racist assault.
Janet Daby, who represents Lewisham East, said that Thomas Knyvett College in Ashford, Surrey, should be investigated after footage showed a girl being punched, kicked and having her hair pulled on Monday.
Continue reading...Collette Bell says she thought ‘you don’t care’ when told of partner’s death by Ch Supt Garry McEwan
A chief superintendent shrugged his shoulders when confronted over whether Sheku Bayoh had been killed by police officers, the inquiry into his death in custody has been told.
Bayoh’s partner, Collette Bell, alleged that Ch Supt Garry McEwan, who has now retired, told her that the father of her baby had died during a “forceful arrest” using sprays and batons, and that she responded furiously: “So you battered him to death?”
Continue reading...Government evaluation of the legislation is the first official review of the policies that led to the Windrush scandal
The Home Office’s hostile environment policies appear to have had a disproportionately negative impact on people of colour, a government evaluation of the legislation has shown.
The long-awaited impact assessment of the package of hostile environment measures which were introduced when David Cameron was prime minister, and later rebranded as “compliant environment” policies, reveals for the first time the government’s own assessment of the legislation’s potential risks.
Continue reading...Nurse accused of killing prematurely born infant at fourth attempt during trial for murdering seven babies
A baby girl was killed after a nurse injected air into her stomach three times and ultimately into her bloodstream over a period of three weeks, a court has heard.
Lucy Letby, 33, is accused of murdering the prematurely born infant at the fourth attempt during a nightshift at the Countess of Chester hospital’s neonatal unit.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Children as young as three in emergency departments for mental health problems, data obtained by Labour reveals
‘We are letting young people down’: the secret psychiatrist on NHS delays
Children suffering mental health crises spent more than 900,000 hours in A&E in England last year seeking urgent and potentially life-saving help, NHS figures reveal.
Experts said the huge amount of time under-18s with mental health issues were spending in A&E was “simply astounding” and showed that NHS services for that vulnerable age group were inadequate.
Continue reading...Some of the over 1,450 people brought by AG Recruitment owed thousands to unlicensed brokers
A British recruitment agency that brought Indonesian farmworkers to the UK who had debts of thousands of pounds to foreign brokers has lost its licence as a seasonal worker sponsor.
More than 1,450 Indonesians were brought to Britain last year by AG Recruitment to pick berries and other fruits to supply British supermarkets.
Continue reading...Further slowdown likely amid interest rate rise and cost of living crisis, says surveyors’ body Rics
Property sales and house prices continued to decline across the UK in January, while new buyer demand and fresh listings were also down, surveyors have reported.
A net balance of -47% for new buyer inquiries was reported, down from -40% in December, according to the latest monthly snapshot from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). The January return marked the ninth successive negative monthly reading for new buyer inquiries.
Continue reading...Business group says as much as £9bn of investment is needed to improve system
Rishi Sunak should funnel billions of pounds into free childcare to help get more parents into work to tackle acute workforce shortages, according to Britain’s leading business group.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said the government urgently needed to announce extra funding and changes to childcare and early years support, arguing that a more accessible and affordable system was an immediate economic priority.
Continue reading...Jeremy Hunt urged to reconsider raising state-subsidised energy rate from April as market prices make delay affordable
Jeremy Hunt must act now to reverse plans to raise energy bills from April, MoneySavingExpert’s Martin Lewis has warned, saying the change cannot wait until the spring budget next month.
In a letter to the chancellor seen by the Guardian, Lewis warned more than 1.7m more households could be plunged into fuel poverty if he does not urgently commit to freezing energy prices.
Continue reading...Government plans to upgrade energy efficiency of homes will help only 5.8% of fuel poor households by 2030, campaign group claims
Greenpeace is threatening to take legal action against the government as it emerged a target to lift millions of struggling households out of fuel poverty is likely to be missed.
Government plans to upgrade the energy efficiency of homes will help fewer than 6% of fuel poor households by 2030, according to the environmental campaign group.
Continue reading...Social Mobility Commission says students should be informed of ‘earnings implications’ of course choices
Students should be given more details about how the courses they study after leaving school might affect their employment prospects, it has been suggested, as figures show near-record numbers of 18-year-olds applying to university.
A review of research into the employment effects of higher and further education by the government’s Social Mobility Commission showed wide variations in earnings, with some courses failing to boost salaries, while the most lucrative courses for graduates often admitted few students in England from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Continue reading...Unknown patterns found on ceramics from Josephine Willis, which collided with steamer in 1856
The wreck of a mid-19th century sailing ship transporting British people to New Zealand and with a cargo of exceptionally rare ceramics onboard has been listed for protection 167 years after it sank off the Kent coast.
The Josephine Willis wooden packet boat, built in Limehouse and launched in 1854 by HH Willis & Co, foundered four miles (6.4km) south of Folkestone harbour following a collision with the steamer Mangerton on 3 February 1856, with the loss of 70 lives including Captain Edward Canney. The ship lies in two parts on the seabed, 23 metres deep.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Erkin Tuniyaz ‘played central role’ in persecution of Uyghurs, says inter-parliamentary alliance on China
The Foreign Office has shocked cross-party opponents of the Chinese treatment of Uyghur groups by revealing that it has asked the Xinjiang governor for talks.
MPs belonging to the inter-parliamentary alliance on China (Ipac) called it “incomprehensible” that “anybody within government would think it appropriate to meet with someone who has played a central role in the persecution of Uyghurs – crimes our own parliament has declared to be genocide”.
Continue reading...Latest updates: PM, fresh from greeting Zelenskiy at No 10, to face questions from Labour leader and other MPs
Rishi Sunak was at Stansted to welcome President Zelenskiy, he reveals. That explains how they are going to fit in a meeting before PMQs. (See 10.47am.) It is very unusual for a visting leader to be greeted at the airport by the PM. Normally someone more junior is there to do the honours.
To coincide with President Zelenskiy’s visit, the government will today announce further sanctions against Russia, “including the targeting of those who have helped Putin build his personal wealth, and companies who are profiting from the Kremlin’s war machine”. The details are due out later this morning.
Continue reading...Climate campaigners hit out at Norwegian state-owned Equinor’s record £62bn profits as household bills rise
Britain’s biggest gas supplier, the Norwegian state-owned oil company Equinor, has been accused of “profiteering” from the energy crisis and higher household bills after posting record annual earnings of £62bn.
The oil and gas producer said on Wednesday that adjusted profits hit $15.1bn (£12.5bn) in the final three months of last year, bringing total annual profits to $74.9bn, the highest in its 51-year history.
Continue reading...Judges reject legal challenge to UK-EU trade arrangements by group of unionist leaders
The Northern Ireland protocol is lawful, the supreme court has ruled, rejecting a legal challenge to the Brexit arrangements by a group of unionist leaders including the former first ministers the late David Trimble and Arlene Foster.
Five law lords presiding in the highest court in the UK unanimously dismissed the appeal on all three grounds including the claims that the Brexit trading arrangements breached the 1800 Act of Union and the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
Continue reading...Wilson to enact single, seven-minute scene on loop with 100 men to explore gender roles
Ruth Wilson has called a new stage role in which she will perform the same scene repeatedly for 24 hours straight an “extraordinary, once in a lifetime experience”.
The Golden Globe and Olivier award winner will star in the UK premiere of the internationally acclaimed epic The Second Woman at the Young Vic this spring. Playing Virginia, Wilson will enact a single, seven-minute scene on loop, with 100 different men performing opposite her as her lover Marty, one after the other. Most of the men are non-actors who have volunteered for the role.
The Second Woman, a Young Vic & Lift co-production, produced in association with Ruth Wilson, is at the Young Vic, London, 19-20 May.
Continue reading...Zahawi’s replacement says party is in good shape but struggles to defend remarks made by his deputy, Lee Anderson
The new Conservative party chair, Greg Hands, has said this year’s local elections in England will be difficult but that the Tories are in “overall good shape”, with Lee Anderson a man of “great integrity” working as his deputy.
Hands, who was promoted to Nadhim Zahawi’s former role in Rishi Sunak’s reshuffle on Tuesday, also said his party would have a “really good story to tell” at next year’s general election.
Continue reading...Index rises to 7934.30, pushing it above previous record set on 3 February
The UK’s blue-chip shares index has hit a fresh all-time high, only days after a previous record was set last Friday.
The FTSE 100 index rose by almost 1% on Wednesday morning to hit 7934.30 points, surpassing the former high of 7,906.58 points set on 3 February.
Continue reading...Girl was found near Galashiels after search involving divers, a helicopter and mountain rescue team
A 53-year-old man has been charged in connection with the disappearance of an 11-year-old girl who was later found in the Scottish Borders, as police thanked the public for their “huge effort” in helping to find her.
The child was reported missing in Galashiels on Sunday but was found nearby at about 9.30pm on Monday.
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