Category Archives: UK news

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

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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”.

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UK shoppers slash spending as price rises and energy bills bite

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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Braverman seeks to backdate Channel crossings law amid fears of rush

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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Trial begins of man accused of murdering Olivia Pratt-Korbel

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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.

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

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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.

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British-led fund to provide weapons for Ukraine plagued by delays

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Only £200m of £520m allocated and bidders complain ‘low-bureaucracy’ process is frustrating

A British-led £520m international fund to provide fresh weapons for Ukraine and intended to be “low bureaucracy” has been plagued by delays, with only £200m allocated amid warnings that the rest of the funding will not provide arms at “the front until the summer”.

Bidders complain that the process, run by the UK’s Ministry of Defence, working with six other European countries, has been frustrating with deadlines missed – and the MoD conceded that awarding contracts “inevitably took time”.

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MI5 told to share key facts with MPs after Manchester Arena security failures

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Bombing inquiry brings call from terror watchdog for franker approach at spy agency

Britain’s terror watchdog has called on the security services to ensure they promptly share any intelligence requested by MPs investigating the fallout of the Manchester Arena attack.

Last week’s public inquiry concluded that MI5 had missed a significant chance to take action that may have prevented the 2017 bombing that killed 22 people.

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Heads warn UK parents not to back pupil protests spreading via TikTok

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Teachers condemn family support for trend escalating on social media that leads to school ‘stampedes’

The TikTok videos show pupils throwing bins, tables and even urine. Across England and Wales, a handful of schools have been hit by protests against rules such as banning trips to the toilet during lessons or regulations against rolled up skirts.

Schools admit they are extremely worried about the copycat protests that have erupted in the last two weeks, typically sparked by videos shared on TikTok with many thousands of views. But what has shocked many leaders most is the number of parents on social media applauding pupils taking part.

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New analysis of ancient human protein could unlock secrets of evolution

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The technique – known as proteomics – could bring new insights into the past two million years of humanity’s history

Tiny traces of protein lingering in the bones and teeth of ancient humans could soon transform scientists’ efforts to unravel the secrets of the evolution of our species.

Researchers believe a new technique – known as proteomics – could allow them to identify the proteins from which our predecessors’ bodies were constructed and bring new insights into the past 2 million years of humanity’s history.

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Rishi Sunak to launch bill to stop people arriving on small boats claiming asylum

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Law will also place duty on home secretary to send anyone who arrives in UK on small boat to Rwanda or another third country

Rishi Sunak is to announce new laws stopping people entering the UK on small boats from claiming asylum, with the prime minister saying: “Make no mistake, if you come here illegally, you will not to be able to stay.”

The prime minister and his home secretary will launch the legislation this week, as part of the government’s drive to “tackle illegal migration”, one of its main priorities.

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New Brexit trading rules could take more than two years to bed in fully

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No 10 says UK is giving firms in Northern Ireland time to prepare with phased introduction

The new Brexit trading arrangements in Rishi Sunak’s revised Northern Ireland protocol could take more than two years to be fully implemented, government sources have confirmed.

Businesses in Northern Ireland say they expect a mass educational campaign to be launched across the country by HMRC and other government departments to help them put the deal announced in Windsor last Monday into operation if it is approved by parliament.

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Less than 3% of NHS England trusts hit key cancer waiting-time target

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‘Shocking’ analysis reveals only three trusts managed to treat 85% of patients within two months of urgent referral

Patients are being warned of a “shocking gap in cancer care” as new figures reveal that fewer than 3% of England’s NHS trusts met a key waiting-times target last year for cancer patients to be treated within two months of an urgent GP referral.

Of 125 hospital trusts in England analysed, only three (2.4%) hit the standard of treating 85% of patients within 62 days after an urgent referral in 2022. Some trusts have not hit the standard for at least eight years.

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