Category Archives: UK news

Mackerel loses sustainable status as overfishing puts species at risk

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Marine Conservation Society calls for better regulation of how north-east Atlantic mackerel is caught as stocks decline

Mackerel populations are declining because of overfishing and the fish no longer a sustainable food choice, the Marine Conservation Society has said in its new UK guide to sustainable seafood.

North-east Atlantic mackerel has been considered an environmentally-friendly choice for consumers since before 2011, but the species has become increasingly scarce and now experts are calling for more regulation over how its caught.

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‘It’s inhumane’: anger at plan to house asylum seekers on barge off Dorset

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People on small island of Portland say scheme would be bad for them and bad for those on the vessel

Politicians, businesspeople and residents have said housing asylum seekers on a barge off a Dorset island will be inhumane, put pressure on creaking local services, create a security risk and could lead to demonstrations by rightwing campaigners.

A string of people on Portland, which is linked to the mainland by the sweep of Chesil beach, argued that anchoring the barge in an area that has some of the poorest neighbourhoods in the south of England would be terrible for those assigned to the vessel and bad for residents.

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Assange supporters welcome ‘significant’ UK prison visit by Australian high commissioner

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Stephen Smith says he hopes to make regular visits to the WikiLeaks founder, who is in Belmarsh prison and faces espionage charges in the US

Julian Assange’s supporters have welcomed the “very positive and significant” prison visit by Australia’s new high commissioner to the United Kingdom, Stephen Smith.

The Wikileaks cofounder remains in Belmarsh prison in London as he fights a US attempt to extradite him to face charges in connection with the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars as well as diplomatic cables.

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Why headteachers are fighting back against Ofsted inspections – podcast

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The death of headteacher Ruth Perry after a devastating report from schools watchdog Ofsted has prompted a growing backlash. Michelle Sheehy, headteacher of Millfield primary school in the West Midlands, explains why

When Ofsted inspectors visited Ruth Perry’s primary school in Reading last year, they told her it would be downgraded to the lowest ranking because of gaps they found in the school’s safeguarding administration. Perry’s death last month has led to an outpouring of anger.

Her sister Julia Waters said her family were in no doubt she had taken her life in January as a “direct result” of the pressure put on her by the Ofsted inspection.

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UK blocks UN webcast featuring Russia children’s commissioner, wanted on war crimes charges

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Move to deny Moscow’s children’s commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova a platform comes as she tells parents to write to her ‘to find’ their missing children

Britain has blocked the UN webcast of an informal security council meeting on Ukraine on Wednesday at which Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights – wanted by the international criminal court on war crimes charges – is due to speak.

The meeting this week will focus on “evacuating children from conflict zone” and Russia said on Tuesday that commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova would feature virtually. Such meetings are not held in the security council chamber and all 15 council members have to agree to allow it to be webcast by the United Nations.

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Salcombe locals priced out by most expensive seaside homes in UK

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Average cost of property in Devon town reached £1,244,025 last year, driven by second home owners

“Don’t hate me,” said Theo Spink of the view from her office on Tuesday afternoon, “but the sun is shining, there’s a gentle breeze, people are arriving for Easter, eating ice-cream. It’s all rather charming.”

If the town of Salcombe, situated on the neck of a narrow estuary in south Devon, sounds idyllic, that is because “it really, really is”, she said. “When the sun shines, you could be in the Mediterranean. It is that beautiful.”

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Police ‘take up to 18 months’ to make arrests in online child sexual abuse cases

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Poor investigative practices and unacceptable delays leave children vulnerable, official report finds

Police can take up to 18 months to make an arrest after becoming aware that a child is at risk of online sexual abuse, an official report has concluded.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) found that forces’ investigative practices are “often poor [and] unacceptable delays are commonplace”, leaving children vulnerable and allowing offenders to escape justice.

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Robert Jenrick banned from driving for six months for speeding

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Immigration minister fined more than £1,600 for breaking limit on M1 after appearing on Any Questions? last year

The government minister Robert Jenrick has been banned from driving for six months and fined more than £1,600 after being caught driving almost 30mph over the speed limit last year.

The Conservative MP for Newark was recorded driving 68mph in a temporary 40mph zone on the M1 in Northamptonshire on 5 August 2022. Jenrick pleaded guilty to the offence in February and said in a letter to the court that he “sincerely apologised” for the incident.

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Critically ill patients ‘will inevitably die’ due to junior doctors’ strike

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Exclusive: leading heart surgeons urge BMA to exempt staff working on critical care units in England

Critically ill patients “will inevitably die” because hospitals are having to cancel surgery as a direct result of next week’s junior doctors’ strike in England, leading heart surgeons have warned.

There were bound to be fatalities among people with serious heart problems whose precarious health meant they were “a ticking timebomb” and needed surgery as soon as possible, they said.

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Climate activist who allegedly held sign directed at jurors may be charged

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Trudi Warner, 68, is said to have held placard asking jurors to act on conscience outside trial of fellow Insulate Britain protesters

A climate activist who allegedly held a sign outside court telling jurors they were entitled to find protesters not guilty based on their conscience may still face a criminal charge.

Trudi Warner, 68, allegedly held the placard outside a trial of fellow Insulate Britain protestors at Inner London crown court on 27 March, which read: “Jurors: You have an absolute right to acquit a defendant according to your conscience.”

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Thérèse Coffey says infrastructure such as super sewers ‘could add hundreds to people’s bills’ – UK politics live

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Latest updates: environment secretary says ‘there is no way you can stop pollution overnight’ as ministers attempt to clean up rivers and seas

Young people could be disfranchised in the local elections next month because of inadequate attempts by the government to make them aware of new voter ID rules, according to the Electoral Reform Society.

The new policy means people must be registered to vote and take a form of photo ID to the polling station on 4 May.

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Team Starmer ‘here to win’ as Labour sets its sights on a May 2024 election

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Three years after Jeremy Corbyn left a sleeping bag behind, the leader of the opposition’s office is full of ‘bright, energetic, hungry people’

Keir Starmer’s team had a few moments to reminisce about the past three years at their regular morning meeting on Tuesday, with one senior aide recalling when their winning leadership team first walked into the leader of the opposition’s office.

It had only just been vacated by Jeremy Corbyn’s team and in one room, there were assorted revolutionary flags including one from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. In the next room there was a large bin full to the brim with shredded documents spilling on to the floor. In Corbyn’s office was a sleeping bag. “You could not have pictured a more symbolic scene,” they said.

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UK’s status as cinematic powerhouse at risk, warns Oscar winner David Puttnam

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In speech to Bafta, Chariots of Fire producer says industry must invest ‘far more’ to close yawning skills gap

The Oscar-winning producer David Puttnam has issued a rallying cry to the film industry to address its yawning skills gap and grow audiences before the UK is eclipsed as a cinematic powerhouse.

In a speech to Bafta on Tuesday, Puttnam – the president of the Film Distributors’ Association (FDA) and a former peer – urged the industry to “invest far more” in its workforce to retain international competitiveness.

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Only official civilian victim of UK’s bombing campaign against IS appears not to exist

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Contradictions over missions in Syria and Iraq deepens concern over Britain’s ‘perfect’ precision war

It sounded like accountability. Pressed about the UK’s implausibly spotless record in its bombing campaign against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, the British government admitted in May 2018 that its military had killed one civilian in eastern Syria two months earlier.

But the strike the then defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, described to parliament was not logged in the records of civilian casualties kept by its allies in the international coalition flying bombers and drones over Syria and Iraq.

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Family of UK woman with Alzheimer’s vow to stop deportation from Sweden

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Swedish police pressing ahead with removal of Kathleen Poole, 74, due to incomplete post-Brexit paperwork

The family of a woman with Alzheimer’s who is threatened with deportation from Sweden have vowed to do anything they can to stop her removal because of a promise they made to their children.

Kathleen Poole, 74, is facing forced removal from Sweden, her home for 18 years, after immigration authorities rejected an application by her family to stay in the country post-Brexit on the grounds her paperwork was incomplete.

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BBC under threat politically under Conservatives, says Ian McEwan

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Novelist compares UK to Hungary in Radio Times interview, while Ken Bruce criticises handling of Radio 2 exit

The BBC is “under threat, politically,” the novelist Ian McEwan has said, as he compared sections of the Conservative party to the populist right in Hungary.

The author of Amsterdam, On Chesil Beach and Atonement recently collaborated with the BBC Symphony Orchestra for an evening of words and music at the Barbican. The event came as the BBC’s classical music performing groups faced “catastrophic” cuts, and the corporation’s high-profile presenters including Gary Lineker clashed with the government over its policies.

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Calls for energy ‘social tariff’ as UK government support ends

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Low-income household will spend on average £200 more on bills than last year, Which? warns

Some of the UK’s least well-off households could be left more than £200 worse-off on their energy bills this year because of reduced government support, the consumer body Which? has warned.

Joining calls made by other campaigners, it said the government urgently needed to introduce a “social tariff” for gas and electricity to protect the most financially vulnerable.

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Home Office to announce barge as accommodation for asylum seekers

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The Bibby Stockholm is said to have more than 220 bedrooms and facilities including a gym and bar

The Home Office is poised to reveal a barge as its first offshore accommodation for asylum seekers, the Guardian understands.

The Bibby Stockholm has been used “all over Europe” to accommodate asylum seekers, according to sources close to the Barbados Maritime ship registry, which oversees the use of this vessel. It currently has a gym, a well-furnished bar and more than 220 en-suite bedrooms over three decks.

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England’s top beaches faced 8,500 hours of sewage dumping last year, study says

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Many blue flag beaches were covered in waste, and Brighton was among the worst-hit, Lib Dem report shows

England’s most celebrated beaches faced 8,500 hours of sewage dumping last year, new figures show.

Many beaches with blue flag status– an international mark of recognition that a beach is deemed safe and has good water quality – were found to have been covered in waste over the last 12 months.

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Nigel Lawson: former Conservative chancellor dies aged 91

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Lawson served in a number of cabinet roles in Margaret Thatcher’s government during a political career spanning 18 years

Tributes have poured in for the former Conservative chancellor Nigel Lawson, who has died at the age of 91.

Lawson was the MP for the Blaby constituency from 1974 to 1992 and served in numerous cabinet positions in the government of Margaret Thatcher.

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