Discount supermarket’s sales rise by a quarter year on year in four weeks to 25 December
Lidl gained 1.3 million British shoppers in the Christmas period compared with a year earlier as the supermarket benefited from people cutting back on spending.
The German-owned chain said the Friday before Christmas was its busiest ever day as sales rose by a quarter compared with the previous year as shoppers switched from other supermarkets in greater numbers.
Continue reading...Image believed to be of Constance Marten, who went missing last week with her baby and Mark Gordon
A couple and their newborn baby who went missing last week are thought to have been seen after travelling inland from an Essex port, police have said.
Constance Marten and Mark Gordon abandoned their vehicle when it broke down on the M61, near Bolton, on Thursday evening.
Continue reading...Start Me Up mission will send nine civil and defence satellites into orbit from Newquay spaceport on Monday
Thousands of people are expected to descend on Cornwall to witness the first orbital rocket launch from UK soil in what is being heralded as the start of a “new era” for the British space industry.
As long as there are no last-minute technical hitches – and the Cornish weather does not spoil the party – the historic Start Me Up mission will take off on Monday night from Spaceport Cornwall, blasting nine satellites into orbit.
Continue reading...PM urged to ‘come clean’ amid suggestions he is out of touch with millions who face long NHS waits
Rishi Sunak has refused to say whether he uses private healthcare amid suggestions he is out of touch with millions of ordinary people who face long waiting times to receive treatment on the NHS.
The prime minister said his own healthcare was “not really relevant” and was a “distraction” from his focus on making sure people across England receive high-quality NHS provision.
Continue reading...Political disagreement about the role of the state, the expense of reform and our unwillingness to confront ageing are at the root of the problem
A confidential No 10 memo on (not) reforming social care reads: “The prime minister agreed that this seemed the right course, but noted that careful thought needed to be given to the presentation in order to avoid charges that the government had pulled back from its original commitments on long-term care.”
That’s not a recent leak: it was from 1996, and shows how far back political failure on social care stretches. Politicians have not incurred any penalties for shirking this responsibility. In fact, the only leader who has really been burned by it is Theresa May – and that’s because she tried to do the right thing and be honest with the public about the cost in the 2017 election.
The past three decades have seen many attempts to reform social care. They all had different solutions and all collapsed in slightly different ways. But there are three things that the failures have had in common.
Firms such as Animals at Home offer range of care services and can step in when pets are in trouble
The day did not begin as expected for Verity Hope. She had been due to spend a wet November morning making a trip to a vet with a reactive dog, but the client phoned in sick. Then another job cropped up: taking a dead rabbit to a pet crematorium.
It may seem an eclectic set of requests, but for Verity and her animal ambulance it is the norm. Since the start of the pandemic, 4.7m households have acquired a new pet. Changes in work patterns and everyday pressures mean many need support.
Continue reading...Catherine Mayer says anger over racism, misogyny and wealth in the royal family can undermine public consent for a monarchy
The “absolutely catastrophic” implications of attacks on the behaviour of the royal family in the new memoir from the Duke of Sussex are being ignored, according to Catherine Mayer, the royal analyst and biographer of King Charles.
Early publication of the Spanish edition of Spare has put the focus on personality clashes, some of it fed by the royal publicity machine, and this could threaten the constitutional monarchy, whether or not the British public is calling for such a change, Mayer believes.
Continue reading...Research charity’s bid to raise money through a scheme that goes against its own principles sparks wrath of clean air campaigners
The British Heart Foundation (BHF), which has campaigned on the pollution risks of burning wood at home, is being urged to review a charity draw for a £3m London townhouse, with a fire pit on the garden terrace and open fires in the property.
A promotional video shows wood being burned in the metal fire pit at the property in north London and an open fire next to a bath. “Take a soak in your sumptuous stone tub and relax to the crackling sounds of the roaring fireplace,” says the promotion.
Continue reading...Cross-party committee has also accused Sport England of not knowing the destination of millions of pounds in grants
It was supposed to “inspire a generation” and leave a legacy of a healthier, more active population. Yet the promises that the 2012 London Olympics would boost sporting participation have not been kept, according to a new parliamentary report.
A lasting legacy of participation was a key part of the government’s pitch for the £8.8bn Olympic and Paralympic Games, including pledges to increase the number of adults participating in sporting activities. However, the cross-party public accounts committee said the promised benefits had failed to occur, with the proportion of adults participating in sport at least once a week actually falling in the first three years after the Games.
Continue reading...New York Times suggests Spare could be one of most divisive celebrity memoirs as comedians and talkshow hosts weigh in
Concern, comedy, and confusion – Prince Harry’s upcoming book has generated different reactions across the US, his adopted home country.
Excerpts from the autobiography Spare were leaked last week with bombshell revelations, including an alleged physical assault by his brother William; the brothers requesting that their father, now King Charles, not marry Camilla; and Harry’s apparent killing of 25 Taliban soldiers while serving in the British army in Afghanistan.
Continue reading...Ian Wright and MPs David Lammy, Yvette Cooper and Caroline Lucas criticise U-turn by Suella Braverman before 75th anniversary
The government has been criticised by several public figures after the news of the home secretary’s plans to abandon several key commitments made after the Windrush scandal in the run-up to the 75th anniversary of the ship’s arrival in the UK.
On Friday, the Guardian reported that Suella Braverman was planning to abandon several of the key commitments made since the Windrush scandal, including dropping the pledge to create a migrants’ commissioner and a U-turn on the promise to increase the powers of the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration.
Continue reading...Observer investigation finds a ‘two-tier’ health system emerging in England, with rapid access available to those able to pay
NHS trusts with record waiting lists are promoting “quick and easy” private healthcare services at their own hospitals, offering patients the chance to jump year-long queues, the Observer can reveal.
Hospitals are offering hip replacements from £10,000, cataract surgery for £2,200 and hernia repairs for £2,500. MRI scans are offered for between £300 and £400.
East Sussex healthcare NHS trust has thousands of patients waiting for diagnostic tests but offers “fast access” to scans through its private division.
Great Western hospitals NHS trust in Wiltshire is warning patients that services are “extremely busy”, while its private division promotes self-pay treatment for those who “don’t want to wait for an NHS referral”.
James Paget university hospitals NHS trust in Norfolk is advertising private services on its NHS website, stating: “We provide highly experienced consultant-led services … without the waiting list.”
Continue reading...JR Moehringer, biographer to stars such as Andre Agassi and a doyen of the genre, was an obvious choice for the Duke of Sussex
When Prince Harry chose to work with ghostwriter JR Moehringer on his institution-shaking memoir, Spare, he was not taking half measures. The American writer and Pulitzer prize-winning journalist does not have a huge output, but he is known for his immersive approach to subjects, his preoccupation with the father-son relationship, and his capacity to “go deep”.
When he worked with Andre Agassi on ghostwriting his celebrated 2009 memoir Open, the tennis star said Moehringer moved to Las Vegas and bought a house a mile away, where he lived for two years. They would meet in the mornings over Whole Foods breakfast burritos, Agassi said.
Continue reading...February and March closures will mean biggest shutdown for years if union ballots for action this week
Most state schools across England and Wales will have to close completely on several days in February and March if the country’s biggest teaching union votes for industrial action this week, the Observer has been told.
In what would represent a dramatic escalation of the chaos sweeping the public sector, and affect millions of working parents, the National Education Union (NEU) expects a ballot of its members, which ends on Friday, to approve action that would trigger the biggest shutdown of schools for many years.
Continue reading...The 23-year-old footballer was fatally stabbed at the Crane nightclub in Birmingham on Boxing Day
Schoolchildren have paid tribute to a man who was stabbed to death on a nightclub dancefloor on Boxing Day, by forming a guard of honour.
Cody Fisher, a 23-year-old footballer, was fatally stabbed at the Crane nightclub in Digbeth, Birmingham, just before midnight on 26 December.
Continue reading...Organisers plough on with plans after Brexit meant Leeds missed chance to be European capital of culture
When Leeds was denied its chance to become European capital of culture in 2023 due to Brexit, it should have been the killing blow to what it had been hoped would be a massive year-long cultural celebration.
But, refusing to be beaten, cultural leaders ploughed ahead regardless, and now almost a decade of planning and ideating will culminate on Saturday in the launch of Leeds 2023, the city-wide cultural festival.
Continue reading...Industrial action over pay and working conditions has caused almost four weeks of disruption
The last day in the latest stretch of railway strikes has begun, ending a run of almost four weeks of continuous disruption caused by industrial action over pay and working conditions.
Only about one in five trains across Great Britain will run on Saturday as a 48-hour walkout by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union concludes, with no early morning or evening services and a pared-back schedule on main intercity and urban lines.
Continue reading...American withdrew after recording guest vocals on the Mancunian’s yet-to-be-released new record
Morrissey has spoken out after Miley Cyrus dropped out of a guest spot on his upcoming album, denying the singer had done so over his political stances, which he said are “most certainly not far right”.
In a lengthy statement posted on Thursday, the former frontman of the Smiths also attacked “cancel vultures” and alleged the existence of a campaign to “put [him] out of circulation”.
Continue reading...Industrial action on 23 January in England and Wales will coincide with strike by Unison members
More than 2,600 additional ambulance workers plan to strike in late January over pay, the trade union Unite announced on Friday.
Unite’s members will join colleagues belonging to Unison in striking on 23 January, with hospital bosses calling for “serious talks” between the government and unions to avoid “even more pressure on already overstretched NHS services”.
Continue reading...DHSC accused PPE Medpro of presenting false document when tendering for PPE contracts
A company linked to the Conservative peer Michelle Mone was referred to the UK’s health products watchdog for an investigation after it allegedly presented a false document to the government when tendering for PPE contracts.
The referral of the company, PPE Medpro, was described in a high court document made public this week, setting out the legal claim against the company by the Department of Health and Social Care. The DHSC is seeking the return of £122m in public money it paid for the supply of sterile surgical gowns, plus £11.6m for storing and disposing of them.
Continue reading...