Category Archives: UK news

Thames Water’s real-time map confirms raw sewage discharges

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Effluent in Gloucestershire river pinpointed by digital map as water companies accused of routinely pumping out waste to rivers

The market town of Fairford, nestling in the Cotswold hills, is perhaps best known for its church, which has the only complete set of mediaeval stained glass windows in England.

But thanks to a more modern phenomenon, an interactive digital map produced by Thames Water, the Gloucestershire town, with its traditional honey coloured limestone houses, is becoming better known for its continuous, gushing, raw sewage overflow.

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UK will be 15 years late in hitting £1tn annual export target, figures show

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Exclusive: Forecasts predict exports will fall to £707bn next year and target will not be reached until 2035

Ministers have been accused of leaving a “record of failure and broken promises” as internal forecasts show Britain will be 15 years late in achieving its £1tn annual export target after being hit by Brexit.

Projections from the Department for International Trade (DIT) show the value of UK exports will not reach £1tn until 2035, based on current trends, with the total due to fall to £707bn next year.

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MPs urge asbestos company to pay £10m to fund cancer research

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All-party group including peers backs campaign by victims’ group, saying Cape ‘knowingly put people in danger’

MPs and peers have written to one of the biggest manufacturers of asbestos, calling on it to make a £10m donation towards mesothelioma research “for knowingly putting people in danger”.

In a letter to Altrad, parent company of Cape, the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on occupational safety and health says that documents released after a long-running court battle show that Cape historically “provided misleading reassurance about the dangers of asbestos”.

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Dark energy ‘chameleon trap’ wins £100,000 prize for Nottingham scientist

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Ingeniously simple lab experiment led by Prof Clare Burrage recognised by Blavatnik awards

Dark energy is the enigma at the heart of modern physics: the universe is supposed to be awash with the stuff, but it has never been seen and its nature is unknown.

When faced with a mystery of such epic proportions, simply eliminating certain options is considered a success. This week such an advance, using an ingeniously simple desktop experiment, was recognised by the prestigious Blavatnik award for young scientists.

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Nadhim Zahawi’s future threatened as Labour steps up pressure over tax affairs

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Angela Rayner says Rishi Sunak should come clean about any concerns raised with No 10 about ex-chancellor and HMRC penalty

Nadhim Zahawi’s political future appeared under increasing threat on Sunday night, after Labour pushed hard for answers about his tax issues and government colleagues offered little support for his plight.

After a weekend dominated by questions over the Conservative party chair’s tax position, Labour signalled its intention to pin the controversy on to Rishi Sunak, demanding the prime minister explain if he knew about the issue when he appointed Zahawi to his cabinet.

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Fresh appeal and reward posted on anniversary of death of Kennie Carter, 16

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Parents of boy stabbed in Manchester urge people to ‘do the right thing’ as police offer £50,000 reward

The parents of a 16-year-old boy who was stabbed to death in Manchester have urged anyone with information to “do the right thing” as police announced a £50,000 reward on the anniversary of his killing.

Joan Dixon and Glen Carter said they “can’t move on” until the person who stabbed “cheeky chappy” Kennie Carter on 22 January last year is brought to justice.

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New hostile environment policies show Windrush lessons ‘not been learned’

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Immigration experts scathing about Home Office plans to tighten access to services for people without legal status

Home Office plans to reheat “thoroughly discredited” hostile environment policies show the government has not learned lessons from the Windrush scandal, immigration experts have said.

A taskforce to crack down on illegal immigration is being set up, the Home Office announced on Sunday. As well as blocking access to banking for those without immigration status, it intends to find new ways of checking individuals’ immigration status when they use schools or the NHS.

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Sandi Toksvig to meet Archbishop of Canterbury over same-sex marriage

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Move follows bishops’ refusal to back gay marriage while blessings to be on voluntary basis for clergy

Sandi Toksvig has said she will be meeting the archbishop of Canterbury for coffee, after bishops this week refused to back gay marriage but said civil partnerships could be blessed in church.

“Quick update – I will be meeting the Archbishop of Canterbury for a long promised coffee next week,” the broadcaster and author, who is gay, tweeted on Saturday.

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Labour urges inquiry into claim BBC chairman ‘helped Boris Johnson secure loan guarantee’

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Reports Richard Sharp helped ex-PM arrange guarantee on £800,000 loan before he was recommended for job

Labour is calling for an investigation after claims that the BBC chair helped Boris Johnson arrange a guarantee on a loan of up to £800,000 weeks before he was recommended for the job by the then prime minister.

The party has written to the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Daniel Greenberg, after a report in the Sunday Times that Tory donor Richard Sharp was involved in talks about financing Johnson when he found himself in financial difficulty in late 2020.

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Spend a day volunteering to mark coronation, urges palace

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People are being encouraged to ‘support their local areas’ in a drive to mark the three-day celebration in May

Britons will be encouraged to spend a day volunteering in their communities to mark the King’s coronation. The Big Help Out will take place on Monday 8 May and is intended to create a “lasting legacy” of the coronation weekend.

Buckingham Palace said it hoped to convince as many people as possible to “join the work being undertaken to support their local areas” on the day, which has been designated as an extra bank holiday.

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Thousands march across Dartmoor to demand right to wild camp

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More than 3,000 people protest on estate of Alexander Darwall after his court victory ends right to wild camp in England

More than 3,000 people joined one of the UK’s largest ever countryside access protests on Saturday on the Dartmoor estate of a wealthy landowner who won a case ending the right to wild camp in England.

Groups of walkers, families, students and local people arrived by foot, shuttle bus and bike to the small Dartmoor village of Cornwood throughout the morning and then thronged for hours along moss- and ivy-draped lanes up on to the rugged, boulder-strewn moorland owned by the Conservative party donor and hedge fund manager Alexander Darwall.

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Head of Kurdish people-smuggling ring arrested after going on the run

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Tarik Namik fled UK before sentencing in December but detained after returning to Manchester airport

The head of a Kurdish people-smuggling ring has been arrested after going on the run before his sentencing, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

Tarik Namik, 45, from Oldham, failed to show up at Manchester crown court and was given an eight-year jail term in his absence on 9 December.

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Nadhim Zahawi claims error with his taxes ‘careless not deliberate’

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Comments follow reports that Tory party chairman paid HMRC a penalty as part of a multimillion-pound tax settlement

Tory party chair Nadhim Zahawi has released a statement to “address some of the confusion about my finances” after reports that he paid a penalty as part of a multimillion-pound tax settlement.

He said: “As a senior politician I know that scrutiny and propriety are important parts of public life. Twenty-two years ago I co-founded a company called YouGov. I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved. It is an amazing business that has employed thousands of people and provides a world-beating service.

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MI5 refused to investigate ‘Russian spy’s’ links to Tories, says whistleblower

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Party member lodges a complaint about the security services ignoring attempt of Russian infiltration into the Conservatives

MI5 repeatedly refused to investigate evidence that an alleged Russian spy was attempting to cultivate influence with senior Conservative politicians and channel illegal Russian funds into the party, a Tory member has alleged in a new complaint lodged with the investigatory powers tribunal (IPT).

Sergei Cristo, a Conservative party activist and a former journalist with the BBC World Service, has lodged a complaint with the investigatory powers tribunal, filing the case after corresponding with the chair of parliament’s intelligence and security committee, Conservative MP Julian Lewis, who recommended he take the information to the authorities.

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Fire at Rebekah and Jamie Vardy’s house destroys home gym

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Wife of Leicester City footballer posts picture on Instagram praising ‘brilliant’ Lincolnshire fire service

A gym at the home of Rebekah and Jamie Vardy has been destroyed by fire.

The wife of the Leicester City footballer posted a picture on Instagram of two of her children smiling at the camera having climbed inside a fire engine as she praised the “brilliant Lincolnshire fire and rescue service”.

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‘English flirting’: Dimoldenberg v Garfield is real magic

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The brief encounters between an actor and an interviewer have been compared to Austen’s novels and Hollywood’s golden age

He’s a Hollywood A-lister, recently named a man of the year and routinely included among the sexiest alive. She is an awkward art-school graduate who has his shirtless photo as the wallpaper on her phone. And they just can’t seem to stop running into each other.

The television personality Amelia Dimoldenberg and the actor Andrew Garfield have been hailed as a real-life romcom in the making for their brief but memorable – and, now, heavily hyped – encounters at awards shows.

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Nadhim Zahawi’s position as Tory chair ‘untenable’, says Labour

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Angela Rayner calls for explanation after it emerged former chancellor paid 30% penalty to settle tax bill

Nadhim Zahawi’s position as Conservative party chair is “untenable” after reports he paid a penalty as part of a seven-figure tax settlement, Labour has said.

The former chancellor, who attends cabinet meetings, has faced pressure in parliament and the media after it emerged he agreed to pay millions to HMRC in December after a settlement with the tax agency.

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Stagecoach co-founder Ann Gloag charged with human trafficking

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Businesswoman one of four people charged after investigation into trafficking and immigration offences

Stagecoach co-founder Dame Ann Gloag has said she “strongly disputes the malicious allegations” made against her after being charged with human trafficking offences.

Her husband, David McCleary, and two other members of their family – understood to be her stepdaughter and daughter-in-law, Sarah Gloag, 47, and her son-in-law, Paul McNeil – have also been charged.

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Ukrainian families vent frustration at struggle to find own homes in UK

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High-cost, low-quality housing market is pushing many from war-torn country to edge of homelessness

Maria, 22, came to the UK from Ukraine in March last year shortly after the war broke out. She and her mother travelled using the Ukraine family scheme visa to stay with her aunt. But when her aunt was evicted, they became homeless. For five months, Maria and her mother have been living in temporary accommodation in south London.

“It’s horrible actually, the corridors are so old and so dirty,” Maria says. “The council haven’t been very helpful. The room is so small and it’s hard with two adults in one room.”

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Sajid Javid calls for patients to pay for GP and A&E visits

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Radical reforms needed to tackle waiting times, says former health secretary

Patients should be charged for GP appointments and A&E visits, Sajid Javid has said, as he called the present model of the NHS “unsustainable”.

The former health secretary said “extending the contributory principle” should be part of radical reforms to tackle growing waiting times.

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