Category Archives: UK news

Immigration is still the nettle preventing Tory detente with business

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Rishi Sunak’s visit to CBI conference found old allies keen to mend fences, but impeded by hard politics of immigration

Amid the steady grey Birmingham drizzle, Britain’s leading business lobby group tried to walk a careful path on immigration.

Members of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), present in greater numbers than in recent years at its annual conference, have been clamouring for more flexibility on hiring foreign workers, as a tight labour market wreaks havoc on their businesses and drives up wages.

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Jurors in Benjamin Mendy rape trial told to question credibility of accusers

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Footballer denies seven counts of rape, one count of attempted rape and one count of sexual assault against six young women

Jurors in the rape trial of Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy have been told to question the credibility of their accusers.

Lisa Wilding KC, in her closing defence speech on behalf of Mendy’s friend and co-accused, Louis Saha Matturie, highlighted the evidence of one complainant, a 19-year-old woman, who told jurors from the witness box that both men had raped her.

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UK restaurants going bankrupt at faster rate than during Covid

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Closures rise by 60% in past year, including 453 in most recent quarter, says advisory firm Mazars

UK restaurants are going bust at a faster rate than during the Covid crisis owing to a “toxic mix” of surging energy costs, staff shortages and falling bookings.

Closures in the sector rose by 60%, with 1,567 insolvencies over 2021-22, up from 984 during 2020-21, according to a study by the advisory firm Mazars. The figure includes 453 over the past three months, up from 395 in the previous quarter.

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Two-thirds of UK’s biggest advertisers to cut television spend

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Traditional TV shunned in favour of digital media and last-minute promotional campaigns

More than two-thirds of the UK’s biggest advertisers intend to cut back spending on traditional TV next year, as the recession fuels a shift to digital media and last-minute bursts of promotion.

A survey of 59 UK advertisers has found that 67% will make the deepest budget cuts to ads on broadcast TV, according to the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) and the media investment analysts Ebiquity.

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No 10 seeks to quell hardline Brexiters’ fears over reports of Swiss-style EU deal

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Minister rubbishes reports of ‘Chequers’-style plan, as businesses expected to call for more ‘practical’ immigration rules

Rishi Sunak is facing a new row on two fronts over Brexit, as he sought to quell a backlash from hardline Eurosceptics given suggestions the UK could seek a Swiss-style deal with Brussels, while businesses are expected to call for a more “practical” immigration stance.

Ahead of the prime minister’s address to business leaders in Birmingham on Monday morning, Downing Street tried to dampen down speculation that a deal similar to Theresa May’s “Chequers” plan could be adopted, claiming it was “categorically untrue”.

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Man held on suspicion of murder after two children die in Nottingham flat fire

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Thirty-one-year-old from Clifton area of the city is being questioned by detectives

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder after two children died following a fire at a flat in Nottingham.

The 31-year-old from the Clifton area of the city is being held after the blaze in a first-floor flat in Clifton, at about 3am on Sunday. He remains in police custody for questioning.

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Budget for 40 new NHS hospitals faces real-terms cut of £700m, say Lib Dems

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Capital budget of £12bn a year to shrink to £11.7bn, putting Tories’ claim 40 hospitals in England will be built or renovated in doubt

Plans by the government to construct and renovate 40 hospitals in England could be delayed because of new analysis suggesting the health and social care department’s capital spending budget faces a real-terms cut of £700m next year, according to the Liberal Democrats.

With some hospitals said to be in dire need of repair, the health secretary twice refused to say on Sunday that the NHS was functioning properly and instead admitted it was under “severe pressure”.

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King’s former aide received £60,000 payoff when he quit Prince’s Foundation

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Michael Fawcett resigned after revelations he offered to help Saudi donor obtain knighthood and British citizenship

A former aide to the King received a £60,000 payoff when he stepped down from the Prince’s Foundation amid a cash-for-honours scandal, it has emerged.

Michael Fawcett received the money after revelations that he offered to help a Saudi donor obtain a knighthood and British citizenship.

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Train cancellations in Great Britain hit highest level on record

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One in 26 journeys disrupted with government accused of ‘abject failure’ to tackle worst offenders such as Avanti West Coast

Rail cancellations have reached their highest level on record with more than 314,000 trains fully or partly cancelled across Great Britain in a year, a Guardian analysis reveals.

Figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) show that the proportion of cancelled services has more than doubled since 2015, rising to one in 26 of all train journeys being disrupted in the year to 15 October, the latest date for which figures are available.

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Brexit: who wants a Swiss-style EU deal and what would it look like?

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As reports suggest some in government want closer ties with Brussels, we look as what these might mean

Brexit is slowly but surely creeping back on to the agenda as the blame game intensifies over Britain’s poor growth and looming recession.

Discussion of the effects of the UK leaving the EU were quickly drowned out in the weeks after 31 January 2020 as the Covid pandemic took hold. Since then, much of MPs’ economic focus has been on the fallout from lockdowns, global supply chain issues and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Revealed: star football pundits promote World Cup gambling despite ban

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Spirit of rules on use of celebrities in advertising is being ignored, claims charity supporting victims of gambling addiction

Football pundits Harry Redknapp, Peter Crouch and Robbie Keane are helping to promote betting on World Cup matches despite stricter rules on celebrity gambling endorsements to protect young people.

Fifa officials estimate the last World Cup generated £120bn in betting turnover. Gambling companies hope for a similar betting spree for this year’s tournament, despite a ban on gambling in Qatar.

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‘Exhausted’ Tories pin hopes on spring revival after bleak autumn statement

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Some MPs would like Jeremy Hunt to revise tax rises, fearing impact on ‘squeezed middle’ and backlash from red wall areas

Tory MPs are desperately hoping that a surprise spring economic revival will allow Jeremy Hunt to alter his tax-raising plans, amid warnings that the chancellor’s “stealth tax” autumn statement will extinguish the party’s election hopes.

While concerns have already been raised on the right of the party over the extent of the £25bn in tax rises announced by the chancellor last week, figures from across the party said that “emotional and mental exhaustion” had blunted a greater immediate backlash.

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Woman groomed and abused in care gets apology after 30 years

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Leeds city council letter accepting responsibility believed to be the first of its kind

Carrie* is no stranger to a legal challenge. In 2018, alongside other women, she won a landmark case against the Home Office when she challenged a requirement that prostitution offences, including those acquired below the age of 18, be disclosed under criminal record checks.

While Carrie, now 49, was giving a detailed statement to her lawyer dealing with this case, she described her time in care. Her childhood was dominated by neglect, sexual abuse and exploitation. It became clear to her lawyers that there was a second case – against the body responsible for the child protection services that failed her so badly: Leeds city council.

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Luxury goods boom in Britain as the young, rich and mortgage-free buck the recession

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Rich kids of Insta use strong dollar to fuel sales of high-end brands such as Burberry, Louis Vuitton and Gucci

They’re young, rich and mortgage-free, and the scions of the 1% are having a roaring twenties.

Despite the economic gloom currently shrouding the UK and many other western countries, sales of luxury brands have been booming and growing numbers of buyers are young adults.

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Raising council tax to fund social care will deepen inequality in UK, experts warn

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Jeremy Hunt’s plans criticised for delay to reform, shifting burden to local authorities and ‘skewing the system’

Jeremy Hunt’s decision to fund more social care through increases in council tax will deepen inequality and undermine the cause of “levelling up”, the architect of the government’s planned reforms said last night.

The criticism from Andrew Dilnot, the economist whose blueprint for reform was delayed by another two years in Hunt’s first budget on Thursday, was echoed by senior figures in local government who said it would leave poorer areas at a disadvantage and was not the answer to the social care crisis.

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Florence Welch cancels UK tour after breaking foot on stage

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Florence + the Machine singer took a tumble during a performance at the O2 Arena in London

Florence + the Machine has cancelled its tour after lead singer Florence Welch broke her foot on stage on Friday night.

Welch took a tumble during a performance at the O2 Arena in London, which was the first gig in England on the Dance Fever tour.

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Armed police guard Iranian TV studios in London after Tehran threats

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Persian language channel said threats to journalists had escalated in response to coverage of protests

Armed vehicles have been deployed outside the Iran International television studios in London after two of its journalists were threatened by Tehran, the channel said.

There were about seven vehicles outside the studio in Chiswick Park, west London, after “severe and credible” threats were recently made against two of the UK-based channel’s journalists, one of its spokesmen told AFP.

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Women £570 a year worse off after 12 years of Conservatives, says Labour

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Analysis of ONS figures suggests average woman’s salary has fallen from £30,250 in 2010 to £29,680 today

Women are £570 a year worse off than they were before the Conservatives came into power 12 years ago and the autumn statement will leave them even worse off, Labour has claimed.

Citing analysis of ONS figures, Labour said that in real terms, the median full-time female worker’s salary has fallen from the equivalent of £30,250 in April 2010 to £29,680.

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‘World is watching’ Qatar, warns Peter Tatchell at London embassy protest

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LGBTQ+ activists call on fans to boycott games or use social media to highlight human rights abuses

Peter Tatchell has warned Qatar that the world’s eyes will be on the country during the World Cup, as protesters gathered outside its embassy in London to highlight the dangers faced by LGBTQ+ people, women and migrant workers.

Tatchell said t was “outrageous” that figures including David Beckham were promoting Qatar and the tournament, in effect asking fans to ignore human rights abuses and the country’s record on LGBTQ+ issues.

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‘Dangerously out-of-control cow’ tramples elderly man in Wales

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Seriously injured victim airlifted to hospital after escaped animal went on rampage in Carmarthenshire village

An elderly man has been taken to hospital with serious injuries after being attacked and trampled by an “dangerously out-of-control” cow, police said.

Dyfed-Powys police received reports that the cow had escaped from Whitland Mart in Carmarthenshire, Wales.

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