Category Archives: UK news

Tories ‘at risk from rightwing insurgency’ warns donor Lord Cruddas

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Peer says Conservatives no longer party of centre right and are threatened by Reform UK, Brexit party successor, if Nigel Farage takes leadership

The Conservative party is under threat from a rightwing insurgency after a “drag to the left” under Rishi Sunak, one of its biggest recent donors has warned, amid growing tensions on the Tory right.

Peter Cruddas, the peer who has given the party more than £3.5m, said the Conservatives were “no longer a centre-right party” under Sunak, adding that he refused to back it financially until it changed course.

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David Beckham makes first statement on his Qatar World Cup involvement

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Former England captain, whose role as ambassador was criticised by LGBTQ+ community, said he believes sport is ‘force for good’

David Beckham has made his first public statement on his controversial involvement with the World Cup host nation Qatar, telling a US newspaper through a spokesperson that he “has always believed that sport has the power to be a force for good in the world”.

“We understand that there are different and strongly held views about engagement in the Middle East but see it as positive that debate about the key issues has been stimulated directly by the first World Cup being held in the region,” the statement continued.

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Rail strikes: passengers face fresh wave of weekend disruption

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People urged only to travel if absolutely necessary on last weekend before Christmas

Rail passengers face another day of reduced services on Saturday as thousands of Rail, Maritime and Transport workers’ union (RMT) staff continue a 48-hour strike.

People have been urged to only attempt travel if absolutely necessary on the last full weekend before Christmas, with only a skeleton service running and all train journeys ending by early evening.

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Pressure on ministers to avert NHS strikes ahead of ‘very challenging’ week

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NHS Providers boss says nurses’ strike had ‘significant impact’ as senior Tories urge government to negotiate

Planned strikes next week will be “very challenging” for the health service, hospital bosses have warned, after they conceded that Thursday’s nurses strikes had had a “significant impact”.

The comments from NHS Providers came amid mounting pressure on the government from senior backbenchers and usually supportive newspapers to try to resolve the dispute.

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Three people still in critical condition after suspected crush at Asake gig in Brixton

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Met police begin investigation into ‘extremely distressing’ incident after large crowd gathered outside O2 Academy

Three people were still in a critical condition on Friday night after an apparent crowd crush at a concert at the O2 Academy Brixton in London on Thursday.

The Metropolitan police launched an investigation into what they said was an “extremely distressing” incident at a performance by the Nigerian Afrobeats singer and songwriter Asake.

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Avanti West Coast rewarded with over £4m in taxpayer-funded bonuses

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Payout awarded for period in which Avanti was UK’s worst train operator for delays, Labour analysis found

Avanti West Coast was handed millions of pounds of taxpayer-funded bonuses for a period in which it was Britain’s worst train operator for delays, according to Labour party analysis.

The analysis, which used Department for Transport (DfT) figures published on Thursday, found the company was awarded the highest possible rating for “operational performance” and “customer satisfaction” between 1 April and 18 September last year. Those ratings contributed to a bonus payout of £4.1m.

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Family pay tribute to British man who died in incident on Qatar oil rig

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A second Briton was injured and treated in hospital, while a third was detained following the ‘non-work related incident’

The family of a 38-year-old man who died after a “non-work related incident” involving three Britons onboard an oil rig in Qatar have paid tribute to a “one-of-a-kind, beautiful soul”.

Robert Robson, of Tyne and Wear, was working on the Seafox Burj oil rig off the coast of Qatar when he died after an incident in the early hours of Monday.

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Man and woman arrested after bodies of two young boys found in Dagenham

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Two-year-old and five-year-old found dead at home in east London

A man and a woman have been arrested after two young boys were found dead at a home in east London, the Metropolitan police has said.

Emergency services were called to an address in Cornwallis Road, Dagenham at 2pm on Friday, where the bodies of a two-year-old and a five-year-old were discovered.

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Rishi Sunak says not to expect imminent breakthrough in talks to resolve Northern Ireland protocol issues – UK politics live

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Prime minister says he is ‘committed’ to fixing issues but says there is no deadline on talks

In his latest column, Simon Jenkins argues that instead of fighting for the centre ground, Keir Starmer should look to the radical changes pushed through under Harold Wilson.

Wes Streeting has declined to say whether a Labour government would agree to a pay rise for nurses.

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Traces of suspected cocaine found after parties in Liz Truss’s grace-and-favour house, say staff

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Exclusive: White powder residue found after events held at Chevening and Downing Street, say sources

Traces of a suspected class A drug were found at a government grace-and-favour home after parties attended by political allies of Liz Truss, the Guardian has been told.

The white powder was discovered at the Chevening estate last summer in the days before Truss won the Tory leadership contest and became prime minister, according to sources.

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RMT boss says no new offers but deal achievable as rail and road passengers face strike disruption – live

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Mick Lynch speaks after talks with minister on Thursday as one in five trains expected to run today and some National Highways workers strike


RMT leader Mick Lynch has said there are “no new proposals on the table” after talks convened by rail minister Huw Merriman on Thursday.

Speaking from the picket line at London Euston station, the union chief told Sky News:

“We had an exchange about what might be possible and some ways forward and ideas that all the parties shared, and the rail minister requested that all the parties get down to some more discussions in the next period.

“We’ll look to arrange those meetings with the employers and see if we can develop some solutions to the issues that hopefully all the parties can support.

If we get a set of documentation and a pay proposal that our members want to support, it will resolve the dispute and we can take all the action away.

I hope we can do that as quickly as possible.

“We started today with 46 organisations.

And why did we do that? We did that because we wanted to make sure that we manage this strike safely and effectively for every patient, the people that I’m speaking with here tonight in this room, and every other patient in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.

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UK high street faces post-Christmas ‘flurry of failure’

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Lacklustre festive sales leaving retailers low on funds needed to cope when shoppers traditionally tighten belts in new year

The high street could face a “flurry of business failures” in the new year, as a lacklustre Christmas sales period is leaving retailers low on the funds needed to cope when households tighten their belts after the festive season.

“We can expect more consolidation and high street casualties as we head into the new year. It will be yet another tough year for retail and a case of survival of the fittest,” said Paul Martin, UK head of retail at KPMG.

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Police name woman and two children in Kettering murder case

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Nurse Anju Asok, 35, and her young children Jeeva and Janvi Saju were found with fatal injuries on Thursday

A woman and two children who died in a suspected murder in Kettering have been named as Anju Asok, a 35-year-old nurse, and her children, Jeeva Saju, six, and Janvi Saju, four.

Northamptonshire police said a 52-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of murder and was in police custody being questioned by detectives.

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Amazon agrees deal with Games Workshop to create Warhammer TV series

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Former Superman star Henry Cavill linked to project, and agreement includes film and merchandise plans

Amazon has struck a deal with the high street games chain Games Workshop to create a series based on its hit franchise Warhammer, the science-fiction fantasy miniature war game, potentially featuring the former Superman star Henry Cavill.

The London-listed Games Workshop, which has a £2.7bn market value and runs about 530 stores, has struck a deal with Amazon to develop the company’s intellectual property into film and TV productions as well as sell merchandise.

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MoD to revive Belfast shipbuilding with contract for three naval vessels

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Rishi Sunak announces £1.6bn contract led by shipyard Harland and Wolff that will create 900 jobs in Belfast

Shipbuilding is to be revived in Belfast after 20 years as part of a £1.6bn Ministry of Defence contract for three new naval vessels, Rishi Sunak has announced.

A consortium led by the shipyard Harland and Wolff has secured the preferred bidder status which will create 1,200 jobs across three companies, 900 of which will be in Belfast.

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Nurses strike live: Labour MPs join nurses on picket lines after second Tory MP publicly calls for government to increase pay offer

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Multiple Labour MPs join picket lines after Tory MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich urges government to improve offer

On the picket line outside St Thomas’ hospital in Westminster, Linda Tovey, a critical care nurse, said: “It’s increasingly difficult to come to work and go home and think: ‘Actually I don’t think I can turn the heating on.’

“My wages aren’t bad for a nurse but I still have to think about what I’m doing with my money every month and that is not the position I imagined myself being in.
“People do a huge amount of extra work, in terms of studying and all that kind of stuff, and you don’t get the recognition in terms of wages.

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Bank of England raises interest rates to 3.5% in ninth increase in a year

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Majority of MPC rate-setters back hike of 0.5 percentage points despite fears UK is entering a long recession

Mortgage payers are braced for higher borrowing costs, after the Bank of England pushed up its base rate by 0.5 percentage points to 3.5% despite saying inflation has peaked and Britain is about to enter “a prolonged recession”.

The Bank hiked interest rates on Thursday for the ninth time in a year, to the highest level in 14 years, but told borrowers to prepare for fresh increases in the new year.

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Third of staff allege bullying in Raab’s private office team

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Exclusive: Leaked annual survey shows fourfold rise in harassment claims in justice ministers’ office

A third of the staff in Dominic Raab’s private office at the Ministry of Justice have claimed to have been bullied or harassed while working in their current team in the past year, according to an internal Whitehall survey.

The results of the civil service survey from this week, which have been leaked to the Guardian, show that 10 of the 33 people who worked most closely with the justice secretary said they had been a victim of bad behaviour.

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Scotland to spend extra £1bn on health by raising taxes on higher earners

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Scottish government promises to tackle health and social care crisis to protect weakest and poorest

The Scottish government has promised to spend another £1bn on tackling the crisis in health and social care by raising taxes on higher earners and holiday homes.

John Swinney, Scotland’s acting finance secretary, said the burden of increasing NHS funding would fall heavily on everyone earning more than £43,663 in Scotland as part of a “social contract” to protect the weakest and poorest.

The abolition of a cap on council tax increases next year, alongside £550m extra for councils.

The uprating of all Scottish welfare benefits by 10%, increasing welfare spending by £433m.

£222m on school support for the poorest and extra free school meals in primaries.

£15m for a pilot project to scrap peak-time rail fares.

£336m on home energy efficiency and reducing fuel poverty.

The abolition of non-domestic rates for 100,000 smaller shops and businesses and a freeze in business rates charges, which would cost £356m.

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