Category Archives: UK news

CBI urges Jeremy Hunt to relax immigration rules to ease UK staff shortages

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Lobby group says failure to tackle workforce shortages would be highly damaging for the economy

Britain’s foremost business lobby group has urged Jeremy Hunt to use this week’s autumn statement to shake up immigration rules to support companies struggling with chronic staff shortages and a looming recession.

The head of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said urgent action was required from the chancellor on Thursday to bolster the economy, including “tough political choices” to allow more overseas workers in Britain as employers struggle with a desperate lack of staff.

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Fund England’s bus network now or lose vital routes, campaigners warn

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Charities and transport groups say hundreds more routes face axe without targeted help and long-term funding

Bus services will not survive without sustained Treasury funding, campaigners and industry groups have warned the chancellor after the cutting of hundreds of routes in recent months.

Transport charities and trade bodies have written to Jeremy Hunt asking for support before this week’s autumn statement urging him to guarantee short-term funding, give targeted help to local authorities, and bring in better long-term financial settlements.

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Exodus of first-time buyers puts brakes on UK housing market

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Hike in mortgage costs after mini-budget cuts 20% off buyer demand in October

First-time buyers pulled back most from purchasing a home after the increase in mortgage costs following the mini-budget, according to a report showing a widespread slowdown in the property market.

Figures from the property platform Rightmove show buyer demand fell 20% in October compared with a year ago, as house-hunters put their property searches on hold in response to soaring borrowing costs and rising economic uncertainty.

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Energy bills: older Britons will pay more but youngest will struggle most, report finds

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Cost of living crisis affecting different generations in very different ways, says Resolution Foundation

Older people face a bigger income hit from surging energy costs this winter but younger households are more at risk of being unable to pay their bill or getting into debt amid the cost of living crisis, according to a report.

As households across Britain turn their heating on, the research by the Resolution Foundation thinktank found that older generations, in particular the over-75s, will spend a bigger share of their income, up from 5% to 8%, on their energy bills. For those under 50 the proportion is 5%.

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TV property presenter Jonnie Irwin reveals he has terminal cancer

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A Place in the Sun and Escape to the Country host hopes he can inspire others to ‘make the most of every day’

The TV presenter Jonnie Irwin has revealed he has terminal cancer, saying he hopes sharing his diagnosis will inspire others to “make the most of every day”.

The 48-year-old, who presents Channel 4’s A Place in the Sun and the BBC’s Escape to the Country, said he had lung cancer that had spread to his brain, and that he did not know how much time he had left to live.

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Minority ethnic Britons’ educational success not reflected in pay, study finds

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‘Clear evidence’ of discrimination in terms of salary and careers despite academic progress, IFS study finds

Most minority ethnic groups in the UK have made remarkable progress in educational achievement but “clear evidence” of discrimination remains in their pay and careers, according to a study published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The IFS report found that most of the largest minority ethnic groups obtain English and maths exam results at least as good or better than those achieved by white British students in England, and are more likely than white teenagers to go on to university.

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Scottish engineer held in Iraqi prison facing extradition to Qatar released

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Brian Glendinning, 43, was contracted to work for BP in Iraq when arrested over an alleged debt owed to the Qatari National Bank

A Scottish engineer who was held in an Iraqi prison facing extradition to Qatar over a bank debt has been released, according to a human rights charity that had been campaigning for his freedom.

Brian Glendinning, 43, who had been contracted to work at a BP oil refinery in Iraq, was arrested on an Interpol red notice at Baghdad airport on 12 September.

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Jeremy Hunt: everyone will be paying more tax after autumn statement

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Chancellor also warns of severe cuts to services as he prepares for his biggest test in his new role

Everyone will be paying “a bit more tax” after the autumn budget, the chancellor has said, as he asked everyone to make sacrifices.

Warning of severe cuts to public services, Jeremy Hunt said there would be “very difficult decisions” made but claimed his plan would show the way through “difficult times”.

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John Constable’s favourite Hampstead pond to be restored after two centuries

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Branch Hill pond dried up in the 1880s. Now it will teem with wildlife again, as it did in the artist’s heyday

It was a view that John Constable sketched and painted dozens of times. From the top of Hampstead Heath, London’s highest point at 134 metres (440ft), the artist would look west and north towards today’s suburbs of Willesden, Edgware and Harrow. About 100 metres away, down below, was a beautiful natural pond.

But in the 1880s, Branch Hill pond dried up. Now, nearly two centuries after Constable immortalised on canvas his favourite landscape in the capital, the pond has been recreated.

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‘An amazing feeling’: asylum seeker stuck in hotel thanks Observer readers for sending books

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Ali, a Kurd who fled Iran, may also be offered a university place after he told of the tedium of 500 days in limbo

An asylum seeker who has spent almost 500 days stranded in a Berkshire hotel has thanked Observer readers for their generosity after he was inundated with books.

Last week Ali featured in an article articulating life in limbo for the 37,000 asylum seekers living in hotels, with the Kurdish Iranian lamenting that the one thing he craved to relieve the tedium was a book to read.

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Sharing menus on the rise at UK restaurants as customers cut back

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Chefs are hoping the concept will tempt diners to spend a little more and fight the cost-of-living crisis

Linden Stores, in the Cheshire village of Audlem, has started a whole sharing menu of modern British food, with two people sharing seven dishes including charred pepper and Cornish Quartz cheddar croquettes, hake wrapped in wild boar pancetta and chocolate and peanut butter tart.

Laura Christie and her partner, Chris Boustead, relocated the restaurant to the village from London in 2020. She has been surprised by the reaction.

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Truss? Brexit? Covid? Who is really to blame for the Tories’ ‘fiscal hole’?

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The succession of PMs have all spoken out on who or what has caused the state of UK finances. They’re all partly right, but conveniently miss out one or two other key reasons

Covid-19 ripped a £400bn hole in the government’s finances. The money was used largely to support the economy and it succeeded in allowing industries and workers to bounce back once restrictions were lifted.

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Tory MPs balk at ‘patronising’ bid to rebrand culture funding

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Revolt over ‘levelling up’ label on Arts Council cash for established institutions, while projects for disadvantaged children are cut

A Tory revolt has emerged over “patronising” claims that funding for established cultural institutions contributes to the government’s levelling up pledge, amid concerns from ministers and MPs that “real levelling up” projects for the underprivileged have been slashed.

Rishi Sunak is expected to be confronted this week over the issue during prime minister’s questions.

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Seasonal fruit pickers left thousands in debt after being sent home early from UK farms

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Nepali workers who quit jobs and borrowed cash to come to UK are out of work just weeks after arriving

Nepali workers hired to pick fruit on British farms say they have been left thousands of pounds in debt after being sent home only weeks after they arrived.

The fruit pickers were recruited under the government’s seasonal worker scheme and say they were offered work for six months. But less than two months after arriving, they were told they were no longer needed and instructed to book flights home.

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Keith Levene, founding member of the Clash, dies at 65

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Innovative post-punk musician was an original member of the Clash before founding PiL with John Lydon and Jah Wobble

Keith Levene, the innovative guitarist who was a founder member of both the Clash and Public Image Ltd, has died at the age of 65.

Levene, who had liver cancer, died at his home in Norfolk , leaving a lasting legacy of influence on British rock music.

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‘No way I’d take on Corbyn’: Labour safe seat turns toxic over MP’s whip removal

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Former party leader’s Islington North constituency riven by tensions over whether to support incumbent or find new candidate

It is hard to find a more Labour-dominated part of the country than the London seat of Islington North. Yet should you ask Labour members which candidate they will be backing at the next election, there is nervousness, hesitation and hushed tones.

Jeremy Corbyn, the local MP in the seat for the last 39 years, is currently an independent MP having been stripped of the Labour party whip. He retains significant local support, but should he decide to run as an independent candidate at the next election, every Labour member in the seat will face a choice – campaign for the party’s candidate, or campaign for Corbyn and risk expulsion.

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UK breakthrough on lung cancer helps target patients at risk of relapse

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Research programme buys doctors crucial time by spotting returning tumours before symptoms appear

Seven years ago, Kelly Harrop was working at a stables while also running regularly in half marathons and 10k races. Then she began to suffer digestive problems. Scans eventually revealed marks on her lungs. The subsequent diagnosis was direct. “I had lung cancer. It was a shock. I was fit, healthy and had never smoked,” she told the Observer.

Kelly had surgery to remove the tumour, followed by chemotherapy. But doctors knew there was a risk of the tumour reappearing, so they enrolled her in a new research programme, TRACERx. Funded by Cancer Research UK, the £14m project was set up 10 years ago to investigate how lung tumours arise and evolve. A total of 850 patients with early-stage lung cancer were studied and followed from diagnosis to treatment.

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‘It’s like winning the lottery’: Lincolnshire rewilding plan welcomed by some… others not so happy

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Project promises to create jobs and restore biodiversity, but locals say it is taking food-growing land out of production

The rolling fields south of Grantham are scenic, but these huge expanses of wheat and beans are almost bereft of insects in summer. In autumn, a few skylarks sing and the occasional buzzard soars, but there is precious little life in the landscape.

But soon a 1,525-acre swath of this productive Lincolnshire farmland will be brimming with wildlife, according to a new company that aims to restore biodiversity and make money by rewilding farmland.

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Art, drama, languages and geography to become ‘preserve of private schools’ as state sector cuts bite

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Subjects that attract fewer pupils at GCSE and A-level are in danger of being axed from English state schools

Subjects including German, French, art, drama and design technology could soon be shut off to many state school students as heads say they are being forced into cutting expensive and less popular lessons to address crippling deficits.

The vast majority of English state schools expect to be in the red by the next school year, pushed under by enormous energy bills and an unfunded pay rise for teachers.

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Nik Turner, Hawkwind co-founder and saxophonist, dies aged 82

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Member of influential British space-rock band also played in Sphynx, Inner City Unit and Space Ritual

Nik Turner, the co-founder of the British space-rock band Hawkwind, has died aged 82.

A statement on the saxophonist’s Facebook page said: “We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Nik Turner – the Mighty Thunder Rider, who passed away peacefully at home on Thursday evening.

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