Category Archives: UK news

One in four private rentals in England fail to meet decent home standards

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Data suggests private tenants almost three times as likely to be exposed to damp as social housing tenants

Almost a quarter of private rentals in England fail to meet the decent home standards, government figures have revealed, meaning they pose a risk to health, are in disrepair, have poor facilities, or are poorly insulated.

Data from the English Housing Survey, released on Thursday, highlights the poor state of the country’s private rental sector, with 23% of private rentals failing to meet the decent homes standard in 2021-22. That compares with just 13% of owner-occupied homes, and 10% of social housing.

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Hot drinks and public sympathy for nurses on the picket lines

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For many striking in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, staff shortages are a bigger issue than pay

In many professions, working a 14-hour day with no break would be unthinkable, but for many nurses on freezing picket lines across the country on Thursday it is increasingly becoming the norm.

“It’s tough at the moment,” said Ella Savage, a children’s specialist nurse at Leeds General Infirmary, where about 200 nurses were gathered at one of 125 Royal College of Nursing (RCN) pickets across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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Ministers accused of unlawfully denying Afghan journalists UK visas

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Ben Wallace and Suella Braverman ‘turned their back’ on former BBC journalists who are in danger, high court told

Ministers have unlawfully “turned their back” on former BBC journalists whose lives are at risk from the Taliban by refusing to relocate them from Afghanistan to the UK, the high court has heard.

Eight Afghan journalists, who worked in high-profile roles for the BBC and other media agencies in the country from which British troops withdrew last year, are challenging the decision to deny them UK visas.

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Inquiry launched into claims SAS soldiers killed Afghan civilians

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MoD concedes to longstanding demands for statutory inquiry into allegations dating back to 2010

Ministers have announced a statutory judge-led inquiry into allegations of more than 50 summary killings by SAS soldiers in Afghanistan, a decision made after years of reports that elite British troops killed civilians in cold blood.

In a statement to the House of Commons, Andrew Murrison, the minister for defence people, said the Ministry of Defence (MoD) would concede to longstanding demands for an “independent statutory inquiry” after years of dismissing the idea. The inquiry will cover the period from mid-2010 to mid-2013.

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Scathing report condemns UK police for ‘victim blaming’ in rape cases

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Examination exposes failure to track repeat suspects and botched investigations by struggling forces

A damning official examination into how police forces tackle rape has exposed persistent failings in the criminal justice system, including a failure to track repeat suspects, “explicit victim-blaming” and botched investigations.

The long-awaited independent report into the first year of Operation Soteria Bluestone – launched by the government after a catastrophic fall in rape prosecutions – also paints a picture of a over-worked, traumatised and inexperienced police workforce in England and Wales, which is struggling to cope with an increase in rape reports after years of austerity.

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Rules on liquids and laptops to be eased at UK airports from June 2024

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Passengers at most airports to be allowed two-litre containers of liquid, in major relaxation of 2006 rules

Rules around taking liquids and laptops through airport security will be eased from June 2024, the government has said.

The announcement of the biggest relaxation of aviation security regulations in decades confirms reports last month that the change would come in the year after next.

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Citizens Advice says record number sought energy help in November

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Number of people unable to afford prepayment meter top-up is higher this year than in past six years combined

The monthly number of people that Citizens Advice helped with energy-related problems and issues rose to a record high in November, underlining the scale of the struggle with soaring costs of gas and electricity.

The charity said it was continuing to exceed its forecasts for the numbers of cash-strapped households turning to it for help because they cannot afford to top up their energy prepayment meter and therefore cannot perform basic tasks such as heating food.

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Higher education regulator to make freedom of speech priority next year

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OfS expected to gain new powers to regulate freedom of speech issues in England

The Office for Students will make freedom of speech and “off-limits” subjects on university campuses one of its top priorities for next year, despite the regulator receiving only around 60 complaints over the last four years.

Susan Lapworth, the OfS’s chief regulator, said students’ experience of higher education in England was “not just measured through statistics,” and could be affected by the attitudes towards issues such as freedom of speech at the institutions they attend.

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Two in five people experienced parcel delivery issues last Christmas

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Consumer group Which? said many packages were thrown in ponds, arrived late or were left in the rain

Parcels chucked over fences into ponds, packages hidden in bins and laptops left out in the pouring rain – these are just some of the Christmas parcel delivery failures reported by consumers.

A delivery of pet tarantulas delayed overnight in transit was one of the strangest parcel problems reported to consumer group Which? in a survey of festive delivery difficulties.

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Job discrimination faced by ethnic minorities convinces public about racism

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Study finds exposing inequalities in applications for employment ‘catches racism red-handed’

Researchers believe they may have found the best way to convince the public that racism is a real problem and requires major change: tell them about an Oxford University study exposing discrimination faced by job applicants.

A groundbreaking project exploring how better to boost public support for action against systemic racism tested which messages best move people towards a more anti-racist position.

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Russia faces ‘critical shortage’ of artillery shells, says UK defence chief

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Tony Radakin said Moscow’s ability to conduct ground operations in Ukraine is ‘rapidly diminishing’ as a result

Russia faces a “critical shortage” of artillery shells and Moscow’s ability to conduct ground operations in Ukraine is “rapidly diminishing” as a result, Britain’s armed forces chief has said.

Adm Sir Tony Radakin, the chief of defence staff, told an audience at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) thinktank on Wednesday that the Kremlin had only planned for a short period to subjugate Ukraine, and has instead found itself embroiled in a conflict lasting nearly 10 months.

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Channel deaths: desperate call from boat raised alarm for rescue operation

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Skipper of fishing vessel tells how his crew spent two hours pulling 31 people from the freezing water

Four people died and more than 40 were rescued after a desperate call to a charity warned that a boat carrying asylum seekers including children had capsized in the Channel on Wednesday morning.

An unidentified man on the sinking vessel, in a recording obtained by the Guardian, asked at 2.53am for the alarm to be raised to save his family who were in the icy waters.

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‘You could see the panic’: how the Channel small boat incident unfolded

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Experts said lessons appeared to have been learned from previous incidents as teams scrambled into action after dinghy capsized

The emergency call came through at 2.53am. “Please help me bro, please, please, please. We are in the water. We have a family.”

The unidentified man, on a stricken dinghy, used WhatsApp to contact the French NGO Utopia 56, a humanitarian association, which works to support migrants in the camps in northern France.

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Chinese diplomats at centre of Manchester consulate row return home

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Consular staff wanted for questioning by police over beating up of activists recalled to Beijing

China’s consul general in Manchester and five other diplomats have returned home and will escape questioning by police for their role in the beating up of a pro-Hong Kong democracy demonstrator outside the consulate in the city on 16 October.

The Chinese, citing diplomatic immunity, decided to recall the diplomats after the UK Foreign Office gave the embassy a week to make the diplomats available for questioning by British police.

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PMQs live: Rishi Sunak quizzed by Keir Starmer over nurses’ strikes

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Latest updates: prime minister faces Labour leader ahead of industrial action by nurses on Thursday

Yesterday Mark Harper, the transport secretary, claimed that public support for the rail strikes was declining. Today Ipsos has published some polling that backs up this claim, although support for the RMT has not collapsed, and public opinion is still divided. It puts support for the strikes at 30%, down from 43% in September. And opposition to the strikes is at 36%, up from 31%.

Yesterday Savanta published polling showing a similar trend. It said that net support for the rail workers on strike was +21 in October (those supporting them, minus those not supporting them), and that now it was down to +13.

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Channel rescue: four people confirmed dead after small boat capsizes trying to cross from France – latest updates

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Major search and rescue operation continues after HM Coastguard received reports of an incident at 3.40am on Wednesday

At least three people have died and 43 people have been rescued after trying to cross the Channel in freezing conditions overnight, according to reports.

A member of a rescue team confirmed to Sky News that at least three people have died, as a major search and rescue operation continues off the coast of Kent. “Many” were rescued from the water, according to BBC reporter, Simon Jones, adding a small number are confirmed dead.

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Welsh health board urges public to avoid emergency departments

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Ambulance service blames demand, staff sickness, and patient handover times for elderly man being taken to hospital on plank

The health board for the area where an 89-year-old man was taken to hospital strapped to a plank because no ambulances were available has said the flow of patients through its hospitals is blocked because hundreds of medically fit people have nowhere safe to be discharged to.

They have urged people to stay away from emergency departments unless their need is dire.

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Four people dead after small boat incident in Channel

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Major search and rescue operation launched after incident off Kent coast

Four people have died after a migrant small boat got into difficulties in the Channel, a UK government spokesperson said.

A major search and rescue operation was conducted off the coast of Kent by British and French authorities after receiving a distress call at about 3am on Wednesday.

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London fire brigade put into special measures over misogyny and racism

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Watchdog to monitor force closely after damning report revealed deep-seated behavioural problems

London fire brigade (LFB) has been placed into special measures by the chief fire inspector after a report revealing incidents of misogyny, racism and bullying.

The watchdog moved the LFB into an enhanced level of monitoring on Wednesday, citing concerns about “culmulative evidence” from its last inspection and later of unacceptable behaviour within the brigade.

His Majesty’s inspector of fire and rescue services, Matt Parr, said: “We should recognise that London fire brigade’s recent cultural review was commissioned by the brigade, whose leadership has accepted its findings without reservation.

“However, it is clear that the behavioural problems we highlighted earlier this year are deep-seated and have not improved. We will now examine London fire brigade’s improvement plans more frequently and more intrusively, and work closely with the brigade to monitor its progress.”

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2,800 still without power in Shetland as cold blast bites UK

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Britain continues to struggle in freezing conditions, with power on Scottish islands not expected to be fully restored until end of week

Thousands have been without power in Shetland for a second night as Britain’s infrastructure continues to struggle with sub-zero temperatures.

The Met Office has extended a yellow warning for snow and ice to Friday in northern Scotland and north-east England.

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