Category Archives: UK news

Tim Davie expected to resign as BBC director general

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Corporation has faced accusations of ‘serious and systemic’ bias in its reporting

Tim Davie, the BBC’s director general, is expected to resign after a former adviser to the corporation accused it of “serious and systemic” bias in its coverage of issues including Donald Trump, Gaza and trans rights.

In a shock move, the Guardian understands that Davie is to imminently announce his departure. It comes with the BBC preparing to apologise for the way the broadcaster edited a Donald Trump speech.

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Last Christmas, you gave us first class: Royal Mail turns Scrooge with gift to staff of second-class stamps

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Switch comes amid first festive season since Daniel Křetínský’s takeover of parent company IDS

Royal Mail says that it has “delivered Christmas” for more than 500 years, but this year many workers have been left feeling less than festive after the company downgraded a small gift to workers to second class.

The postal service, which traces its history back to the appointment of a “master of the posts” by Henry VIII in 1516, has given workers a collection of 50 Christmas stamps to recognise their work over the busiest time of year. In previous years, including in 2024, workers have received a book of 50 or 100 first-class stamps, but that has quietly been switched to second class this year.

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Bad Bridgets podcast about crime among Irish women in US inspires film

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Margot Robbie’s company to make movie based on Northern Ireland academics’ stories of poverty and prison

It started as a trawl of dusty archives for an academic project about female Irish emigrants in Canada and the US by two history professors, a worthy but perhaps niche topic for research.

The subjects, after all, were human flotsam from Ireland’s diaspora whose existence was often barely recorded, let alone remembered.

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Bar Council calls for legal aid for all family court cases involving domestic abuse

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Only 15% of families are eligible for legal aid which has led to huge swathes of UK becoming ‘legal advice deserts’, body says

The Bar Council has called for all family court cases involving domestic abuse to be brought within the scope of legal aid for both parties, and for means testing to be scrapped for alleged victims and survivors of domestic abuse.

In a new policy paper, the body, which represents all 18,000 barristers in England and Wales, has set out a package of recommendations to improve the ability of the family justice system.

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Review to look at role of mental health issues in UK youth unemployment

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Former health secretary Alan Milburn’s review is exploring reasons for rising inactivity among young people

The role of mental health issues and disability in youth unemployment will be examined by the former Labour health secretary Alan Milburn as part of a review looking into rising inactivity among Britain’s young people.

Nearly a million people aged 16 to 24 are not in education, employment or training, often described with the acronym Neets. Milburn will look at ways to avoid people becoming trapped as Neets and the findings will be published in the summer.

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Groundbreaking British Museum show set to challenge samurai myths

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Exclusive: Exhibition will reveal complex reality, featuring women and artistic creations, beyond armour-clad warriors

A groundbreaking samurai exhibition that promises to challenge “everything we think we know about Japan’s warrior elite” spanning a millennium of myth and reality is to open at the British Museum next year.

Titled Samurai, the blockbuster exhibition will reveal a world beyond armour-clad warriors and epic duels, as popularised by the noble, katana-wielding heroes of Akira Kurosawa’s classic action films and PlayStation’s hit video games.

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Britain sends RAF specialists to help Belgium combat disruptive drones

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Incursions halted flights at Brussels and Liège airports last week with Russia said to be the most likely culprit

Britain is deploying Royal Air Force specialists to help Belgium counter drone threats to the country’s airports after disruptive sightings last week that some politicians blamed on Russia.

Sir Richard Knighton, the head of the UK’s armed forces, said the British military would provide “our people, our equipment” to help Belgium, though he was careful to say “we don’t yet know” the origin of the drones seen last week.

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British Asian families urged to share stories of ‘greatest generation’ who fought for Britain

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Half of UK public unaware of contribution made by 2.5m British Asian members of armed forces who served in second world war

British Asian families are being urged to record the experiences of relatives who fought for Britain for “future generations” as data reveals half the British public don’t know that Indian members of the armed forces served in the second world war.

The My Family Legacy project, backed by the Royal British Legion, is building an online archive of Asian veterans’ experiences to raise awareness of the shared histories and sacrifices of Britain’s diverse communities.

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Royal College of Psychiatrists faces member backlash over Qatar partnership

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More than 150 psychiatrists sign letter condemning contract to host exams in country with well-documented human rights abuses

The Royal College of Psychiatrists is facing a backlash from members over a controversial partnership with Qatar’s state healthcare provider.

The college has signed a contract with the state-owned Hamad Medical Corporation to host international exams in Doha, enabling psychiatrists from across the Middle East and beyond to apply for membership.

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‘Environmental catastrophe’ fears as millions of plastic beads wash up on Camber Sands

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MP asks for explanation from Southern Water amid concerns the spill could have dire impact on rare sea life

Southern Water is investigating after millions of contaminated plastic beads washed up on Camber Sands beach, risking an “environmental catastrophe”.

The biobeads could have a dire impact on marine life, the local MP has said, with fears rare sea life, including seabirds, porpoises and seals, could ingest them and die.

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UK to announce plans to emulate stringent Danish immigration system

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Shabana Mahmood’s proposals draw scorn from some Labour MPs, while others want government to go further

• Why does the UK want to copy Denmark?

Shabana Mahmood is to announce changes to the UK’s immigration rules modelled on the Danish system, largely seen as among the most stringent in Europe, the Guardian understands.

Last month, the home secretary dispatched officials to Denmark to study its border control and asylum policies. Denmark’s tighter rules on family reunions and restricting some refugees to a temporary stay are among the policies being looked at.

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Davina McCall reveals she has undergone surgery for breast cancer

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Presenter says she is ‘in a much more positive place’ after having lumpectomy and catching cancer early

Davina McCall has revealed she has undergone surgery for breast cancer and urged others to “get checked”.

In a video posted to Instagram, the presenter said she was “very angry” when she found out about the cancer, but felt in a “much more positive place” after a lumpectomy.

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Plant importers say border delays in Kent could drive up prices and stop deliveries from EU

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Traders report long waits at Sevington inspection post and claim trees and shrubs are repeatedly being damaged

Importers of plants say long delays and damage to shipments at a Kent border control post risk driving up prices and could lead to transport companies stopping deliveries across the Channel.

Traders have reported long waits in recent weeks at the government’s Sevington facility off the M20 near Ashford, which was built to check goods of plant and animal origin arriving from the EU. One importer said delays were adding £200 of costs to each load.

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Woman stabbed in neck in ‘unprovoked attack’ in Birmingham city centre

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Police arrest man in his 20s near to scene as woman remains in hospital in critical condition

A woman is in critical condition after she was stabbed in the neck in what police believe was “an unprovoked attack”.

West Midlands police were called to Smallbrook Queensway in Birmingham city centre shortly before 9pm on Friday after reports of a stabbing.

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Cutting aid for disease fund would be moral failure, Labour MPs tell Starmer

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UK expected to reduce contribution to Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria by 20%

A group of seven Labour MPs who served as ministers under Keir Starmer have written to the prime minister warning that an expected cut to UK funding for aid to combat preventable diseases would be both a “moral failure” and a strategic disaster.

With ministers and officials expected to decide the UK’s contribution to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria within days, the letter renews pressure on Starmer to pull back from an expected 20% cut.

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Jailed UK climate protesters facing conditions reserved for extremists on release

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Exclusive: Just Stop Oil activist was banned from attending gatherings, including meeting a friend in a cafe, without permission

Environmental protesters are being given licence conditions on release from jail that are supposed to be limited to extremism cases.

Ella Ward, 22, was banned from going to any meetings or gatherings, except for worship, without permission from her probation officer, although the Ministry of Justice dropped the condition after she brought a legal challenge.

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A rats to riches story: Larry the Downing Street cat finds place in TV spotlight

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Popularity of Britain’s top mouser – ‘the guy to meet in No 10’ – to feature in documentary series

He’s on his sixth prime minister, has watched presidents and princes walk through the black door of No 10, and will soon become the longest continuous resident of Downing Street since Pitt the Younger.

The landscape of British politics has changed a lot in the past 15 years, but Larry the cat has remained a reassuring constant. Now his enduring popularity – the like of which some of his temporary owners would kill for – is to feature in a new Channel 4 documentary series exploring Britain’s love of cats. For his fans, the spotlight has been a long time coming.

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Parental failure and gaps in the law: why the Southport atrocity was preventable

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After nine weeks of inquiry evidence, a picture has emerged of systemic breakdown and poor information sharing

Of all the professionals who studied Axel Rudakubana before his murderous attack in Southport last summer, the notes of a rookie police officer in 2019 may be the most prescient.

The actions of Rudakubana, then aged 13, showed “potential for huge escalation”, wrote PC Alex McNamee after spending just 20 minutes with the teenager when he admitted taking a knife to school to attack a bully. The risk, he wrote, was “high”.

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Toby Carvery owner urged to fund ‘life support’ for felled Enfield oak

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Sprinklers could save 500-year-old tree that had branches cut off without authorisation in April, says expert

The restaurant chain Toby Carvery is being urged to pay for life support for an ancient oak tree that its owner had chainsawed last spring to widespread public dismay.

Experts say the trunk of the 500-year-old tree, on the edge of a Toby Carvery car park in Whitewebbs Park, Enfield, has shown signs of regrowth, despite its branches being sawn off by the restaurant’s contractors in April.

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Joey Barton found guilty of sending offensive posts on social media

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Former footballer guilty of six counts of sending communications with intent to cause distress or anxiety

The ex-footballer Joey Barton has been found guilty of six counts of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety.

A jury at Liverpool crown court found Barton, 43, had “crossed the line between free speech and a crime” with six posts he made on X, formerly Twitter.

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