Category Archives: UK news

SNP restores whip to MP Patrick Grady after sexual assault suspension

Posted on by

Alleged victim says end of suspension is ‘slap in face to anyone who has experienced sexual harassment’

The SNP has restored the party whip to a senior MP who has sat as an independent since June after an independent parliamentary inquiry found he made an unwanted sexual advance towards a teenage party worker.

Patrick Grady quit the SNP group at Westminster after a two-day suspension from parliament, imposed after the independent parliamentary standards commissioner found he had made the advances to the then 19-year-old man in 2016. The man to whom he made the advances said the end of Grady’s suspension was “a slap in the face to anyone who has experienced sexual harassment”.

Continue reading...

The ‘indefensibles’: donors, cronies and lackeys embody case to abolish Lords

Posted on by

After Boris Johnson took political patronage to new levels by his appointments, Labour sees public mood is ripe for radical reform

What do Boris Johnson’s brother, a historian who has written favourably about him, and a defeated MP who gave him a free holiday all have in common?

All of them now grace the prestigious red benches of the House of Lords, along with 27 donors to the Conservative party.

Continue reading...

One in 10 Tory peers have given more than £100,000 to party

Posted on by

Exclusive: 27 members of House of Lords have donated almost £50m in total to Conservatives

One in 10 Conservative peers are big donors to the party, giving almost £50m in total, new analysis shows, amid controversy over more financial backers believed to have been put forward on Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list.

After speculation about more donors due to get peerages within the coming weeks, figures compiled by the Guardian show 27 out of the party’s 274 peers have given more than £100,000 to the Conservatives.

Continue reading...

UK ministers under pressure to screen China arrivals for Covid

Posted on by

Politicians and experts call for border testing to be introduced, but others question usefulness of move

Ministers are coming under pressure to screen arrivals from China as the number of Covid-19 cases there continues to surge after Beijing’s abrupt decision to end most of its strict pandemic restrictions.

The US became the latest country to impose controls on travellers entering the country from China on Wednesday, demanding that all such arrivals show proof of a negative Covid test.

Continue reading...

Unions holding government to ransom with talks demand, says Ben Wallace

Posted on by

Minister ratchets up hardline stance as he rejects claim government is sabotaging efforts to end strikes

Trade unions are seeking to hold the government “to ransom” by demanding direct talks on public sector pay, Ben Wallace has argued in a further apparent ratcheting up of ministers’ hardline stance towards strikes.

Speaking at Manchester airport, where he met military personnel covering for Border Force staff, the defence secretary rejected a charge from the new TUC general secretary, Paul Nowak, that the government was sabotaging efforts to end the strikes.

Continue reading...

Edinburgh Hogmanay organisers hopeful of avoiding washout

Posted on by

Worst of expected bad weather in Scottish capital should have passed before new year celebrations

Organisers of Hogmanay in Edinburgh are hoping to avoid a new year washout, with heavy rain forecast to have passed by the time revellers ring in 2023.

The celebration in the Scottish capital has been cancelled due to Covid for the past two years, but on Saturday a sellout crowd of 30,000 is expected to bring in the new year in Princes Street as part of the three-day event.

Continue reading...

Ministers criticised as 200,000 eligible children in England miss out on free school meals

Posted on by

Around one in 10 pupils who would qualify for assistance are not registered with the scheme

The government has been accused of “standing idly by while children go hungry” after new analysis showed that more than 200,000 of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSMs) in England are missing out because they are not registered.

Campaigners have urged ministers to automate the enrolment process using social security records, amid fears that children from disadvantaged backgrounds are going hungry because they have not signed up.

Continue reading...

Home Office urged to reunite Eritrean family separated as they boarded boat

Posted on by

Appeal for UK authorities to bring over mother who was left in France after smugglers departed shore with her three children

The Home Office is under pressure to reunite a family of Eritrean asylum seekers after smugglers forced three children, the youngest aged just five, to cross the Channel on a small boat before their mother could get on board with them.

The woman, 31, who was staying in northern France hoping to reach the UK, paid smugglers for places on a dinghy for herself and her three children, a boy aged 14 and two girls aged nine and five, to cross the Channel on 16 December. She said she believed the UK was the place where she would find safety and a respect for the human rights of her family.

Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak needs ‘exit strategy’ from ‘1980s playbook’ on strikes, says TUC

Posted on by

Incoming general secretary, Paul Nowak, says PM has overestimated public support for confronting unions

Rishi Sunak needs an “exit strategy” from ongoing industrial disputes to avoid them escalating in the months ahead after overestimating public support for his “1980s playbook” approach to widespread strikes, the incoming TUC general secretary has said.

Paul Nowak, who takes over as Britain’s top union leader next month, predicted the government’s “war of attrition” against the unions would fail and accused ministers of having their “hands over their ears” about the severity of the situation.

Continue reading...

UK free-range egg rules could be relaxed in line with EU for avian flu outbreaks

Posted on by

Ministers considering change that would class eggs laid by hens kept in barns for months under restrictions as free range

Free-range egg rules in the UK could be relaxed in response to the European Union preparing to overhaul regulations after the biggest avian flu outbreak on record.

Ministers are understood to be considering a change to the rules that would mean eggs laid by hens kept in barns for months on end could be classed as free range.

Continue reading...

Woman in Wales arrested after death of child, 8, linked to strep A

Posted on by

Dyfed-Powys police arrested 33-year-old on suspicion of child neglect after sudden death of child in Lampeter

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of child neglect in Wales over the death of an eight-year-old linked to the strep A infection.

According to the BBC, a 33-year-old woman was arrested by Dyfed-Powys police on 23 December after the “sudden death” of a child the day before in Lampeter, Ceredigion and has been released as inquiries continue.

Continue reading...

US ‘bomb cyclone’ to cause wet and windy weather in UK, says Met Office

Posted on by

Storm that sent US temperatures plunging triggers yellow weather warning for heavy rain over Scotland on Friday

The deadly bomb cyclone that has sent temperatures plunging in the US is also causing the UK to experience wet and windy weather, the Met Office has said.

On Wednesday, the forecaster issued a yellow weather warning for heavy rain from 3am on Friday for 15 hours for much of Scotland, including Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling. The Met Office said heavy rain could bring some flooding and travel disruption.

Continue reading...

Velvet sofas and opulent curtains: the Sunaks’ makeover of No 10 flat revealed

Posted on by

PM and Akshata Murty got rid of ‘very tired’ decor largely installed for former chancellor George Osborne

Rishi Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murty, undertook a makeover of the No 10 flat with opulent curtains and velvet sofas in jewel colours at their own expense, according to a new profile of the couple in the society magazine Tatler.

John Challis, the upholsterer behind the transformation, told the magazine that the redesign got rid of the “very tired” decor largely installed for the family of former chancellor George Osborne.

Continue reading...

Civil service union warns of possible strikes by junior doctors and teachers

Posted on by

General secretary Mark Serwotka predicts ‘coordinated and synchronised’ action from January

The head of the largest civil servants union has warned ministers that “coordinated and synchronised” strike action across the economy will “significantly escalate” from January.

Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), was speaking as his members employed in passport control for Border Force set up picket lines at Britain’s largest airports on Wednesday, in a four-day strike set to continue until New Year’s Eve.

Continue reading...

Bank branches ‘still vital’ as squeezed UK households seek cash and advice

Posted on by

Quarter of consumers more likely to visit branches amid struggles with surging energy, food and housing costs, finds KPMG survey

Cost of living pressures have increased the number of customers relying on bank branches to help manage their squeezed budgets, research shows.

While the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of online-only banking, particularly during lockdowns, research from the accountancy firm KPMG showed a quarter of UK consumers were more likely to visit bank branches now that households were grappling with surging energy, food and housing costs.

Continue reading...

NHS on track to eliminate hepatitis C five years ahead of global targets

Posted on by

England to become first country to eliminate virus thanks to targeted screening campaigns and effective treatments

The NHS is set to eliminate hepatitis C in England by 2025 due to targeted screening campaigns for those at risk and effective drug treatments, according to health officials. NHS England said the measures are helping to dramatically cut deaths from the virus five years ahead of global targets.

Deaths from hepatitis C – including liver disease and cancer – have fallen by 35% since NHS England struck a five-year deal worth almost £1bn to buy antiviral drugs for thousands of patients in 2018.

Continue reading...

Labour reaffirms pledge to fight structural racism amid disparity figures

Posted on by

Exclusive: ONS analysis shows black households five times more likely to struggle to pay energy bills

Labour has reaffirmed its commitment to tackle structural racism after new analysis showed black households are five times more likely to struggle making energy bills repayments.

Black and minority ethnic people were already 2.5 times more likely to be in relative poverty, and 2.2 times more likely to live in deep poverty (defined as having an income more than 50% below the relative poverty line), than their white counterparts regardless of the energy crisis, figures from the Office for National Statistics show.

Continue reading...

UK wildlife ‘devastated by litany of weather extremes’ in 2022

Posted on by

National Trust’s annual audit reveals a dire year for animals from toads and bats to birds and butterflies

This year’s tumultuous weather – including fierce storms, searing heat, deep cold snaps – has devastated some of the UK’s most precious flora and fauna, a leading conservation charity has said.

The extreme conditions have made survival very difficult for animals from toads and bats to birds and butterflies, and from great trees to meadowland flowers.

Continue reading...

£1.1bn in fees, 3.1m hours, 14 years: the UK cost of winding up Lehman Brothers

Posted on by

PwC, administrator of Lehman’s London arm since bank’s failure in 2008, secures three more years to finish process

Administrators will spend at least three more years winding up the London-based arm of Lehman Brothers, swelling the almost £1.1bn in fees that PwC has already raked in since the bank’s calamitous collapse in 2008.

PwC has secured court approval to extend the administration process for the investment bank’s European hub to 2025, given the “complexity of unwinding the group’s affairs” after one of the biggest corporate failures in history.

Continue reading...

£1.4bn devolution deal for north-east England announced

Posted on by

Plan will bring Durham, Northumberland, Gateshead, Sunderland, Newcastle, South Tyneside and North Tyneside under control of one mayor

A £1.4bn devolution deal for the north-east of England would bring seven local authority areas under the control of an elected mayor in 2024, Michael Gove has announced.

The levelling-up secretary set out the £48m-a-year deal for Northumberland, Durham, Newcastle, South Tyneside, North Tyneside, Gateshead and Sunderland on Wednesday after months of negotiations over the new devolved area covering 2 million people.

Continue reading...