Category Archives: UK news

No 10 alarm as Boris Johnson plans to attend Cop27 climate summit

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Ex-PM’s Cop27 visit is seen as snub to Rishi Sunak as Labour attacks government’s policy failures on environmental crisis

A row over prime minister Rishi Sunak’s refusal to attend the Cop27 climate summit took an extraordinary twist on Saturday night as the Observer was informed that his predecessor but one – Boris Johnson – is planning to attend the event.

Several sources said they had been told that Johnson is intending to go to the crucial meeting of world leaders in Egypt to show his solidarity with the battle against the climate crisis.

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Qatar lavished British MPs with gifts ahead of World Cup

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MPs who received gifts later appeared to speak favourably about Qatar in parliamentary debates

Qatar has spent more money on gifts and trips for British MPs in the past year than any other country, according to Observer analysis that reveals the Gulf state’s lobbying efforts ahead of next month’s football World Cup.

The Qatari government made gifts to members of parliament worth £251,208 in the 12 months to October 2022, including luxury hotel stays, business-class flights and tickets to horse-racing events.

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James Cleverly calls for countries to unite to deprive terrorists of funds

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UK foreign secretary was speaking at memorial ceremony for victims of 2008 attacks in Mumbai

Countries must work together to deprive terrorists of funding in order to prevent deadly attacks, the UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, has said.

Cleverly is in India for a two-day meeting of the UN security council’s counter-terrorism committee, which is being held in Mumbai and Delhi.

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Brexit red tape puts brakes on UK innovation and EU sales

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Many new products now need multiple safety test facilities for home and abroad, say entrepreneurs

British inventions are being brought to market overseas because new Brexit safety certification rules mean they can’t be sold in the UK.

Trade bodies and entrepreneurs have blamed the government’s decision to stop accepting the European Union’s CE mark and instead create a new UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) mark showing that a product is safe.

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Royal Navy chief orders inquiry into ‘abhorrent’ allegations of bullying and sexual harassment

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Whistleblowers allege abuse suffered by female recruits included compilation of a ‘crush depth rape list’ by submariners

The head of the Royal Navy has ordered an investigation into “abhorrent” allegations of inappropriate behaviour in the submarine service and declared that sexual assault and harassment has no place in the fleet.

It follows claims from whistleblowers who have made harrowing allegations of bullying, misogyny and sexual harassment suffered by female members.

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Big Ben clock to be turned back to GMT for first time in five years

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London landmark to signal end of daylight saving after major repair and conservation project

All four faces of Big Ben will be put back to Greenwich mean time (GMT) this weekend for the first time in five years.

British summer time (BST) officially ends at 2am on Sunday, and the clocks go back an hour, giving people an extra hour in bed – or an extra hour partying.

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Emotional debate over UK Covid memorial risks dividing bereaved

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Split over colour of heart symbol – and who it represents – and date of annual commemoration

An emotionally charged dispute over how best to memorialise Covid in the UK risks dividing people bereaved over the course of the pandemic.

A split has emerged over whether a red or yellow heart should become the long-term symbol of loss, and over the date of an annual commemoration. The crux of the dispute is a claim from some people who lost loved ones to Covid that their experience “needs to be treated differently” than those bereaved during Covid.

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The Sun always backs the winner: can the Murdoch papers warm to Keir Starmer?

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Former DPP Starmer tried to send head of News UK Rebekah Brooks to prison for phone hacking 10 years ago

Ten years ago Keir Starmer attempted to send Rebekah Brooks to prison for phone hacking.

Now Starmer could cause another headache for the boss of Rupert Murdoch’s British media empire. She has to work out how her Tory-backing newspapers – which include the Sun and the Times – handle the growing popularity of the man who is favourite to become the next prime minister.

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March of the Mummies: thousands to turn out in push for UK childcare reform

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Founder of campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed says parents are being set up to fail

More than 15,000 people are expected to take to the streets across the UK calling for government reforms to a childcare and parental leave structure that critics describe as dangerous and devastating.

Saturday’s March of the Mummies, organised by the campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed, is expected to bring out thousands of parents and children across 11 cities, with the author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the actor Sarah Solemani and the Labour MP Stella Creasy among those expected to attend.

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Britain’s grasslands and dormice under threat from mild autumn

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October’s summery temperatures are ‘confusing’ plants and throwing off fragile ecosystems

Britain’s rare chalk grasslands and dormice are under threat from the mild weather this autumn, and some plants are “confused” and have flowered multiple times, experts have said.

This October, the UK has experienced temperatures more normal for spring or summer, with highs of 19.5C recorded this week, and more warm weather forecast for coming days.

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Hospital patient challenges Rishi Sunak over nurses’ pay

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Catherine Poole tells prime minister to pay staff more, raising a finger and saying: ‘You need to try harder’

Rishi Sunak got a tase of how the “difficult decisions” he has said will guide spending cuts may go down with the public, when he was challenged by a hospital patient about nurses’ pay.

During a tour of Croydon University Hospital in south London, Sunak met NHS workers and posed for smiling selfies with them, but was confronted by 77-year old Catherine Poole.

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Labour demand answers to Suella Braverman’s ‘growth visa’ leak reports

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Rishi Sunak needs to clarify whether his home secretary’s security breach contained market sensitive data, Labour says

Rishi Sunak needs to clarify whether Suella Braverman leaked market-sensitive data before she resigned and then was reappointed as home secretary, Labour said on Friday.

Amid further warnings that her re-appointment was a mistake, Pat McFadden, a shadow Treasury minister, said the prime minister needed to clarify urgently whether companies or individuals could have benefited financially from her security breach.

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‘Detached from reality’: Trevor Noah’s view of racist Sunak ‘backlash’ divides opinion

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Authors and politicians have accused the US comedian of projecting an American cultural context on to the UK

The row began with a single call to a UK radio station, was stoked by one of America’s best-known comedians and ended with former Cabinet ministers wading in – and Downing Street, too.

At the heart of the furore: a claim that Rishi Sunak had experienced a racist “backlash” after becoming the UK’s first British-Asian prime minister.

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Plea to vaccinate children against flu as hospitalisations rise in England

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Data suggests hospital admission rates among children under five have almost doubled in two weeks

Parents are being urged to get their young children vaccinated against flu as data suggests hospitalisation rates among under-fives have almost doubled in England in the space of two weeks.

Data suggests the UK could face a triple whammy of respiratory illness this winter. While experts are concerned there could be another Covid wave, levels of both flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are increasing. The latter is a common winter virus that typically affects young children and can cause bronchiolitis.

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Man guilty of murder over ex-partner’s death 21 years after Somerset attack

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Steven Craig served prison time for 1998 attack on Jacqueline Kirk and was re-arrested after her death in 2019

A man has been convicted of murdering his ex-partner, who died 21 years after he doused her with petrol and set her on fire.

Steven Craig, now 58, inflicted horrendous injuries on Jacqueline Kirk in a car park in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, in April 1998. Kirk had burns to 35% of her body, required a tracheotomy and operations including skin grafts, and was in hospital for nine months.

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Twitter takeover: fears raised over disinformation and hate speech

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EU commissioner says Elon Musk’s platform must ‘fly by our rules’ as UK minister raises concerns over content moderation

Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition has been polarizing, sparking reactions from politicians, regulators and non-profits across different continents.

Some have expressed concerns about potential changes to Twitter’s content moderation policies now that it’s in the hands of the Tesla billionaire, while others celebrated how they expect the platform’s newly minted leader will handle content and speech on Twitter.

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Sunak drops pledge to fine patients who miss doctor’s appointment

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Now is not the right time to take this policy forward, says prime minister’s spokesperson

Rishi Sunak has dropped his Conservative leadership campaign pledge to fine patients £10 if they miss a GP or hospital appointment.

The prime minister had told Tory members in August it was “wrong” that there are “15m missed appointments every year NHS” at GPs and hospitals, as he justified the fine as a “tough” measure to change people’s behaviour.

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ExxonMobil’s record-breaking $20bn profit nearly matches Apple’s

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Oil company’s third-quarter result smashes Wall Street forecasts – as does Chevron’s £11.2bn

The US oil supermajor ExxonMobil has reported a quarterly profit of nearly $20bn (£17.3bn), $4bn more than analysts had forecast, almost matching the earnings of the tech giant Apple.

Exxon’s $19.7bn profit for the third quarter outstripped the record $17.9bn it reported for the previous quarter, as it became the latest fossil fuel producer to enjoy soaring earnings, a day after Shell announced global profits of $9.5bn between July and September.

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Rishi Sunak reportedly seeking deal with France to curb Channel crossings

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Draft deal includes targets and staff bonuses for tackling the number of asylum seekers in the UK

Rishi Sunak is aiming to reach an agreement with France to address the unprecedented number of Channel crossings by asylum seekers which could include new targets and bonuses, according to reports.

Ministers and officials are expected to review a draft deal that was previously close to being signed with France, which encompasses targets for how many boats are stopped from reaching the UK and a minimum number of French officers patrolling the beaches at any one time, sources told the Times.

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Scottish midwives vote to strike over ‘insulting’ pay offer

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Royal College of Midwives will soon ballot English and Welsh members after below-inflation offer is rejected in Scotland

Midwives in Scotland have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action over what they described as an “insulting” pay offer.

More than 88% of midwives and maternity support workers (MSWs) in Scotland, who are part of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), voted to strike in a turnout of 61% of eligible voters.

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