Closure of major road bridge linking Essex and Kent causes fresh rush-hour delays
Just Stop Oil protesters remain on top of the M25 Dartford Crossing, threatening another day of commuter chaos.
The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge linking Essex and Kent was closed after it was scaled by two climbers from the group, whose demands include that the government “halts all new oil and gas licences and consents”.
Continue reading...Former and serving pilots told not to disclose sensitive information, in attempt to ‘mitigate risk’ of schemes
British defence intelligence is to issue a rare “threat alert”, warning that China’s military is trying to recruit serving and former RAF jet pilots to help train its own air force with generous recruitment packages.
Officials expressed “concern and disapproval” of these schemes because they posed “a threat to UK and western interests”. Although they are not explicitly banning pilots from providing training, they aim to take steps to “manage the risk”.
Continue reading...Judges described the Sri Lankan author’s second novel as a ‘rollercoaster journey through life and death’ and praised its audacity and ambition
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka has won the Booker prize for fiction. The judges praised the “ambition of its scope, and the hilarious audacity of its narrative techniques”.
Karunatilaka’s second novel, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida comes more than a decade after his debut, Chinaman, which was published in 2011. The Booker-winning novel tells the story of the photographer of its title, who in 1990 wakes up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. With no idea who killed him, Maali has seven moons to contact the people he loves most and lead them to a hidden cache of photos of civil war atrocities that will rock Sri Lanka.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Mark Fullbrook said to have acted as Fathi Bashagha’s PR adviser, as officials were lobbied on foreign policy
Mark Fullbrook, the No 10 chief of staff, accompanied a controversial Libyan politician involved in an attempted military coup to a meeting in the Foreign Office to lobby officials on foreign policy, it has emerged, raising further questions over his influence.
Labour has said Fullbrook’s position as Liz Truss’s most senior official is “untenable” after it was revealed that he facilitated unofficial meetings in June with senior cabinet ministers for Fathi Bashagha, a Libyan politician. Bashagha, who is seeking international support as a rival prime minister, has links to the Russian Wagner Group and a military strongman in the east of the country.
Continue reading...Latest updates: chancellor to make statement after leader of Commons denied PM was hiding under a desk
Judging by what Conservative MPs have been telling journalists in private over the last few days, the consensus (but not unanimous) view among Tories seems to be that Liz Truss will have to be replaced as party leader before the next election. But very few MPs are saying that in public, and Sky’s Tom Larkin, who is running a spreadsheet of Tories calling for Truss’s resignation, has only got three names on it.
Damian Green, the former first secretary of state, was on the Today programme and you would expect him to be on the Larkin list. He is chair of the One Nation Conservatives caucus, the group most horrified by Truss’s experiment with hardline free market ideology. But he insisted that Truss did have the credibility to carry on as PM, despite the fact she is abandoning most of the key tax policies at the heart of her leadership campaign. He explained:
She is a pragmatist - she’s realised that the first budget didn’t work in spectacular fashion, so she’s now taken the sensible view that we will now try something else, and she’s appointed a very sensible chancellor in Jeremy Hunt.
I obviously don’t know what he’s going to say, but clearly what he’s going to do is already beginning to reassure the markets, and I hope will continue to do so afterwards.
Yes, because if she leads us into the next election, that will mean that the next two years have been a lot more successful than the past four weeks have been. That would not only be good for the Conservative party, that would be particularly good for the country as well, so I think everyone would welcome that.
Continue reading...Manchester United footballer is charged with attempted rape, assault and coercive and controlling behaviour
The Manchester United footballer Mason Greenwood will spend more than a month in custody after a district judge denied him bail on charges of attempted rape and other offences.
The 21-year-old appeared at Manchester and Salford magistrates court on Monday charged with attempted rape, assault and “repeatedly engaging” in coercive and controlling behaviour.
Continue reading...Research finds participants’ recall of certain material decreased after being played audio while asleep
Playing sounds while you slumber might help to strengthen some memories while weakening others, research suggests, with experts noting the approach might one day help people living with traumatic recollections.
Previous work has shown that when a sound is played as a person learns an association between two words, the memory of that word association is boosted if the same sound is played while the individual sleeps.
Continue reading...Former member of Corbyn-loyal wing of party was target of tabloid stories during time in parliament
Labour has blocked the former Kensington MP Emma Dent Coad from the longlist to fight the seat at the next election, a move which has sparked outrage among local campaigners.
Dent Coad, who was elected in 2017 in a shock victory over the Conservatives by just 20 votes, is the leader of the Labour group on the council, and lost her seat in 2019 to the Conservatives.
Continue reading...Sir Mark Rowley says humour cannot be ‘used as an excuse’ after Casey review highlights misogyny and racism
The Metropolitan police commissioner has issued direct orders to officers and staff, saying those who make jokes about violent attacks on women or who fail to stand up to hate speech should expect to be sacked.
Sir Mark Rowley issued the instructions, seen by the Guardian, after a review by Louise Casey found racists and misogynists had been left in the ranks of Britain’s biggest police force by a hugely flawed disciplinary system.
Continue reading...UK joins France in saying apparent drone supply for use in Ukraine leaves Iran in breach of 2015 JCPoA
Britain has joined France in viewing the Iranian supply of armed drones to Russia for devastating use in Ukraine as a breach of Iran’s obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal.
The joint view comes as EU foreign affairs ministers slapped human rights sanctions on the Iranian morality police over their handling of street protests and treatment of women.
Continue reading...Foreign secretary urged to take action after Hong Kong demonstrator punched and kicked in Manchester
The UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, is facing demands to act against the Chinese government as police confirmed that a man was assaulted after being dragged into the grounds of the country’s consulate in Manchester.
Labour and senior Tories have called for the Chinese ambassador to explain what happened after footage appeared to show a pro-democracy demonstrator being beaten and kicked by several men. Police said the assailants had emerged from the consular building.
Continue reading...Trans MP says senior Tories sought ‘cheap political points’ and tells Liz Truss to resign for bringing them into government
Jamie Wallis, a Conservative MP who came out as transgender earlier this year, has accused fellow Tory MPs of exploiting and weaponising trans issues “in order to score cheap political points” during the recent leadership contest.
The MP for Bridgend in Wales, who has written a letter to Liz Truss calling on her to resign as prime minister, described the tactics used during the battle to succeed Boris Johnson as “extremely unpleasant”.
Continue reading...Prime minister to meet mutinous Tory MPs this week in effort to shore up her position after U-turns on tax
Liz Truss is fighting for her political survival, with Conservative MPs threatening to oust her and even allies warning she has just days to turn around her premiership despite ripping up her economic strategy and appointing Jeremy Hunt as chancellor.
The beleaguered prime minister will attempt to shore up her crumbling support by gathering her cabinet ministers at No 10 on Monday and then embarking on a series of meetings with mutinous Tory MPs before the next budget in a fortnight’s time.
Continue reading...Mark Fullbrook accused of trying to change UK policy by arranging for ministers to meet Libyan politician
Labour has claimed Mark Fullbrook’s position as Downing Street chief of staff is no longer tenable after it was revealed that before his appointment he tried to change UK foreign policy by arranging for two cabinet ministers to meet Fathi Bashagha, a Libyan politician with links to the Russian Wagner Group.
The Guardian had previously reported that Fullbrook, as chief executive of Fullbrook Strategies, had lobbied on behalf of Bashagha, but the Sunday Times alleged he arranged for Bashagha to come to London in June, where he met the then business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, and the education secretary at the time, Nadhim Zahawi.
Continue reading...Peter Nash accused of killing Jillu Nash, 43, and 12-year-old daughter Louise at their home last month
A man has been charged with the murder of his wife and 12-year-old daughter who were found dead at their home in Suffolk.
The bodies of Jillu Nash, 43, and Louise Nash were discovered at a property in Great Waldingfield, Sudbury, on 8 September.
Continue reading...PM will gather her cabinet for a rare Monday meeting to try to convince them she still holds levers of power
When Liz Truss gathers her cabinet in Downing Street for a rare Monday meeting to shore up support and talk them through her radically changed plans for the Halloween budget, she will be trying to convince them she still has a grip on power.
Sacking Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor and bringing in Jeremy Hunt – who quickly buried key elements of her economic strategy, with tax rises and public spending cuts to come – was a necessary political sacrifice if she was to survive in No 10.
Continue reading...Body believed to be that of a man in his 40s who had gone missing from a north London address alongside a woman in her 30s
Three arrests have been made after the discovery of a man’s body in woodland in Essex, as police investigate whether two people were taken against their will.
The body is believed to be that of a man in his 40s, who had gone missing from an address in north London alongside a woman in her 30s who has since been found physically unharmed.
Continue reading...Former PM angered by fictitious storyline in which Charles seeks his help in getting the Queen to abdicate
As Netflix prepares to release its fifth season of big budget royal drama The Crown it has rejected criticism of the latest season after former prime minster Sir John Major described it as a “barrel load of nonsense”.
Major’s comments were made after concerns arose that a storyline in the hit programme could damage King Charles’s reputation.
Continue reading...Comments will be embarrassing for royal who has tried to distance himself from disgraced socialite
Ghislaine Maxwell has spoken from a US prison cell about how she feels “so bad” for her “dear friend” Prince Andrew.
In her first lengthy interview since her conviction on sex-trafficking charges last year, Maxwell said she still cared about the Duke of York, who has been stripped of royal duties over his relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Continue reading...Popular disposable brand will still be able to sell products in Britain, despite being accused of flouting advertising regulations
China has banned the sale of flavoured e-cigarettes as part of a wide-ranging crackdown on the industry. The new rules mean vapes that have flavourings other than tobacco – such as those that taste fruity or sweet – cannot be sold on the domestic market.
But they can still be manufactured in China to be shipped around the world, including to the UK, where Chinese-made brands such as Elfbar, known for its range of flavoured disposable vapes, are popular.
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