Campaigner against violence against women was told her views on transgender issues conflicted with its rights policies
A city council has apologised to veteran feminist and lesbian activist Julie Bindel after cancelling a talk because of “the speaker’s views on transgender rights”.
In June, Bindel was due to give a talk, organised by the Nottingham Women for Change group at Aspley library in Nottingham, one of three earmarked for closure.
Continue reading...Health and social care secretary’s decision to grant contracts to UK firm Abingdon Health was the subject of litigation
A legal challenge to the government’s award of multimillion-pound contracts for lateral flow tests that later failed to gain regulatory approval has been rejected by the high court.
The health and social care secretary’s decision to grant three contracts to UK firm Abingdon Health was the subject of litigation by campaigning organisation Good Law Project (GLP), which has brought several cases challenging the way contracts were awarded during the pandemic.
Continue reading...City beat 19 others to host 67th contest after Volodymyr Zelenskiy agreed staging event in Mariupol was not possible
The Eurovision song contest will be hosted by Liverpool next year after it beat 19 other cites to stage the event on behalf of war-torn Ukraine.
The annual extravaganza will be held in the UK for the first time in 25 years on 13 May as Ukraine is unable to host the event due to the Russian invasion.
Continue reading...Register of MPs’ interests shows ex-PM accepted gift from Lady Carole Bamford, wife of JCB chairman, Lord Anthony Bamford
Boris Johnson accepted free accommodation worth £10,000 from the wife of the leading Tory donor who hosted his wedding party this summer, it has emerged.
The updated register of MPs’ interests shows that the former prime minister accepted a £10,000 gift from Lady Carole Bamford, for “concessionary use of accommodation for me and my family in September”.
Continue reading...Chris Heaton-Harris also repeated that he would call an election on 28 October if power sharing is not restored
The British government has said it is looking to move on from the row with the EU over Northern Ireland and is aiming to “move quickly” to reach a solution on Brexit arrangements.
After a joint meeting with Irish ministers in London, the Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, said he optimistic for a settlement after the resumption of talks after an eight-month standoff.
Continue reading...UK and Ireland agree to do ‘everything possible’ to restore power sharing in Northern Ireland
The UK and Ireland have agreed to do “everything possible” to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland, following a meeting of the British-Irish intergovernmental conference in London.
The Irish foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney and the UK’s Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris met in London today – alongside the Irish justice minister Helen McEntee and the UK’s Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker.
The UK and Irish governments reaffirmed their commitment to doing everything possible to facilitate the reestablishment of the executive by 28 October and the full functioning of all of the political institutions established by the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement including the North South Ministerial Council.
They agreed on the importance of respecting the agreement in totality.
The conference discussed the approach to the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past and the value of further engagement on this crucial issue, in particular the Irish government’s concerns with the UK government’s proposed legislation and how those concerns might be addressed.
In terms of setting up a central bank, we would start that process as soon as Scotland voted for independence. That central bank would be the provider of advice to the Scottish government on these matters, it would be the lender of last resort for our financial services industry, it would require reserves that could cover these limited functions in that first period.
We have said, and this is my party’s position, that we would move from using the pound, we would continue to use the pound after independence ... and we would move to a Scottish pound when the economic conditions were right.
Continue reading...Founder Julian Dunkerton says being ‘cool again’ with TikTok generation helped turn previous £37m loss into £18m profit
Superdry is in talks with its banks to renegotiate up to £70m debt, the fashion retailer revealed on Friday, but investors shrugged off concerns to send shares soaring more than 14% as founder Julian Dunkerton announced a return to profit.
Dunkerton claimed Superdry “was cool again”, with strong demand from the TikTok generation for items such as parachute pants and Afghan coats, as he revealed pre tax profits of £18m, a bounce back from a loss of almost £37m a year before as sales rose almost 10% to £610m in the year to 30 April.
Continue reading...Based on results from random swabbing, ONS says 1.1 million people in country have virus
Covid infection levels are continuing to rise in England, with more than 1.1 million people thought to have had the virus in the most recent week, data has revealed.
According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, based on swabs from randomly selected households, about one in 50 people in England – 2% of the population – had Covid in the week ending 24 September, an increase from one in 65 the week before.
Continue reading...Munib al-Masri has 300-page dossier of allegations including killings and torture between 1917 and 1948
A Palestinian businessman and former politician is to petition the UK government for an apology for abuses in the region during the period of British rule in the first half of the 20th century.
Munib al-Masri, 88, a close friend and supporter of the late Palestinian political leader Yasser Arafat, has with two international lawyers drawn up a 300-page dossier of evidence alleging abuses by the British between 1917 and 1948, the BBC reported.
Continue reading...This live blog has now closed, you can find our latest political coverage here
In his interview with LBC Jake Berry, the Tory chairman, was asked if he was channelling When Harry Met Sally when he described Liz Truss as the “Yes, yes, yes prime minister” in his speech to the conference yesterday. (Robert Hutton is very funny about this, and much else, in his sketch for the Critic.) Berry said he was referring to Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister when he delivered that line.
In the same interview, Berry revealed that his joke-making has not improved since yesterday. Talking about the conference in general, Berry said:
I think colleagues saw yesterday that when the going gets tough, the Truss gets going.
I do think my language was a bit clumsy in that regard and I regret it.
The point I was making ... is that the government needs to go for growth to ensure that it can grow the economy and Britain can get a pay rise. You don’t have to tell me how hard people graft in this economy. I know how hard people work.
We’ve got to wait until those figures are available … You simply cannot make a decision on figures you do not currently have.
Continue reading...Initiative may continue beyond December as bank bosses raise concerns over mortgage market
The chancellor is considering extending the government’s mortgage guarantee scheme after UK bank bosses raised concerns over the state of the UK’s mortgage market at a high-level meeting at No 11 Downing Street.
The meeting on Thursday – which was attended by chief executives including Alison Rose of NatWest, Charlie Nunn of Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC UK’s Ian Stuart, Mike Regnier of Santander and TSB’s Robin Bulloch – was scheduled amid mounting fears about the potential fallout from rapidly rising mortgage rates.
Continue reading...Report suggested Dyson was complicit in abuse and exploitation at Malaysia factory, claim inventor’s lawyers
The billionaire businessman James Dyson is attempting to sue Channel 4 over a news report about claims of abuse and exploitation in the Malaysia factory of a former supplier to his firm.
The lead story on Channel 4 News on 10 February suggested Dyson, second on this year’s Sunday Times UK rich list, was complicit in the practices at the ATA-owned factory, the inventor’s lawyer told the high court in London on Thursday.
Continue reading...Competition and Markets Authority says other operators may not be able to compete after merger of Inmarsat and Viasat
The $7.3bn (£5.4bn) takeover of the British satellite company Inmarsat by its US rival Viasat could result in higher-priced and lower-quality wifi for aeroplane passengers, according to the UK competition watchdog.
The Competition and Markets Authority said its investigation has identified concerns with the merger possibly leading to airlines being offered lower-quality products for onboard wifi and facing higher prices to deliver it.
Continue reading...Met police confirm arrest of 25 climate campaigners for blocking road in central London
Twenty-five supporters of Just Stop Oil have been arrested after blocking traffic in central London, on the sixth consecutive day of protest by the group.
At about midday on Thursday, two groups of protesters with the climate activist campaign walked into the road and stopped traffic at the roundabout by Trafalgar Square.
Continue reading...Jail term reduced by a year owing to legal oversight in original sentencing at Chester crown court
The court of appeal has reduced the jail sentence of a serial cyberstalker who harassed women by creating fake social media accounts to spread fake claims about them.
Matthew Hardy, 31, was jailed for nine years last January at Chester crown court after pleading guilty to stalking involving fear of violence and harassment after breaching a restraining order.
Continue reading...Former judge appointed to investigate claims prominent dance schools have rigged competitions
The ostensibly quaint world of Irish dancing has been rocked by allegations of competition fixing and cheating, with some parents and teachers saying there is a code of omertà akin to The Godfather and The Sopranos.
The Irish Dancing Commission, a governing body known in Irish as An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG), has appointed a former judge to investigate claims that prominent dance schools and teachers have rigged competitions, it emerged this week.
Continue reading...It’s been four weeks since Liz Truss became prime minister and her policies are already facing criticism from senior Conservative MPs. Rafael Behr reports on whether she’ll be able to hold the party together
On Wednesday, Liz Truss addressed her party at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham. She told the party that she was “ready to make the hard choices”, but with some Tory MPs already publicly criticising her policies, are her days as prime minister numbered?
The speech was interrupted by two Greenpeace protesters holding up a banner saying “who voted for this?”, a sentiment shared by the former culture secretary Nadine Dories who tweeted earlier in the week “if Liz wants a whole new mandate, she must take it to the country”.
Continue reading...New home secretary objects to increasing visas for Indians and critiques predecessor’s attempt to return overstayers
Suella Braverman has again risked upsetting No 10 after saying she has “reservations” about Britain’s trade deal with India because it could increase immigration to the UK.
Liz Truss said she wants to sign a trade agreement with India by Diwali at the end of this month. The Indian government is demanding an increase in work and study visas for Indian nationals and earlier this year Boris Johnson said the agreement would lead to increased immigration.
Continue reading...Lawyers acting for more than 1,600 drivers say they have been wrongly classed as self-employed
More than 1,600 UK drivers working for the ride-hailing app Bolt are seeking compensation for missed holiday and minimum wage payments as they argue they have been wrongly classed as self-employed contractors.
Lawyers for the drivers have written to the government-backed workplace conciliation service Acas, in the first stage of lodging the claim against Bolt.
Continue reading...Major disruption to NHS over winter feared if ballot of 300,000 staff over 5% pay increase results in industrial action
Hundreds of thousands of nurses across the UK are to be balloted about going on strike in a move that risks disrupting the NHS this winter.
For the first time in its 106-year history the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is balloting 300,000 of its members about strike action and recommending that they vote in favour.
Continue reading...