Category Archives: UK news

Saudi snitching app appears to have been used against jailed Leeds student

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‘Terrifying tool’ under scrutiny as Salma al-Shehab’s tweets suggest widely available phone app was used to report her

The Saudi woman who was sentenced to 34 years in prison for a tweet appears to have been denounced to Saudi authorities through a crime-reporting app that users in the kingdom can download to Apple and Android phones.

A review of Leeds PhD student Salma al-Shehab’s tweets and interactions shows she was messaged by a person using a Saudi account on 15 November, 2020 after she posted a mildly critical tweet in response to a Saudi government post about a new public transportation contract.

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Liz Truss’s plan for cost of living crisis would lead to ‘moral failure’, says Rishi Sunak – UK politics live

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Former chancellor says foreign secretary’s tax cut plan would provide no support for pensioners or other vulnerable groups

London’s mayor has warned of a rise in shootings and stabbings amid concerns that the increasing cost of living could lead to more violence and make it easier for gangs to lure vulnerable young people.

Sadiq Khan said millions of pounds more were being put into schemes to turn people away from violence. The Labour mayor has been criticised by some for his record on crime.

I am concerned about a potential increase in violence this summer as the cost of living crisis deepens and threatens to reverse the progress we have made in tackling violent crime. Violence, like poverty, is not inevitable and the government must now do much more to show it shares my commitment to building a fairer, safer London for all.

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Cristiano Ronaldo cautioned by police over Everton fan’s smashed phone

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Caution issued after footage emerged from match between Manchester United and Everton in April

Cristiano Ronaldo has been cautioned by police after footage emerged of the Manchester United forward appearing to smash a phone out of an Everton fan’s hand at a match.

Merseyside police said in a statement: “We can confirm that a 37-year-old man voluntarily attended and was interviewed under caution in relation to an allegation of assault and criminal damage.

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Benjamin Mendy: footballer tried to rape woman after shower, jury told

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Woman came forward after publicity of Manchester City defender’s arrest for raping other women

The Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy tried to rape a woman who had gone to his house to meet another footballer in his entourage, a court has heard.

She told police the 28-year-old assaulted her after she had a shower in his mansion, tugging at her towel and telling her he wanted to see her naked before attempting to have intercourse with her.

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Boy, 13, raided luxury London hotels and BBC building, court told

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Claridge’s in Mayfair among hotels burgled by boy, who was 12 at time of offences, court hears

A 13-year-old boy carried out burglaries at some of London’s top luxury hotels and the BBC’s Television Centre, a court has heard.

The boy, who was 12 at the time of the offences, admitted to raids on Claridge’s in Mayfair, Kensington’s Milestone hotel, the Millennium Hotel in Knightsbridge, and the Corinthian Hotel in Whitehall, Highbury Corner magistrates court was told on Wednesday.

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Human remains confirmed as four separate victims in Oldham mill fire

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News follows earlier announcement that four Vietnamese nationals were missing after fire in May

Human remains discovered by workers demolishing a mill in Oldham have been confirmed as four separate victims, including one identified as a Vietnamese national, police have said.

It was not believed anyone was inside at the time of the fire at Bismark House Mill on Bower Street in May. But after remains were discovered on 23 July, police confirmed that four Vietnamese people were missing.

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Ryan Giggs tells court night in cell was ‘worst experience’ of his life

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Former Manchester United player tearful in court as he talks of arrest for allegedly head-butting ex-girlfriend Kate Greville

Ryan Giggs broke down in tears in court on Wednesday as he said that spending a night in the police cells was “the worst experience of [his] life”.

The former Manchester United and Wales player became emotional as he was asked to describe the evening he was arrested for allegedly head-butting his then girlfriend Kate Greville on 1 November 2020.

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Power station owner Uniper posts £10bn loss as gas shortages bite

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German energy firm, which operates many UK power stations, has been bailed out by federal government

The owner of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire has posted a €12bn (£10bn) loss weeks after agreeing a bailout package with the German government, in a set of results that signal the deepening energy crisis across Europe.

Uniper received a €15bn lifeline from the German state in return for a 30% equity stake in a deal agreed in July.

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Survivors of contaminated blood scandal awarded interim payments

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Ministers accepted urgency of need of those infected in 1970s and 1980s, who are dying at the rate of one every four days

Survivors of the contaminated blood scandal have been awarded interim government payments after a 40-year battle, but thousands of parents and children of the victims have still received nothing.

Ministers have accepted the urgency of the need to make the £100,000 payments to about 3,000 surviving victims, after being warned that those mistakenly infected with HIV and hepatitis C were dying at the rate of one every four days.

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Police leaders promise crackdown on officers who are abusive to women

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College of Policing for England and Wales is planning policies to deal with harassment and racism in forces after string of scandals

Police leaders have admitted officers were kept on duty who should be sacked as they launched a promised crackdown on those who attack, abuse or harass women.

A series of scandals have rocked confidence in policing, with its leaders under pressure to do more to eliminate what one police chief called “toxic behaviour and [a] damaging culture”.

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Registration plates and insurance for cyclists being considered by government – report

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Whitehall review is also said to suggest cycling speed limits, along with licence penalty points and fines

Bikes could be made to have registration plates and insurance as ministers weigh up bringing speed limits for cyclists into line with those for drivers.

The government is also considering the possibility of cyclists receiving licence penalty points and fines if they break speed limits or run red lights, the Daily Mail reported.

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Liz Truss faces Rishi Sunak in leadership hustings after comments about British workers leaked – as it happened

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Latest updates: leaked audio reveals favourite to be next PM said British workers lacked the ‘graft’ of their foreign rivals

Keir Starmer said the biggest cause of division in Scotland was the Conservative party.

The Labour leader said:

The single biggest driver of division in Scotland is the Tory party in Westminster.

I want to hold our UK together, I want to make a positive case for the UK as we go forward.

I think that this assumption that most people can afford these massive hikes in their energy bills is completely wrong.

I think the government in making that argument is completely out of touch.

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Man on mobility scooter stabbed to death in west London

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Police are appealing for information after the man, believed to be in his 80s, was killed in Greenford

An elderly man who had been riding a mobility scooter in west London has been stabbed to death.

Metropolitan police officers were called at 4.06pm on Tuesday to Cayton Road, Greenford, to reports of a man with stab injuries, and despite the efforts of paramedics he was declared dead at the scene.

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Sunak and Truss rule out freezing energy prices at leadership hustings

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Rival candidates questioned in Perth after frontrunner Truss makes belligerent remarks about Sturgeon

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have ruled out freezing energy prices by claiming it would be an expensive, short-term fix that would fail to solve the underlying problem with soaring energy costs.

The Conservative leadership contenders were questioned on whether they would back Labour’s new strategy to fix the domestic energy cap during a leadership hustings at Perth Concert Hall on Tuesday night.

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Russia warns Britain against planned spy plane overflight

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Russia’s defence ministry says it considered the action a ‘deliberate provocation’

Russia’s defence ministry has warned Britain against a planned spy plane flight over Russian territory, saying its air force has been given orders to prevent an intrusion.

The ministry said on Tuesday that the UK had sent a notice informing about a planned flight of an RC-135 reconnaissance plane along a route that partly passes over Russian territory.

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Foreign Office official raised ‘stark’ criticisms of Rwanda plan, court hears

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Guardian, BBC and Times seek release of documents about policy of sending asylum seekers abroad

A Foreign Office official raised concerns about plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, citing state surveillance, arbitrary detention, torture and killings by the country’s government, the high court has heard.

The court has been asked to consider an application by the foreign secretary to keep parts of certain government documents secret for fear the contents could damage international relations and threaten national security.

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No improvement in school attainment gap in England for 20 years, report says

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‘Overwhelming evidence’ education system leaves too many poorer students behind, despite decades of policy focus

The attainment gap between poorer pupils and their better-off class mates is just as large now as it was 20 years ago, according to a damning new report which says the coronavirus pandemic is likely to have increased the inequalities in education

The landmark study, based on research carried out for the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and funded by the Nuffield Foundation, found that disadvantaged pupils start school behind their better-off peers, and those inequalities persist through their school years and beyond – eventually having an impact on earnings.

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Labour to push energy price cap policy in campaign blitz

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Party aims to get out message on plan to tackle cost of living before new Conservative PM enters No 10

Labour is planning a campaigning blitz in order to take ownership of its new energy price cap policy in case the next Tory leader bows to pressure and cancels the 80% rise expected in October.

Keir Starmer has vowed that his party “wouldn’t let people pay a penny more” on their gas and electricity bills this winter, proposing freezing the price cap at current levels and preventing the average household bill from reaching £3,600.

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Interest-free loans to be rolled out in UK to help with food bills

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Supermarket Iceland is part of scheme to offer sums of £25 to £100 to buy everyday items

A zero-interest loans scheme aimed at helping thousands of people who are struggling to put food on the table is being rolled out across the UK.

The initiative, the result of a link-up between the supermarket chain Iceland and a charity-owned lender, is the latest interest-free loans scheme to launch in response to growing concern about households who find themselves at the sharp end of the cost of living crisis and are unable to access or afford existing forms of credit.

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Steve Toussaint reveals racist abuse after being cast in House of the Dragon

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Actor tells Radio Times of social media backlash after landing part in Game of Thrones prequel

Steve Toussaint has revealed he received racist abuse online after he was cast as Corlys Velaryon in the upcoming Game Of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon.

The 57-year-old British actor has previously starred in Doctor Who, Line of Duty and Death in Paradise.

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