Tower-obsessed Charlie Barratt recorded the welcome speech visitors hear as they ascend the lift
Some little boys are obsessed with Lego. Others can’t get enough of dinosaurs. But it is Blackpool Tower that has captured one six-year-old’s imagination.
Now Charlie Barratt has achieved his dream by becoming the voice of the attraction’s lift after news of his superfandom spread.
Continue reading...Ban begins from 26 August and follows similar moves by four other water firms in England and Wales
Yorkshire Water has become the fifth water company in England and Wales to announce a hosepipe ban owing to the hot and dry conditions.
The company, which has more than 5 million customers, said the restrictions would come into effect from 26 August.
Continue reading...ONS says two bank holidays to mark Queen’s jubilee contributed to fall in output in June
Britain’s economy contracted by 0.1% in the three months to June, according to official figures that revealed the weakening outlook for the UK, which is expected to enter a recession later this year.
The dip in output in the second quarter followed 0.8% growth in the first quarter and was driven by the health sector – as Covid testing and the vaccine programme was wound down – and by retail, as household spending fell. Economists had forecast a bigger fall in output of 0.2% in the second quarter.
Continue reading...People on universal credit have payments reduced to zero because of a quirk in the system
Some low-paid workers on universal credit have missed out on the government’s first cost of living payment because of payroll quirks that removed their benefit entitlement during the key window set by the government.
“I was going to use it to load up my gas meter, get ahead on my electricity and fill up the freezer,” said David Evans, a 55-year-old IT apprentice, of his plans for the £326 payment that in recent weeks has been landing in the bank accounts of struggling Britons.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Britishvolt’s 95-hectare site seen as great hope for car industry, but construction severely limited until February
Construction of a huge electric car battery factory that has attracted tens of millions of pounds of taxpayer cash and been hailed as a flagship project of Boris Johnson’s levelling up policy has been put on “life support” to cut spending, leaked internal documents suggest.
Work on Britishvolt’s 95-hectare site near Blyth in Northumberland has been severely limited until February to minimise spending as it focuses on unlocking its next round of funding and critical power supply infrastructure, the documents suggest.
Continue reading...Annual figures indicate ‘dramatic collapse’ in confidence in criminal justice system, says Labour
Almost 1.5 million victims of crime in England and Wales have decided not to pursue their cases, feeding concern that public confidence in the criminal justice system has collapsed.
Home Office figures unearthed by Labour show there were 1,411,650 victims who did not support continuing action after they had reported a crime in the year to March 2022.
Continue reading...Incontinence, bleeding and STIs among consequences, say two surgeons, who want doctors to raise the topic with patients
Women in the UK are suffering injuries and other health problems as a result of the growing popularity of anal sex among straight couples, two NHS surgeons have warned.
The consequences include incontinence and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) as well as pain and bleeding because they have experienced bodily trauma while engaging in the practice, the doctors write in an article in the British Medical Journal.
Continue reading...Kelly Wu-Chiao Hsieh called for operations to uphold the ‘median line’ in the Taiwan Strait in response to China’s military exercises
The US and its allies should jointly respond to China’s live ammunition drills designed to intimidate Taiwan by holding “freedom of navigation” operations in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei’s official representative to the UK has said.
In an interview with the Guardian, Kelly Wu-Chiao Hsieh also called on the UK to uphold the principles of rules-based international order and forge closer trade and security investment relations with Taiwan. He welcomed the decision of the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, to condemn the unprecedented Chinese military exercises in the wake of the visit of the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, to the island, the most senior US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years.
Continue reading...Harry Sarkar resigned from West Midlands force after lying about a girlfriend who he said had cancer
A former police officer who pretended to have a girlfriend who died of cancer to get days off work has been condemned for his “odious” behaviour.
Harry Sarkar misled colleagues and supervisors at West Midlands police, where he was a constable, with a “detailed tissue of lies” about a fake girlfriend who he claimed became sick with cancer and died, a hearing was told. He even lied about her funeral.
Continue reading...Drax has taken £5.6bn in subsidies from energy bill payers but business secretary says practice is ‘not sustainable’
The importing of wood to burn in Drax power station “is not sustainable” and “doesn’t make any sense”, the business and energy secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, told a private meeting of MPs this week.
The remarks are significant as the burning of biomass to produce energy is an important part of the UK government’s net zero strategy and has received £5.6bn in subsidies from energy bill payers over the last decade. Scientists and campaigners have long argued that burning wood to produce electricity is far from green and can even increase the CO2 emissions driving the climate crisis.
Continue reading...John MacKinnon named as man who died while three others were injured in incidents on Skye and in Wester Ross
Communities in Skye and Lochalsh have experienced “one of the worst days” in their history after shooting incidents that left one man dead and three others injured.
Police named John MacKinnon, 47, as the man who died following a series of incidents on the Isle of Skye and in the Dornie area of Wester Ross on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Man accused of being fourth member of cell known as ‘the Beatles’ appears in London court after being deported from Turkey
A man accused of being the fourth member of an Islamic State terror cell known as “the Beatles” has been remanded in custody after appearing at court accused of terror offences.
Aine Leslie Davis, 38, spoke briefly to confirm his name and date of birth when he appeared at Westminster magistrates court on Thursday.
Continue reading...Latest updates: foreign secretary’s supporters accuse former chancellor of resisting changes to EU regulation as sixth hustings looms
Gordon Brown, the former Labour prime minister, has used an article in today’s Guardian to propose that the government should halt the increases in the energy price cap planned for later this year and next year and, if necessary, take energy companies into public ownership to ensure that they keep prices down.
Alongside the Lib Dem plan, with which it has some similarities (they also want a price cap freeze, and more money raised through a windfall tax), it is the most radical and ambitious proposal on the table to tackle the energy bills crisis.
Continue reading...Campaigners told new deadline for decision on first new deep coalmine in more than 30 years is 8 November
A much-anticipated decision on whether the UK’s first new deep coalmine in more than 30 years should go ahead has been delayed again.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) has written to Friends of the Earth to inform the organisation that the new secretary of state, Greg Clark, has set a new deadline of 8 November to rule on whether the coalmine should be granted planning permission.
Continue reading...Michael O’Leary warns of rising cost of fuel and says policymakers need to get inflation back to about 2%
The boss of Ryanair has warned the era of ultra-low airfares is over and said Brexit is partly to blame for a shortage of airport workers that has created chaos during the peak holiday period.
The airline’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, said surging oil prices would make it impossible to keep offering promotional tickets for less than €10 (£8.50). He added that Ryanair’s average fare would rise from about €40 towards €50 over the next five years as the company adjusted to rising inflation.
Continue reading...Crucifixion mosaic and fresco saved from destruction after two-year campaign
A stunning mural created in a Catholic church by a Jewish refugee from the Nazis has been saved from destruction, decay and vandalism after being granted Grade II-listed status by the UK government.
The Crucifixion, by the leading 20th-century artist George Mayer-Marton, is a rare combination of mosaic and fresco standing almost 8 metres (26ft) high, taking up an entire wall inside the Holy Rosary church in Oldham.
Continue reading...Tory leadership contender says rival had previously dismissed direct support as ‘handouts’
Suella Braverman, the attorney general, is giving a speech to the Policy Exchange thinktank on equalities and rights. There is a live feed here.
In a preview of the speech published in the Daily Telegraph, Braverman says she wants to clarify the law on trans rights as it applies in schools. She says:
When it comes to gender-questioning children, we should always have compassion. At the same time, our compassion should never blind us to the harm it is possible to do to children by misplaced affirmation. Many schools and teachers believe – incorrectly – that they are under an absolute legal obligation to treat children who are gender questioning according to the preference of the child. Many are scared of the consequences of not doing so.
I want to make it clear that it is possible, within the law, for schools to refuse to use the preferred opposite-sex pronouns of a child.
The UK and partners have condemned in the strongest terms China’s escalation in the region around Taiwan, as seen through our recent G7 statement.
I instructed officials to summon the Chinese ambassador to explain his country’s actions.
Continue reading...Police are appealing for information from anyone who saw Owami Davies, who was last seen in West Croydon at 12.30pm on 7 July
New CCTV footage showing the last known images of a student nurse who went missing last month has been released by police.
Owami Davies was last seen about 12.30pm on Derby Road in West Croydon, south London, on 7 July.
Continue reading...Analysis: Gordon Brown, Martin Lewis and Ed Davey are the voices being heard, as the opposition is left with the same policy as Sunak
Gordon Brown has thrown down the gauntlet with his plan to halt a winter energy crisis – but not just to the Tory leadership candidates. The call to revoke the energy price cap and consider nationalising energy firms will attract a lot of attention but fundamentally it is also a chance for Labour to choose to be radical. It is likely to compound calls from activists for the party to find a new sense of urgency.
In the middle of August, politicians can often afford to take long breaks away from Westminster to recharge – and sometimes get a valuable dose of perspective. But the extent to which politicians – including those in the Labour party – have gone missing this summer is particularly striking.
Continue reading...Be it a loft insulation drive or a lower price cap, there are many ways to help – but action must be swift and extensive
The UK government has been urged to take further action to alleviate the impact of soaring energy prices, and there are a number of measures it could take.
Any rescue package would need to be swift and extensive to prevent households being plunged into poverty this winter as home energy prices surge. Ministers will also need to dig deep to prevent more businesses hit by rising energy costs from defaulting on loans and declaring themselves bankrupt.
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