Category Archives: UK news

UK food price inflation hits highest level since global financial crash

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Prices in shops rose by 5.1% in August, British Retail Consortium finds, as the war in Ukraine pushes up prices up for farmers

The rapidly rising price of food including milk, margarine and crisps pushed August shop price inflation to the highest levels since 2008 as the war in Ukraine raised costs for farmers.

Prices in shops rose by 5.1%, a big increase from 4.4% in July, as food producers passed on increases in the cost of fertiliser, wheat and vegetable oils, large amounts of which are produced in Ukraine and Russia, according to data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and market research firm NielsenIQ.

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Politicians view face-to-face interviews as ‘all risk’, says Nick Robinson

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BBC journalist says ‘broadcast interviews matter for the health of our democracy’ after Liz Truss cancels one-on-one encounter

Politicians feel television and radio grillings are “all risk” with almost “no opportunity”, Nick Robinson has said after Liz Truss cancelled an interview with him at the last minute.

The Conservative leadership frontrunner was to be interrogated by the senior BBC journalist in a face-to-face interview due to be broadcast at 7pm on Tuesday on BBC One. However, she pulled out on Monday because she could “no longer spare the time”.

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Priti Patel meets Albanian police over fast-track removal plan

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Home Office aims to crack down on people from ‘safe and prosperous country’ arriving via Channel

Plans to fast-track the removal of Albanian nationals entering the UK via small boat crossings have moved closer after Priti Patel met Albanian police.

Monday’s meeting was part of two days of talks on the sharing of forensics and biometrics to clamp down on anyone entering who has a criminal record in Albania, the Home Office said.

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Lib Dems get ready for possible byelection if Michael Gove quits

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Party officials prepare for contest as speculation grows former levelling up minister is set to step down

The Liberal Democrats are rushing through plans to confirm a candidate for Michael Gove’s Surrey seat amid speculation that the former levelling up secretary is considering quitting parliament, which would spark a byelection.

The party’s application window for selection for the seat, held by Gove since 2005, closes on Wednesday evening and the selection process is expected to take two weeks. Lib Dem officials are planning for a possibly imminent campaign in which the party would fight on issues including the state of local hospitals and plans to drill for gas locally.

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‘Love and passion can’t help you live’: Reach journalists set to join picket lines

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Industrial action expected on Wednesday is largest strike to hit UK newspaper industry in decades

When hundreds of staff at the Mirror, Express and dozens of local newspapers join picket lines on Wednesday, they will be taking part in the largest strike to hit the UK newspaper industry in decades. Having spent recent months reporting on how the cost of living crisis is affecting their readers, many journalists at the media company Reach say they are struggling to meet their own bills – and management is refusing to listen.

One regional reporter described how three years of university, training and unpaid placements had secured them a job at a Reach outlet on £18,000 a year. Having only recently joined the media industry, they are already overwhelmed by the financial instability.

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TfL funding deal means tube fares must rise and bus services be cut

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Sadiq Khan accepts ‘far from ideal’ settlement but says it secures long-term future for transport network

Tube fares will rise and more bus services will be cut in the capital, the mayor, Sadiq Khan, warned, after Transport for London agreed to accept a £1.2bn funding settlement from the government.

The deal, slightly improved from a “final offer” made in July by the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, was welcomed by TfL as allowing it to avert the “managed decline” of its transport network.

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UK asylum seeker deal leaves Rwanda hostel residents homeless

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Survivors of Rwandan genocide were told to vacate hostel two days after Priti Patel signed £120m deal

Former residents of a hostel in Rwanda who were forced to leave under a controversial deal to house asylum seekers flown from the UK say they have been left homeless and destitute while the property remains unused.

The men, all of whom are survivors of the Rwandan genocide, had lived in Hope Hostel in Kigali for up to eight years. But they were told to vacate two days after Priti Patel, the British home secretary, signed a £120m agreement to send refugees arriving in the UK by small boats to the east African country.

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Gypsies and Travellers fear missing out on energy bills support

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Government urged to ensure thousands living in park homes in Great Britain receive £400 payments

Gypsy and Traveller groups are calling on the government to ensure thousands of households living in park homes are not excluded from its energy bills support scheme this winter as bills soar.

The scheme will pay out a total of £400 to all households in Great Britain with a domestic electricity connection between October and March, with monthly payments administered by their energy supplier.

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Stephen Port: murder victims’ families say Met ‘insensitive’ to make settlements public

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Relatives ‘caught completely off guard’ by announcement of compensation – and two families have still to settle

The Metropolitan police have been accused of “insensitivity” over their announcement that they have settled compensation claims with relatives of some of the victims murdered by the serial killer Stephen Port.

Families were taken completely by surprise at the public announcement, while claims brought by relatives of two of the victims have yet to be settled, the families’ spokesperson said.

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UK credit card borrowing rises at fastest rate in 17 years

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Spike in inflation and threat of rising energy prices likely to add to cost of living crisis, say analysts

Credit card borrowing jumped in June at its fastest annual rate in 17 years as struggling households appeared to rely on extra borrowing to cope with the escalating cost of living.

Credit card borrowing rose by £740m month on month, 13% higher than the year before, according to Bank of England figures that showed the biggest year on year rise since October 2005.

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Eurostar to axe direct trains from London to Disneyland Paris over Brexit

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High-speed rail firm blames departure from EU and Covid for decision to halt service next summer

Eurostar has decided to stop direct services from London to Disneyland Paris from next summer, citing the fallout from Brexit and Covid.

The high-speed train operator said on Tuesday it was scrapping trains running from the British capital to the Disneyland site in Marne-la-Vallée, in the eastern Paris suburbs.

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All of south-west of England in drought, says Environment Agency

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Announcement means 11 of agency’s 14 areas in England now in drought status after record dry spell

All of south-west England is in drought after some of the driest conditions in nearly 90 years, the Environment Agency has said.

The Wessex area – which includes Bristol, Somerset, Dorset, south Gloucestershire and parts of Wiltshire – has been declared in drought status.

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‘Campaigning to keep the lights on’: the desperate plight of England’s schools and universities

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Despite their costs going ‘through the roof’, education leaders fear they will be a low priority for the next occupant of No 10

Education leaders in England fear one thing: that schools, colleges and universities will be hammered by the cost of living crisis but will not be enough of a priority to get the help they need from government. And they see little hope from a change in leadership at No 10.

“Our costs are going through the roof, our staff badly need pay rises and are going to strike, our students are suffering, but our income is stuck,” said one vice-chancellor, echoing their peers in schools and colleges around the country.

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Indian tycoon Gautam Adani named world’s third richest person

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Billionaire becomes first Asian person to break into the top three of world’s wealthy

The Indian tycoon Gautam Adani has been named the world’s third richest person with an estimated $137bn (£117bn) fortune and becomes the first Asian person to break into the top three of world’s wealthy.

Adani, 60, who founded the mining-to-energy conglomerate Adani Group after dropping out of university, was on Tuesday ranked third on the daily-updated Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

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UK’s defective Nato flagship could miss ‘landmark’ flight trials

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HMS Prince of Wales retreats to Solent for repairs after propeller malfunction, risking cross-Atlantic date with allies

Britain’s biggest warship could miss important flight trials with jets off the US coast after it suffered a propeller shaft malfunction shortly after setting sail, the Royal Navy has said.

HMS Prince of Wales, a £3bn aircraft carrier, left Portsmouth naval base on Saturday and suffered an “emerging mechanical issue” off the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight.

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Labour criticises chancellor’s trip to US for ‘chinwag’

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Nadhim Zahawi to go on fact-finding trip to discuss measures on energy costs in what are likely to be his last days in post

Nadhim Zahawi will spend what are likely to be his final few days as chancellor in the US on a fact-finding trip to discuss measures to tackle soaring energy costs.

Zahawi, who took over as chancellor eight weeks ago and is likely to be replaced if, as widely expected, Liz Truss is unveiled as the next Conservative leader, will also discuss the Ukraine war and cooperation on financial services.

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Drinking tea may be linked to lower risk of death, study suggests

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Data from UK Biobank suggests people who drink two or more cups of black tea a day have lower risk of mortality

It is a welcome piece of research for those who regard having a cup of tea as one of life’s everyday pleasures.

A study has suggested that having a brew could be associated with a lower risk of mortality. When compared with those who do not have tea, people who consumed two or more cups each day had between a 9% and 13% lower risk of mortality, researchers said.

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Meghan: Mail on Sunday privacy battle cost Harry relationship with father

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Duchess of Sussex reveals in magazine interview how toxic tabloid culture had torn her and Harry’s families apart

The Duchess of Sussex has said her and Prince Harry’s privacy battle with the Mail on Sunday cost her husband his relationship with his father.

In an interview with the Cut magazine, Meghan discussed how toxic tabloid culture had torn her and the Duke of Sussex’s families apart.

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Scottish refuse workers’ strike to continue as union rejects pay offer

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Unite says offer from Scotland’s councils is unacceptable and ‘represents a waste of precious time’

Refuse workers in Scotland will continue to strike next week after the Unite union rejected the latest offer from local authorities.

Council cleansing staff across much of the country are striking over pay. A strike in Edinburgh that led to rubbish building up in the streets during the city’s festival fringe – the busiest time of year for the city – is due to end on Tuesday morning. But further action in other council areas is planned.

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Leading Tories call on new PM to tackle crisis facing schools over soaring costs

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Exclusive: warnings of damage to children’s education for years to come without major intervention

• ‘It’s heartbreaking’: England’s school leaders on budget shortfalls

Leading Conservatives including two former Tory education secretaries have urged the incoming prime minister to address rising cost pressures on schools as a matter of urgency, as head teachers struggle to pay soaring energy and wage bills.

With the start of the new academic year just days away, many schools in England are already overwhelmed by energy price rises in excess of 200% – with worse to come – plus the additional cost of unfunded pay rises and mounting inflation.

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