Category Archives: UK news

Zero-growth warning for UK economy as petrol prices surge

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OECD singles out cost of living crisis as a cause of Britain’s slide down growth league table

Boris Johnson’s attempt to reset his troubled premiership has received a double blow after petrol prices had their biggest daily rise in 17 years and a leading international thinktank said the UK economy would slow to a standstill next year.

Fears that Britain is heading for a prolonged period of 1970s-style stagflation intensified amid fresh evidence of the damaging impact of the war in Ukraine on the cost of living and growth.

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England going smoke-free by 2030 depends on No 10 willpower

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Analysis: The question is not what is in the Khan review but whether its recommendations will be implement

• Plan to raise smoking age to 21 to be unveiled amid cabinet splits

While much has been made recently of the danger posed by soaring obesity levels, tobacco remains the biggest public health threat the world has ever faced.

Despite its risks being known for decades, 1.3 billion people globally still use tobacco products. They kill 8 million people every year, and more than one million of whom die from exposure to second-hand smoke.

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Two missing after boat capsizes in Devon lake

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Four people rescued and search continues at Roadford Lake near Okehampton

Rescuers are looking for two people missing after a boat capsized in south Devon.

Police said four people had been rescued from Roadford Lake, near Okehampton. Two were discharged by paramedics at the scene and two were taken to Derriford hospital for treatment. Their condition is unknown.

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Home Office’s Rwanda deportation plans face high court challenge

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About 30 asylum seekers expected to be sent to Rwanda on 14 June

Priti Patel’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda as soon as next week is facing a legal challenge under emergency proceedings launched in the high court on Wednesday.

An application for a judicial review claims that the home secretary’s policy is unlawful. Claimants are also seeking an injunction that will attempt to stop the plane from taking off.

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Brazilian police say ‘no evidence of crime’ in search for missing journalist

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Police detain man on drugs and weapons charges but say too early to link arrest directly to disappearance in Amazon of Dom Phillips

Authorities in the Amazon investigating the disappearance of a British journalist and an Indigenous advocate have yet to find any evidence of a crime three days after the men went missing in a remote corner of the rainforest.

Police in the far west of Brazil said on Wednesday their inquiries into the disappearance of Dom Phillips, a longtime Guardian contributor, and Bruno Araújo Pereira, an advocate for Indigenous people, had led to the arrest of one man.

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David Lammy visits Afghanistan to highlight humanitarian crisis

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Shadow foreign secretary says UK government ignoring catastrophe as millions of Afghans go hungry

The shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, has flown to Kabul to see at first-hand the scale of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover.

Lammy is the first senior British politician to visit the country since the west’s chaotic pullout last August. He is being accompanied on his visit by Preet Gill, the shadow minister for international development.

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NHS bosses fear DHSC will use bullying report to blame leadership

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Department of Health and Social Care press release cited negative behaviours but not findings of political pressure

Bullying, discrimination and shifting the blame when things go wrong are rife in the NHS, a government-commissioned inquiry into health service leadership has found.

But NHS England bosses are fearful that Sajid Javid will use the report’s findings selectively to paint an unfair picture of the behaviour of senior managers.

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White NHS nurses twice as likely as black and Asian colleagues to be promoted – study

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Research by Royal College of Nursing suggests racism is ‘endemic’ in health and care

White nurses are twice as likely as black and Asian colleagues to be promoted in the NHS, with minority ethnic staff overlooked due to structural racism, according to research.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said its study suggests racism is “endemic” in health and care. A survey of almost 10,000 nursing staff found that those who are white or of a mixed ethnic background are more likely than black and Asian colleagues to have received at least one promotion since the start of their career.

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Gel that repairs heart attack damage could improve health of millions

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Injectable, biodegradable technology developed by UK team works as a scaffold to help new tissue grow

British researchers have developed a biodegradable gel to repair damage caused by a heart attack in a breakthrough that could improve the health of millions of survivors worldwide.

There are more than 100,000 hospital admissions every year due to heart attacks in the UK alone – one every five minutes. Medical advances mean more people than ever before survive, with 1.4 million Britons alive today after experiencing a heart attack. But hearts have a very limited ability to regenerate, meaning survivors are left at risk of heart failure and other health problems.

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£98m wasted on failed upgrade of offender tagging system, say auditors

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Report says failings mean ministers still do not know if tagging criminals is helping to cut reoffending

A failed government plan to transform the system for electronically tagging offenders wasted £98m of taxpayers’ money, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has found.

The National Audit Office (NAO) said attempts to upgrade HM Prison & Probation Service’s (HMPPS) tagging system were abandoned in March after 11 years and a net spend of £153m.

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Senior Tory MPs renew calls to Boris Johnson for urgent tax cuts

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High-profile MPs back demand from Adam Smith Institute to reduce tax burden and ease cost of living crisis

Senior Conservatives from across the party have renewed calls for Boris Johnson to implement urgent tax cuts as Downing Street played down the prospects of a shift in policy.

A string of high-profile MPs, from Steve Baker on the party’s right wing to Damian Green on its left, have backed a fresh demand from the Adam Smith Institute for the government to reduce the tax burden.

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Met officers ‘feared Sarah Everard vigil had become anti-police protest’

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Officers claimed they feared being violently attacked, say reports, but campaigners accuse force of ‘trampling all over human rights’

Attenders at Sarah Everard’s vigil were arrested by police officers who feared the event had become an “anti-police protest”, according to reports.

Officers claimed in witness statements first reported by the Evening Standard that they were branded “murderers” by those in attendance.

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Boris Johnson’s no-confidence vote: PM tells cabinet to ‘draw a line’ under Partygate after narrowly surviving bruising ballot – live

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Latest updates: Boris Johnson says ministers should focus on ‘cutting costs of government’ after William Hague says his position is ‘untenable’

In a speech to the Royal College of Nursing annual congress in Glasgow, Gordon Brown, the former Labour prime minister, said it was “almost unbelievable” that nurses were having to use food banks. They deserved better pay, he said.

Two years ago the NHS was deservedly awarded the George Cross for its work during the pandemic, but the reward for individual nurses has been pay settlements well below inflation, leaving nurses much worse off.

Now, as part of the Platinum Jubilee, members of the armed forces and emergency services are rightly receiving Jubilee medals.

Douglas has been consistent in terms of the principle – he made it clear from the outset that he had huge doubts about the conduct of the prime minister ...

It was only when circumstances changed with the Russian invasion of Ukraine that he said there are some things right now we need to set aside.

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The numbers are troubling for Boris Johnson, among Tory MPs and beyond

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Analysis: 211-148 suggests about two-thirds of backbenchers are against him, and even his fanbase may be crumbling

For Boris Johnson, Monday evening’s win was “decisive”, and his allies were out immediately, briefing that it would “draw a line” under the chaos of the past few months. But faced with the raw numbers – 211 votes to 148 – even his former employer the Daily Telegraph called it a “hollow victory”.

It was less convincing than the 63% to 37% victory of Theresa May over her detractors in 2018 – though that was hardly seen as a resounding win at the time.

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British Gas owner says windfall tax will dent investor confidence

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Centrica boss also defends Amber Rudd’s appointment to its board as a non-executive

The British Gas owner, Centrica, has warned that Rishi Sunak’s windfall tax will “damage investor confidence” as Britain attempts to build up green energy supplies.

The Centrica chairman, Scott Wheway, and its chief executive, Chris O’Shea, hit out at the chancellor’s 25% levy on oil and gas operators’ excess profits, which will be used to pay for measures to reduce soaring energy bills.

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Food strategy for England likely to be watered down

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People working with government on strategy say ambitious plans to tackle nature, climate and health crises have been ditched

The government is expected to water down its upcoming food strategy for England, ignoring the ambitious recommendations proposed in two government-commissioned reports, campaigners say.

The white paper, due later this month, was supposed to be a groundbreaking plan to tackle the nature and climate emergencies in response to eye-catching recommendations urged by the restaurateur Henry Dimbleby in his reports.

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Minimum alcohol price ‘causes poorest to cut back on food’ in Scotland

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Some problem drinkers also reducing heating to afford rising alcohol costs, according to Public Health Scotland

Scotland’s minimum alcohol pricing policy has not encouraged problem drinkers to consume less but has prompted some to cut back on food or heating in order to afford rising costs, according to the first evaluation of its impact on those who drink alcohol at harmful levels.

The Scottish National party’s flagship policy, championed by Nicola Sturgeon when she was health minister and introduced after successive court challenges by the Scotch Whisky Association, came into force in May 2018. It introduced a legally enforced minimum price for all alcoholic drinks of 50p a unit and aimed to tackle chronic alcohol abuse by targeting low-cost, high-strength drinks.

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Jamal Edwards died after taking recreational drugs, says his mother

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Loose Women panellist Brenda Edwards says she was in ‘state of shock’ after finding out how son died

The music entrepreneur and YouTube star Jamal Edwards died from arrhythmia as a result of taking recreational drugs, his mother has said.

Edwards, who helped launch the careers of Dave and Ed Sheeran, died in February aged 31. Brenda Edwards, a singer and Loose Women panellist, said in a statement on Tuesday she was in a “state of shock” after finding out how he died.

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Ukraine’s Zelenskiy ‘very happy’ at Boris Johnson confidence vote win

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President says result is ‘great news’, while adviser says ‘the world needs such leaders’

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has declared himself “very happy” at Boris Johnson’s confidence vote win, hours after one of his senior advisers tweeted a picture of the two men and thanked the UK prime minister for helping to protect “the free world from barbaric invasion”.

Zelenskiy described Johnson’s narrow victory on Monday evening as “great news”, in remarks via video link to an event hosted by the Financial Times on Tuesday. “I’m glad we haven’t lost a very important ally. This is great news,” he said.

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City donations worth £15m raise concerns over influence on UK politics

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Total donated to parties by financial firms and individuals tied to the sector over two years, report says

Concerns have been raised over the City’s influence on Westminster, after a report found financial firms and individuals tied to the sector donated £15m to political parties and gave £2m to MPs during the pandemic.

The campaign group Positive Money tallied the gifts, expenses and donations handed to MPs, peers and their parties, as well as the value of income from politicians’ second jobs, saying it contributed to finance’s “oversized influence” on policymaking.

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