Category Archives: UK news

Kwarteng and Sunak at odds over windfall tax on oil and gas profits

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Government sources play down idea of cabinet split as business secretary quashes idea recently mooted by chancellor

Government sources have played down the idea of a cabinet split over a possible windfall tax on energy companies as the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, firmly quashed the idea, days after it was mooted by the chancellor.

In a search for solutions to a crisis over energy prices, and the cost of living more widely, Rishi Sunak said a windfall tax, as advocated by Labour, was possible if energy companies did not properly reinvest bumper profits.

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Pressure grows on Foreign Office to help free Briton facing death penalty in Iraq

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More than 95,000 sign petition urging the release of geologist Jim Fitton, detained over artefact smuggling allegations

Ministers are under increasing pressure to help free a retired British geologist at risk of facing the death penalty in Iraq over smuggling allegations.

A petition urging the release of father-of-two Jim Fitton, 66, has received more than 95,000 signatures in the three days since it was launched.

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Hinkley Point B nuclear plant could be spared imminent closure

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Energy minister Kwasi Kwarteng believed to be open to extension in response to leap in gas prices and energy security concerns

Nuclear power advocates believe energy minister Kwasi Kwarteng is open to extending the life of the Hinkley Point B plant to help wean the UK off gas imports and prevent a faster-than-expected decline in Britain’s fleet of atomic reactors.

Soaring gas prices and the war in Ukraine have already spurred the government to ask coal power plant owners to stay open longer, while ministers also revisited their staunch opposition to fracking in the light of energy supply concerns.

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Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue reunite for Neighbours finale

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The TV couple are to appear in Australia’s long-running soap opera as production ends after 37 years

They were one of television’s most popular couples, and now they’re getting back together, especially for you – or at least for viewers of Neighbours. Scott and Charlene, played by Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue, will return after more than 30 years for the show’s finale.

Jason Herbison, executive producer of the Australian soap, said the pair were “the ultimate Neighbours couple and it would not feel right to end the show without them”.

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Scandals have left PM incapable of governing, says Starmer

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Labour leader attacks Tory tax rises and inability to tackle the cost of living crisis

Boris Johnson has been rendered “incapable of governing” by a series of scandals and rows that have left him unable or unwilling to tackle the cost of living crisis, Keir Starmer has warned.

In a final pitch before Thursday’s local elections, the Labour leader said that voters were hearing “the dying groans of a clapped-out government” that was attempting to use “desperate attacks and deflections” to distract from inaction over rising bills and tax increases.

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Disgraced Tory MP Neil Parish ‘broke law’ by watching porn in Commons

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Parish resigns over ‘moment of madness’, and claims ‘it was tractors I was looking at on the internet’

Disgraced Tory MP Neil Parish, who resigned his seat on Saturday after admitting he had twice watched pornography in the House of Commons chamber, appeared to have committed a criminal offence which carried a maximum two-year prison sentence, Labour said.

Parish, who had represented the safe west country seat of Tiverton and Honiton since 2010, said that on the first occasion he watched porn on his mobile phone next to other MPs, including women, he had done so by accident.

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Speaker calls for overhaul of UK parliament after series of scandals

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Sir Lindsay Hoyle says MPs should no longer employ staff directly, following revelations involving bullying and harassment

A radical overhaul of the working practices in Westminster is being demanded by the House of Commons Speaker, in the wake of a series of scandals over sexual harassment and bullying that have rocked parliament.

After a week in which MPs and staff have spoken out over their treatment in the Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle said that a review of how parliament functions was now “urgently needed” following the damaging revelations.

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Boris Johnson’s defence on Covid risk to care homes hit by new revelation

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Prime minister had broached issue of asymptomatic transmission publicly with advisers long before testing rules were introduced

Boris Johnson’s claim that a lack of knowledge about the asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 put care homes at risk has been further undermined after it emerged he openly discussed the potential scale of symptom-free transmission.

The prime minister has already been accused of misleading parliament over the claim. He made it last week after the high court ruled that the government had acted unlawfully in ordering the discharge of patients to care homes without testing in the spring of 2020. Johnson told the House of Commons: “What we didn’t know in particular was that Covid could be transmitted asymptomatically.”

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Tory Neil Parish to resign as MP after porn ‘moment of madness’

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Parish says an initial incident was accidental while looking at tractors, but a second time was deliberate

The Conservative politician accused of watching porn on his phone in the House of Commons has announced he will step down as an MP after facing calls to resign.

Neil Parish, the MP for Tiverton and Honiton in Devon, had already had the Tory whip removed and suggested he had opened the porn “in error”. He previously said he would only resign if found guilty by an inquiry into his actions.

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Neil Parish says watching porn in Commons was ‘moment of madness’ as he resigns as MP – as it happened

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The MP for Tiverton and Honiton says he initially found the pornographic website while looking at tractors

The shadow education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has said ministers should not micromanage the books pupils read in classrooms.

Speaking to the NAHT school leaders’ annual conference in Telford, she said there was an “irony” that the government is seeking to take politics out of the classroom but simultaneously telling teachers what books to teach.

I think we need a school curriculum that inspires and supports every young person... I think children should expect to see their lives, their communities, their experiences reflected in that,

I think it is not for secretaries of state to dictate which books should or shouldn’t be taught within a school. I think you all have expertise and professionalism that allows you to deliver that.

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UK faces childcare crisis as staff shortages force nurseries to close

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Early years providers can’t attract qualified workers and the crisis will put prices up, increasing the burden on struggling families

Nurseries across the UK are being forced to close or reduce their services at an alarming rate because they are struggling to recruit and retain staff, the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) has warned.

The crisis is only set to deepen as more childcare providers go out of business, increasing demand for places and pushing prices even higher for families struggling with the rising cost of living.

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Wife of Neil Parish says she first heard of porn claims from reporter

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Sue Parish claims she was unaware of Tory MP’s suspension until a journalist asked her for a quote

The wife of the Tory MP under investigation for allegedly watching porn on his phone in the House of Commons only found out when a reporter called her about the story.

Sue Parish, 66, said she first became aware of her husband Neil’s suspension from the Conservative party when a journalist got in touch looking for a comment.

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Ukraine refugees flock to Germany after being put off by UK red tape

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Ease of finding accommodation and work lures 10 times the number who have made it to Britain

When it became clear to Liliia Fomina that the war raging outside her hometown of Zaporizhzhia would continue not just for days, but months or even years, she decided that she wanted to flee to the UK. A sponsor in Windsor was found, and on 18 March the 29-year-old applied for a British visa for herself and her five-year-old son Lev.

The pair sheltered with friends of friends in a village near Chernivtsi, in western Ukraine, and waited: one week, two weeks, three weeks. By the time her visa finally came through, after almost a month of uncertainty, the lawyer had changed her mind.

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Foreign Office investigates reports of captured Briton paraded on Russian TV

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Footage shows injured man, who gives his name as Andrew Hill, being questioned by Russian forces

The Foreign Office is investigating reports that a British national has been detained by Russia after a video emerged showing a man in camouflage clothes being questioned.

In the video, reportedly shown on Russian television, the man appears to give his name as Andrew Hill. He speaks with an English accent, has his arm in a sling, a bandage around his head, and blood can be seen on his hand.

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‘He’s got to go’: anger in Tiverton as local MP Neil Parish faces porn claims

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People in Devon town have little sympathy and say Tory should ‘admit what he’s done’ and resign

A few were prepared to give Neil Parish the benefit of the doubt pending the result of an inquiry. But most people in the Devon market town of Tiverton on Saturday had very little sympathy for their MP.

“He should just admit what he’s done and get out,” said Hannah Tucker, 32, a supermarket worker who was shopping with her husband, Liam. “The Tories are a joke. They get up to all sorts – and most of the time get away with it. They’ve to be stopped.”

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Family of British geologist facing death penalty in Iraq urge UK to intervene

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Retiree Jim Fitton, 66, was detained when airport security found ‘valueless’ pottery shards in luggage

The family of a retired British geologist facing the death penalty in Iraq have called on the UK government to urgently intervene.

Jim Fitton, 66, was detained by authorities in the Middle Eastern country, accused of smuggling, during a geology and archaeology trip.

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Ian Fleming’s lost James Bond screenplay reveals a very different 007

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With no Moneypenny and no M, a previously unpublished script reveals the author’s original ideas for Moonraker

In the action-packed film Moonraker, James Bond escapes from Jaws, the metal-toothed villain, on a hang-glider that ejects from a speedboat just as he drives over the precipice of a waterfall. It is one of numerous outlandish scenes in the film that Ian Fleming never wrote in his original 007 novel. And it could not be more different to the author’s own version of the film, according to a previously unpublished script.

In 1956, a year after the Moonraker novel was published, Fleming wrote his own 150-page film treatment with a plot that is as serious as the 1979 film is lightweight, despite Roger Moore’s charm as the fictional spy.

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Plan for direct UK rule of British Virgin Islands opposed by acting premier

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UK dispatches minister after ex-leader charged with drug offences and inquiry finds serious governance issues

The Foreign Office is risking a political backlash on the British Virgin Islands if it goes ahead with plans recommended by an independent commission of inquiry to impose a form of direct rule on the islands from London after allegations of maladministration and corruption.

Natalio Wheatley, the acting BVI premier elevated to the office after the former premier Andrew Fahie, 51, was arrested on drug running charges in Miami on Thursday, said he opposed the plan for direct rule for two years, with the British appointed governor taking charge and being advised by a council of local politicians.

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Theatres need more plus-sized black actors, says Broadway and West End star

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Marisha Wallace wants to inspire young girls and call out lack of diversity as she takes on role in Oklahoma!

A professional career in theatre was not always on the cards for Marisha Wallace. The Broadway and West End star, who was born and raised on a pig farm in North Carolina, rarely saw people that looked like her on stage.

As she takes on the coveted role of Ado Annie in the revival of Oklahoma! at London’s Young Vic theatre, Wallace is on a singular mission to call out the lack of plus-sized black actors on stage and to inspire young girls just like her.

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Met seeks further bid to challenge high court ruling on Sarah Everard vigil

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Scotland Yard seeking permission from court of appeal to challenge ruling that Met’s decisions in run-up to vigil were ‘not in accordance with the law’

The Metropolitan police is seeking a further attempt to challenge the high court’s ruling that officers breached the rights of organisers of a vigil for Sarah Everard last year.

High court judges earlier this month refused the Met permission to appeal against its ruling in March about the force’s handling of the planned event.

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