Deliveries will start in Reading, as the takeaway service continues its expansion into new areas.
Books, stationery, phone chargers, toys and exam study guides are the latest items to be ferried to customers on fast-track delivery bikes via a partnership between WH Smith and Deliveroo.
The high street retailer will offer 600 products for delivery in as little as 20 minutes, joining similar services offered by supermarkets, pharmacies and takeaways.
Continue reading...A 1C rise in summer night temperature linked to 3.1% increase in risk of CVD mortality among men aged 60 to 64, study says
Men in their early 60s have a higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease on warmer than usual summer nights, according to new research.
Previous studies have focused on the potential for warm spells of weather that involve extreme or sustained periods of high temperatures to coincide with surges in deaths and hospitalisations due to heart conditions. However, until now, findings related to age and gender have been inconsistent.
Continue reading...Angela Rayner to force binding vote on release of information, including on PM’s involvement in decision
The government could be forced to reveal private advice over the appointment of Evgeny Lebedev to the House of Lords, amid evidence the security services had concerns about the peerage.
Labour will force a binding vote on releasing information about Boris Johnson’s involvement in the decision to award the peerage to the Evening Standard owner. Angela Rayner, the party’s deputy leader, will demand the information concerning the appointment from the Cabinet Office.
Continue reading...Legacy of ‘colonial-era ideologies’ is condemned as community leaders demand reparations for imperialism
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s recent tour was in “sharp opposition to the needs and aspirations of the Caribbean people”, a human rights alliance from the region has said.
The British monarchy’s historic role in the slave trade continues to damage the Caribbean’s society and economy, Jamaica’s Advocates Network said in an open letter published jointly with representatives from Belize and the Bahamas.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Scotland Yard investigation reportedly finds laws were broken at heart of government
The first fines for lockdown breaches in Downing Street are expected to be issued imminently after Scotland Yard concluded that laws were broken at the heart of government, sources have told the Guardian.
Multiple government insiders said the Metropolitan police had made referrals for the first tranche of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) connected with parties and gatherings being investigated by police in No 10 and the Cabinet Office. It is understood the Met are expected to issue around 20 fines related to the most straightforward cases, though more are expected to follow.
Continue reading...Colonies mix annually at Winspit caves near Swanage, a hibernation site for rare greater horseshoe bats
Three sea caves hewn into the rocky coastline of Dorset that are the bat equivalent of a speed-dating site, attracting crowds of the flying mammals from as far as 40 miles away, have been acquired by the National Trust.
The bats gather at Winspit caves near Swanage in the late summer and early autumn, dart around the cliffs and, if all goes well, find a mate from a different colony.
Continue reading...Major investors have launched a campaign calling for Sainsbury’s to help tackle the cost of living crisis by becoming the first supermarket group to pay all its workers the “real living wage” of £9.90 an hour, reports my colleague Rupert Jones.
Legal & General Investment Management, Nest (National Employment Savings Trust), which is Britain’s largest workplace pension scheme, and several MPs have formed a coalition to push for the change after reports that increasing numbers of supermarket workers are having to turn to food banks to feed themselves and their families.
Continue reading...Home secretary says deputy commissioner Sir Stephen House will cover until successor appointed
The Metropolitan police commissioner, Dame Cressida Dick, will leave her job in April, months before her replacement is named, the home secretary has confirmed.
Dick resigned last month but agreed to stay on in the post until arrangements to appoint her successor had been finalised.
Continue reading...Latest updates: warning comes as chancellor is to face Commons Treasury committee this afternoon amid criticism over his spring statement
Q: Is it right for trans women to be able to compete in women’s sports?
Starmer says that should be a matter for the sporting authorities.
I spent a lot of my working life dealing with violence against women and girls first-hand, and I know from that experience, just how important it is to fight for women and fight for equality.
We have had legislation in this country which makes it clear that in some circumstances, particularly at the moment under the law when you’ve gone through a process, you can be recognised in the gender of your choosing, that’s been the position for over a decade now ...
But I equally - I want to be really clear about this - I am an advocate of safe spaces for women.
I don’t think that discussing this issue in this way helps anyone in the long run.
What I want to see is a reform of the law as it is, but I am also an advocate of safe spaces for women and I want to have a discussion that is ... anybody who genuinely wants to find a way through this, I want to discuss that with, and I do find that too many people - in my view - retreat or hold a position of which is intolerant of others.
Of course there are circumstances and anybody who insults family members excites something quite emotional in all of us.
But, on the other hand, to go up and hit someone in that way is wrong, I’m afraid. It was the wrong thing to do.
Continue reading...Bernardine Evaristo, Keir Starmer, Kathy Griffin and others respond to incident
Author Bernardine Evaristo is among the public figures to have condemned Will Smith for hitting Chris Rock at the Oscars, saying the actor “resorted to violence instead of utilising the power of words”.
In what quickly became the bombshell moment of the ceremony, Smith struck Rock in the face after the comic made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Continue reading...Jeck was celebrated for his use of dilapidated vinyl records and players, across 12 albums and numerous collaborations
Philip Jeck, the experimental British composer who deployed sampling and DJing to highly imaginative ends, has died aged 69 after a short illness.
The founders of Touch, the record label that released his music, announced the news, writing that Jeck was “a remarkable man and a wonderful artist,” and that “he has been one of the kingpins of our work for 30 years. But with Philip it was never just the work, more the love, the spirit and the dedication. He touched so many with his wit, his zest for life and his wisdom.”
Continue reading...UK government sells more of stake in group formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland at a loss over 2008 price
NatWest Group has returned to majority private ownership after it agreed to buy back £1.2bn of shares from the UK government, more than 13 years after the company was bailed out by taxpayers at the height of the financial crisis.
The company, formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS), said it had agreed to make an off-market purchase of 550m shares, or 4.91% of its share capital, from HM Treasury at Friday’s closing price of 220.5p, in a statement to the stock market on Monday.
Continue reading...Review may look at communications between police and City Hall after clash with Sadiq Khan but will not ‘change any outcomes’
Cressida Dick has won a victory after the government agreed to a review of how she came to leave office after a clash with the London mayor, Sadiq Khan.
The Home Office is expected to announce it will ask Sir Tom Winsor to examine how Dick came to be ousted as commissioner of the Metropolitan police last month, a government source confirmed.
Continue reading...Met police decided not to proceed after ‘thorough assessment’ of allegations relating to actor
Claims by 20 women of sexual harassment and bullying against the actor Noel Clarke will not lead to a criminal police investigation, according to the Metropolitan police.
Clarke was the subject of complaints of groping and sexual misconduct in incidents between 2004 and 2019. He is best known for his work on the “hood” series of films, beginning with Kidulthood in 2006, and the BBC’s Doctor Who.
Continue reading...A cold front will push down from the north in midweek and temperatures will plummet, Met Office says
Snow could fall in parts of the UK this week, with temperatures set to plummet over the coming days, forecasters say.
The Met Office said the country would see colder, cloudier and more unsettled weather from Monday, with the risk of wintry weather in the middle of the week.
Continue reading...Positive Action in Housing says visas not being granted and refugees seeking sponsors are putting themselves in danger
A charity that is helping Ukrainian refugees trying to come to the UK has said no visas have been granted to those it is supporting, nearly a fortnight after a government scheme was launched.
The head of Positive Action in Housing, Robina Qureshi, said the government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme had given people “false hope” and amounted to a “gimmick”.
Continue reading...Suspect arrested as victim of attack in Bethnal Green is named as Yasmin Begum, 40
A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman was stabbed to death while her children were at school.
The victim of the attack in Bethnal Green, east London, has been named as 40-year-old Yasmin Begum, who was from the area.
Continue reading...The transport secretary is expected to close loopholes to ensure ferry companies pay the UK minimum wage
Grant Shapps is writing to the chief executive of P&O Ferries urging him to announce a U-turn on the decision to sack 800 workers without notice, as unions pledged to “ratchet up the fight” after a weekend of protests.
The transport secretary is expected to present a package of legislation on Wednesday to close loopholes and ensure ferry companies running regular services to and from the British Isles pay their crew the UK minimum wage.
Continue reading...Bethany Haines says she will plead with El Shafee Elsheikh to reveal where remains of her father and other western hostages lie
The daughter of a British man murdered by Islamic State will demand to know the whereabouts of his remains when one of his alleged kidnappers goes on trial in the US this week.
Bethany Haines, 24, will fly from her home in Perthshire, Scotland, to Virginia to confront El Shafee Elsheikh in person, nearly eight years after her father, David Haines, was killed.
Continue reading...Royal couple say they are ‘committed to service’, which is not ‘telling people what to do’, at end of Caribbean tour
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have insisted they are interested only in a “better future” for the Commonwealth, not in who leads it, at the end of their tour of the Caribbean.
William said foreign tours were an “opportunity to reflect” and he and his wife were committed to “serving and supporting” the people of the Commonwealth, not “telling them what to do”, in a statement published on the couple’s Twitter account.
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