Category Archives: UK news

Ukrainian MP urges west to supply long-range rockets or risk Russian victory

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Kira Rudik says on visit to UK that without further military help Ukraine will fail to push back invaders

A Ukrainian MP visiting Britain has urged the west to supply long-range rockets to her country – and warned without further military help her country risked deadlock or defeat in its war against Russia.

Kira Rudik, the leader of the opposition liberal Golos party, said she was afraid of the three-month long war “becoming the new normal” and that the west would not supply the Nato-standard weapons Ukraine needed to push back the invaders.

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Top British diplomat’s husband pokes fun at New Zealand’s ‘crappiest fountain’

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Tweet about Wellington water feature drew light-hearted responses from MPs and the public, with one saying: ‘There’s a fine line between iconic and crap’

The husband of New Zealand’s British high commissioner has announced his loathing of the Wellington bucket fountain, a well-known and polarising water feature that graces the centre of the nation’s capital.

Toby Fisher, husband of British commissioner Laura Clarke, tweeted: “After 4 years in Wellington, it’s time to be straight with you all, this is the crappiest fountain ever.”

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Medical research stalled as NHS focuses on small number of trials, experts say

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Report outlines ‘research waste’ that occurred during the pandemic, with weakly designed trials exposing millions to unproven treatments

Government efforts to focus NHS resources on a smaller number of well-designed clinical trials could inadvertently be contributing to a backlog of stalled medical research, and result in some important trials being scrapped, researchers say.

Their warning comes as a report outlines the scale of “research waste” that has occurred during the pandemic, with rampant duplication of scientific efforts and weakly designed clinical trials exposing millions of patients to unproven treatments, with little scientific benefit.

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Most small firms fear long-term fallout from UK’s cost of living crisis

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Half worry rocketing prices will cut spending, while three in four fear long-term damage to businesses

Three-quarters of small and medium-sized companies are worried about the long-term impact the cost of living crisis, soaring energy bills and rising inflation will have on their business, a survey has found.

Just over half (51%) of SMEs said they were concerned that rocketing prices would dent consumer spending, in response to Barclays’ SME Barometer, a quarterly survey of business sentiment conducted for the bank.

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Holidaymakers face queues, cancellations and delays

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Rebounding demand and a string of last-minute flight cancellations have compounded half-term travel woes

Holidaymakers are facing flight cancellations and the prospect of delays on the road as half-term starts and the UK gears up for an extended bank holiday weekend.

The June half-term traditionally heralds the start of the summer tourist season, and this year comes amid rebounding consumer demand for leisure breaks following the relaxation of UK Covid travel restrictions.

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More than 1m trips made on central section of Elizabeth line

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Newly completed Crossrail project has also seen more than 2m journeys across the entire network, Transport for London says

More than 1m journeys have been made on the central section of London’s Elizabeth line in the first five days of its opening.

Across the entire railway – which spans from Reading and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east – more than 2m trips have been made, Transport for London said.

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Jacqueline Wilson: my mother slept with a gun under her pillow

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Children’s author says she told her elderly mother to get rid of it as she was terrified of being mistakenly shot

The children’s author Dame Jacqueline Wilson has said her elderly mother slept with a gun beneath her pillow.

Wilson, creator of the Tracy Beaker series, told an audience at the Hay festival in Wales that she was daughter of a character more colourful than any she had written – and that she was terrified her mother might shoot her by accident, and persuaded her to get rid of it.

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Liverpool fans liken ‘terrifying’ treatment in Paris to Hillsborough

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Witnesses say they feared for their lives as French police fired teargas into the crowds ahead of Champions League final

Families affected by the Hillsborough disaster have compared the “terrifying” treatment of Liverpool fans at the Champions League final to the crush that led to the deaths of 97 supporters in 1989.

Witnesses described seeing children “trembling with fear”, and adults scared for their lives, as French police fired teargas into crowds outside the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday night.

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Minister disputes claims No 10 pushed Sue Gray to dilute Partygate report

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Brandon Lewis ‘absolutely confident’ investigation was independent and she was not lobbied to alter details

A senior minister has disputed claims Sue Gray was pressured to water down her report into law-breaking parties across Westminster, saying he is “absolutely confident” the investigation had been entirely independent.

Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, dismissed suggestions that senior figures in Downing Street pushed for detail about the so-called “Abba party” in Boris Johnson’s flat during lockdown and staff members’ names to be stripped out.

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UK passport delays force families to cancel half-term trips

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Processing times remain lengthy, despite ministers pledging 700 more staff to deal with backlog

Families are suffering a nailbiting, up-to-the wire wait this weekend as they face the prospect of having to cancel their half-term holiday plans as ongoing Passport Office delays put trips abroad at risk.

The summer half-term break starts on Monday for much of the UK but a backlog of passport applications has caused months of delays, with some people now set to miss their holiday bookings.

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‘You feel so light’: swimming dogs help emergency workers deal with trauma

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Pete Lewin’s Newfoundlands also provide emotional therapy for veterans and young people with disabilities

“All you can hear is the water and the dogs paddling. That’s it, there’s nothing else,” said student paramedic Abigail Walker after emerging from Stanton lakes in Leicestershire, where she had been swimming with three Newfoundland dogs. “Until you’ve done it, I don’t think you realise how calming it is.”

It was her first time trying a type of emotional therapy pioneered by Pete Lewin, a paramedic who travels the country helping emergency services staff deal with trauma with the help of his pack of canines.

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Over 500 Ukrainian children stuck waiting for UK visa decision

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Exclusive: sources say most have hosts ready under Homes for Ukraine scheme but have heard nothing

More than 500 Ukrainian children who fled the war without their parents are stuck waiting in limbo across Europe after applying to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, sources working closely with the Home Office say.

Most are teenagers who thought they would be eligible and have British families waiting to host them, but have heard nothing from the Home Office.

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New Commons partygate inquiry poised to derail Tory conference

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Privileges committee looks set to report in October, when Boris Johnson will be aiming to win back members’ trust

A House of Commons inquiry over whether Boris Johnson misled MPs over Partygate is on course to coincide with a Tory party conference already seen as crucial in resetting his leadership.

The prime minister appeared to have survived any immediate threat to his leadership in the wake of last week’s Sue Gray report on Downing Street parties, which revealed damning details of rule-breaking, drunkenness and abuse of No 10 staff during Covid lockdowns.

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Don’t make Partygate official Martin Reynolds our man in Riyadh, urge Tories

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Senior figure warns that man mentioned 24 times in Sue Gray report would be ‘representing the Queen’ as ambassador to Saudi Arabia

Senior Tories are warning Boris Johnson against appointing an official at the heart of the Partygate scandal to a top diplomatic job after it emerged that the man was being lined up to be Britain’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

Martin Reynolds quit as Johnson’s principal private secretary in February following outrage about Partygate. He left after an email emerged in which he had invited hundreds of Whitehall staff to a “bring your own booze” party in the Downing Street garden in May 2020.

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Loophole could let North Sea oil and gas giants slash UK windfall tax bill

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Critics warn chancellor Rishi Sunak will raise only a fraction of planned £5bn if firms offset new investment against profits

North Sea oil and gas companies that already benefit from huge tax breaks could use fresh rules to slash how much they pay under a new windfall tax announced by Rishi Sunak as part of his £15bn cost of living package, according to a thinktank.

The chancellor risks raising a fraction of the £5bn he expects from the complex scheme – which allows the cost of new investments to be offset against profits – should oil and gas companies take the opportunity to dramatically reduce their contribution to the exchequer, said the left of centre Common Wealth.

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Neil Basu to demand answers over failed bid to lead National Crime Agency

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Met assistant commissioner will ask Home Office why he was overlooked for top job

Neil Basu has said he will be demanding an explanation from the government about why he was overlooked to be the next leader of the National Crime Agency (NCA).

The Met assistant commissioner, 53, said he would not be reapplying to be director-general after the application process was reopened.

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Top Tories say Boris Johnson is ‘plunging party into an identity crisis’

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Partygate and U-turns on tax are ‘undermining message’, say Conservative MPs as more call for him to quit

Boris Johnson has plunged the Conservative party into an acute identity crisis as a result of Partygate and U-turns over tax policy, senior Tories warned last night, as more MPs called for him to resign as prime minister.

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan-Smith told the Observer his party had been left with an “enormous identity problem” because it had raised taxes instead of cutting them under Johnson and the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, undermining a core Tory message that had helped win it successive general elections.

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Superyacht worth £6m sinks in Torquay Harbour after setting on fire

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Fire crews battled the blaze on the 85ft yacht for hours as witnesses reported minor explosions

A superyacht estimated to be worth £6m has sunk after firefighters battled to extinguish a fire on the vessel while it was moored in a marina in south-west England.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service (DSFRS) said there was approximately 8,000 litres of fuel on the 85ft boat that led to people being evacuated from the marina in Torquay.

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Monica Ali ‘terrified’ of writing sex scenes in new novel

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Brick Lane author says fear of winning Bad Sex award loomed over writing of latest book, Love Marriage

The Brick Lane author Monica Ali has said she was “terrified” to write the sex scenes in her most recent novel, Love Marriage, with the fear of being nominated for the Bad Sex awards looming over her as she wrote.

In an event at the Hay festival in Wales, the 54-year-old writer told the audience: “There’s all sorts of pitfalls to writing sex scenes – you might end up using words like ‘throbbing’, ‘thrusting’, ‘member’”.

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Actors call for better onscreen representation of women over 45

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Open letter signed by more than 100 actors and public figures urges end to entertainment industry’s ‘entrenched’ ageism

Actors including Juliet Stevenson, Meera Syal, David Tennant and Zawe Ashton have called for better onscreen representation of women older than 45 to fight against the “entrenched” ageism of the entertainment industry.

In an open letter signed by more than 100 actors and public figures, the Acting Your Age Campaign (AYAC) called for equal representation in the UK between men and women over 45 and urged immediate action on a “parity pledge”.

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