Move is an apparent attempt to win support from Brexit voters in seats Tories fear losing
Boris Johnson will reportedly announce the return of imperial measurements to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee, in an apparent attempt to garner support among Brexiter voters in battleground seats that the Conservatives are in danger of losing.
Britain currently uses a mix of imperial and metric measurements, with speed limits in miles per hour and milk and beer bought in pints.
Continue reading...Laboratory chief blames Brexit for closure as money for corvid brain power research dries up
One of Britain’s most important, and unusual, centres for studying cognition is facing imminent closure as a result of Brexit. Set up 22 years ago to study the minds of crows, rooks and other birds noted for their intelligence, the Cambridge Comparative Cognition Laboratory is set to cease operations in July.
Its director, Professor Nicola Clayton, told the Observer she was devastated by the prospect of ending her research there. Nor was she in any doubt about the prime reason for the centre’s closure.
Continue reading...Group who worked with UK media to sue government over failure to relocate them to Britain
A group of Afghan journalists who worked closely with the UK media for years have revealed how they face beatings, death threats and months in hiding, and accuse the government of reneging on a pledge to bring them to Britain.
Having fought in vain for clearance to come to the UK since the return of Taliban rule last summer, the eight journalists are now taking legal action against the government. They have applied for a judicial review after waiting months for their applications to relocate to the UK to be processed. They report only receiving standard response emails from the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) programme.
Continue reading...Vincente Gomes is a cousin and former colleague of Emanuel Gomes, who died after going into work with a fever
A government cleaner has described how he and his colleagues feel powerless to refuse difficult situations such as clearing up after parties, amid alleged maltreatment and low pay.
Sue Gray’s report on the Partygate scandal disclosed that government cleaners and security guards were subjected to a “lack of respect and poor treatment” while officials drank excessively, spilled wine on the walls and partied into the small hours.
Continue reading...The Canvas’s founder says takings were so low as cost of living crisis bites she thought tills were broken
The founder of a London social enterprise that gives free meals to refugees and the homeless has said it is at risk of closure because the cost of living crisis has led to a collapse in sales and donations.
Ruth Rogers, the founder of The Canvas in the East End of London, said there had been a dramatic collapse in trade in its cafe in recent weeks, with takings so low that one day she thought its tills were broken.
Continue reading...Higher education leaders say ministers think departments are full of ‘Marxists’, as top universities fail accreditation process
Leaders in higher education said this week they believed the government was trying to push universities out of teacher training for political reasons because ministers thought their education departments were “hotbeds of leftwing intellectualism” and full of “Marxists”.
Under changes announced last summer, all initial teacher training providers in England must be re-accredited by the Department for Education to continue educating teachers from 2024. However, two-thirds of providers, including some top universities, were told this month that they had failed the first round of the new accreditation process. The DfE said last week that just 80 providers, out of 216 who are understood to have applied, had made the cut.
Continue reading...Councils say they have received a ‘huge number of applications’ to celebrate 70 years on throne
More than 16,000 street parties are expected to be held over the Queen’s platinum jubilee bank holiday weekend.
Councils across England have received a “huge number of applications” from residents to celebrate the monarch’s 70-year milestone, according to the Local Government Association (LGA).
Continue reading...Royalties company PRS for Music has announced a major funding cut for its charitable arm. Artists such as Black Country, New Road explain why it could damage the UK music scene
One of the UK’s biggest funders of new and emerging music, responsible for fostering the careers of artists including Sam Fender, Little Simz and 2021 Mercury prize winner Arlo Parks, has this week seen its budget slashed by 60%.
The PRS Foundation, which funds hundreds of aspiring artists and music organisations across the country – including a number of artists from groups underrepresented in the music industry – announced on Wednesday that its income would be cut from £2.75m to £1m from 2024 onwards, citing financial necessity. The decision was taken by its parent company and primary funder PRS for Music, which collects royalties for musicians when their music is streamed or played in public.
Continue reading...Caroline Dennett says she has been flooded with support after decision that has cost ‘around 60%-70% of my business’
Caroline Dennett’s eye was caught by a placard with two stark words: “insiders wanted”. The safety consultant was watching a video of Extinction Rebellion climate protesters who had glued themselves inside Shell’s headquarters in April and were encouraging employees to jump ship to aid its cause.
This week Dennett, who runs the independent agency Clout, released a bombshell video severing ties with Shell after an 11-year business relationship. She emailed 1,400 Shell employees and accused the £177bn behemoth of causing “extreme harms” to the environment and having a “disregard for climate change risks”.
Continue reading...Senior Conservatives fear that, whether the PM stays or goes, the opinion poll deficit is not now recoverable
It’s supposed to be make-up-your-mind time for Conservative MPs. But having waited six months for Sue Gray’s report into law-breaking parties across Westminster, many are still grappling with whether to clear Boris Johnson’s path to the next general election – or oust the man who won them an 80-seat majority.
What is already clear is that boastful proclamations from Johnson’s supporters this week claiming the prime minister’s position was safe have proved premature.
Continue reading...Britain lagging behind in race to build vital large-scale and local battery factories
Britain is locked in a battle to hold on to production of Jaguar Land Rover’s future range of electric vehicles as concerns grow that the UK is falling behind in the race to build vital large-scale battery factories.
The company, which is owned by the Indian conglomerate Tata, said it continued to “explore all options” for battery supply amid reports it could build electric cars in eastern Europe.
Continue reading...This live blog is now closed. Boris Johnson changes ministerial code to axe need to resign for rule breaches
The Conservative MP Paul Holmes, who represents Eastleigh, has announced that he is resigning as a parliamentary private secretary in response to the revelations in the Sue Gray report.
Holmes, who was elected in 2019, was PPS to Priti Patel, the home secretary. A PPS – an unpaid ministerial “bag carrier” – is not a member of the government, but is considered part of the “payroll vote” and obliged to support the government in all divisions. Being a PPS is normally a stepping stone towards becoming a minister.
Revelations from the Sue Gray report that staff and cleaners were not treated properly is both disappointing and unacceptable. It is right that the prime minister apologised to staff. It clearly showed a culture in No 10 that was distasteful, and I am glad that there have been several reforms that Sue Gray has welcomed.
It is clear to me that a deep mistrust in both the government and the Conservative party has been created by these events, something that pains me personally as someone who always tries to represent Eastleigh and its people with integrity. Whether that is taking up your issues in parliament or helping people with their problems closer to home, since 2019 we have completed over 12,000 pieces of constituency casework. It is distressing to me that this work on your behalf has been tarnished by the toxic culture that seemed to have permeated No 10.
I’m not going to pretend that this is going to fix everything for everybody immediately. There are still going to be pressures. But it’s a very, very substantial commitment by the government to getting us through what will be, I’m afraid, still a bumpy time with the increase in energy prices around the world.
Continue reading...Brian Wilson tells tribunal he tossed overmantel from Seighford Hall on to a pile of firewood, before giving it to an antiques dealer
The caretaker of a stately home in Staffordshire gave away a rare Tudor carved panel worth up to £5m because he thought it was rotten, an employment tribunal has heard.
Brian Wilson took the 450-year-old overmantel from the Grade II-listed Seighford Hall and tossed it on a pile of firewood, before giving it to an antiques dealer who later tried to sell it.
Continue reading...Cameron Bailey used his car ‘as a ‘weapon’, sending victims ‘flying like skittles in a bowling alley’, court told
Warning: video contains distressing images
A serving British soldier who left two teenagers needing hospital treatment and suffering lasting psychological trauma when he deliberately ploughed into them in his sports car following a drunken row has been jailed for eight years.
Cameron Bailey, who has since been dismissed from the army, drank about six pitchers of spirits mixed with energy drinks and cocktails, as well as beers, before getting into a row with a group of young people in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
Continue reading...Prime minister says MLRS rockets can help embattled forces but stops short of UK offering M270 system
Boris Johnson has said Ukraine should be supplied with long-range multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) to help Kyiv’s embattled forces prevent Russian invaders from gaining ground in the Donbas.
But the prime minister stopped short of committing the UK to sending the powerful M270 rocket system, which Kyiv has been pleading for from Britain, the US and other Nato members for several weeks.
Continue reading...London magistrates sentence Michael Strubel to more than six years for failing to pay compensation
A fraudster who conned people out of more than £70m in a “Ponzi-style scheme” claiming he was supplying services to the London 2012 Olympic village and large hotels has been given more than six years in jail for failing to hand back more than £1.4m of illicit profits.
City of London magistrates court committed Michael Strubel to prison for six years and seven months for failing to pay his confiscation order.
Continue reading...New rules say ministers can apologise or temporarily lose pay for breaking code, which PM is accused of doing
Boris Johnson is changing the rules to let ministers avoid resigning if they break the ministerial code, allowing them to apologise or temporarily lose their pay instead.
The prime minister, who is facing claims of breaching the code, published a policy statement on Friday saying it is “disproportionate to expect that any breach, however minor, should lead automatically to resignation or dismissal”.
Continue reading...EasyJet cancelled 14 flights, while ferry passengers at Dover face queues, and jams await drivers
Half-term holidaymakers are navigating the busiest day at British airports since the start of the pandemic with some hit by further flight cancellations, while cross-Channel ferry passengers face long queues at Dover and drivers are warned to expect jams.
EasyJet cancelled 14 more flights at London Gatwick in the early morning peak, in the aftermath of IT problems on Thursday that took out 200 of its flights around Europe.
Continue reading...Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto will display 180 designs, jewellery, accessories and perfumes
The V&A is to host the first ever exhibition in a major UK museum on the work of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, covering the career of the French designer from the opening of her first millinery boutique in Paris in 1910 to the showing of her final collection in 1971.
The London museum’s exhibition, Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto, will display 180 designs as well as jewellery, accessories and perfume, and outfits created for Lauren Bacall and Marlene Dietrich.
Continue reading...A fanged crowd of 1,369 broke the Guinness World Record for vampire gatherings in celebration of Bram Stoker’s classic novel
It was, English Heritage of course said afterwards, a fangtastic effort. But there had been a lot at stake. After months of meticulous preparation, the idea was to set a world record for the most people dressed as a vampire at a place Dracula would surely call his spiritual home.
He would be less than pleased at how happy and carefree everyone looked as they filed into the Gothic ruins of Whitby Abbey on Thursday evening. The grey clouds and drizzle of the afternoon even made way for blue skies and glorious sunshine.
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