Category Archives: UK news

Lenny Henry to make playwright debut with Windrush drama

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Henry will also star in August in England, to be staged at London’s Bush theatre as part of 50th birthday celebrations

Lenny Henry is to make his debut as a playwright with a drama about the injustice of the Windrush scandal.

Henry will also star in the one-man show, August in England, which is to be staged at the Bush in west London in spring 2023 as part of the theatre’s 50th birthday celebrations. The play, he said, “is a story that needs to be told about the scandal, and the massive effect it had and continues to have on our community”.

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Putin will lead Russia to strategic defeat in Ukraine, says Blinken

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US secretary of state says Russian leader’s ‘clear plan to brutalise Ukraine’ will end in failure

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has said Vladimir Putin will fail in his effort to subjugate Ukraine, and will instead lead Russia into a “strategic defeat” that is already unfolding.

Blinken was talking at a press conference with the UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, at which both pledged to keep up security and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

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Tory peer attended Cop26 summit for Russia, UN list shows

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Former energy minister Greg Barker went to climate talks as part of Russian Federation party

A Conservative peer attended Cop26 in Glasgow as part of Russia’s group of participants at the UN climate summit, the Guardian can reveal.

Greg Barker, a former energy minister when David Cameron was prime minister, attended the talks as part of the party of the Russian Federation, according to a list published by the UN.

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UK ministers considering climbdown on Ukraine visa restrictions

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Change would mean Ukrainians with temporary visas would be able to bring their relatives to Britain

Ministers are considering a climbdown to allow Ukrainians with temporary visas to bring relatives to the UK after Ukraine’s ambassador called for an easing of restrictions.

Amid scenes of chaos and despair at a visa application centre in Poland, government insiders said Ukrainians in the UK on work and student visas might also be allowed to bring their relatives to the UK.

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Tories criticised for choosing ex-party candidate to chair Charity Commission

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Labour said seeking to appoint Orlando Fraser ignored due process and showed Tories ‘looking after their own’

The government has been accused of “looking after their own” after choosing a former Tory party candidate with links to a rightwing thinktank as its preferred candidate for the chair of the charities’ watchdog.

Labour said by seeking to appoint Orlando Fraser, a founding fellow of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), to the chair of the Charity Commission, ministers had ignored due process in favour of another Conservative supporter.

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Russia-Ukraine war latest: strike on children’s hospital ‘ultimate evidence that genocide is happening’ – Zelenskiy

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Ukrainian president calls bombing in Mariupol ‘beyond atrocity’ and urges world to ‘stand united in condemning Russia for this crime’

The New York Times will have no reporters on the ground in Russia for the first time in a century after the news organisation joined those pulling out of the country.

Russian authorities made reporting from the country impossible when it recently criminalised the act of describing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “war” with those who commit the offence facing up to 15 years in prison.

As a result Russian media outlets have been forced to close, while global news organisations have pulled out their teams owing to the risk of arrest.

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Ernest Shackleton’s wrecked ship found off coast of Antarctica

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Expedition team locates wreckage of explorer’s ship which sank in Weddell Sea in 1915

The wreck of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship has been found off the coast of Antarctica, according to the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust.

Endurance had not been seen since it was crushed by ice and sank in the Weddell Sea in 1915, and last month the Endurance22 Expedition set off from Cape Town, South Africa, a month after the 100th anniversary of Shackleton’s death on a mission to locate it.

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Sky Vegas fined £1.2m for sending free casino ‘spins’ to recovering addicts

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Messages from online casino occurred during industry’s Safer Gambling Week

Sky Vegas has been fined £1.2m for sending free casino “spins” to recovering addicts during the industry’s annual Safer Gambling Week.

The fine comes at a sensitive time for the British gambling industry, which has been at pains to show it has improved its attitude to social responsibility.

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Brexit red tape stopping small charities getting supplies to Ukraine

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Polish charity says three vans were blocked from getting on ferry because they didn’t have required paperwork

Brexit red tape is preventing small charities and members of the public from bringing supplies to the Ukrainian border to help ease the deepening humanitarian crisis, it has emerged.

A Polish charity in Lewisham, south London, said three of its vans were blocked from getting on a ferry because they didn’t have the paperwork needed for their cargo.

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Judge dismisses Prince Andrew case after royal and accuser agree settlement

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  • New York judge formally dismisses sexual abuse lawsuit
  • Settlement not disclosed but thought to be worth up to $15m

A US judge on Tuesday ordered that Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit against Britain’s Prince Andrew in New York be dismissed after the two parties reached a settlement, a court filing showed.

US district judge Lewis Kaplan signed court papers dismissing the August lawsuit after lawyers on both sides asked him to do so. The judge had given them until 17 March to complete the deal or he would set a trial date.

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UK to phase out Russian oil imports by 2023 and explore ending gas imports

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Analysts warn of a difficult and expensive transition that could push Britain into recession

Britain and the US together moved to ban Russian oil on Tuesday in the biggest financial crackdown on Moscow since its invasion of Ukraine two weeks ago.

In a move likely to hit the Kremlin’s coffers hard, as well as further raise petrol prices and feed inflation in the west, Boris Johnson said stopping imports of Russian oil by the end of 2022 was “another economic blow to the Putin regime”.

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Internet scams to be included in UK online safety bill

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Platforms to be required to protect users from pre-paid fraudulent adverts as well as user-generated scams

Measures to protect people from internet scams will now be included in proposed online safety laws, the government has said.

Under a previous draft of the online safety bill, platforms which host user-generated content would have a “duty of care” to protect users from fraud by other users.

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Foreigners travelling to Ukraine to fight invasion will be given citizenship – as it happened

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This blog is now closed. Follow our live coverage of the Russian invasion here.

Stoock markets have been struggling again today with no sign of any let up in the adverse economic impact of the war.

Brent crude is on the rise again – up 2.48% to $126.26 – after see-sawing violently yesterday when it touched almost $140.

Griffiths urged all sides to ensure that civilians, homes and infrastructure in Ukraine were safeguarded.

“This includes allowing safe passage for civilians to leave areas of active hostilities on a voluntary basis, in the direction they choose,” he said, after Ukraine rejected an earlier deal that would only allow its civilians to evacuate into Russia or Belarus.

The meeting came as Ukraine and Russia seek an agreement on creating “humanitarian corridors” out of pummelled cities, as the civilian toll from the Russian assault mounts.

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Report urges Scottish government to introduce misogyny act

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Working group led by Helena Kennedy QC recommends law to crack down on daily abuses that ‘absolutely degrade women’s lives’

A misogyny act for Scotland, created exclusively for women to crack down on street harassment, organised online hate and an onslaught of rape and disfigurement threats, has been recommended to the Scottish government by Helena Kennedy.

Set up in February 2021 to consider the creation of a standalone offence of misogynist hate crime, Lady Kennedy’s working group has returned a far more ambitious report that recommends naming explicitly the daily abuses that “absolutely degrade women’s lives”.

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UK faces large EU bill over Chinese imports fraud

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Court rules government failed to fulfil obligation to collect correct amount of customs duties and VAT

The British government faces paying a hefty charge to the EU after the European court of justice ruled it had been negligent in allowing criminal gangs to flood European markets with cheap Chinese-made clothes and shoes.

Publishing its final ruling on Tuesday, the court concluded that the UK as member state had “failed to fulfil its obligations” under EU law to combat fraud and collect the correct amount of customs duties and VAT on imported Chinese goods. The failures by HMRC date from 2011 to 2017.

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Women still fear for their safety but are louder and more determined than ever

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Analysis: women have found their voice, and are demanding to be heard

Where do women in the UK find themselves on International Women’s Day in 2022? In truth: more fearful about their safety, more anxious about their economic futures and wondering if the monumental gains made in gender equality over the last decades are at risk. But they are also louder and more determined than ever.

It is impossible to reflect on the last 12 months without focusing on the seismic revolution of understanding of male violence against women and girls (VAWG).

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Sumy: international students in Ukrainian city tell of desperation

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Nigerian medical student escapes to safety but Indian coordinator remains trapped in hostel with wife and young baby

Against a constant backdrop of shelling and air raids, more than 1,200 international students remain trapped in the besieged city of Sumy, eastern Ukraine. Diplomatic efforts to evacuate them and create a safe corridor appear to have stalled.

Many of the students have run out of water, resorting at times to boiling ice, and are running out of food. In their desperation, many are contemplating taking a treacherous journey out of the city to Poltava, 110 miles to the south.

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Man found guilty of murder after dragging victim under car in Surrey

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Martin Eastwood, 22, used a stolen Ford S Max to kill Liam Dent after confrontation outside pub

A driver has been found guilty of murdering a man by hitting him with a car and dragging him for more than half a mile.

Martin Eastwood, 22, used a stolen Ford S Max to kill Liam Dent in the early hours of 26 July 2019 after a confrontation outside a pub in Chessington, Surrey.

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Volodymyr Zelenskiy to address British MPs via video link on Tuesday

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Ukraine’s president is expected to plead for more arms and repeat call for no-fly zone over Ukraine

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will address UK MPs via video link from Kyiv on Tuesday afternoon, when he is expected to plead for more arms and to repeat a call for a no-fly zone even though it has been rejected by Nato.

In a first, the leader’s speech will be broadcast direct into the Commons chamber with formal business suspended so that MPs can listen in with the help of simultaneous translation provided over headsets at 5pm.

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Priti Patel under fire over chaotic Ukrainian refugee policy

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Home Office sources contradict earlier government denials that third way to enter Britain may be introduced

Priti Patel has been accused of presiding over chaos after Ukrainian refugees arriving in Calais were greeted by posters telling them to get their UK visas in Paris or Brussels, while her pledge to expand the visa scheme was contradicted by Downing Street.

On a day of confusion and uncertainty for Ukrainian refugees making the 1,400-mile journey to Britain, the home secretary admitted that she has not yet set up a visa application centre (VAC) near the French port of Calais where refugees have gathered.

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