Exclusive: Critical defence select committee report to come amid growing Tory unease over No 10’s plan
The credibility of the government’s plan to put the Royal Navy in charge of coordinating efforts to control small boats in the Channel is expected to be questioned by an influential parliamentary committee.
A report by the defence select committee, to be delivered shortly, will raise doubts over whether plans to put the Royal Navy in charge have been rigorously tested.
Continue reading...Ranald Crook, now back in Britain, was forbidden to fly home for his father’s funeral under travel ban
A 75-year-old British man was trapped in Qatar for more than seven years when he was refused permission to leave after a business dispute.
Ranald Crook, who is back in Gloucestershire, was even forbidden to fly home for his father’s funeral as a result of the travel ban, imposed after two influential Qatari brothers took legal action against him.
Continue reading...Volunteers leading response to growing number of people fleeing Russian invasion, as country announces £1.3bn fund for refugees
More than 1 million people have crossed from Ukraine into Poland since the Russian invasion began on 24 February, the Polish border guard has said.
Poland, which shares a 310-mile border with Ukraine, has taken in the majority of the 1.7 million people who have left their homes since the war began, with aid efforts largely operated by volunteers, as well as NGOs and municipalities.
Continue reading...Mistakes are still made in cases like their daughter’s, say Gracie’s parents, who are campaigning for more funding for anti-stalking advocates
Gracie Spinks was doing what she loved most – feeding her beloved horse one morning before work – when a stalker she had previously reported to the police killed her.
Her death came just a few months after Sarah Everard was murdered by police officer Wayne Couzens in March 2021, triggering a nationwide conversation about violence towards women and confidence in policing.
Continue reading...Moscow seeks guarantees regarding trade with Iran that would undermine west’s response to Ukraine invasion
Russia has been accused of trying to take the Iran nuclear deal hostage as part of its wider battle with the west over Ukraine, after it threw a last-minute spanner into plans for an agreement to lift a swathe of US economic sanctions on Tehran.
After months of negotiations in Vienna, a revised deal was expected to be reached within days under which US sanctions would be lifted in return for Tehran returning to full compliance with the 2015 nuclear nonproliferation deal.
Continue reading...Border official insisted Slovakian national was using an alias after Home Office misspelled name
The Home Office has agreed to pay nearly £6,000 in a settlement to an EU citizen it detained at the border in a post-Brexit crackdown on Europeans entering the country last year.
Miro Matos, a Slovakian who has lived in the UK for 18 years, was so furious at his treatment in Calais that he sued after officials detained him for 10 hours alleging he was using a false name and had not declared a driving offence when he applied for EU settled status.
Continue reading...Labour’s Anneliese Dodds says women should play a central role in the UK’s post-pandemic economic recovery
Women should play a central role in the UK’s post-pandemic economic recovery, with evidence revealing companies with more female leaders outperform those dominated by men, according to House of Commons research.
Accusing the government of ignoring women’s needs during the coronavirus pandemic and side-lining them in plans for recovery, the shadow secretary for women and equalities, Anneliese Dodds, said the data showed women held the key to a stronger economy, but they were being held back by a lack of investment and the risk of “childcare deserts” in parts of the country.
Continue reading...The actor, best known for her role as Lavender Brown, says her symptoms have lasted for weeks
Harry Potter star Jessie Cave has been admitted to hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 while pregnant with her fourth child.
The actor, best known for her role as Lavender Brown in the film adaptations of the hit books, said the virus had hit her hard and her symptoms have lasted weeks.
Continue reading...Deputy PM says Nato will need ‘strategic stamina’ as Starmer accuses ministers of moving too slowly on sanctions
It may take years for Vladimir Putin to be defeated in his conquest of Ukraine, Britain’s deputy prime minister has admitted, as Labour accused the government of moving too slowly over sanctions.
Dominic Raab said people who thought the crisis could be resolved in days were “deluding themselves” and that Nato would need to “show some strategic stamina” in its bid to force the Russian army to retreat.
Continue reading...Former Observer journalist was perhaps best known for his courageous coverage of Pinochet’s brutal coup in Chile in 1973
Hugh O’Shaughnessy, the admired journalist known for his reporting on Latin America, has died aged 87.
The former Observer correspondent won a series of awards during an illustrious career largely spent covering the rapidly changing social and political landscape of South America.
Continue reading...Tory MPs and business groups urge chancellor to scrap increase intended to fund NHS and social care amid fears of stagflation
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is under renewed pressure from MPs and business groups to rethink plans to increase national insurance next month, as fears grow that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will dramatically worsen the cost of living crisis and plunge the economy into “stagflation”.
Both Tory and Labour MPs believe Sunak can still be persuaded to ditch the 1.25 percentage point rise – announced last September to fund the NHS and social care – and want him to use the potentially devastating effects of events in Ukraine on prices as justification for what they say is an urgently needed U-turn.
Continue reading...Anti-fascist group Hope Not Hate says extremists present self-improvement as part of wider political struggle
The far right is increasingly recruiting via online fitness groups, whose popularity soared during the pandemic, prompting fears that new members are being radicalised to commit acts of violence, new analysis shows.
Researchers have detected a network of online “fascist fitness” chat groups on the messaging app Telegram with a large number directly linked to the neo-Nazi Patriotic Alternative, Britain’s biggest extreme right group.
Continue reading...Artists say firm with murky ethical record is stealing their designs
Vanessa Bowman paints the world around her: the 19th-century village church, her back garden, the leaves on the trees in the fields where she walks her dog.
Once she has chosen a scene from her rural Dorset idyll, she puts brush to canvas, sometimes poring over the details for days in her studio.
Continue reading...Amendment to the economic crime bill comes after criticism that UK has been slower to act than US or EU
Russian oligarchs suspected of having links to Vladimir Putin could have their UK assets seized even before the British authorities have completed formal steps to impose sanctions, under far-reaching plans tabled for debate in parliament on Monday.
The move – put forward in an amendment to the economic crime bill by former Tory cabinet minister David Davis and backed by a cross-party group of MPs – would, if passed, amount to the toughest action yet to clamp down on illicit Russian cash in the UK.
Continue reading...Government has urged UK nationals to ‘consider leaving’ the country now but the war in Ukraine has led to travel disruption
British nationals urged to leave Russia amid the fallout of the war in Ukraine are facing fraught journeys back to the UK, with reports of tense border crossings, visa problems and disruption caused by flight cancellations.
The UK government updated its travel advice yesterday to “strongly advise” those whose presence is “not essential” in Russia to consider leaving now. In a statement on its website, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “If your presence in Russia is not essential, we strongly advise that you consider leaving by remaining commercial routes.”
Continue reading...The London-based pair launch initiative to raise awareness – and funds – through shared love of traditional dishes
Alissa Timoshkina was brought up on a “beautiful diet” of Ukrainian and Russian dishes. Growing up, she remembers her great-grandmother – a Ukrainian Holocaust survivor who emigrated to Siberia following the second world war – pounding lard and frying vegetables to make a hearty beetroot borscht (Ukrainian soup).
Now the Russian chef has joined forces with her Ukrainian best friend, Olia Hercules, in a show of unity in the face of war. The London-based pair, both 37, are the force behind Cook for Ukraine, an initiative that uses food to raise awareness about the conflict and funds to support the humanitarian effort.
Continue reading...Research shows as many as 50% of ethnic minority carers say responsibilities hold them back from finding new positions
Three out of five women say their caring responsibilities for children and other vulnerable or elderly relatives are preventing them from applying for a new job or promotion, while only one in five men say the same, according to new research.
The poll of 5,444 people by Ipsos Mori and the charity Business in the Community (BITC) found that nearly half the workforce are combining paid work and care. Almost three in 10 adults have left or considered leaving a job because of difficulties in balancing work and care. The latter was particularly true of women.
Continue reading...From its biggest private house to a disused tube station, London has long been an attractive place for the Russian president’s cronies to buy property. Their ill-gotten wealth permeated the capital at the expense of us all
For years, if not decades, the luxury property market in London and south-east England has been feasting on investment from Russia and former Soviet states. The oligarch’s mansion, with fantastical multi-level interiors containing swimming pools, art galleries and vintage car collections, has become the stuff of legend. Estate agents, lawyers, accountants, financial institutions, property companies, public relations agencies, architects and interior designers have all done well out of this abundant cash.
Meanwhile, campaigners and journalists have been sounding the alarm. London, they have long pointed out, appeared to be uniquely attractive to “suspicious wealth” – as the anti-corruption organisation Transparency International UK puts it – from all over the world, and from the former Soviet Union in particular. These alarms were mostly ignored until now, when suddenly it appears problematic to have been complicit in the workings of elites whose leader has started the most dangerous war in Europe since 1945.
Continue reading...William Warrington, 40, remanded into custody after Clive and Valerie Warrington found dead with stab wounds at separate addresses
A 40-year-old man has appeared in court accused of murdering his parents.
The victims, who were divorced, were found dead with stab wounds at two separate addresses in Gloucestershire on Wednesday morning.
Continue reading...Analysis: despite the EU’s solidarity in helping those escaping war, aid agencies are overwhelmed with many people stuck at borders
Just over a week after Russian rockets first began to slam into Ukraine, more than 1.3 million people have fled over the borders of neighbouring European countries into a frightening and uncertain future. What we are witnessing, the United Nations has warned, is the largest refugee crisis in a century.
All week, the world has watched families fighting to board trains in chaotic crowds, fathers kissing their children goodbye through car windows, and seen the shock and exhaustion on the faces of those who have made it to safety.
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