Category Archives: UK news

Could Anglesey’s tidal energy project drive a new energy revolution?

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Experts say Wales has huge potential for generating renewable marine power, yet, so far, ambitious schemes have been ignored

On the stunning and craggy coastline of Holy Island in north Wales, work has started on a construction project to generate energy from one of the world’s greatest untapped energy resources: tidal power.

The Morlais project, on the small island off the west of Anglesey has benefited from £31m in what is likely to be the last large grant for Wales from the European Union’s regional funding programme. It will install turbines at what will be one of the largest tidal stream energy sites in the world, covering 13 square miles of the seabed.

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Councils in England are failing to use new powers to block shoddy housing schemes

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Research by UCL finds cash-strapped local authorities in the south-west, Midlands and north less likely to challenge developers

Housebuilders are churning out substandard housing schemes with poor living conditions despite councils having the power to block them, according to new research.

The National Planning Policy Framework was amended in July to allow councils to refuse “development that is not well designed”. A study by University College London found that the Planning Inspectorate, which hears housebuilders’ appeals, is now three times as likely to back councils who reject developments on design grounds. But it also found that the vast majority of those blocked were in the south-east, suggesting that elsewhere councils were not using the new powers.

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Lords rally to protect independence of UK’s Electoral Commission

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Boris Johnson’s government faces new defeat over what critics say is democratic meddling

Boris Johnson is facing another damaging parliamentary defeat on Monday over controversial plans that would give ministers new powers to determine the remit of the independent watchdog that oversees UK elections.

A cross-party group of peers is this weekend rallying behind an amendment to the elections bill that would strike out key clauses which, they believe, would seriously undermine the Electoral Commission’s independence and open the way for political interference in the conduct of elections.

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At least one child has died from mystery strain of severe hepatitis, WHO confirms

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Strain reported in 12 countries causing at least 169 cases in young children, most of them in the UK

At least one child has died from a mystery strain of severe hepatitis which has now been reported in 12 countries, the World Health Organization has confirmed.

The UN body said on Saturday that it is aware of 169 rare cases of acute hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver, in young children. Of these, 17 became so sick they needed liver transplants.

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Homes For Ukraine whistleblower says UK refugee scheme is ‘designed to fail’

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Worker claims confused staff are ‘making up response’ to applications and visas are withheld to keep numbers down

A whistleblower working on Britain’s Homes for Ukraine scheme has revealed that he and his colleagues “don’t know what we’re doing”, and claims the scheme has been “designed to fail” in order to limit numbers entering the UK.

Amid criticism over the numbers of Ukrainians so far allowed to come to the UK, the insider revealed that confusion, poor morale and lack of guidance meant staff contracted to the scheme frequently resorted to “making up” their response to cases.

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‘Condescending’: Jacob Rees-Mogg leaves notes for WFH civil servants

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Cabinet minister accused of ‘crass’ behaviour in his campaign to get staff back in the office

Jacob Rees-Mogg has been called “condescending” after leaving notes deemed to be passive-aggressive on civil servants’ desks in an effort to stop them working from home.

As part of his campaign to push workers back into offices, the cabinet minister has toured Whitehall buildings and published a league table of government departments based on how many staff are present.

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Local elections: ‘It’s Partygate versus low council taxes’

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The Tories have held Wandsworth for more than four decades, but Boris Johnson’s lockdown woes and the cost of living crisis threaten to tip the balance towards Labour

In many ways, the London borough of Wandsworth is a paradigm of the modern capital. On one hand, it is a place where a teenager recently fainted from hunger in a food bank queue. And on the other, it is home to the “sky pool”, a spectacular transparent swimming pool suspended 10 storeys above ground in Nine Elms, and reserved exclusively for the development’s richest residents.

The borough is also known for its comparatively low council tax – which, its Conservative-run council boasts, is the lowest average council tax in the country. Wandsworth also claims to be the only local authority in London that is cutting its share of council tax bills.

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Scilly residents face paying hundreds to visit the bank as last branch closes

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Lloyds is to close the Isles’ last branch meaning the nearest bank will be 44 miles and a ferry ride away

For many, the ferry ride between Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly marks the beginning of a relaxing weekend away. For residents of the islands wanting to visit their nearest bank, it’s about to become an expensive necessity.

Lloyds, which ran the Isles’ last remaining branch, is about to close the site on the island of St Mary’s because of a persistent fall in customer numbers.

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Women and children beg for help in video from besieged Mariupol steel factory

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Food and water running out in Azovstal stronghold as Ukraine says mass graves seen on satellite near city could hold 9,000 civilian dead

A video has emerged from inside the besieged Azovstal steel factory in Mariupol showing women and children who say they are “running out of strength” and need to be urgently evacuated to Ukrainian-controlled territory.

The film was recorded on Thursday. The women say 15 children are living in tunnels beneath the plant, ranging in ages from babies to teenagers. They are trapped together with their families and other civilians, including factory workers.

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Three stabbed and several injured in Warwickshire attack

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Man, 33, held after what police describe as ‘nasty incident’ in town of Bedworth on Saturday morning

Three people have been stabbed and several others injured by a lone attacker in the Warwickshire town of Bedworth.

A 33-year-old man has been arrested, while a man in his 20s is in a stable condition in hospital after the attack on Saturday morning, Warwickshire police said.

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Javid orders inquiry into NHS gender identity services for under-18s – reports

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The health secretary is planning an overhaul of services offered to young people who question their gender identity, the Times reports

An inquiry into the impact on under-18s of NHS treatment for gender dysphoria is to be launched by the UK government, according to reports.

The health secretary, Sajid Javid, is said to be concerned that vulnerable children are being given gender hormone treatment before alternatives have been explored, according to the Times, and is planning an overhaul of services.

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Tories face heavy local election losses over Partygate, PM told

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Prominent backbencher Steve Baker says party will ‘reap the whirlwind on polling day’

Boris Johnson has been told public fury at lockdown-breaking Downing Street parties will result in the Conservatives suffering substantial losses at next month’s local elections, with the possibility that the prime minister may receive further police fines ahead of polling day.

Steve Baker, a prominent backbench Tory MP, said voters were repeatedly mentioning the Partygate scandal on the campaign trail and the Conservatives should prepare to “reap the whirlwind” of standing by Johnson.

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Ed Balls rules out political comeback for Labour in Wakefield byelection

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Former shadow chancellor says he has ‘no intention’ of putting himself forward to stand for the West Yorkshire seat

Ed Balls has ruled out a return to politics as a Labour candidate in the upcoming Wakefield byelection.

The former shadow chancellor, who lost his Morley and Outwood seat at the 2015 general election, wrote on Twitter that he had “no intention of putting myself forward” for the contest.

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Johnson vows to stop UK exports to India ending up in Russia

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PM says he will close loopholes that allow components to be smuggled via India for use by Russian military

Boris Johnson has said he will close loopholes to ensure UK exports to India cannot end up being used in Russian weapons, as he conceded the war in Ukraine could go on until the end of next year, and Russia could win.

Speaking in Delhi at the end of a two-day visit, the UK prime minister warned that Vladimir Putin was resorting to a “grinding approach” in Ukraine; and suggested the UK would help to “backfill” countries including Poland if they provided heavy weaponry such as tanks to Kyiv.

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Johnson leadership doubts resurface amid report of fresh Partygate fine at event he attended

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No 10 denies PM fined again as source says at least one new fine issued for 20 May party and Tory MPs reconsider his survivability

Boris Johnson is facing deepening peril over the Partygate scandal after a source said a fine had been issued for a second event attended by the prime minister, while senior Conservatives warned he could face a leadership challenge within weeks.

On Friday evening, No 10 was forced to deny Johnson had received another fixed penalty notice (FPN) for a “bring your own booze” Downing Street garden party on 20 May 2020.

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UK gave sanctioned Russians ‘golden visas’ after first Ukraine invasion

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Government accused of ‘shocking complacency’ over awards to seven Putin cronies


Seven Russians now under sanctions were awarded controversial “golden visas” by the UK after Vladimir Putin’s regime first invaded Ukraine in 2014, the government has admitted.

The government closed the “tier 1 investor visa” scheme in February amid the build-up of Russian forces on Ukraine’s border as it prepared to broaden its occupation beyond Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.

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Logan Mwangi’s murder: major review of Welsh social care needed, says expert

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Senior social worker calls for action in the only country of the UK that has not had a recent review

A root and branch review of children’s social care in Wales is needed after the case of five-year-old Logan Mwangi, who was killed by his mother and stepfather after being removed from the child protection register, a leading social work expert has said.

Prof Donald Forrester said the case highlighted critical issues affecting many children’s social services in Wales, ranging from social worker capacity and staffing shortages to high and increasing numbers of children being taken into care.

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Boris Johnson says he will still be prime minister in October as Partygate overshadows India trip – as it happened

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PM says he will still be leading the country by Diwali after being asked questions over Partygate scandal while on India trip

Johnson acknowledges that a Russian military victory in Ukraine is a real possibility.

Putin has a huge army. [But] he has a very difficult political position because he’s made a catastrophic blunder. The only option he now has really is to continue to try to use his appalling, grinding approach – led by artillery – trying to grind the Ukrainians down. And he’s very close to securing a land bridge in Mariupol.

Now, the situation is, I’m afraid, unpredictable at this stage. You’ve just got to be realistic about that.

We’ve got to look at what more we can do militarily. We’ve got to keep intensifying the economic sanctions. And that’s what we’re doing. We want to make sure that there is wave after wave of intensifying pressure on Putin.

One of the things that have been really effective in the sanctions that we’ve seen so far is the ban on tech transfer to Russia and that really makes a difference ... We’ll be making sure that we don’t allow any loopholes of any kind and we will take steps to make sure that stuff does not go through other routes to Russia.

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Boris Johnson feels Westminster heat under the Indian sun

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Analysis: The PM travelled 4,000 miles to not get very far, on a trip fraught with tensions about Partygate and Ukraine

As Boris Johnson met Narendra Modi on Friday morning, he joked of the enthusiastic welcome he received in the Indian prime minister’s home state of Gujarat featuring giant posters of the British leader’s face, and flag-waving crowds: “I wouldn’t get that necessarily everywhere in the world.”

It was a characteristically self-deprecating reference to the fact that even 4,000 miles from home, he was unable to escape Partygate.

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