Category Archives: UK news

British American Tobacco halts Russia sales after U-turn

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Owner of brands including Rothmans had said it would still sell products – but will now pull out

British American Tobacco has reversed its decision to continue selling cigarettes and other nicotine products in Russia, putting the sudden change of heart down to its “ethos and values”.

The owner of brands including Rothmans and Lucky Strike said it would pull out of Russia after all, two days after breaking ranks with companies such as Nestlé, Unilever, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s by refusing to quit its operations there.

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Harry and Meghan add voices to fierce critique of west’s Covid vaccine policies

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Pair join Gordon Brown and 126 others in attack on ‘self-defeating nationalism, pharmaceutical monopolies and inequality’

Prince Harry and Meghan, the actor Charlize Theron and the former British prime minister Gordon Brown are among 130 signatories to a letter lambasting wealthy countries’ approach to the Covid-19 pandemic, labelling it “immoral, entirely self-defeating and also an ethical, economic and epidemiological failure”.

In a strongly worded open letter published on Friday, the signatories warned “the pandemic is not over”, and said the failure to vaccinate the world was down to “self-defeating nationalism, pharmaceutical monopolies and inequality”.

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MoD delivery of Ajax armoured vehicles will be a challenge, says watchdog

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Unresolved safety issues has led to four-year delay of 589 vehicles, leaving army with ageing equipment

The delivery of a fleet of armoured vehicles will be a significant challenge for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) because of failures that have led to delays and unresolved safety problems, according to the public spending watchdog.

The MoD has a £5.5bn contract with General Dynamics Land Systems UK (GDLS-UK) for the design, manufacture and initial in-service support of 589 Ajax armoured vehicles.

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Global Covid-19 death toll ‘may be three times higher than official figures’

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Researchers studying ‘excess deaths’ estimate that more than 18 million people died of disease by end of 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic may have claimed 18.2 million lives around the world, more than three times the official death toll, a new study suggests.

The higher figure is a better estimate of the true global casualty figure to the end of 2021, according to an analysis by a consortium of health researchers published in the Lancet.

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UK imposes sanctions on Roman Abramovich over ‘clear’ links to Putin

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Chelsea FC owner one of seven Russians to have assets frozen and be accused of ‘having blood on their hands’

Roman Abramovich, one of the world’s richest men, was finally subjected to sanctions by the UK government after ministers accused him of having “clear connections” to Vladimir Putin’s regime and being among a group of businessmen who had “blood on their hands”.

The owner of Chelsea FC was one of seven Russians worth up to £15bn who had their assets frozen on Thursday and were banned from travelling to Britain in a move designed to dramatically increase pressure on the Kremlin over its invasion of Ukraine.

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National tutoring scheme failing disadvantaged pupils, say MPs

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Consultancy firm Randstad’s contract ‘must end’ unless it delivers learning missed during Covid

A national tutoring programme is failing to help the children who need it most, according to MPs, who say ministers should terminate their contract with the consultancy firm running the scheme unlessit “shapes up”.

A report by the education select committee gives a scathing account of the government’s £5bn national tutoring programme (NTP), which aims to help children in England catch up on learning missed during the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021.

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Women’s prize for playwriting won by 90th birthday drama in ‘house full of ghosts’

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Winner Karis Kelly, writer of Consumed, had previously been considering a ‘complete career change’ as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic

A playwright who was considering a “complete career change” because of the Covid-19 pandemic’s devastating impact on the arts has been announced as the winner of this year’s Women’s prize for playwriting.

Karis Kelly won the prize for Consumed, a drama about four generations of Northern Irish women at a 90th birthday party in a “house full of hungry ghosts”. Kelly, who has been writing plays since 2008, said “like many others in the arts, during the pandemic, I had a complete crisis of faith … So to go from that point to receiving recognition from such an amazing prize and panel of judges is genuinely a dream come true.”

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Scottish Tory leader withdraws letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson

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Long a critic of the PM, Douglas Ross cites Ukraine war and says now is no time for change of leadership

The Scottish Conservative leader, Douglas Ross, has withdrawn his letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson, citing the war in Ukraine and saying it was no time for a change of leadership.

Ross, who has been an outspoken critic of the prime minister, had criticised him over lockdown parties in Downing Street. Johnson, along with dozens of staff and officials, is under police investigation for the breaches.

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UK politics live: Boris Johnson says government will keep tightening ‘economic vice around Putin regime’

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Latest updates: prime minister suggests further sanctions to come in future

Chelsea FC will still be allowed to play matches despite its owner, Roman Abramovich, being sanctioned, the government says. It explains:

Given the significant impact that today’s sanctions would have on Chelsea football club and the potential knock on effects of this, the government has this morning published a licence which authorises a number of football-related activities to continue at Chelsea. This includes permissions for the club to continue playing matches and other football related activity which will in turn protect the Premier League, the wider football pyramid, loyal fans and other clubs. This licence will only allow certain explicitly named actions to ensure the designated individual is not able to circumvent UK sanctions. The licence will be kept under constant review and we will work closely with the football authorities.

There can be no safe havens for those who have supported Putin’s vicious assault on Ukraine.

Today’s sanctions are the latest step in the UK’s unwavering support for the Ukrainian people. We will be ruthless in pursuing those who enable the killing of civilians, destruction of hospitals and illegal occupation of sovereign allies.

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Johnson announces terms of reference for Covid inquiry

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PM says bereaved will have voices heard at inquiry that will play key role in learning lessons from pandemic

Boris Johnson has promised bereaved families will have their voices heard, as he published wide-ranging terms of reference for the public inquiry into the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The prime minister bowed to pressure last year and announced the inquiry, which will be chaired by the retired judge Lady Hallett.

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UK has ‘sleepwalked’ into dysfunctional children’s social care market, says regulator

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CMA finds local authorities are being forced to pay excessive fees for substandard privately run services

The UK has “sleepwalked” into a dysfunctional market for children’s social care with local authorities forced to pay excessive fees for privately run services that often fail to meet the needs of vulnerable children, an official report has concluded.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) called for an overhaul of the £6.5bn UK market for children’s residential and foster care, saying it had found “significant problems” with the provision of the privately dominated services.

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Bristol woman who hit officer with skateboard during protest jailed

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Mariella Gedge-Rogers, 27, is convicted of riot during ‘kill the bill’ protest and jailed for five and half years

A woman who hit a police officer on the head with a skateboard during last year’s riot in Bristol has been jailed for five and a half years.

Mariella Gedge-Rogers, 27, also climbed on to the roof of the Bridewell police station in the centre of Bristol and threw missiles at officers.

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M&S boss Steve Rowe to step down after close to 40 years with retailer

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Rowe to be replaced by head of food business Stuart Machin, with Katie Bickerstaffe as co-chief executive

Marks & Spencer’s chief executive, Steve Rowe, is stepping down in May after nearly 40 years at the business he joined straight from school.

Rowe, who has spent six years overseeing the beginnings of a turnaround in the retailer’s fortunes after years in the doldrums, is to be replaced by the boss of its food business, Stuart Machin.

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British troops who leave to fight in Ukraine will face court martial, says PM

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Boris Johnson repeats warnings by ministers and chief of defence staff that joining resistance against Russian invasion is illegal

British soldiers who travel to Ukraine to fight can expect to be court-martialled, Boris Johnson has said, adding that civilians should also avoid going there to fight.

When asked about reports that a 19-year-old from Warrington with no military experience had travelled to the country to join efforts against the Russian invasion, the prime minister said that while he could comprehend why people wanted to help, they should remain in the UK.

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Wrongly built drainage system led to Stonehaven train crash, investigators find

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Network Rail failed to notice that works by Carillion on Aberdeen to Glasgow line did not match the design

A drainage system wrongly built by Carillion and unchecked by Network Rail led to the Stonehaven train crash, investigators have found, when a Scotrail train hit debris washed by rain on to the railway track.

Three people died on 12 August 2020 in the worst fatal event on the UK railways in 18 years, when the passenger train from Aberdeen to Glasgow derailed at Carmont, near Stonehaven, after heavy rainfall.

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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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