Category Archives: UK news

Lying to parliament a resigning matter, says Raab, amid claims PM misled MPs

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Justice secretary says allegations that Boris Johnson lied about No 10 lockdown party are ‘nonsense’

Dominic Raab has admitted that lying to parliament is “normally” a resigning matter, amid claims that the prime minister deliberately misled MPs over his knowledge of a Downing Street party.

Boris Johnson’s former senior aide Dominic Cummings had earlier accused the prime minister of lying when No 10 denied Johnson had been warned against allowing a “bring your own booze” garden party during lockdown.

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‘We’ve been forgotten’: the British embassy security guard in Kabul

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Abdullah says guards who risked their lives for the British cannot understand why they have been abandoned

Abdullah*, 34, was a security guard for the British embassy, employed under contract by GardaWorld, and had a senior management role, looking after other locally employed embassy guards. He and about 180 colleagues had hoped to be evacuated to the UK at the end of August, but the evacuation was stopped by a bomb at the airport. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) made a clear commitment that all GardaWorld staff would be allowed to travel to the UK, but this has not happened.

We’ve heard nothing from the Home Office or the FCDO and life is becoming very hard for everyone who worked for the British embassy. Surviving when there is no income and no work is very difficult. We’re still hoping we will get an email about evacuation plans, but we haven’t heard anything. The UK government is helping footballers and writers to leave the country, but there has been no help for us. We feel like we should be first in line because we risked our lives for the British government. It’s a huge disappointment for all of us.

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‘Loud’ academic awarded more than £100,000 for unfair dismissal

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University of Exeter ordered to pay compensation to physicist Dr Annette Plaut, who was sacked after 29 years

A senior academic who says she was sacked from her post in a university’s physics department because of her loud voice has been awarded more than £100,000 after winning a claim for unfair dismissal.

Dr Annette Plaut told the Guardian she had a “naturally loud voice” that came from her middle European Jewish background and claimed it was the combination of her being “female and loud” that had led to her dismissal from the University of Exeter.

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Ex-charity worker was killed by former inmate she had a relationship with, jury told

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Michaela Hall, 49, was allegedly stabbed through eye by Lee Kendall, 42, in Mount Hawke, Cornwall

A former charity worker who worked with released prisoners was stabbed to death by an ex-inmate she had begun a relationship with, a jury has heard.

Michaela Hall, 49, was stabbed through the eye by Lee Kendall, 42, in a bedroom of her house in the Cornish village of Mount Hawke, Truro crown court was told.

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Covid live: unvaccinated over-60s face monthly fine in Greece; UK reports another 84,429 cases and 85 deaths

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Un-jabbed older people in Greece face penalties starting at a €50; UK cases continue downward trend

Germany is reporting a daily rise of 34,145 confirmed coronavirus cases and 30 deaths, according to recently released figures from the Robert Koch Institute.

The numbers bring the cumulative total of infections to 8,000,122 and 115,649 coronavirus-related deaths.

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Trans activists will not be charged over picture of JK Rowling’s home

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Police Scotland said no criminality had been found after photograph of writer’s address was put online

Police will take no action against trans rights activists who posted a photograph of JK Rowling’s home online.

The author had contacted police in Scotland in November after the tweet, which showed her Edinburgh house and revealed the address. The image showed activists standing outside the property with placards carrying slogans such as “trans liberation now”.

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Rwanda’s history of receiving deportees raises concerns for potential UK scheme

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Analysis: UK reportedly considering sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, which was involved in controversial scheme with Israel

Rwanda – one of two African countries to which the UK government is reportedly considering sending asylum seekers for resettlement and processing – was previously embroiled in a highly controversial migrant deportation scheme involving Israel.

Although few details have emerged after a report in the Times that migrants could be sent to Ghana and Rwanda, Rwanda’s previous involvement in receiving African deportees from Israel raises serious concerns over whether – even with UK funding – it has the resources or even willingness to host deportations.

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‘Massive anger’: 40% of grassroots Tories want Boris Johnson to quit

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Survey finds widespread discontent as MPs inundated with emails about Downing Street parties scandal

There is “massive anger” among grassroots Conservative party supporters over the Downing Street parties scandal, the head of a leading group has said as its survey found 40% thought Boris Johnson should resign.

Ed Costelloe, chairman of Grassroots Conservatives, said it had been years since the group last polled its supporters and followers but it felt compelled by the “unique” nature of the public mood.

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‘My nightmares came true’: ex-prosecutor of Afghan women’s abusers

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Negin overcame significant disadvantages to obtain her role but now fears those seeking revenge

The Taliban blighted *Negin’s childhood with their ban on girls’ education, but she overcame the late start to her schooling to become a senior prosecutor. Afghanistan’s legal system was slow and often corrupt, but it offered women some hope of escaping abusers and seeing their tormentors jailed. Now she fears that some of those men, freed in a Taliban-orchestrated mass jailbreak last summer, want revenge.

My life was already affected by the Taliban long before they took over Afghanistan this summer. I only started school at 14, because they were in power in the 90s and did not allow girls to study. Once I could go to school, I graduated and went to university.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.

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Covid live: Boris Johnson broke the law, says Keir Starmer; UK records 70,924 new cases

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Latest updates: UK Labour leader says PM broke lockdown rules and then lied; latest daily UK figures do not include Scotland

Streeting tells Trevor Phillips that the Labour party isn’t calling for a vote of no confidence in the government as it would rally the Conservatives.

“We could call a motion of no confidence in the government - we’ve been around the block with this before, that would galvanise the Conservative party.”

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Five-year-old British girl dies after being hit by skier in French Alps

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Man in his 40s held on suspicion of manslaughter after accident in region of Flaine, Haute-Savoie

A five-year-old British girl has died after being hit by a skier in the French Alps, according to French media.

A man in his 40s was being held on suspicion of manslaughter on Sunday after the accident in the resort of Flaine, Haute-Savoie, at about 11am on Saturday, Le Dauphine reported. The girl was said to have been taking part in a group ski lesson run by ESF (Ecole du Ski Français) with four other children on a blue (intermediate) piste.

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While Boris Johnson partied in the sun, I sweated in PPE, saving lives

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Downing Street’s lockdown parties were a world away from life as a frontline doctor in the pandemic

Forget Annabel’s – the place to be for the professional “partygoer” is Downing Street, especially during a pandemic. But it is invitation-only for the “in crowd” of government advisers, civil servants and elected politicians prepared to bring their own booze.

With every revelation, the nation recalls what it was doing on those nights that were filled with dancing for the Downing Street set. As people isolated, courageously risked their lives caring for the sick, or died from Covid-19, the revellers remained in their alternative universe where the wine flowed and the music played on.

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Is it the end for Boris Johnson?

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Last week’s ridicule is not the worst sign of the PM’s plummeting standing. The anger of families who have suffered in the pandemic will not go away. It’s now just a question of how long he survives

After another dreadful week for Boris Johnson that was dominated by news of yet more rule-breaking parties at No 10, the comedian Andy Zaltzman opened BBC Radio 4’s News Quiz at 6.30pm on Friday by announcing his two teams. One he named “team apologise” and the other “team pack of lies”.

Zaltzman added: “This show is best listened to when not at work. If you are unsure whether you are at work or not at work, please check whether anyone you normally work with has turned up with a bottle of wine and is getting hammered.”

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Prince Harry files legal claim over right to pay for UK police protection

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Duke of Sussex seeks judicial review of Home Office refusal to let him pay for protection after being chased by photographers last summer

The Duke of Sussex has filed a claim for a judicial review against a Home Office decision not to allow him to personally pay for police protection for himself and his family while in the UK.

Harry wants to bring his son Archie and baby daughter Lilibet to visit from the US, but he and his family are “unable to return to his home” because it is too dangerous, a legal representative said.

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Hundreds join vigil in London for murdered teacher Ashling Murphy

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Killing of the 23-year-old while out running reignites debate about violence against women

Hundreds of people gathered in London on Saturday for a vigil to remember Ashling Murphy, a primary school teacher murdered while she was on an afternoon run in Ireland last week, and call for an end to violence against women.

Murphy, a talented amateur musician and athlete, was attacked on the banks of the Grand Canal in Tullamore, County Offaly. The area is known as Fiona’s Way, in memory of another local woman who disappeared 25 years ago, while seven months pregnant. Her death has renewed debate about women’s safety, in Ireland and beyond.

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Tories will oust Boris Johnson if he tries to dodge ‘partygate’ blame

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Conservative MPs could force PM out within weeks after furious reaction to Downing Street gatherings

Tory MPs will be ready in sufficient numbers to force Boris Johnson out of Downing Street within weeks if he tries to dodge responsibility for rule-breaking parties at No 10, the Observer has been told.

While most Conservative MPs say they are waiting for a report into so-called “partygate” by the senior civil servant Sue Gray before deciding the prime minister’s fate, large numbers admit privately that their minds are effectively made up and that they are merely observing “due process”.

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Covid cases have hit plateau in parts of UK, says top medical adviser

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Dr Susan Hopkins says numbers flattening in London, south-east and east of England – and hospital admissions rate starting to slow

The number of Covid infections appears to have reached a plateau in parts of the UK, a senior government health adviser has said, with experts expressing optimism about the latest data.

Infections are flattening in London, the south-east and the east of England, while the rise is slowing in the north of England, said Dr Susan Hopkins, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) chief medical adviser.

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Covid live news: pressure grows on Boris Johnson over lockdown parties; Djokovic to spend night in detention

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British PM faces fresh allegations that staff held regular drinking sessions when social mixing was prohibited, as Serbian tennis star fights deportation from Australia

Keir Starmer has ramped up the pressure on Boris Johnson as the prime minister fights to save his job, arguing that the stream of explosive allegations of Downing Street parties has left him “unable to lead”.

In a speech to the Fabian Society conference, the Labour leader accused the Conservatives of running the NHS into the ground because they are “too preoccupied defending his rule breaking”. Stressing that “waiting times were the shortest on record” when Labour left government 12 years ago, he said:

Rather than concentrating on getting through the pandemic and bringing down waiting lists, this self-indulgent Tory party is instead having a fight about a leader who they should have known from the start is not fit for office.

We are witnessing the broken spectacle of a prime minister mired in deceit and deception, unable to lead.

The prime minister needs to do the honourable thing and call it a day for the good of the country.

[This is] not about one isolated incident, what we are seeing with these continued revelations coming out about what’s been going on at No 10 is a pattern of behaviour, and ultimately the buck stops with Boris Johnson.

What I’ve seen, to me it looks like Boris Johnson and those in his inner circle can do what they want and the rest of us have to do as we are told - that’s not acceptable to me, it is not acceptable to my constituents or, I believe, most people in the country. And what that certainly isn’t is ‘levelling up’ in my book.

It doesn’t matter, quite honestly, if the prime minister was present or not present - ultimately, he is responsible for what goes on in government, he is responsible for the culture in No 10 and what we’re seeing is a culture where it is one rule for them and the rest of us do as we’re told, and that’s just not acceptable.

I’m not sure that any apology is going to put that right.

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Boris Johnson must resign in national interest, says Keir Starmer

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Labour leader increases pressure on PM as more Tory politicians join calls for him to quit

Keir Starmer has ramped up the pressure on Boris Johnson as the prime minister fights to save his job, arguing that it is in the “national interest” that he steps down as he is “unable to lead”.

In a speech to the Fabian Society conference, the Labour leader accused the Conservatives of running the NHS into the ground because they are “too preoccupied defending his rule breaking”. Stressing that “waiting times were the shortest on record” when Labour left government 12 years ago, he said: “Rather than concentrating on getting through the pandemic and bringing down waiting lists, this self-indulgent Tory party is instead having a fight about a leader who they should have known from the start is not fit for office.”

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Psychiatrists warn of police and crime bill’s impact on young people

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Academics and clinicians say bill ‘will have a profound negative impact on young people’s mental health’

Hundreds of clinical psychiatrists and psychologists have warned that the police and crime bill reaching its final stages in parliament “will have a profound negative impact on young people’s mental health”.

“We cannot think of better measures to disempower and socially isolate young people,” they say in an open letter signed by more than 350 academics and clinicians and published online.

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