Category Archives: UK news

People can self-identify as male or female in Scottish census, says guidance

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Answer to sex question can differ from birth certificate, without need for gender recognition certificate, says NRS

People can answer the male or female question in Scotland’s 2022 census based on how they identify themselves rather than according to legal status, according to new guidance from the body responsible for the survey.

Issued by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) on Tuesday, the guidelines tell people to answer the sex question according to how they self-identify, regardless of the details on their birth certificate or whether they have a gender recognition certificate.

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WHO expects 236,000 more Covid deaths in Europe by 1 December – video

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Senior officials at the World Health Organization have cited stagnating vaccination rates and low uptake in poorer countries as reasons so many Covid deaths are predicted.

'Last week, there was an 11% increase in the number of deaths in the region – one reliable projection is expecting 236,000 deaths in Europe, by 1 December,' WHO Europe director Hans Kluge said.

Kluge attributed the higher transmission to the spread of the more transmissible Delta variant, an 'exaggerated easing' of restrictions and measures, and a surge in summer travel.

While about half of people in Europe are fully vaccinated, vaccination uptake in the region has slowed, Kluge said.

Europe has registered about 1.3 million Covid deaths

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MPs trying to rescue more than 7,000 people trapped in Afghanistan

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Figure dwarfs 800 to 1,100 Afghans eligible for resettlement defence secretary said would be left behind

MPs are scrambling to rescue more than 7,000 constituents and family members trapped in Afghanistan, according to figures provided to the Guardian, dwarfing the only estimates provided by the government of the number left behind.

Scores of Labour MPs have been inundated with pleas for help from thousands of constituents whose relatives have been left stranded since the UK’s final emergency airlift left Kabul following the country’s rapid fall to the Taliban. Among them are children, disabled relatives and people who face persecution due to their work, all with potential eligibility to be resettled in Britain.

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Coronavirus live news: WHO expects 236,000 more Covid deaths in Europe by December; Philippines reports record high for new infections

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Europe has registered around 1.3 million Covid deaths to date; Philippines sees 22,366 new cases; New Zealand’s largest city sees curbs extended by two weeks

With the return to school in the UK imminent, the Welsh education ministry said on Monday that all schools, universities and colleges in Wales would be supplied with ozone disinfecting machines.

Once a room has been disinfected, the machine, each the size of a suitcase, converts the ozone back to oxygen. But ozone is so toxic that no one will be allowed inside the room when the machine is operating.

It is like the use of chlorine, you don’t want to be in an environment where chlorine is dispersed at high concentration. Ozone smells but people are not allowed to smell it. That is extremely important from a safety point of view.”

Related: Concerns over plan to disinfect classrooms in Wales with ozone

Britain has reported 26,476 new cases of Covid-19 between 24 August and 30 August, 1.8% increase on the previous seven days.

A further 48 people were reported as having died within 28 days of a positive test for Covid-19, taking the seven-day increase to 14.8%.

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Concerns over plan to disinfect classrooms in Wales with ozone

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Machines to be used to clean up after Covid outbreaks part of £5.9m initiative to improve air quality

A £3.3m scheme to provide schools in Wales with machines that disinfect classrooms after a Covid outbreak has prompted calls for reassurance over their safety.

The Welsh education ministry said on Monday that all schools, universities and colleges in Wales would be supplied with ozone disinfecting machines for cleaning up Covid-hit classrooms.

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West may benefit from pragmatic approach after defeat to Taliban

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Analysis: forging an acceptable agreement with new Afghan regime will require careful diplomacy

The history of war is littered with losing parties struggling to accept the terms or even the fact of their defeat. At the end of the first world war, Germany’s then chancellor Philipp Scheidemann announced: “May the hand wither that binds us in such shackles.”

Some of the demands by the US and its allies on how the Taliban must behave now contain similar self-denial. It is as if the US remains in control of Kabul, as orders are issued on future Taliban actions ranging from the release of refugees to the future makeup of the government, its counter-terrorism policies and the place of women in society.

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International talks aim for consensus on Taliban government

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Western G7 powers are meeting Turkey, Qatar and Nato in Doha to discuss how Kabul airport could be reopened

Talks are due in Doha and New York to try to reach an international consensus on the conditions for recognising the Taliban government in Afghanistan. There are signs of tensions between superpowers after Russia called on the US to release Afghan central bank reserves that Washington blocked after the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul earlier this month.

“If our western colleagues are actually worried about the fate of the Afghan people, then we must not create additional problems for them by freezing gold and foreign exchange reserves,” said the Kremlin’s envoy to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov.

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Couple divided by Irish border because of post-Brexit rules

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Corrinne and Brett Giles live in Donegal and Derry counties due to ‘borderline unconstitutional’ application of immigration rule

A South African doctor and her British husband are living on either side of the Irish border because of what one MP called a “borderline unconstitutional” application of post-Brexit immigration rules.

Corrinne and Brett Giles live 25 miles apart in Donegal and Derry counties respectively, with Corrinne in a “constant state of anxiety” waiting for a family permit to join her husband in the UK.

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‘Imminent’ decision on future of Cressida Dick as Met commissioner

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Priti Patel and Dick discussed the commissioner’s future last week, it is understood

Ministers and the Metropolitan police commissioner, Cressida Dick, have begun discussions about whether her turbulent term in charge of Britain’s biggest force will be extended, with a decision said to be “imminent”.

Dick, the first woman in charge of the London force since it was established in 1829, is on a five-year contract that expires in April 2022. She could step down then or have the contract extended for a period.

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Eric Clapton releases song seen as criticising official response to Covid

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This Has Gotta Stop lines include ‘I can’t take this BS any longer’ and follows negative comments about restrictions

Eric Clapton, a staunch critic of measures designed to tackle the Covid pandemic, has released a song entitled This Has Gotta Stop.

While the song does not directly mention lockdown measures or vaccines, the musician has performed on anti-vaccine songs in recent months. His latest offering has been interpreted by some as an attack on the measures recommended by health officials.

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‘Forgotten masters’: auction shines light on India’s overlooked artists

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Paintings commissioned by East India Company in 18th and 19th century up for sale at Sotheby’s

Remarkable paintings of the flora and fauna of India, including a work once owned by Jackie Kennedy Onassis depicting a stork eating a snail, are to go on sale in the first auction dedicated to Company School art.

Sotheby’s has announced details of a sale that shines light on overlooked Indian artists today regarded as forgotten masters.

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Take-up of second Covid jab in England levelling off

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Concern as scientists say vaccinating adults is more important than inoculating children or booster shots

Hundreds of thousands of people have failed to come forward for their second Covid jab, official data shows, as scientists warned that improving uptake among adults is more crucial than moving on to children’s vaccines or booster shots.

Experts have repeatedly emphasised the need to receive both doses of the coronavirus vaccines as the second jab greatly increases protection against Covid.

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Spate of attacks across UK sparks fear among LGBTQ+ community

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Hate crimes related to sexual orientation and gender identity have increased year on year since 2015

Two weeks ago, Ranjith “Roy” Kankanamalage, 50, was discovered with a fatal head injury in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, east London. The brutal attack was, police believe, motivated by homophobia and a man has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

A day earlier, a couple called Rob and Patrick were attacked with broken bottles in Birmingham’s gay village, leaving one unconscious and the other with extensive cuts. Three men have been arrested on suspicion of robbery and wounding.

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Majority of Northern Irish voters want vote on staying in UK

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Two-thirds of people say a border poll should be held at some point in the wake of Brexit

Two-thirds of voters in Northern Ireland believe there should be a vote over its place in the UK, but only 37% want it to take place within the next five years, according to a new poll for the Observer.

Some 31% of voters said there should be a vote at some point about Northern Ireland’s place in the UK but after 2026, the LucidTalk poll found. A further 29% said there should never be such a vote. There is currently a seven-point lead for Northern Ireland remaining part of the UK should any vote take place.

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Food, beer, toys, medical kit. Why is Britain running out of everything?

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Poor pay and conditions for HGV drivers and the loss of many thousands of EU workers are plunging the UKs supply chain into crisis

Gaps on supermarket shelves. Fast food outlets pulling milkshakes and bottled drinks from their menus. Restaurants running out of chicken and closing. Empty vending machines. Online grocery orders full of substitutions. Fruit and vegetables rotting in the fields.

These are just some of the most visible signs of Britain’s deepening supply chain crisis, which has seen stocks in shops and warehouses slump to their lowest levels since the Confederation of British Industry began surveying in 1983.

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Animal rescuer ‘threatened’ MoD aide for ‘blocking’ Kabul evacuation

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Ex-marine Pen Farthing said to have left expletive-laden message for defence secretary’s adviser as he sought to fly out staff and pets

A former Royal Marine who founded an animal shelter in Kabul left an expletive-laden message for a government aide as he sought to place his staff and pets on a flight out of Afghanistan, according to reports.

The Times newspaper said it had obtained a leaked audio recording of Paul “Pen” Farthing berating Peter Quentin, a special adviser to the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, who he accused of “blocking” efforts to arrange a flight.

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Covid cases in England are 26 times higher than a year ago

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Pressure grows to begin booster jabs for the vulnerable and extend vaccinations to younger teenagers

Coronavirus infections in England are now 26 times the levels that were experienced this time last year, according to the Office for National Statistics. Scientists described the figures as “sobering”.

They warned that the reopening of schools in England this week was likely to trigger further rises in Covid cases – with more to follow when students return to universities and colleges. A fresh wave of infections could, in turn, lead to new social restrictions being imposed as winter approaches.

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Beyond normal: new novel brings Sally Rooney mania to bookshops across UK

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Many shops plan to open early for the arrival of Sally Rooney’s latest novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You next month

When they were children they lined the streets in their witch hats and capes, keen to pick up the latest Harry Potter title as bookshops opened their doors at midnight. Now they are a little older, the prospect of a tussle with some millennial emotions could see them queuing around the block again on 7 September, as dozens of bookshops plan to open early for the arrival of Sally Rooney’s latest novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You.

In a nationwide promotional push, prompted by signs of big public demand, freshly printed copies of the Irish author’s third novel are to be served to customers with special commemorative merchandise as they enjoy a coffee and pastry.

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Minister urges firms to invest in UK-based workers in HGV driver shortage

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Business secretary reported as saying foreign labour only offers ‘temporary solution’ as companies face supply chain crisis

Employers have been told to invest in UK-based workers rather than relying on labour from abroad as supermarkets and suppliers struggle to contend with a chronic shortage of lorry drivers caused by the exodus of hauliers from EU countries because of Brexit and Covid.

The business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, wrote to business leaders on Friday saying foreign labour only offered “a short-term, temporary solution” after industry groups, Logistics UK and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) called on the department to provide temporary UK visas to EU truck drivers. They said the lack of drivers was “increasingly putting unsustainable pressure on retailers and their supply chains”.

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Scrawny trees, patchy grass, terrible view … why £6m Marble Arch Mound still falls flat

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After a summer of free entry, visitors will now have to pay up to £8 to climb the London project. But will they bother?

It has been called a “BTec Eiffel Tower” and a “slag heap”. It’s been compared to “a car-park Santa’s grotto, with dogs pretending to be reindeer”. The Marble Arch Mound, the temporary artificial hill commissioned by Westminster city council as an “ambitious” visitor attraction, has become, as a representative of the local community put it, “an international laughing stock”.

The council responded to criticism by allowing free entry during August, and a certain number of the curious and the ghoulishly fascinated have turned up. This week it will start charging again. Given fundamental flaws in the project’s conception, the question is whether people will want to pay £8 for a weekend fast-track ticket now, any more than they did when it first opened at the end of July.

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