Caribbean nation elects governor general to new role prior to former British colony becoming a republic
Barbados has elected its first president with just weeks to go until the Caribbean island becomes a republic and ceases to recognise Queen Elizabeth as its head of state.
The island’s governor general, Dame Sandra Mason, was elected almost unanimously by the former British colony’s parliament on Wednesday, with only one member declining to vote.
Continue reading...Officials from fossil fuel firms may attend fringe events but campaigners hail lack of official role
Fossil fuel firms have been given no official role in the Cop26 climate summit, it can be revealed, against a background of growing concern among UK officials that big oil’s net zero plans do not stack up.
Private emails from civil servants in the Cop unit, seen by the Guardian, show doubts about one oil major’s net zero plans, with an official saying BP “[does] not currently fit our success criteria for Cop26” and another noting “it’s unclear whether [its net zero] commitments stack up yet”.
Continue reading...Ali Harbi Ali, 25, also accused of preparation of terrorist acts after politician was stabbed
Prosecutors have charged a man with the murder of Conservative MP Sir David Amess and the preparation of terrorist acts.
Ali Harbi Ali, 25, was charged with murder over Amess’s death last Friday in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, as part of an investigation led by Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command.
Continue reading...Analysis: soaring cases in schools are adding to the pool of the immune – which could soon see some community infections fall
It is hard to be upbeat about the latest numbers. The government’s Covid dashboard is awash with red and upward-pointing arrows. New cases have climbed 17% on the week. Hospital admissions are up 11% and deaths have increased by 21%. This is not where we wanted to be nearly two years into the pandemic – and 10 months into the most successful mass vaccination campaign in the history of the NHS.
So is this what we have to get used to? Nearly 1,000 hospital admissions a day, and nearly 1,000 deaths a week? There are so many forces at work in a pandemic, operating on different timescales, pushing in opposite directions, that reliable predictions are a fantasy. But delve into the data and there are, perhaps, some reasons for optimism.
Continue reading...Ofcom research finds 45m people received at least one fraudulent message in last three months
A government taskforce is to meet on Thursday to discuss ways to tackle the sharp rise in scams that has hit the UK since the start of the pandemic.
Groups representing banks, telecoms companies and consumers will meet with the minister for security, Damien Hinds, to discuss measures to tackle online fraud, and increase public awareness.
Continue reading...‘Groundbreaking’ agreement criticised by UK farmers is part of 10-year plan to pivot to Indo-Pacific
Britain has struck a trade deal with New Zealand, a key ally, as ministers hope to stem the country’s reliance on China – but the agreement is expected to add no value to the UK’s gross domestic product.
Despite the Department for International Trade heralding the deal as a “groundbreaking” achievement that was a “vital part” of Boris Johnson’s commitment to levelling up, the prime minister has been accused of selling out British farmers.
Continue reading...Health secretary rejects calls for ‘plan B’ measures despite predicting infections could hit 100,000 a day
Politicians have a responsibility to set an example in the battle against Covid, including wearing masks in crowded spaces, Sajid Javid has suggested as he predicted new infections could hit a record 100,000 a day.
With the government under mounting pressure to impose measures to control the virus, Javid warned “this pandemic is not over” and insisted he would do “what it takes” to protect the health service. But he said: “We don’t believe that the pressures currently faced by the NHS are unsustainable.”
Continue reading...Ministers will do 'what it takes' to ensure the NHS is not overwhelmed this winter, Sajid Javid has promised, as he said the number of new Covid infections across the UK could hit a record 100,000 a day. The health secretary said the government would not heed the NHS Confederation's call to implement 'plan B' measures such as mandatory mask wearing 'at this time', but that ministers would be 'staying vigilant, preparing for all eventualities'
Analysis: a winter plan has been set out but implementing it could be hampered by political squeamishness
More than 20 months into the Covid pandemic and with a tough winter looming, the public could be excused for having a distinct sense of deja vu.
Infection rates are rising sharply, scientists and senior NHS figures are sounding the alarm – but the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, was touring the broadcast studios on Wednesday morning ruling out a lockdown in England and telling people “absolutely” to book their Christmas parties.
Continue reading...Suspension will take effect from 11.59pm on Wednesday and will last until further notice
Morocco is banning flights to and from the UK because of rising coronavirus case rates. Airlines cancelled several flights between the countries on Wednesday before the suspension comes into effect at 11.59pm.
Latest figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control show the north African country’s weekly rate of reported coronavirus cases on 14 October stood at 10.4 per 100,000 people. The UK’s comparable rate is 445.5.
Continue reading...Buckingham Palace says monarch has ‘reluctantly accepted medical advice to rest for next few days’
The Queen has cancelled a planned two-day visit to Northern Ireland after advice from her doctors that she should “rest for the next few days”.
Buckingham Palace said in a statement: “The Queen has reluctantly accepted medical advice to rest for the next few days.
Continue reading...Since leaving Turkey in July, Little Amal, a 3.5 metre (11ft 5in) tall puppet of a nine-year-old Syrian girl, and her entourage of about 25 people have navigated Covid border restrictions to walk across Europe to the UK. Amal, whose name means hope in Arabic, was created by Handspring, the company that made the equine puppets in War Horse. The puppet represents the millions of children forced to leave their homes in desperate situations. The global pandemic has made them more vulnerable than ever
Continue reading...The giant puppet representing a nine-year-old Syrian girl has reached the UK, making her first stop in Folkestone, Kent, after walking thousands of miles across Europe.
Choirs sang and children greeted Little Amal on the beach on Tuesday. She had made the same cross-Channel journey taken so far this year by more than 17,000 people seeking refuge from conflict, hunger and persecution.
On the last leg of her journey, Little Amal will visit Canterbury, London, Oxford, Coventry, Birmingham, Sheffield and Barnsley before the extraordinary and complex 14-week travelling street theatre production ends in Manchester on 3 November
Kwasi Kwarteng says talk of restrictions ‘unhelpful’ as NHS boss says health service faces ‘perfect storm’
Chief executive of the NHS confederation Matthew Taylor has been on Sky News in the UK, and he had a strong message in support of the government taking steps towards “plan B” and take some action to avert a healthcare crisis over the winter. He said
The question is do we need to act? And I would say the overwhelming evidence is we do need to act, and then the question is, is it better to act early and take measures which don’t stop the economy working – but I recognise they are inconvenient – or do we wait, wait for things to get worse, and possibly risk having to take more severe measures.
So, the elements of plan B enable us to carry on with our lives, carry on with the economy, but to do so in a way which produces the risk. And after all, most of the measures in plan B are measures that other countries in Europe are continuing to enact, and they have lower infection rates than we do.
The government said that the criteria for determining whether or not we enacted elements of plan B was the position of the health service, and the health service is facing a perfect storm.
Winter is always tough for the health service for various reasons. We have got thousands of Covid patients in hospital, and it looks like those numbers are rising in line with the rising infection rate. And we’ve also got the huge pent-up demand that’s built up over the last 18 months.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Ipsa plans to reduce publication of claims for travel and venue hire after killing of David Amess
The UK’s parliamentary spending watchdog has begun redacting parts of MPs’ expenses to protect their safety since the killing of Sir David Amess.
After the veteran MP was stabbed to death at a constituency surgery on Friday, some colleagues raised concerns with the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) over the amount of information released about their claims for travel and venues hired for surgeries under transparency requirements.
Continue reading...Damning report highlights greater risk of EU worker exploitation and vulnerability of undocumented migrants
A damning new report on trafficking in the UK has warned that Brexit and the Home Office’s new plan for immigration are increasing the risks to trafficking victims.
The report has also found links between terrorism and trafficking in cases involving families from the UK ending up with Islamic State in Syria and an increase in the recruitment of trafficking victims via social media.
Continue reading...MPs propose raft of tough new measures aimed at getting more people to stop smoking
Individual cigarettes could have “smoking kills” printed on them under a raft of tough measures proposed by MPs to encourage more people to quit the deadly habit.
MPs have submitted an amendment to the health and care bill going through parliament which would allow the health secretary to make graphic health warnings mandatory.
Raise the legal age for buying cigarettes from 18 to 21.
Stop e-cigarette makers using tactics that might entice children to try them, such as sweet flavourings and cartoon characters.
Make it illegal to give e-cigarettes away free as sampler products, as some manufacturers have done.
Continue reading...Key figures in Saudi Arabia and UAE accused of crimes against humanity include investors in Britain
A group of human rights lawyers will on Wednesday file a legal complaint in the UK accusing key figures in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of being involved in war crimes relating to the war in Yemen.
They plan to submit a dossier to British police and prosecutors alleging that about 20 members of the political and military elite of the two Gulf nations are guilty of crimes against humanity, and call for their immediate arrest should they enter the UK.
Continue reading...Reports grow of repeat infection as experts warn prevalence among school pupils puts older people at risk
As Covid-19 infections surge in England, people are increasingly reporting catching Sars-CoV-2 for a second or even third time.
New analysis has suggested that unvaccinated individuals should expect to be reinfected with Covid-19 every 16 months, on average.
Continue reading...Ismail Abedi had been ordered to attend hearing, as childhood friend arrested trying to leave country
The older brother of the Manchester Arena suicide bomber has left the UK and there is no indication of whether he will return in time to give evidence this week to the public inquiry into the atrocity, it has emerged.
The bomber’s childhood friend Ahmed Taghdi tried to leave the country on Monday as well but was arrested, the public inquiry was told on Tuesday.
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