Two men tried to plant flag of St George in centre circle
Far-right group calls it protest against Neville’s ‘treachery’
Salford’s League Two match against Oldham was briefly disrupted when two men tried to plant a flag of St George inside the centre circle at the Peninsula Stadium.
The men entered the field during the first half wearing white hoodies displaying the message “Gary Neville is a traitor” before being removed by stewards and police.
Continue reading...One of the largest mussel exporters in Britain lose £150,000 after three lorries were prevented from entering the EU
One of Britain’s largest mussel exporters has suffered a £150,000 loss, after three of its shipments to the EU were rejected in recent weeks by French customs.
Family-run business Offshore Shellfish, based in Devon, has continued exporting blue mussels to its European customers since Brexit, despite the administrative burden and onerous paperwork requirements.
Continue reading...Johnathan Walton, who was a victim of Marianne ‘Mair’ Smyth, had helped UK authorities track her down
A US podcaster and author who helped UK authorities convict a woman derisively known as the “Queen of the Con” of defrauding a group of Northern Irish mortgage advice customers has expressed disappointment in her being sentenced on Friday to only four years in prison.
“She scams or tries to scam everyone she meets, and she will never change,” Johnathan Walton said in a statement after Marianne “Mair” Smyth’s sentencing closed the books on a transatlantic case against her.
Continue reading...BPA, a synthetic chemical used in production of plastics, found in baby products made by three big European brands
A chemical linked to impaired sexual development, obesity and cancer has been found in baby dummies manufactured by three big European brands.
Dummies made by the Dutch multinational Philips, the Swiss oral health specialists Curaprox and the French toy brand Sophie la Girafe were found to contain bisphenol A (BPA), according to laboratory testing by dTest, a Czech consumer organisation. Philips said they had carried out subsequent testing and found no BPA, while Sophie la Girafe said the amount found was insignificant.
Continue reading...Club and Penguin bars are now ‘chocolate flavour’ after owner McVitie’s cuts cocoa content amid soaring prices
If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit you can no longer join our Club or pick up a Penguin, as the lunchbox favourites have reduced the amount of cocoa in their recipe so much they are now only “chocolate flavour”.
The two snacks, both made by McVitie’s, changed their recipes earlier this year amid soaring cocoa prices – which have prompted manufacturers to try a number of different tactics to keep prices down.
Continue reading...Reduction in higher-level roles linked to government decision to cut foreign aid budget, says union
Almost 2,000 civil servants at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office face the risk of redundancy, with the biggest union for government workers vowing to fight the cuts.
The PCS union, which has about 200,000 members, said it has been told that 1,885 jobs at the second highest level, known as delegated grades, are “at risk”, in addition to redundancy notices that have already been issued to some senior civil servants.
Continue reading...Fans of Israeli football team Maccabi Tel Aviv banned from match at Aston Villa next month
Zarah Sultana, the former Labour MP who is now a member of the Independent Alliance in parliament, alongside Ayoub Khan and four others, has also defended the Maccabi ban on the grounds that Israeli teams should not be competing in international sport. She says:
Next UEFA must ban all Israeli teams.
We cannot have normalisation with genocide and apartheid.
Apartheid South Africa was banned from the Olympics for 32 years.
The same people who called Nelson Mandela a “terrorist” now say we can’t boycott apartheid Israel.
There are two distinct issues. One is the safety aspect … If the police in West Midlands find it challenging because they simply do not have the resources to ensure safety, then that’s one aspect.
The second aspect is a moral argument that Maccabi Tel Aviv should not even be playing in this international competition.
Continue reading...FoI data shows 180,000 students and graduates weighed down by private debt amid cost of living crisis
Students have accrued nearly £500m in “hidden debts” to their universities, including library fines, unpaid accommodation and support loans, according to figures that highlight the cost of living crisis on UK campuses.
The figures from freedom of information requests sent to 148 UK universities showed that 180,000 students and graduates owe private debts totalling £486m to universities, averaging about £2,650 each.
Continue reading...Signs of credit stress send markets in Europe and Asia down, while investors turn to safe haven assets
European stock markets fell on Friday and gold hit a record high after two US regional banks said they had been exposed to millions of dollars of bad loans and alleged fraud.
Signs of credit stress rattled markets across Europe and Asia. In London the FTSE 100 fell 0.9%, Germany’s Dax fell 1.8%, Italy’s FTSE Mib fell 1.5%, the Ibex in Spain was off 0.3% and France’s Cac 40 dropped 0.2%.
Continue reading...FCA cites study showing victims’ ‘red flags’ are often missed and calls for improved monitoring systems
The City regulator has called on banks and payment firms to bring in stricter controls protecting customers from romance fraud after a study showed a number of missed “red flags” that led to people losing huge sums of money.
The review by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) highlighted one case where someone lost £428,000, another where a customer made 403 payments totalling £72,000 to a fraudster and a case where someone wanted money to transfer cryptocurrency to their “partner” in Iraq.
Continue reading...Daniel Birtwistle, 39, faces trial for manslaughter of 24-year-old tattoo artist and other charges including assault
A man has appeared in court charged with manslaughter, assault and coercive and controlling behaviour.
Daniel Birtwistle, 39, from Tamworth, Staffordshire, appeared by video link at Dudley magistrates court on Thursday morning, where he spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth.
Continue reading...Geordie singer-songwriter’s album reached No 1 on the UK album chart and led to a series of stadium-sized concerts this summer
Sam Fender is the winner of the 2025 Mercury prize, for his chart-topping album People Watching.
Announcing the award, Sian Eleri, BBC radio DJ and one of the judges on the judging panel, said the album was characterised by “cohesion, character and ambition. It felt like a classic album, one that will take pride of place in record collections for years to come.”
Continue reading...National security adviser, education secretary and science minister to visit before end of year as part of policy to reset relations
Ministers are pushing ahead with their reset of relations with China, including several planned high-level visits before the end of the year, despite the furore triggered by the collapse of a high-profile espionage trial.
Plans have been drawn up for Jonathan Powell, the national security adviser, to travel to Beijing in November for talks before an anticipated trip by Keir Starmer next year.
Continue reading...Labour MP and chair of security committee Matt Western says there are ‘a lot of questions still to be asked’
MPs will hold an inquiry into the collapse of a trial of two men accused of spying for China, after No 10 published key evidence in an attempt to draw a line under the row.
Matt Western, a Labour MP and chair of the joint committee on the national security strategy (JCNSS), told the House of Commons there are “a lot of questions yet to be asked” and announced a formal inquiry.
Continue reading...Chairs of home affairs, foreign affairs and justice committees to be among those involved in inquiry
Ward says that “no minister or special adviser played any role in the provision of evidence” under this government. He says he cannot say if that was the case under the last government.
There is a lot of jeering at this. The Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, reprimands Tom Tugendhat for his interruption.
Continue reading...Lobbyists attended 48% more meetings than Tories, as Labour accused of giving them ‘backstage pass’
Government ministers met representatives from the fossil fuel industry more than 500 times during their first year in power – equivalent to twice every working day, according to new research.
The analysis found that fossil fuel lobbyists were present at 48% more ministerial meetings during Labour’s first year in power than under the Conservatives in 2023.
Ministers at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) met fossil fuel lobbyists 274 times, with industry figures present at almost a quarter of meetings.
Ed Miliband, the secretary for energy and climate change, met fossil fuel lobbyists 250 times – with a third of all his meetings attended by industry figures.
During the same period DESNZ ministers met trade union representatives 61 times
Three fossil fuel companies: BP, Shell and Equinor , met ministers 100 times between them.
Fossil fuel lobbyists attended almost every government meeting about the energy profits levy, a temporary windfall tax on the “extraordinary profits” of North Sea oil and gas companies.
Continue reading...Provisional cause of death for former boxing world champion given at opening of inquest in Stockport
Ricky Hatton, the former world champion boxer who died in September, is believed to have killed himself, according to a provisional cause of death given at the opening of his inquest at Stockport coroner’s court.
Hatton, 46, was found dead in his home on 14 September. News of his death caused an outpouring of grief across the world and thousands of people lined the streets for his funeral.
Continue reading...Esther Njoki says family has seen ‘big change’ under Labour, after long fight for justice over aunt’s 2012 death in Kenya
The niece of Agnes Wanjiru, who was killed in Kenya, said she hopes the former British soldier charged with her aunt’s murder will be extradited while the Labour government is still in power.
On her first trip outside Kenya, Esther Njoki travelled to London, where she was invited to parliament to meet the defence secretary, John Healey, whom she urged not to delay the potentially years-long extradition process.
Continue reading...Officer, known as W80, shot Jermaine Baker during a foiled prison break in 2015
The family of a man shot dead by a police officer during a foiled prison break have accused Scotland Yard of evading accountability after a case against the marksman was thrown out.
The officer, known only as W80, shot Jermaine Baker as police stopped a plot to snatch two prisoners from a van near Wood Green crown court in 2015.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Chancellor hints at rises and calls out past ‘scaremongering’ over VAT on private schools and changes to non-doms
Rachel Reeves has said higher taxes on the UK’s wealthy will form part of next month’s budget, as she shrugged off the “scaremongering” and “bleating” of her critics, and stressed her determination to repair the public finances.
Speaking in Washington, where she is attending the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the chancellor told the Guardian there “won’t be a return to austerity” and hinted at tax increases for the most well-off.
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