Category Archives: UK news

UK south-Asian diaspora despairs as India joins Covid red list

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With travel from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh banned, some UK families are stuck abroad, while others cannot visit frail relatives

For the past 17 months, Saurav Dutt has had to watch from afar as relatives were lost to Covid, ancestral homes were damaged by a typhoon, and the mental toll of isolation, grief and illness led elders to question their very existence.

He had flights booked for May, but with cases soaring and India on the UK’s travel red list from 23 April, that is no longer an option. “It’s a very worrying time,” Dutt said. “You would think there are a million ways to help from over here, but we’re handcuffed. To deal with these things we need to be there.”

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High court to hear legal battle over UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia

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Campaign Against Arms Trade claims UK-made weapons have been used in airstrikes in Yemen that breach humanitarian law

Anti-arms trade campaigners have been given permission to challenge in the high court the UK government’s decision to resume the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia that could be used in the war in Yemen.

Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) won leave to seek a judicial review of a decision taken by international trade secretary, Liz Truss, last summer, which was followed by £1.4bn worth of arms exports soon after.

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‘No country immune’ from UK’s aid cuts, says Raab

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Foreign secretary denies that aid organisations are scared to speak out or people are going hungry

The UK foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has told MPs that “no country is immune” from the impending aid cuts, but failed to clarify when specific plans would be made public.

Speaking after the release of the first details of the £4bn cuts to international aid, which have been widely criticised as “draconian” and opaque, the minister confirmed “no stand-alone” impact assessment had been carried out in individual countries but that “we identify risks we see across the board”.

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Fourth officer allegedly fathered child after meeting woman undercover

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Officer used alias Alan Bond while infiltrating the Socialist Workers party between 1981 and 1986, inquiry hears

A fourth undercover officer who spied on political campaigners is alleged to have fathered a child with a woman he met while using a fake identity, a public inquiry has heard.

The officer used the alias Alan Bond while infiltrating the Socialist Workers party between 1981 and 1986.

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International Booker prize shortlist led by books ‘pushing the boundaries’ of fiction

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Writers including Maria Stepanova and Éric Vuillard are up for the £50,000 prize, with the judges swaying for essays and autofiction over ‘good, straightforward, old-fashioned novels’

From Maria Stepanova’s family memoir to a historical essay by Éric Vuillard, this year’s shortlist for the International Booker prize for translated fiction is highlighting works that “are really pushing the boundaries” of fiction and nonfiction.

The International Booker goes to “the finest fiction from around the world” that has been translated into English. Six books are now in the running for the £50,000 award, which is split equally between author and translator, all of them displaying “an extraordinary amount of ingenuity and originality”, said chair of judges Lucy Hughes-Hallett.

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Was Nero cruel? British Museum offers hidden depths to Roman emperor

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Nero: the man behind the myth brings together more than 200 artefacts from across Europe

Nero, one of the most notorious Roman emperors of them all, murdered his mother and two wives, ruthlessly persecuted early Christians, including Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and even set fire to Rome itself – famously fiddling amid the flames – to make room to build himself a vast, luxurious palace.

Or did he? That is the question posed by an exhibition opening at the British Museum next month which seeks, if not to rehabilitate Nero’s reputation, at least to challenge some of history’s assumptions about him.

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‘Extraordinary’ Covid jab data is misleading, but the numbers are still hugely positive

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Analysis: The vaccine won’t protect everyone, but whatever figure scientists settle on, the data is highly encouraging

Is it really true that only 32 vaccinated people have been hospitalised with Covid? People might have reason to think so after the claim circulated in the media on Wednesday. The story was prompted by a Telegraph “exclusive” that stated “just 32 vaccinated people” had been hospitalised “in recent months”, according to data described as “extraordinary”.

And it would be extraordinary, were it true. Sadly, the real number of people admitted to hospital even several weeks after receiving a shot of vaccine – the time it takes for the immune system to mount a good defence – will be many times higher.

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Met dismisses police officer who belonged to banned neo-Nazi terror group

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Hearing finds Ben Hannam’s actions ‘harmed public confidence in, and the reputation of’ force

A man who became the first British police officer convicted of belonging to a neo-Nazi terrorist organisation has been dismissed from the Metropolitan police without notice.

Ben Hannam was found guilty on 1 April of membership of the banned rightwing extremist group National Action (NA) following a trial at the Old Bailey.

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Ex-minister Johnny Mercer says ‘almost nobody’ tells truth in Johnson’s government

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Former veterans’ minister says it was ‘most distrustful, awful environment I’ve ever worked in, in government’

The former veterans’ minister Johnny Mercer has launched an extraordinary attack on Boris Johnson’s government, describing it as a “cesspit” and “the most distrustful, awful environment I’ve ever worked in”.

A day after his resignation, the MP also accused ministers of being “cowards” for not implementing a controversial pledge to end “vexatious historical investigations” of veterans who served in Northern Ireland.

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UK inquiry blames ‘pervasive racism’ for unequal commemoration of troops

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Exclusive: Commonwealth War Graves Commission expected to apologise for commemorating British empire’s black and Asian first world war dead ‘unequally’

Hundreds of thousands of predominantly black and Asian service personnel who died fighting for the British Empire have not been formally commemorated in the same way as their white comrades because of decisions underpinned by “pervasive racism”, an investigation has concluded.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is expected to issue a formal apology on Thursday after it discovered that at least 116,000 – but potentially up to 350,000 – predominantly African and Middle Eastern first world war casualties may not be commemorated by name, or at all.

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Iran sets trial dates for dual nationals before nuclear deal talks in Vienna

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Trials coincide with Iran announcing desire for ‘all for all’ simultaneous prisoner exchanges with west

Iran has set trial dates for two dual nationals, one British-Iranian and the other German-Iranian, in cases that may increase the pressure before the next stage of talks on the future of the Iran nuclear deal in Vienna.

The news of the trials set for next Wednesday comes as the lead Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said at a Clubhouse event on Tuesday that Iran wants a big “all for all” prisoner exchange.

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No impact assessment made of Yemen aid cuts, official admits

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Minister tells MPs that cuts come at ‘terrible’ time, with 16m close to famine as Covid infections double

The UK government has admitted that no assessment has been carried out of how “dire” the impact of the 60% cut in foreign aid to Yemen will be.

Related: UK 'balancing books on backs of Yemen's starving people', says UN diplomat

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UK minister promises to look at football governance after Super League fiasco

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‘We will not have our national game taken away from us for profit,’ says Oliver Dowden

The withdrawal of six English Premier League clubs from the European Super League highlights the need to examine the governance of football, the UK culture secretary has said, pledging “we will not have our national game taken away from us for profit”.

Oliver Dowden paid tribute to the fans whose pressure prompted the withdrawal of the six English clubs initially signed up for the breakaway competition, leaving the project in tatters, but warned that more needed to be done.

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Historians call for opening of secret Northern Ireland files to mark centenary

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Push for transparency comes at a time of heightened tensions in region

Secret archives concerning some of the most controversial episodes from the inception of Northern Ireland could be opened amid pressure from historians advising on its centenary commemorations.

They include an archive dedicated to the Ulster Special Constabulary (USC) – a quasi-military and overwhelmingly Protestant reserve police force known as the “B Specials” – and files potentially shedding light on their involvement in atrocities against the Catholic population.

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Nearly 17 child migrants a day vanished in Europe since 2018

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Investigation finds one in six were solo and under 15, as experts say cross-border cooperation ‘nonexistent’

At least 18,000 unaccompanied child migrants have disappeared after arriving in European countries including Greece, Italy and Germany.

An investigation by the Guardian and the cross-border journalism collective Lost in Europe found that 18,292 unaccompanied child migrants went missing in Europe between January 2018 and December 2020 – equivalent to nearly 17 children a day.

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UK in drive to develop drugs to take at home to ‘stop Covid in its tracks’

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Ministers announce taskforce to ‘supercharge’ search for antiviral treatments to roll out as soon as autumn

People with mild Covid-19 could take a pill or capsule at home to prevent the illness turning serious and requiring hospital treatment, under government plans to fast-track development of treatments for the disease.

The government is launching an antivirals taskforce to find at least two drugs by the autumn that people can take to stop coronavirus in its tracks and speed up recovery from it.

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MPs urge Cameron to make public Greensill lobbying texts to Sunak

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Former prime minister told to release full texts he sent to chancellor at start of the pandemic

An influential group of MPs has ordered David Cameron to release texts he sent to the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, as part of a parliamentary inquiry into the Greensill lobbying scandal.

The Conservative-dominated Treasury select committee wrote to key figures in the scandal on Monday, asking for evidence that will help piece together the true impact of Cameron’s efforts to ensure the lender had access to emergency Covid loans and NHS staff records.

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Richard Dawkins loses ‘humanist of the year’ title over trans comments

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American Humanist Association criticises academic for comments about identity using ‘the guise of scientific discourse’, and withdraws its 1996 honour

The American Humanist Association has withdrawn its humanist of the year award from Richard Dawkins, 25 years after he received the honour, criticising the academic and author for “demean[ing] marginalised groups” using “the guise of scientific discourse”.

The AHA honoured Dawkins, whose books include The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion, in 1996 for his “significant contributions” in communicating scientific concepts to the public. On Monday, it announced that it was withdrawing the award, referring to a tweet sent by Dawkins earlier this month, in which he compared trans people to Rachel Dolezal, the civil rights activist who posed as a black woman for years.

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Boris Johnson threatens to use ‘legislative bomb’ to stop European Super League

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Prime minister will offer ‘unwavering support’, he tells FA, Premier League and fans

Boris Johnson has promised football groups that the government will consider using what he called “a legislative bomb” to stop English clubs joining a breakaway European Super League, as official efforts to thwart the plan were stepped up.

The prime minister and Oliver Dowden, the sports and culture secretary, held a meeting with the heads of the Football Association and Premier League, as well as representatives of fans’ groups from Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, three of the clubs involved.

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Tens of thousands in UK avoided universal credit during Covid over stigma

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Fear of being seen as a “scrounger” meant those entitled didn’t sign on during early stage of pandemic

Tens of thousands of people did not claim universal credit during the early part of the pandemic because they felt too ashamed to sign on benefits, often despite struggling to pay rent and bills, a study has found.

The perceived stigma around benefits – with some people feeling, for example, that they were for “dole scroungers” and “freeloaders” – meant many refused state help, or put off making a claim until they ran into serious difficulty.

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