Category Archives: UK news

Dominic Raab’s mobile number freely available online for last decade

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Exclusive: Finding raises questions for security services weeks after similar revelations about PM’s number

The private mobile number of Dominic Raab, the UK foreign secretary, has been online for at least 11 years, raising questions for the security services weeks after the prime minister’s number was also revealed to be accessible to anyone.

Raab’s number was discovered by a Guardian reader using a Google search. It appears to have been online since before he became an MP in 2010, and remained after he became foreign secretary and first secretary of state – de facto deputy prime minister – in 2019.

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Vaccines minister condemns video of Chris Whitty being harassed by ‘thugs’

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​Nadhim Zahawi calls for two men filmed harassing the chief medical officer in the street to be charged

Footage has emerged online apparently showing Prof Chris Whitty being accosted in public, with the vaccine minister calling for the “thugs” to face charges.

The video, which has been shared on social media, seems to show the chief medical officer struggling to get away as the people filming in selfie mode appear to manhandle him.

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Now is not the time to abandon all Covid caution

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Analysis: scientists say the Delta variant should make the government think twice about resting all its hopes on vaccines

If the new health secretary is to be believed, we are about to embark on an “exciting new journey” come 19 July. Sajid Javid, like the prime minister, appears confident that restrictions will be lifted irreversibly on that date. The data, however, is beginning to tell a different story.

When Boris Johnson said his government would be guided by “data, not dates”, the scientific community – for the most part – endorsed the cautious approach. Now, the signs are ominous. Driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant, cases are once again starting to rise exponentially. Vaccination rates have slowed. An exhausted NHS is seeing a rise in hospitalisations. Over half of all people in the UK are not fully vaccinated.

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Mixing Covid vaccines offers strong immune protection – study

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Oxford researchers say having AstraZeneca then Pfizer jabs is almost as potent as two shots of Pfizer

Having different Covid vaccines for first and second shots produces a strong immune response to the virus, according to research that will help improve the resilience of vaccine programmes around the world.

Scientists in Oxford looked at the impact of a mix-and-match approach to vaccinations where people were given either the standard two shots of Oxford/AstraZeneca or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, or a combination of the two.

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UK and Brussels near deal on Covid passports to boost holiday hopes

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Talks progressing on recognition of status certificates, while German calls for caution failing to win support

Hopes have been raised of summer holidays in Europe for fully vaccinated Britons as a deal with Brussels on Covid passports neared completion and Germany failed to convince popular destinations to pull an “emergency brake” on UK visitors.

Restrictions on travel are tightening across the continent for tourists coming from the UK who have not had two jabs, owing to concerns over the highly transmissible Delta variant now dominant in Britain.

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UN calls for end of ‘impunity’ for police violence against black people

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Report launched in aftermath of George Floyd murder cites example of 2018 death of Kevin Clarke in UK

A UN report that analysed racial justice in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd has called on member states including the UK to end the “impunity” enjoyed by police officers who violate the human rights of black people.

The UN human rights office analysis of 190 deaths across the world led to the report’s damning conclusion that law enforcement officers are rarely held accountable for killing black people due in part to deficient investigations and an unwillingness to acknowledge the impact of structural racism.

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Vaccine inequality: how rich countries cut Covid deaths as poorer fall behind

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Developed countries are seeing the benefits of quickly vaccinating their populations, but concerns remain about the unequal share of global vaccine supplies

New analysis by the Guardian has confirmed that a speedy Covid vaccination campaign pays off when it comes to escaping the worst of the pandemic.

As the chart below shows, countries such as Israel, the UK and the US have all seen deaths decline as vaccination coverage extended to the most vulnerable in their societies.

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Remote working v the office: four company bosses have their say

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Working longer hours or getting more done? Managers debate the upside and downside of how we work

The global pandemic and lockdown restrictions forced many UK businesses to move employees to remote working, practically overnight.

Four company bosses speak about the upsides and downsides of working from home versus the traditional office-based model as they consider what the future might look like for their businesses and staff.

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‘The anxiety is palpable’: EU citizens face looming settled status deadline

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Those submitting last-minute applications for right to stay in UK describe stress of dealing with an overwhelmed system

With just three days to go before the deadline for EU citizens who wish to remain living in the UK to apply for EU settled status (EUSS), applicants have described the stress they are experiencing as they submit last-minute applications or wait to hear from the Home Office about whether their applications have been accepted.

They describe the frustration of trying to get through to a Home Office helpline that is often unable to accept calls because of excessive numbers of people seeking advice; many are worried that they may find themselves in a legal limbo, despite government reassurances to the contrary.

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Yemenis tell UK defence secretary of ‘immense loss’ to drone strikes

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Exclusive: ‘They are not collateral damage’ – bereaved families appeal for meeting to learn of UK’s role in killings

Relatives of people killed in drone strikes in Yemen have written to the defence secretary to ask about UK involvement in the killings and request that he meet them.

The family members said they have suffered “immense loss” of loved ones – including children – at the hands of US targeted drone strikes and are demanding to know what part the UK has played.

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Multiple arrests after thousands gather at illegal rave in Steyning, West Sussex

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Police called as crowds gather in field in breach of Covid guidelines

Thousands of people gathered at an illegal rave on farmland in West Sussex overnight, breaching Covid guidelines.

Sussex police said the unlicensed rave had taken place in a remote field forcing multiple road closures in the rural town of Steyning. At least 23 people have been arrested on suspicion of offences including drink and drug-driving, possession of drugs and theft, and have been taken into custody, the force said.

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Covid live news: Luxembourg PM ‘tests positive for Covid’; UK records 14,876 new cases

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Xavier Bettel in isolation after self-test result, according to reports; UK’s daily cases figure falls slightly from Saturday

France reported 1,345 coronavirus patients in intensive care today - four less than yesterday - and updated its overall death toll to 84,512, reports Reuters.

UK opposition leader Keir Starmer says there are “huge questions still to answer” following the resignation of health minister Matt Hancock.

Asked if Sajid Javid is a good replacement for Hancock, who resigned after footage emerged of him kissing an aide, PA reports that the Labour leader said:

We need a strong Health Secretary as we come through the pandemic.

But obviously there’s huge questions still to answer. If anybody thinks that the resignation of Matt Hancock is the end of the issue, I think they’re wrong and I think the incoming Health Secretary and the Prime Minister now have serious questions to answer about the CCTV, about the access, the passes, the contracts, etc.

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Rare Rubens drawing bought at small French sale up for auction

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Surviving page from notebook all but destroyed in fire in 1720 expected to fetch as much as £600,000

A drawing bought in a small French sale by a buyer with a hunch has been identified as a rare surviving page from an important notebook made by a young Peter Paul Rubens.

If Rubens’ original Theoretical Notebook still existed it would be a true art wonder, but it was all but destroyed in a fire in 1720. Only two pages were thought to have survived, treasures of collections in London and Berlin.

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Classified Ministry of Defence papers found at bus stop in Kent

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Documents include details on HMS Defender in Ukrainian waters and possible Afghanistan plans

Classified defence documents containing details about HMS Defender and the military have been found at a bus stop, prompting an investigation from the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The loss of the sensitive information was described “as embarrassing as it is worrying for ministers” by Labour, who are seeking reassurances that national security has not been undermined.

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Sajid Javid steps back into the cabinet to steer UK out of pandemic

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Incoming secretary of state faces daunting task while mastering his new position in the Department of Health as quickly as possible

Sajid Javid may have already served in two of the most testing offices of state, as chancellor of the exchequer and home secretary. But on Saturday he walked into what is now arguably the biggest and most challenging of all: the job of health secretary.

Not only does Javid have to steer the country out of what will hopefully be the final stages of the pandemic, ensuring we reach the end of what Boris Johnson has called the “irreversible road to freedom”.

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Sajid Javid: short-lived chancellor makes surprise comeback

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Reversal of fortune sees former Tory leadership candidate return to cabinet after run-ins with Dominic Cummings

Sajid Javid’s appointment as health secretary sees him return to a Cabinet he abruptly left in shock fashion 16 months ago.

Javid was just six months into his role as chancellor, and less than a month away from delivering his first budget, when he quit after being told he must sack all his advisers if he wanted to keep his job.

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Matt Hancock resigns as health secretary after day of humiliation

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Ex-chancellor Sajid Javid is made health secretary but Boris Johnson’s authority suffers blow from resignation

Matt Hancock has resigned as health secretary after Tory MPs, ministers and grassroots Conservatives defied Boris Johnson and demanded he be dismissed from the government.

The minister fell on his sword after a day that began with senior Tories observing a deliberate silence over Hancock’s future – seemingly to test public opinion in their constituencies – before many later broke ranks to insist he had to go.

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Hundreds of thousands of EU citizens ‘scrabbling’ to attain post-Brexit status before deadline

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Pressure grows for UK to extend Wednesday’s settlement-scheme cut-off date as backlog of applications grows and helplines crash

EU citizens are struggling to apply for post-Brexit settled status as the Home Office reaches “breaking point” coping with a last-minute surge in applications.

With three days before the deadline of the EU settlement scheme this Wednesday, campaigners say late applicants are being stuck in online queues as others find it impossible to access advice on the government helpline.

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Green groups’ fury at loophole in new North Sea oil test

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Projects that could produce more than 1.7bn barrels will not have to go through the government’s ‘checkpoint’, data reveals

Prospective oil projects in the North Sea with the capacity to produce more than a billion barrels will avoid a new test designed to assess their impact on the climate crisis, the Observer has learned.

In a development that has angered environmental campaigners, it has emerged that proposed new developments representing some 1.7bn barrels of oil will not have to undergo the forthcoming “climate compatibility checkpoint”, designed to determine whether they are consistent with the government’s climate commitments.

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