Category Archives: UK news

Labour accused of using Jimmy Savile’s name to ‘bait’ Nigel Farage

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Lawyer for abuse survivors criticises ministers for using late TV presenter’s ‘toxic’ name for political point scoring

Labour’s use of Jimmy Savile’s “toxic” name appeared to be an attempt to “deliberately bait” Nigel Farage and would distress survivors of child sexual abuse, lawyers for victims of the late TV presenter has said.

Alan Collins, the head of the abuse team at Hugh James solicitors, said it was “concerning” to see Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, and others use Savile’s name to try to “score points over political opponents”.

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Birmingham airport closes runway after emergency landing by light aircraft

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All flights temporarily grounded as three people are treated at the scene, one with minor injuries

Birmingham airport has temporarily closed its runway and grounded all flights after a light aircraft made an emergency landing.

Three people from the aircraft were treated at the scene, one of whom suffered minor injuries in the incident, which occurred at about 1.40pm on Wednesday, West Midlands police said. West Midlands ambulance service also attended the scene.

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Leading global scholars sign letter urging UK to end Palestine Action ban

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Exclusive: Naomi Klein and Angela Davis among those demanding stop to ‘attack on fundamental freedoms’ of assembly and protest

Naomi Klein and Angela Davis are among dozens of international scholars and writers who have signed a letter to the Guardian calling on the UK government to reverse the ban on Palestine Action.

The letter applauds what it describes as a “growing campaign of collective defiance” against the ban and commends the hundreds of people who plan to risk arrest by declaring their support for Palestine Action during a mass protest in London on Saturday.

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Rachel Reeves needs to put up taxes to cover £40bn deficit, thinktank says

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NIESR suggests a rise of 5p in the pound on basic and higher rate of income tax would fill the budget gap

Rachel Reeves will need to raise taxes to close a government spending gap that is on course to reach more than £40bn after a slowdown in economic growth and higher-than-expected inflation, according to a leading thinktank.

In a blow to Labour’s hopes of balancing the books without breaking manifesto commitments ruling out personal tax rises, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said a number of factors would knock off course the chancellor’s plans to stay within Whitehall spending limits.

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Increase in vapes found on Britain’s coastline by beach clean volunteers

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Marine Conservation Society calls for swift action as its litter surveys show some forms of plastic are on the rise

Volunteer beach cleaners are finding more vapes than ever before as plastic pollution chokes Britain’s coastline.

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) on Wednesday launches its annual beach clean, which last year involved more than 15,000 volunteers who completed more than 1,200 litter surveys.

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Prince Harry among those criticised in report on dispute at Sentebale charity

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Watchdog says all parties, including trustees, patrons and chair Sophie Chandauka, should not have had row in public

The Charity Commission has criticised Prince Harry for allowing a row with the chair of his African charity to “play out publicly”, as the watchdog cleared him of racism.

The prince was engaged in a public war of words earlier this year with the chair of the Sentebale charity, Dr Sophie Chandauka, after his resignation as a patron.

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UK to bear transport costs of ‘one in, one out’ asylum seeker deal with France

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Treaty can be ended by either side at a month’s notice and France can refuse returns on certain grounds

The UK will pay the costs of transporting asylum seekers to and from France under Keir Starmer’s “one in, one out” deal with Emmanuel Macron, it has emerged.

The deal will have to be renewed by 11 June next year, and can be ended at a month’s notice by either side, documents made public by the government indicate.

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Verbally abused children more likely to have poor mental health as adults, study finds

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Analysis suggests long-term damage to wellbeing can be worse than for children experiencing physical abuse

Parents who ridicule, threaten or humiliate their children risk leaving them with a 64% higher chance of having poor mental health as an adult, a study has found.

The research also found physical abuse experienced among the research participants reduced over time, while verbal abuse increased.

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Funding for English youth clubs aims to keep children off smartphones

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Keir Starmer says £88m package will help tackle trend of young people becoming ‘disconnected from their communities’

Youth clubs and after-school activities in England will receive a funding injection of £88m as ministers try to get more children away from smartphones and computer screens.

The package, which Keir Starmer announced on Tuesday, is intended to give pupils access to sport, outdoor activities, art, music, debating and volunteering.

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Lib Dems call for urgent regulation of YouTube ads after wave of scams

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Party wants video platform to face same scrutiny as broadcasters due to deepfake and investment scams

The Liberal Democrats are calling for urgent regulation of YouTube advertising after scams including deepfakes, impersonated public figures and fraudulent investment claims were found to be spreading on the platform with little oversight.

The party said YouTube’s adverts remain largely unchecked by independent regulators, despite new data from Ofcom showing the platform has overtaken ITV in weekly UK viewership and continues to dominate children’s media consumption.

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Son of British woman held in Iran speaks to her for first time in 213 days

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Joe Bennett says Lindsay Foreman sounded in good spirits despite her and husband being charged with espionage

The son of a British woman being held in Iran on espionage charges has said speaking to her on the phone for the first time in 213 days felt like “five birthdays and 10 Christmases at once”.

Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both 52, were arrested on 3 January in Kerman, southern Iran, while travelling through the country from Armenia to Pakistan on a round-the-world motorbike trip.

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100 Gaza children hope to be evacuated to UK for urgent medical care

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Charities urge government to move quickly after it announced scheme to help critically ill and injured children

More than 100 critically ill and injured children in Gaza hope to come to the UK as soon as possible after the government announced a scheme to provide those in severe need with NHS care.

The government announced on Sunday that it would evacuate children from Gaza to the UK for treatment under a scheme to be announced within weeks.

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Storm Floris: Scottish government holds emergency meeting amid warnings of more UK travel disruption

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Scotland says there have been 119 incidents on the rail network caused by Storm Floris, including 75 tree-related ones

The Scottish government has held emergency meetings in response to the “significant disruption” caused by Storm Floris across the country, with warnings of further travel chaos on Tuesday as poor weather continues.

On Monday night, the Scottish government’s Resilience Room held a meeting to help decide an appropriate response to the storm, which has included power outages and almost 120 rail incidents. Representatives from the Met Office, Police Scotland, Transport Scotland and transport and utilities companies were in attendance.

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Prison system was days from collapse three times under Sunak, review finds

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Emergency measures bailed out jails at last minute as No 10 refused to cut prisoner numbers until ‘cliff edge’ reached, former watchdog reports

The criminal justice system was within days of collapse on three occasions before being bailed out by “last-minute emergency measures”, an independent review by a former prisons watchdog has found.

Dame Anne Owers said the prison system, under pressure from overcrowding, was “in crisis” between autumn 2023 and the summer of 2024, but No 10 under Rishi Sunak refused to cut the numbers in jail until “the next predictable cliff edge”.

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UK to start small boats returns to France ‘within days’ after EU gives green light

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Some asylum seekers will be sent back across Channel for first time under treaty agreed with French president

The UK will begin detaining people who arrive on small boats and returning some to France “within days” after the EU gave the green light to a deal agreed with the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

The treaty between France and the UK will allow the Home Office to return some asylum seekers back across the Channel for the first time in exchange for accepting others directly from France via a safe route.

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British couple held in Iran moved to separate prisons heightening welfare concerns

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Lindsay and Craig Foreman were detained seven months ago on espionage charges while on global motorbike trip

A British couple detained in Iran for seven months on espionage charges have been moved to separate prisons in and near Tehran, heightening fears for their welfare, their son said on Monday.

Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both 52 and who previously split their time between south-east England and Spain, were seized in Kerman, in central Iran, in early January while on a round-the-world motorbike trip.

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Search intensifies for British woman missing from Greek beach

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Coastguard and police continue to scour land and sea for Michele Bourda, who was last seen on a sunbed

A mammoth search-and-rescue operation for a British woman last seen lounging on a sunbed in Greece has intensified days after her “mysterious” disappearance.

The Hellenic coastguard, backed by a flotilla of pleasure craft and fishing boats, has fanned across the waters off Ofrynio beach near the northern town of Kavala, where Michele Bourda, 59, went missing on 1 August.

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UK politics live: Farage announces defection of Leicestershire’s police and crime commissioner from Tories to Reform UK

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Rupert Matthews, elected to post as Conservative in 2021, claims police are ‘fighting crime with one hand tied behind their back’

George Finch, the Reform UK leader of Warwickshire county council, goes next. (Aged 19, he is the youngest council leader in the country.)

He claims the police have opposed his attempts to expose the immigration status of someone arrested in connection with an alleged crime.

It was dirty, run down and had major drug issues. My attitude to the task was assertive and no nonsense. That’s the approach that I will take for my role within Reform UK [advising on crime].

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Rescued British hiker billed €14,225 for ignoring rockslide signs in Dolomites

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Local rescue service chief says two helicopters had to be used after man, 60, ventured on to path closed due to risk

A British hiker has been charged more than €14,000 (£12,000) by the Italian mountain rescue service after ignoring danger warnings in the Dolomites.

The man, aged 60, had to be rescued after venturing to the Ferrata Berti, a rocky mountain path at an altitude of 2,500 metres (8,200ft) in the San Vito di Cadore area of the northern Italian peaks where dozens of paths were closed last week because of the high risk of landslides.

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‘Cat-sized’ rat found in Teesside town puts focus on pest control cuts

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Rodent said to be 22in (56cm) long from nose to tail found in Normanby, where rat problem is said to be worsening

Cuts to council pest control services are being blamed for a town’s rodent problem, which includes the discovery of a supersize rat said to be 22in (56cm) from nose to tail.

The giant rat, about the length of the carry-on luggage people might be wheeling on to a flight – or, if not on holiday, a desktop monitor – was found inside a person’s home in Normanby, Teesside.

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