Most victims do not report it for fear of not being believed or damaging career prospects, says union body
Almost two in three young women have experienced sexual harassment, bullying or verbal abuse at work, according to a TUC poll.
However, most victims do not report it for fear of not being believed or of damaging their relationships at work or their career prospects, the TUC said.
Continue reading...Britain donating arms capable of striking targets in occupied Crimea as Kyiv prepares counteroffensive against Russia
Britain has become the first western country to provide Ukraine with the long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles that Kyiv wants to boost its chances in a much-anticipated counteroffensive, prompting a threat from the Kremlin of a military response.
Hours after Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he needed more western weapons to be confident of a victory this summer, Ben Wallace, the UK defence secretary, told MPs that the missiles – which cost more than £2m each – were “now going in, or are in the country itself”.
Continue reading...FDA union votes to use ‘all means available’, including ‘targeted legal action’ in wake of Dominic Raab scandal
Senior civil servants have voted to take a stand against inflammatory language from politicians and in favour of legal action to combat bullying, as former cabinet ministers Jacob Rees-Mogg and Dominic Raab renewed their attacks on officials.
Members of the FDA union passed a motion in favour of using “all means available” to challenge bullying and harassment of officials, including “use of targeted legal action”, in after the scandal that forced Raab to resign.
Continue reading...Northern rail network to be run by state-owned operator of last resort when contract expires on 28 May
TransPennine Express (TPE) is to be run by the state after ministers announced that the failing rail company would not have its contract renewed.
The transport secretary, Mark Harper, said the northern rail network would be run by the state-owned operator of last resort after passengers experienced disruption, cancellations and a significant decline in the extent and reliability of the service.
Continue reading...Business and trade secretary answers urgent question in Commons on retained EU law
Sir William Cash, chair of the European scrutiny committee, used his follow-up to his urgent question to say that Kemi Badenoch has declined three times to appear before this committee to discuss this issue.
He said the new amendments to the bill announced yesterday have not been scrutinised by the Commons.
The amendments published today, apart from her very short written ministerial statement yesterday and her article in the press today, are not accompanied by any explanation to this house despite the utter reversal in vital respects to the bill as passed by this elected house, why not?
The amendments have not been subjected to any analysis or questioning by this house, which is now essential given the fundamental change in government policy. This house is being treated in a manner which is clearly inconsistent with clear promises already made.
Continue reading...Liz Saville Roberts denies party tried to put own interests before need to ‘detoxify’ internal culture
A senior Plaid Cymru figure has defended attempts by some in the party’s hierarchy to keep Adam Price in place as leader despite a damning review into the culture of the party, arguing that they did so because they believed stability was needed to bring about change.
Price announced his resignation as leader late on Wednesday – a week after a review said his party had failed to “detoxify” its culture and found evidence of misogyny, harassment and bullying.
Continue reading...Lord president of privy council says coronation was ‘humbling day’ and democracy ‘is about dissent’
Penny Mordaunt has revealed how she took painkillers before her role of carrying the ceremonial sword during King Charles’s coronation.
Mordaunt, wearing a custom-made teal outfit with a matching cape and headband with gold feather embroidery, was the first woman to perform the role as lord president of the council. She was responsible for bearing the sword of the state and presenting the jewelled sword of offering to the king. They were two of four swords used during the ceremony, and it is a practice that dates back to the coronation of Richard the Lionheart in 1189.
Continue reading...Alicia Kearns, foreign affairs select committee chair, launches blistering attack on former prime minister
The Conservative chair of the foreign affairs select committee has launched a blistering attack on Liz Truss over the former prime minister’s planned trip to Taiwan, calling it “the worst kind of Instagram diplomacy”.
Alicia Kearns said she thought Truss’s trip planned for next week was little more than a vanity project aimed at keeping her profile high after her brief spell as prime minister last year.
Continue reading...Justin Welby says bill is ‘morally unacceptable’ and rules on protection of refugees are not ‘inconvenient obstructions’. This live blog is closed
In the House of Lords peers are just starting to debate the second reading of the illegal migration bill.
Simon Murray, aka Lord Murray of Blidworth, is opening the debate. He is a lawyer who was made a Home Office minister, and a peer, when Liz Truss was PM.
We now face a perfect storm of factors driving more people into homelessness while giving us fewer good options to help them when they do. These factors include soaring private rents (above the benefit cap), private landlords leaving the sector, a national shortage of affordable housing, and a backlog of court cases after Covid-relating housing support was removed. At the same time, we have a cost-of-living crisis which is reducing real-term incomes and putting further strain on relationships.
Continue reading...First British ministerial visit to Hong Kong since Chinese crackdown focused on attracting investment
The first British ministerial visit to Hong Kong since the introduction of draconian Chinese security laws five years ago was a chance to demand that China unlock more than £2bn in pensions belonging to British overseas passport holders who fled for the UK, former cabinet ministers have told the Foreign Office.
A letter signed by more than 90 MPs, including 10 former ministers, urges the trade minister Dominic Johnson to do more to release frozen savings belonging to thousands of Hongkongers.
Continue reading...Justin Welby to join peers condemning measures that seek to criminalise people seeking refuge in UK
The archbishop of Canterbury will make a rare intervention in the House of Lords to join dozens of peers condemning the government’s flagship asylum bill.
Justin Welby will argue against measures championed by Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman that seek to criminalise people seeking refuge in the UK if they arrive on small boats.
Continue reading...PM’s costly helicopter trip to Southampton to announce prescription reforms underlines fears of some he is out of touch
Rishi Sunak flew to the south coast and back by helicopter to announce a new government health policy on Tuesday as he tried to calm Conservative jitters after a disastrous set of local election results.
In the latest example of the prime minister’s fondness for short-distance air travel, the prime minister visited Southampton to set out plans for pharmacists to provide prescriptions for millions of patients in England to help ease the GP crisis.
Continue reading...NHS in England missed target that patients waiting 18 months for an operation would be treated by April
A key government pledge to reduce the size of the NHS’s record-breaking care backlog has been broken, the health secretary has admitted.
Steve Barclay slipped out the news in a Commons statement on Tuesday about a totally unrelated area of NHS policy – his new plan to improve access to GP care.
Continue reading...Jithender Ballepu says more staff and funding would be needed and has concerns about passing antibiotics over the counter
There is no plaque outside Bassett Pharmacy in Southampton to indicate this was once run by the prime minister’s mother but there is a sign round the back that gives the game away: “Parking for Sunak Pharmacy customers.”
Inside, the pharmacist Jithender Ballepu was expressing reservations about Rishi Sunak’s plans for chemist shops to provide prescriptions for millions of patients in England.
Continue reading...Ex-PM, who is trying to revive career, says she will ‘show solidarity’ with Taiwan after Nancy Pelosi visit sparked furore
Liz Truss is to visit Taiwan next week, where she will deliver a speech likely to anger Beijing and potentially upset the UK government’s careful approach to China relations.
The former prime minister said on Tuesday: “Taiwan is a beacon of freedom and democracy. I’m looking forward to showing solidarity with the Taiwanese people in person in the face of increasingly aggressive behaviour and rhetoric from the regime in Beijing.”
Continue reading...Hospitals chief says action ‘will pile even more pressure’ on already overstretched services and calls for talks
Ambulance staff in the south-east of England are to strike over pay for the second time on Tuesday, prompting warnings from hospital bosses of further pressure on overstretched emergency services.
Members of the Unite trade union employed by two ambulance trusts are striking after rejecting the government’s pay offer of a lump sum cash payment for 2022-23 and a below inflation increase of 5% for 2023-24.
Continue reading...Vulnerability of MPs’ groups to influence of private firms highlighted by appearance at blockchain inquiry
Fresh questions have been raised about private firms gaining prestige and access to MPs through all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) after an unregulated “bank” with no UK licence gave evidence to an inquiry in the House of Commons.
The chief executive of Bandenia Challenger Bank spoke at an APPG inquiry into regulation in December, chaired by a Scottish National party MP, which was promoted using parliament’s official portcullis logo.
Continue reading...Representatives of 27 member states mark Europe Day by calling for further strengthening of trust rebuilt by Windsor framework
EU leaders have signalled their desire to reset relations with the UK, seven turbulent years on from the seismic Brexit vote.
Representatives from all 27 member states said on Monday that they wanted to “develop further ties between the EU and the UK” after a deal sealed on Brexit trade arrangements for Northern Ireland.
Continue reading...Simon Thompson has had a turbulent two-year stint at the helm
Royal Mail boss Simon Thompson is expected to step down within weeks, after a turbulent two-year stint at the helm.
The chief executive has been accused by unions of inflaming the bitter industrial dispute, and his credibility was put in question after a Commons select committee appearance.
Continue reading...Lord Hain is seeking amendments to economic crime bill requiring ministers to back establishment of new court
The UK government should back the establishment of an international anti-corruption court to prosecute corrupt leaders of countries unwilling or unable to enforce their own anti-kleptocracy laws, according to Lord Hain, the former Foreign Office minister.
With cross-party support, Hain will propose that the time has come for Britain to throw its weight behind the growing global momentum for an international court, analogous to the international criminal court in The Hague.
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