Category Archives: Society

Black children in England and Wales almost eight times more likely to be strip-searched than white peers – report

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Demographic also overrepresented when police officers use force such as handcuffs, firearms or Tasers, says children’s commissioner

Black children across England and Wales are almost eight times more likely to be strip-searched by police than their white counterparts, a report has disclosed.

Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, said Black children are also overrepresented when officers use force and were more likely to have their “size, gender or build” cited as justification.

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Bill banning people born after 2008 from buying tobacco clears UK parliament

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Ministers hope tobacco and vapes bill, which will become law next week, will create a ‘smoke-free generation’

A bill banning anyone born after 2008 from buying tobacco in the UK has completed its progress through parliament in a move that ministers hope will create a “smoke-free generation”.

Under the tobacco and vapes bill anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 will never be able to be legally sold tobacco across the UK, in an effort to save lives and reduce the burden on the NHS.

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Minnesota boy fighting for life after rescuing younger brother from creek

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Ashkan Thibodeaux, five years old, saved his kid brother Wyatt after he fell into ‘icy water’ of creek they were exploring

A five-year-old Minnesota boy reportedly jumped into frigid water after his younger brother fell in on Easter Sunday to successfully rescue him – and has subsequently had to fight for his life at a hospital, a battle in which he is making steady progress, according to his family.

Ashkan Thibodeaux’s story, which has captured widespread attention in corners of the internet dedicated to spotlighting remarkable displays of bravery, began with exploring a creek in Minnesota’s Itasca county alongside his kid brother, Wyatt, on 5 April, his family and their supporters say.

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Myanmar military regime widens sanitary towel ban, claiming rebels use them for first aid

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Activists say clamp down on period products to target insurgents is gender-based violence and violates rights

Myanmar’s military regime is expanding its ban on the distribution of period products, claiming they are being used to treat wounded resistance fighters, according to local activists.

The south-east Asian country has been locked in civil war since 2021, when the military usurped the democratic government and launched a violent crackdown on dissidents. Artillery fire, the burning of townships and arbitrary arrests have become common in the years since then.

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Centrepoint to cut ties with Sharon Osbourne after she backs Tommy Robinson rally

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Homelessness charity distances itself after Osbourne says she plans to attend far-right ‘unite the kingdom’ march

The homelessness charity Centrepoint has confirmed it will cut ties with its celebrity ambassador Sharon Osbourne after she expressed support for a far-right rally being organised by Tommy Robinson.

The charity, of which the Prince of Wales is patron, has been forced to distance itself from comments made by Osbourne. The TV personality indicated this week that she would be attending an event organised in London by Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

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Child victims of online sexual abuse in UK inadequately protected, review finds

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Lack of funding leaving police forces failing to keep pace with two-thirds annual increase in referrals, says report

Child victims of online sexual abuse are being inadequately protected from further harm because police forces are struggling to cope with an increase in this crime, his majesty’s chief inspector of constabulary has warned.

Michelle Skeer said: “Without investment and coordination, the situation will worsen and children could be put at further risk.”

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Balancing UK’s welfare and defence spending ‘not zero-sum game’, minister says

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Treasury minister James Murray hits back at George Robertson’s criticism over military budget

A Treasury minister has said balancing welfare and defence spending “is not a zero-sum game”, amid stark warnings that the UK will have to increase its military budget to ensure national security during global volatility.

James Murray, the chancellor’s deputy, said the government was pushing ahead with the biggest sustained increase in defence investments since the cold war, but he would not say when it would publish its delayed defence investment plan.

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Government sets aside extra £1bn for victims of UK’s infected blood scandal

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Additional funds include extra £35,000 each for former pupils experimented on at school without their knowledge

Compensation payments will rise for people affected by the infected blood scandal, including an extra £35,000 each for former pupils who were experimented on at school without their knowledge, the paymaster general has announced. The government has allocated £1bn for the payments.

The final report of the inquiry into what has been described as the biggest treatment disaster in NHS history was published in May 2024. The compensation scheme that followed has also been blighted by controversy.

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‘Little progress’ in stopping drug drones at HMP Manchester, watchdog says

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Chief inspector for England and Wales says prison remains in ‘precarious state’ more than year after urgent notification

The Prison Service has made “very little progress” in enforcing a formal demand to stop drones from delivering drugs into one of its worst performing jails, a watchdog has concluded.

Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons for England and Wales, said HMP Manchester remained in a “precarious state” after a failure to fix broken windows and install security to stop contraband being delivered to gangs.

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More than a fifth of UK’s ‘austerity children’ scarred by poverty, study says

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Researchers say hardship is a direct legacy of welfare benefit cuts imposed by Tory governments in recent years

More than a fifth of all “austerity generation” British children have been scarred by poverty for at least half their childhood, a direct legacy of the welfare benefit cuts imposed by Conservative governments in recent years, research reveals.

The proportion of children born after 2013 who spent at least six of their first 11 years of life in hardship surged after ministers froze working age benefits levels and imposed policies such as the two-child limit, it found.

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Private firms providing services to NHS made £1.6bn profit in two years, research finds

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Exclusive: MPs say profit-making levels in England are ‘scandalous’ and call for cap on amount private companies can make from NHS

Private firms providing services to the NHS including healthcare and consultancy have made £1.6bn in profits over the last two years, research reveals.

The findings – on the basis of contracts worth £12bn – have prompted claims of “scandalous” profiteering, concern that the health service is being “taken for a ride” and calls for ministers to impose a cap on maximum profit levels.

£2bn of the £12bn of contracts went to firms with owners based outside the UK.

£533m of that £2bn went to companies owned by people living in tax havens such as Jersey and the Cayman Islands.

Firms, especially those owned by private equity outfits, used £353m of their £12bn NHS income to pay interest on debts.

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Thousands of unpaid carers to face DWP repayment demands during overhaul

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Ministers admit carer’s allowance penalties will continue while review of more than 200,000 cases is carried out

Thousands of unpaid carers will continue to be hit with hefty and potentially unfair benefit repayment demands, it has emerged, as a government initiative gets under way to fix welfare injustices that have drawn comparison to the Post Office scandal.

Ministers will on Monday launch an audit of more than 200,000 historical carer’s allowance benefit cases, with an estimated 25,000 carers issued with unlawful overpayments since 2015 likely to see their repayment debts cancelled or reduced as a result.

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State failing to learn lessons of Southport attack, say victims’ lawyers

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Exclusive: Guardian analysis suggests young people who pose ‘catastrophic’ threat still slipping through system

Ministers are “failing to learn the lessons” from the Southport attack and allowing violence-obsessed teenagers to remain a “catastrophic” threat to society, lawyers for victims of the atrocity have said ahead of the findings of an official inquiry.

A report on the July 2024 attack by the judge Sir Adrian Fulford, to be released on Monday, is expected to strongly criticise failings by a series of agencies, including the counter-terrorism programme Prevent.

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Peers vote to ban pornography depicting sex acts between stepfamily members

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Amendment calling for step-incest to be included in ban on harmful content passes by just one vote

The government has agreed to ban the production of pornography depicting sex acts between stepfamily members following a vote in the House of Lords.

The government tabled an amendment calling for step-incest to be included in a ban on harmful content, with the support of the Conservative peer Gabby Bertin, who led a review into pornography regulation that was published last year.

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Man who groomed 14-year-old girl he met on Roblox jailed for 28 months

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Police say case highlights online dangers to children after Carlo Tritta pleads guilty to making indecent images

A man who obsessively groomed a 14-year-old girl he met through the online gaming platform Roblox has been jailed for 28 months.

Carlo Tritta, now 19, kept indecent images of the girl and travelled hundreds of miles from his home in Eastleigh, Hampshire in order to turn up, uninvited, at her home in Manchester.

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Charity cleared after false claims online over migrant welcome project

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Watchdog finds allegations against City of Sanctuary UK were misleading after complaint from Tory MP

A refugee charity subjected to vicious social media attacks over a migrant welcome project in schools has been cleared of wrongdoing after watchdogs found allegations it encouraged pupils to send Valentine’s Day cards to asylum seekers were misleading and false.

City of Sanctuary UK came under fire last year after rumours spread online that under its schools programme, children were being “forced” to write heart-shaped welcome cards to adult migrants, including cards addressed to “my fiance”.

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British Medical Association accused of hypocrisy as its own staff strike over pay

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Union rejected 4.9% pay rise for resident doctors, who are on six-day strike, but offered its own staff 2.75%

The British Medical Association has been accused of the “height of hypocrisy” for offering its own staff below-inflation pay rises while demanding a 26% increase for resident doctors.

Tens of thousands of medics walked out of the NHS in England on Tuesday, the 15th time they have staged industrial action since March 2023 in their campaign for “full pay restoration”.

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People living with incontinence face shortage of sanitary pads as NHS limits supplies

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More than half of NHS trusts have cap on availability of products, forcing patients to pay for products themselves

Millions of people across the UK living with incontinence are facing shortages of sanitary products due to supplies being rationed by NHS trusts, according to a coalition of charities.

The shortages are leading to a “pad gap” where people are having to pay for incontinence products themselves, according to an open letter from organisations including the Royal College of Nursing, Prostate Cancer UK, and Bowel and Bladder UK.

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When Suzuki met Suzuki: why a Tokyo dating agency is matching couples with the same name

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Japan’s ban on married couples having different surnames has prompted an event to highlight people’s reluctance to change their name

At the very least, the three men and three women calming their nerves on a Friday evening at a venue in Tokyo know they have one thing in common.

Spaced out across booths, they will soon be placed in pairs and given 15 minutes to get to know one another.

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What are peptides, are they safe and is there evidence to back up the hype?

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Influencers and athletes are among those claiming substances can help with injury repair, weight loss and angi-ageing

From influencers to athletes, high-profile figures are hailing peptides as the route to wellness, claiming they help with injury repair, weight loss, anti-ageing and mood. We take a look at what these substances are, and the murky industry surrounding them.

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