Cost of living crisis has meant the average amount given to children has fallen to lowest level since 2001
Children’s piggy banks are paying a high price for the cost of living crisis after almost a third of parents cut back on pocket money during the last year.
The average amount that is going into the pockets of under-16s each week has dropped by 23% to £4.99 this year from £6.48 in 2021, according to research from the lender Halifax – the lowest amount since 2001.
Continue reading...Truss said she would lower taxes not give ‘handouts’, but ally says future support is not off the table
A senior ally of Liz Truss has played down suggestions she ruled out more emergency support payments to help people struggling through the worsening cost of living crisis this winter.
Penny Mordaunt, who is backing the frontrunner in the Tory leadership race, said Truss’s comments had been misinterpreted and she wanted to prioritise tax cuts.
Continue reading...Rights groups express concern after Minnesota judge rules Andrea Anderson’s rights were not violated by pharmacy’s denial
A Minnesota jury has ruled that a pharmacy did not discriminate against a woman when it denied to give her the morning-after pill.
The pharmacist gave “belief” as the reason for refusing to fill the prescription for emergency contraception. Although the jury decided that the woman’s rights had not been violated, it did say that the emotional damage caused by the decision amounted to $25,000.
Continue reading...Observer investigation shows how online platform’s algorithm pushed Andrew Tate posts to an imaginary teenager
An Observer investigation has revealed how TikTok is promoting misogynistic content to young people despite claiming to ban it.
Videos of the online personality Andrew Tate, who has been criticised by domestic abuse campaigners for normalising extreme and outdated views about women, are among those pushed by the algorithm to users via the curated For You homepage.
We conducted an experiment to get an insight into what young people are being shown on the platform, which allows users to join from the age of 13.
To ensure the findings wouldn’t be influenced by our previous search history, we set up a new TikTok account for an imaginary teenager, using a fake name and date of birth.
At first, the 18-year-old’s account was shown a mixture of material including comedy clips, dog videos and discussions about men’s mental health.
But after watching videos aimed at male users – including a clip from the Alpha Blokes podcast and a clip of a TikTokker discussing how men “don’t talk about their feelings” – the algorithm began suggesting more content that appeared to be tailored for men.
Without “liking” or searching for any content proactively, the suggestions included videos of Andrew Tate, including one from a copycat account using Tate’s name and picture captioned the “harsh reality of men”, which appeared to blame feminism for making men miserable, adding that the “majority of men have no money, no power, no sex from their wife”, and that their lives “suck”.
After watching two of his videos we were recommended more, including clips of him expressing misogynistic views. The next time the account was opened, the first four posts were by Tate, from four different accounts.
The algorithm also suggested videos from Dr Jordan Peterson, a Canadian psychologist known for his rightwing views; men’s coaching programmes and videos from men’s rights activists.
But the Tate content was by far the most widespread. When opening the app again a week later, the account was again flooded with Tate content, with eight out of the first 20 videos being of Tate.
The clips included a video where he says most men’s lives suck because they have “no power” and “no sex from their wife”, and another where he describes his girlfriend as “very well trained”.
In another, he says people seeking mental health support are “useless”. He says: “If you’re the kind of person who feels like you need therapy, you need someone to talk to, do you know what you are? You’re useless. Because in the harshest realities of this cold world there are people in Syria whose entire families have been blown to fuck with a bomb from the sky.”
Another video recommended by the algorithm derided people for wearing masks during the pandemic, saying they were either “idiots or cowards”, while claiming that by choosing not to wear one, he showed “bravery and balls”.
Experts have raised concerns about the spread of content featuring Tate on the platform, where videos of him have been watched 11.6 billion times.
Callum Hood, head of research at the Center for Countering Digital Hate, said: “The dangerous thing is that it is very eye-catching content, and the TikTok algorithm in particular is so aggressive that you only need to pause for a few moments before it will begin to recommend similar content to you again and again.”
TikTok said: “Misogyny and other hateful ideologies and behaviours are not tolerated on TikTok, and we are working to review this content and take action against violations of our guidelines. We continually look to strengthen our policies and enforcement strategies, including adding more safeguards to our recommendation system.”
In the past 10 years alone, 42,000 hours of PE lessons have been lost in UK secondary schools – and girls are the worst hit
Twelve years of Tory government have had a disastrous impact on girls’ sport in schools, experts have said, warning that last weekend’s women’s Euro victory will be squandered unless drastic action is taken.
In the past 10 years, 42,000 hours of PE lessons have been lost in secondaries – with girls the most affected – and the situation is getting worse, according to the Youth Sport Trust.
Continue reading...Hourly bus serves local villages and brings staff – and sometimes customers – to Michelin-starred restaurant
With rural buses in long-term decline and a funding crisis putting more routes in peril, a surprising service has appeared on the English transport menu: the No 46 bus to Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons.
Raymond Blanc’s celebrated restaurant and hotel in the heart of the Oxfordshire countryside may not appear classic bus territory. The Michelin-starred establishment’s seven-course dinner with matching wines starts at £350 a head, rising to just over £1,000 if you want to drink the good stuff.
Continue reading...As presidential elections approach, engagement appears low among under-35s – but some see staying away from the polls as a form of protest
A growing number of 18- to 35-year-olds say they are not planning to vote in Kenya’s presidential elections next week.
About 40% of the 22 million people registered to vote in Tuesday’s elections are aged 18 to 35. Under-35s make up 75% of the country’s population.
Continue reading...Lawyers had requested that 12-year-old be moved from Royal London hospital to spend his last moments in private
A ruling on whether 12-year-old Archie Battersbee can be moved from hospital to a hospice to die is expected at the high court on Friday morning.
Lawyers for the boy’s family took part in an hours-long legal hearing on Thursday, with the court in London sitting until late in the evening.
Continue reading...Octogenarian and child of five among adopted children or parents applying for unrestricted access to early years data
An 81-year-old, adopted as a child, and a 74-year-old mother who gave up her baby for adoption, are among 900 people who have registered to trace their parents or children after landmark legislation was passed in Ireland.
The public response to the new laws, which came into force on 1 July, is opening decades-old wounds for children and parents who were separated at birth, some sent to the UK or the US, during the past 100 years.
Continue reading...Family submit application to Strasbourg-based court in attempt to postpone withdrawal of life support
The parents of Archie Battersbee have submitted an application to the European court of human rights (ECHR) in an attempt to postpone the withdrawal of his life support.
Lawyers acting for Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, had been given a deadline of 9am on Wednesday to submit the application.
Continue reading...Dozens of zama-zamas – illegal miners from other countries – now being held in crime crackdown following music video shoot attack
Dozens of men detained after the alleged gang-rape of eight women on a music video shoot in South Africa are expected back in court on Wednesday as police made more arrests of artisanal miners blamed by local people for widespread violence.
The arrests on Tuesday near Krugersdorp, a city north-west of Johannesburg, bring the total number of people detained since the attack to more than 120.
Continue reading...Announcement made hours after attempt to postpone withdrawal of life support was rejected by UK supreme court ‘with a heavy heart’
The mother of 12-year-old Archie Battersbee has said his life support treatment will be removed at 11am on Wednesday, hours after a last-minute attempt to postpone the hospital taking action was rejected by the UK’s supreme court “with a heavy heart”.
On Monday, the court of appeal set a deadline of midday on Tuesday beyond which Archie’s treatment could be ceased.
Continue reading...Elected leader would take office in 2024 alongside return of powers from Westminster as part of levelling-up agenda
York and North Yorkshire are to elect a mayor and receive £540m of government investment over 30 years in a landmark devolution deal to be signed on Monday.
The agreement will create a new combined authority across the region led by a directly elected mayor, who will have the power to spend the money on local priorities such as transport, education and housing.
Continue reading...New report says policy changes are needed to protect ‘hidden workforce’ from exploitation
Live-in care workers recruited from overseas to care for disabled and elderly people in Britain are being exploited by “unscrupulous” agencies who dock their pay to cover “accommodation costs”, according to new research.
The workers, who live with clients to provide round-the-clock care, in some cases had their pay reduced by hundreds of pounds a month despite being paid only the minimum wage to begin with.
Continue reading...Observer victory after judge rules in transparency battle in family courts in England and Wales
A judge has ruled that a court-appointed expert can be named after their qualifications and conduct were challenged by a mother who claimed key evidence they provided led her children to be removed from her care against their wishes.
The case raises questions about the regulation and use of psychological experts appointed to the family courts, in particular when allegations of “parental alienation” are made – meaning a child has unjustly rejected one parent due to manipulation by the other. The Observer won an application to name the expert in the case after making a series of submissions to the family court.
Continue reading...Woman was reportedly handed information from the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children at London clinic
A pregnant woman who told her GP she was considering having an abortion says she was left “shocked and traumatised” after being given a leaflet for an anti-abortion group.
The woman, 38, says she was seeking treatment for a bladder problem on 19 July when a doctor at All Saints Medical Centre in Plumstead, south-east London, asked whether she was pregnant.
Continue reading...Employment conditions can tie staff to roles for up to five years and impose fees of £14,000 for an early return home
• Trapped and destitute: how foreign nurses’ dreams turned sour
The NHS must halt the use of “repayment clauses” in contracts for international healthcare workers, MPs have said.
Members of the Commons health and social care committee came to this finding after an Observer investigation in March revealed how some workers were being forced to pay thousands of pounds if they wish to quit their jobs before their agreed contract ends. Widely used in both the private health and social care sector and in the NHS, the clauses are designed to help with retention of workers and recouping costs associated with overseas recruitment.
Continue reading...Call for ‘once in a generation’ package for NHS so young people can receive treatment within four weeks
Children needing mental health services should be guaranteed treatment within four weeks, with next-day referrals for those at risk of self-harm and suicide, according to an inquiry into the explosion in demand from young people for psychiatric help.
The inquiry by the Commission on Young Lives, chaired by the former children’s commissioner for England Anne Longfield, said a “once in a generation” £1bn recovery package was needed to boost an overstretched NHS system too often forced to turn away unwell youngsters.
Continue reading...Dawoodi Bohra leader Mufaddal Saifuddin, who is in the UK to preach, is an advocate of the abusive practice whose visa should be revoked, say activists
Campaigners have criticised the UK government for granting a visa to a religious leader who has advocated for female genital mutilation (FGM).
Mufaddal Saifuddin who is the syedna, or leader, of the Dawoodi Bohra community, a sect of Shia Islam with 1.2 million followers worldwide, will give sermons in front of tens of thousands of people at Northolt mosque in London between 29 July and 7 August.
Continue reading...Analysis: as NHS shuts London clinic for young people, new regional hubs are planned – but thousands remain on waiting lists
When the Gender Identity Development Service for Children and Adolescents (GIDS) at the Tavistock and Portman NHS trust in London was established in 1983, it was a different era in terms of the medical understanding of gender dysphoria and the cultural debate around appropriate treatments for transgender young people.
The demand for the service was unrecognisable for what it is today: in the past decade alone, the number of referrals to the GIDS went from 138 in 2010-11 to 2,383 in 2020-21.
Continue reading...