Category Archives: Society

Shabana Mahmood warned of risk to pregnant women in halting Sentencing Council guidelines

Posted on by

Exclusive: Stopping pre-sentencing reports could put more pregnant people behind bars, groups tell justice minister

Shabana Mahmood risks putting more pregnant women behind bars through her bill to prevent new guidelines which highlighted the need for pre-sentencing reports based on “different personal characteristics” including age, sex and ethnicity, charities have warned.

The justice secretary introduced the bill as emergency legislation after the Sentencing Council’s guidelines provoked claims of a “two-tier” justice system, with Mahmood saying she “would not stand for differential treatment before the law like this”. The council suspended the guidance hours before it was due to take effect in response to the backlash.

Continue reading...

Black ex-prison officer says he has flashbacks after extreme racist abuse at Kent jail

Posted on by

Exclusive: Uzo Mbonu describes being targeted and ‘completely isolated’ by colleagues at HMP Swaleside

A black former prison officer has said he suffers flashbacks and nightmares after colleagues in a high-security jail subjected him to extreme racist abuse and managers failed to support him.

Nigerian-born Uzo Mbonu said he felt he was picked on and ostracised by other officers at HMP Swaleside in Kent because he did not have a British accent, did not understand the jokes his colleagues made, and challenged things he felt were going wrong.

Continue reading...

‘Tories are not listening’: Ed Davey sure Lib Dems can woo more disgruntled voters

Posted on by

Leader hopes local elections in many traditionally Conservative areas will help party build on recent success

Days before the local elections, with Kemi Badenoch demanding apologies over gender identity and Nigel Farage complaining about mental illness diagnoses, Ed Davey was quietly getting on with what he perhaps does best: having fun.

In a converted shed near Stratford-upon-Avon, the Liberal Democrat leader was joking with photographers as he made chocolate truffles alongside Manuela Perteghella, his party’s MP for the formerly true-blue constituency.

Continue reading...

David Tennant wishes JK Rowling no ‘ill will’ but says trans people ‘demonised’

Posted on by

Actor who appeared in film of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire hopes ‘we can all as a society just let people be’

David Tennant has criticised the “demonisation” of the trans community, saying that while he wishes JK Rowling “no ill will”, he hopes that “we can all as a society just let people be”.

The Scottish actor, who appeared in the 2005 film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, likened the treatment of transgender people to the Thatcher government’s introduction of section 28 – a 1988 law that prohibited local authorities from “promoting” homosexuality.

Continue reading...

London councils yet to spend £130m in local climate funds

Posted on by

Exclusive: Local authorities have spent less than £40m out of £170m collected since offsetting scheme began in 2016

London councils are sitting on more than £130m that should be funding local climate action, the Guardian can reveal.

More than £170m has been collected through the mayor of London’s carbon offset fund, which developers are required to pay into to mitigate emissions from new projects, since it was introduced in 2016. However, the capital’s 33 local authorities have spent less than £40m between them. Some have said they do not have the resources, expertise or time to decide how to spend it.

Continue reading...

Man jailed for life for murdering his estranged wife in Plymouth

Posted on by

Paul Butler stabbed Claire Chick 23 times after she repeatedly reported to police he was stalking and harassing her

A man has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 27 years for stabbing his estranged wife to death in Devon after she had made repeated allegations to police that he had been stalking and harassing her.

Paul Butler, 53, stabbed Claire Chick 23 times outside her apartment block in Plymouth on 23 January.

Continue reading...

Scope plans major job cuts, hitting disabled employees hardest

Posted on by

Charity set to reduce its workforce by more than a fifth this year amid mounting financial pressures

Scope expects to cut more than a fifth of its staff this year amid mounting financial pressures, with about a third of those affected to be disabled employees.

The disability charity announced a consultation last week over plans to place 124 of its 326 corporate roles at risk of redundancy, a move likely to result in about 70 job losses in the summer.

Continue reading...

Wales and north of England face disability cuts ‘double whammy’

Posted on by

Policy in Practice analysis shows twice as many people affected in north-east, north-west and Wales than in London and south-east

A £5bn programme of disability benefits cuts planned by the UK government will disproportionately hit people living in Wales and northern England “entrenching deprivation”, according to new analysis.

The consultancy Policy in Practice has looked at how the proposed changes would affect individual regions and local authorities, and found the impact across the UK starkly uneven.

Continue reading...

AI images of child sexual abuse getting ‘significantly more realistic’, says watchdog

Posted on by

Internet Watch Foundation report shows 380% increase in illegal AI-generated imagery in 2024, most of it ‘category A’

Images of child sexual abuse created by artificial intelligence are becoming “significantly more realistic”, according to an online safety watchdog.

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said advances in AI are being reflected in illegal content created and consumed by paedophiles, saying: “In 2024, the quality of AI-generated videos improved exponentially, and all types of AI imagery assessed appeared significantly more realistic as the technology developed.”

Continue reading...

UK ministers face questions over supreme court gender ruling repercussions

Posted on by

Labour backbenchers demand clarity on practical impact of transgender people’s use of toilets and hospital wards

Ministers have come under pressure to provide answers on how last week’s supreme court ruling on gender identity will affect the daily lives of transgender people, amid confusion over issues such as toilet provision and hospital wards.

Keir Starmer said he welcomed what he called “real clarity” and “a welcome step forward” in his first response to the court decision, which ruled that “woman” in the Equality Act refers only to a biological woman.

Continue reading...

Top cancer experts ‘being put off UK by politicians’ messaging on immigration’

Posted on by

Exclusive: Leaked report says high visa costs also derailing clinical trials and research, denying NHS life-saving drugs

The world’s best cancer doctors, scientists and researchers are being put off moving to or staying in the UK by politicians’ rhetoric on immigration, a leaked report reveals.

Recruiting and retaining “global talent” to treat NHS patients and find new ways to cure cancer is vital, amid an acute British workforce crisis and rising numbers being diagnosed with the disease.

Continue reading...

UK prison officers to demand electric stun guns for dangerous jails

Posted on by

Meeting called with justice secretary after attack on three guards at HMP Frankland

Prison officers will demand the immediate issue of electric stun guns to protect staff guarding Britain’s most dangerous jails when they meet the justice secretary this week.

Wednesday’s meeting with Shabana Mahmood was called after the attack on three guards at HMP Frankland, allegedly by the convicted terrorist Hashem Abedi. Two were seriously injured after being doused in hot cooking fat and stabbed, one five times in the torso, in a sustained assault.

Continue reading...

‘One hell of a turnout’: trans activists rally in London against gender ruling

Posted on by

Thousands gather in Parliament Square in a show of unity after supreme court judgment

After last week’s supreme court decision, activists had been worried that trans people might become fearful of going out in public in case they were abused.

They weren’t afraid in London on Saturday. Thousands of trans and non-binary people thronged Parliament Square, alongside families and supporters waving baby blue, white and pink flags to demonstrate their anger at the judges’ ruling.

Continue reading...

Green party candidate tries to evict Labour opponent from property

Posted on by

Labour says move is hypocrisy since Greens support ban on no-fault evictions such as one served on Labour candidate and her family

A Green party council candidate is attempting to evict his Labour opponent from a house he owns using a no-fault notice, despite his party supporting a ban on exactly such kinds of eviction.

William Pedley, who is standing for the Greens in the Victoria ward of North Northamptonshire council, has served a section 21 notice on his tenant and political rival Kelly Duddridge, who has lived in the property for 10 years.

Continue reading...

Robbie Williams says he feels ‘panic’ when fans approach in public

Posted on by

Pop star posts on Instagram about his fright and ‘discomfort’ when asked for photos and autographs

Robbie Williams has spoken of the “discomfort” and “panic” he feels when he is approached for photos and autographs by fans.

In a post on Instagram, the pop star said he was able to “mask” the reality that social interactions frighten him.

Continue reading...

Rural communities could be destroyed if UK signs US trade deal, says former food tsar

Posted on by

Exclusive: Henry Dimbleby joins farmers in voicing fears of lower standards and a poor deal for British food producers

Britain’s rural communities could be “destroyed”, the former government food tsar has said, if ministers sign a US trade deal that undercuts British farming standards.

Ministers are working on a new trade deal with the US, after previous post-Brexit attempts stalled. Unpopular agreements signed at the time with Australia and New Zealand featured tariff-free access to beef and lamb and were accused of undercutting UK farmers, who are governed by higher welfare standards than their counterparts. Australia, in a trade deal signed by Liz Truss in late 2021 that came into effect in 2023, was given bespoke sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards aimed to not be more “trade-restrictive than necessary to protect human life and health”.

Continue reading...

New daily weight-loss pill shows success at clinical trial

Posted on by

Orforglipron also reduced blood sugar levels in participants with type 2 diabetes

A significant trial of a daily weight-loss pill has found that it helped people to shed the pounds and reduce their blood sugar levels, making it a contender to join the new wave of drugs that combat obesity and diabetes.

People who took a 36mg pill of orforglipron lost an average of 7.3kg (16lbs) over nine months, according to results from a phase 3 clinical trial reported by the drug’s manufacturer, Eli Lilly, on Thursday.

Continue reading...

GPs in England will be able to claim £20 for every time patient is not sent to hospital

Posted on by

Surgeries will be able to claim money if doctors refer patients to an out-of-hospital setting in bid to cut waiting lists

GPs in England will be paid £20 each time they decide not to send a patient to hospital under a government scheme to help reduce the NHS waiting list.

Family doctors will be able to claim the money if they instead refer patients for tests and treatment in an out-of-hospital setting, such as a health clinic, or to see a community-based specialist.

Continue reading...

UK supreme court ruling on legal definition of woman ‘brings clarity and confidence’, says government – live

Posted on by

Judges say definition of women and sex in Equality Act 2010 act refers to biological women and biological sex

The definition of a woman and sex in the Equality Act relates to “a biological woman and biological sex”, the supreme court has ruled as it unanimously allowed an appeal from gender critical campaign group For Women Scotland.

A possible outcome of the case is that the court will agree with the previous interpretation of the law as it stands, but suggest parliament considers amending the Equality Act to deal with these previously unforeseen consequences.

Continue reading...

Gender critical campaigners win at UK supreme court over definition of woman

Posted on by

Judges rule that Equality Act definition excludes transgender women holding gender recognition certificates

Gender critical rights campaigners have won their supreme court challenge over the definition of a woman.

Five judges from the UK supreme court ruled unanimously that the legal definition of a woman in the Equality Act 2010 did not include transgender women who hold gender recognition certificates (GRCs).

Continue reading...