Home theatre apologises for upset caused by cancelling of Voices of Resilience
The organisers of a Palestinian literature event cancelled by a Manchester theatre last week, say they are “hugely grateful” the venue has agreed it can go ahead after a surge of support.
Home theatre apologised for the upset caused by cancelling Voices of Resilience, due to be held on 22 April, citing “recent publicity” and safety concerns for the organisers and those attending.
Continue reading...More than 300 artists and cultural workers write open letter to Home venue over cancellation of Voices of Resilience event
More than 300 cultural workers, theatre and film artists, including Maxine Peake and Asif Kapadia, have called for a Manchester arts venue to reinstate an event celebrating Palestinian voices.
Home Manchester last week cancelled the Voices of Resilience evening, scheduled for 22 April, citing “recent publicity” and safety concerns for audiences and artists.
Continue reading...Former Manchester United star says his near 30-year silence on subject has been his revenge on the press
It was one of the most baffling utterances ever made by a footballer.
When Eric Cantona said at a 1995 press conference: “When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea,” everyone was left scratching their heads.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Esther Ghey says she believes social media use left her daughter vulnerable, while killers were able to access violent content online
The mother of Brianna Ghey has called for her murder to be a “tipping point” in how society views “the mess” of the internet, warning that a generation of anxious young people will grow up lacking resilience.
Esther Ghey said technology companies had a “moral responsibility” to restrict access to harmful online content. She supports a total ban on social media access for under-16s – a move currently under debate in certain legislatures, including Florida in the US.
Continue reading...Notting Hill restaurant is sixth in the capital to get the ultimate accolade, while two Indian eateries get two stars for the first time
The London restaurant the Ledbury has been awarded three stars in the Michelin Guide for Great Britain and Ireland.
The Notting Hill restaurant is the sixth in the capital to hold the guide’s most prestigious accolade, while Gymkhana is one of the first two Indian restaurants in the UK to receive two stars, alongside Birmingham’s Opheem.
Continue reading...Owners of gite where formerly missing British boy spent time say he enjoyed sharing in their family life
The owners of a remote French gite where teenager Alex Batty stayed on and off for two years have said he was eager to go to school and “get back to a normal life”.
Ingrid Beauve and Fred Hambye said they treated Alex as part of their family and had no idea of his true identity until last week.
Continue reading...Ex-Manchester United player pleaded guilty to using disabled person’s parking permit he said he bought for £50 in Old Trafford
Ravel Morrison, the former Manchester United footballer, has been convicted of fraud after being caught using a deceased person’s blue badge to park.
During his interview under caution, the 30-year-old had claimed he had bought the badge from “someone in Old Trafford” for £50. Morrison, of Westbrook, Warrington, was subsequently charged with one count of fraud.
Continue reading...The resource, which is on the move to Manchester, now ranks as the world’s most important health database
The origins of the UK Biobank can be traced back to a pilot study in a building in Stockport bordered by the Cheadle Heath police station on one side and the local recreation ground on the other. It was the early 2000s and scientists had realised the potential for genomics and big data to transform health research.
With diabetes, cancer, dementia and other ailments on the rise, scientists pushed for a database devoted to genetics, health and lifestyle to help them tease apart who was most at risk and how diseases could be prevented.
Continue reading...Covid tier system introduced in October 2020 and imposed different restrictions on English regions in effort to contain spread of virus. This live blog is closed
At the Covid inquiry Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said that he was not getting information from the government in February about Covid. He said he was “disappointed” by that.
In late February and early March he was getting information from other cities around the world instead, he said. He said this happened even though his foreign affairs team consisted of just three people.
The government generally does give us information about a variety of things happening. I’m disappointed the government weren’t giving us information in February about what they knew then.
Continue reading...Prime minister says HS2 move will release £36bn, that he will raise smoking age by one year, every year and announces five-subject qualification
Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, has been giving interviews about HS2 this morning. He told BBC Breakfast that cancelling the link to Manchester would show that the north of England did not get the same priority as the south. He said:
It just proves there’s still so many people in politics, many of them in the Tory party, that think they can treat the north of England differently to the way they treat other parts of the country. It’s just so wrong.
I’ve been in politics 30 years, I’ve never seen a party come to a conference and leave an axe hanging over the place they’re in for the whole week. And then actually drop it on that place.
I’ve had so many contacts over the past few hours from people who are concerned as I am that we are using this culture war battleground to no good effect at all and we’re actually hurting people.
And we shouldn’t be doing that as Conservatives. That’s not the Conservative party I joined and I think we’re better than that.
Luckily that’s not going to happen … because I believe in the ultimate common sense of the party. Also, I very much hope that Suella Braverman learns about the power of her words and moderates her tone.
Continue reading...PM dresses up HS2 cancellation as fresh start as he attempts to portray himself as candidate for change
It was just over an hour long, and comprised more than 7,500 words, but what did Rishi Sunak’s conference speech actually contain? In some ways, quite a lot – but in others, remarkably little.
Continue reading...PM declines to reveal if Manchester to Birmingham line will be scrapped amid speculation over soaring costs
Rishi Sunak has insisted he is not going to be forced into a “premature decision” over the fate of the HS2 high-speed rail line as speculation about the multibillion pound project continued to overshadow the Conservative conference.
“I am not going to be forced into a premature decision because it is good for someone’s TV programme,” the prime minister told BBC Breakfast.
Continue reading...Furious city mayors make a plea for the project north of Birmingham amid ugly scenes at Tory conference
So what does cancelling HS2 north of Birmingham look like? There were ugly scenes at the Conservative conference hall even before the official death knell sounds: an uneasy HS2 minister batting off questions as above his pay grade, furious metro mayors declaring battle, railway leaders’ heads spinning at the logic.
In the real world, it’s even worse. From the massive crater and demolished homes, business and public spaces outside London Euston station to the hundreds of millions spent on compulsory purchases of houses on the original routes north from Birmingham, the consequences of a train line that may never exist are all too tangible. About 30,000 people are working on the scheme – and many of those believed they would have jobs for the long term.
Continue reading...The PM instead praised the UK’s ‘fantastic multicultural democracy’, saying the nation has done an ‘incredible job of integrating people’
The former SNP minister Fergus Ewing has claimed his party no longer stands up for Scotland as he was suspended for a week after a disciplinary vote by fellow MSPs.
The sanction, which was backed by 48 votes to nine with four abstentions, came about after Ewing voted against the SNP-Green government in a no-confidence motion against the Scottish Green minister Lorna Slater.
The SNP I joined would never have asked me, or indeed any other elected politician, to choose between loyalty to party and loyalty to constituents …
It was never an ordinary political party because it was one which put Scotland first.
Fergus is a long standing MSP, he has been a minister, he understands the procedures here and what the outcome is of voting in the way that he did.
No, you are and you’re her direct line boss. So why didn’t you deal with that situation, as her boss?
The way it works for MPs is slightly different, in the sense that they themselves are elected by their constituents and we have a separate process for them stopping the job that they’re in. It is not my ability to do that, actually. Ultimately people elect their MPs regardless of who the prime minister is.
Continue reading...Comments from Paul Johnson of Institute of Fiscal Studies come as Downing Street hints at delay to work on second phase of rail link
Around 20,000 university workers are out on strike this week at more than 50 universities across the UK, despite a dramatic last-minute scaling back of industrial action.
Strikes had been set to go ahead at 142 UK universities this week as part of a long-running dispute over pay and working conditions, but it emerged last week that two thirds of branches of the University and College Union (UCU) had declined to take part.
Davey said the Lib Dem commitment – dating back to 1992 – to raise income tax by 1p to improve public services is unsustainable in the current economic climate. Originally the money raised was earmarked for education, but at the last election the party said it would use it to fund the NHS.
Speaking from Bournemouth to broadcast studios, Davey suggested the burden should instead fall on companies making “huge profits” while people struggle with the cost of living.
Continue reading...First buses to return to public control since deregulation to offer cheaper fares across integrated transport system
The first buses to be brought back into public control in England since deregulation in the 1980s will set out from depots in Bolton and Wigan on Sunday morning.
Greater Manchester will launch its Bee Network, which promises better, cheaper transport with fares capped across an integrated public transport system that combines buses and Metrolink trams.
Continue reading...Details of thousands of officers may have been taken in ransomware attack on third-party supplier
The personal details of tens of thousands of public sector workers could have been breached in a cyber-attack that has hit two of Britain’s biggest police forces, an expert has said.
More than 12,500 Greater Manchester police (GMP) officers and staff were put on alert on Thursday that their private data had been compromised in a hack that also hit the Metropolitan police last month.
Continue reading...Thousands of images from second world war include bomb damage to Old Trafford and troops at leisure
Black-and-white aerial photographs offering a bird’s eye view of England as it changed during the second world war are being made available to the public for the first time.
The 3,600 images include pictures of bomb damage to Old Trafford in Greater Manchester, as well as other towns and cities. They also show ancient monuments surrounded by anti-tank defences in West Sussex, and troops at play at a US army camp in Wiltshire.
Continue reading...Shopkeepers complain the number of thefts from stores is soaring. Is the cost of living crisis to blame or organised gangs?
It could be laundry tablets, lipstick or even baby milk. According to shopkeepers in the UK the number of thefts is rising. The British Retail Consortium said there were 8m instances of theft from shops last year, which cost businesses nearly £1bn. The Office for National Statistics reports a 22% rise.
For shop assistants and managers it is a daily struggle, which can be costly and infuriating – but what’s behind it? The Guardian’s North of England editor, Helen Pidd, spoke to shopkeepers on one Manchester street to see how they were coping, and spent the day in a magistrates court to find out what happens when a shoplifter is caught. She explains how organised crime may be a factor behind the rise.
Continue reading...Mark Thurston to leave government-owned company as construction moves ‘into an exciting new stage’
The chief executive of the HS2 railway has resigned amid severe delays and soaring costs that have seen the project scaled back.
Mark Thurston announced on Wednesday he would be departing the government-owned company at the end of September after six and a half years at the helm – making him the firm’s longest serving chief executive.
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