Category Archives: North of England

Labour council accuses minister of ‘moral bankruptcy’ over social care dispute

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Hartlepool leaders ‘furious and appalled’ after meeting with Steve Reed about growing cost of social care

The housing, communities and local government secretary has been accused by a Labour council of showing “arrogance, indifference and moral bankruptcy” towards children in social care.

In an unusually forthright attack, Labour leaders of Hartlepool council said they were “furious and appalled” at Steve Reed after a meeting with him last week. A cross-party delegation had asked the secretary of state for £3m to help alleviate the growing cost of social care.

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Green party wins Gorton and Denton byelection, pushing Labour to third place in blow to Keir Starmer

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Hannah Spencer elected as party’s first MP in northern England, as Labour sees a 25.3% drop in vote compared to 2024

The Green party has pulled off a landmark victory in the Gorton and Denton byelection in a significant blow to Keir Starmer.

Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and Green party councillor, was elected as the party’s first MP in northern England after overturning Labour’s 13,000-vote majority.

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Green party wins Gorton and Denton byelection, pushing Labour to third place in blow to Keir Starmer

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Hannah Spencer elected as party’s first MP in northern England, as Labour sees a 25.3% drop in vote compared to 2024

The Green party has pulled off a landmark victory in the Gorton and Denton byelection in a significant blow to Keir Starmer.

Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and Green party councillor, was elected as the party’s first MP in northern England after overturning Labour’s 13,000-vote majority.

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UK weather: ‘blizzard conditions’ likely in north-east England

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Snow hits UK coasts with Met Office warning worst-affected regions could face travel disruption and power cuts

Blizzard conditions are possible in parts of north-east England where an amber warning for snow has come into force, the Met Office has said.

Sleet and snow showers continued to hit UK coasts overnight into Thursday, with the worst-affected areas facing disruption to travel and potential power cuts, the forecaster said.

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Starmer gives keynote speech at Labour party conference, introduced by Hillsborough campaigner Margaret Aspinall – UK politics live

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Prime minister will focus on economic growth as an ‘antidote to division’ in address that will seek to strike a more combative, hopeful tone

Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has said that Tony Blair could play a positive role in Gaza helping to lead the administration there proposed under Donald Trump’s peace plan.

In an interview on LBC, Streeting said that Blair’s decision to involve the UK in the Iraq war was “a catastrophic error” that had “devasting consequences”. He said that he personally opposed it at the time.

I also think about Tony Blair’s other legacy, great legacy, which is Northern Ireland, and there he showed that he could bring together sworn enemies to broker a lasting peace.

So if Tony Blair can put those skills to use, if he’s got the confidence of both the Israelis, the Palestinians, and the regional players, as seems to be the case, then great. If he can make that contribution, and that can be another legacy, a positive legacy under his belt, then so much the better.

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Blackpool hospital neglect contributed to suicide of man who waited 22 hours for help, coroner rules

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Jamie Pearson killed himself in toilet at Blackpool Victoria hospital after being admitted over painkiller overdose

The death of a 27-year-old man who killed himself in a hospital toilet after waiting 22 hours to be seen by the mental health team was “contributed to by neglect”, a coroner has ruled.

Jamie Pearson was admitted to Blackpool Victoria hospital’s A&E department after taking an overdose of high-strength painkillers on 17 August 2024.

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Loan ‘irregularities’ led to collapse of Prax Lindsey oil refinery

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Administrator was appointed after parent company State Oil was given new information about £783m loan

The Prax Lindsey oil refinery collapsed after “material irregularities” were discovered in a complex £783m loan facility that funded the wider group, it has emerged.

The refinery on the Humber estuary in northern England – one of just five left in the UK, – was suddenly plunged into administration in late June, prompting calls from furious government ministers for an investigation into Winston Soosaipillai, Prax Group’s oil tycoon owner.

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Emergency care at Lucy Letby hospital falls short of legal standards, CQC finds

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Countess of Chester receives urgent warning notice over ‘visibly dirty equipment’ and routine corridor care

Emergency care at the hospital where Lucy Letby worked is falling far short of legal standards, the healthcare watchdog has found, with routine corridor care and “critical gaps” in sepsis treatment.

The Countess of Chester hospital, in north-west England, was issued with an urgent warning notice after inspectors found “repeated breaches” of regulations in its emergency care unit.

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‘Cat-sized’ rat found in Teesside town puts focus on pest control cuts

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Rodent said to be 22in (56cm) long from nose to tail found in Normanby, where rat problem is said to be worsening

Cuts to council pest control services are being blamed for a town’s rodent problem, which includes the discovery of a supersize rat said to be 22in (56cm) from nose to tail.

The giant rat, about the length of the carry-on luggage people might be wheeling on to a flight – or, if not on holiday, a desktop monitor – was found inside a person’s home in Normanby, Teesside.

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Storm Floris to hit UK on Monday with unseasonably strong winds forecast

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Yellow weather warning for wind in Scotland, Northern Ireland, north Wales and north of England from 6am

Storm Floris is forecast to bring unseasonably strong winds to the UK on Monday, the Met Office has said.

The strongest winds are expected during the afternoon and night across Scotland, with gusts of up to 85mph possible on exposed coasts and hills.

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British teenager Bella Culley to be held in Georgia until September drugs trial

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Tbilisi judge rejects lawyer’s offer of plea agreement for release of pregnant Teesside teenager, now 19, at hearing

The British teenager Bella Culley is to be held in a Georgian prison for at least five more weeks as she awaits trial on drug-smuggling charges, a court in Tbilisi has ordered.

Culley, the great-granddaughter of a former Labour MP, was arrested on arrival at the city’s airport in May. Georgian prosecutors said she was carrying a large amount of illegal drugs in luggage she brought with her from Thailand.

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Neolithic long cairn in Yorkshire given extra protection after walkers remove stones

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Dudderhouse Hill in dales is thought to be one of first structures in UK to be communally constructed by humans

A rare and remarkable 5,000-year-old monument that is an example of one of the earliest visible structures in England is to receive extra protection because walkers, sometimes innocently, have been removing and moving stones.

The Dudderhouse Hill long cairn in the Yorkshire Dales has been granted “scheduled monument” status by the government, making it a site of national importance with greater legal protection.

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Drought declared in north-west England amid declining reservoir levels

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Hosepipe ban could follow, says Environment Agency, after England had driest February-April period on record

A drought has been declared in north-west England as reservoir levels dwindle.

Hosepipe bans could follow, the Environment Agency said, though this is a matter for water companies, which have been directed to follow their drought plans.

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Number of vape shops in England rises by almost 1,200% in a decade

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Research also shows deprived areas have up to 25 times as many bookmakers and pawnbrokers as affluent high streets

The number of vape shops on high streets across England has increased by almost 1,200% over the past decade, while deprived areas have up to 25 times as many bookmakers and pawnbrokers as affluent ones, according to research.

In 2014, only 33.8% of 317 local authorities in England had a vape shop, rising to 97.2% in 2024. Similarly, in 2014 less than 1% of local authorities in England had 10 or more vape shops, rising to 28% in 2024.

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No 10 actively investigating winter fuel payment changes as fears grow over voter anger

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Keir Starmer did not deny a rethink of benefit cut to 10 million pensioners blamed for Labour’s electoral losses

Downing Street is actively investigating changes to the controversial winter fuel payment cut over growing concerns about the policy’s deep unpopularity among voters.

No 10 has stepped up its work on reviewing the policy by carrying out internal polling and focus groups on how voters would respond to potential modifications to it.

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

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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.

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Eyesight rules for UK motorists ‘ineffective and unsafe’, inquest finds

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Coroner calls for action to avoid future deaths after four killed by drivers with failing eyesight in northern England

An inquest into the deaths of four people killed by drivers with failing eyesight in northern England has found enforcement of visual legal standards for motorists is “ineffective and unsafe”.

The HM senior coroner for Lancashire, Dr James Adeley, has sent a report to the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, calling for action to be taken to prevent future deaths.

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Attack on officers raises questions about separation centres at jails in England

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The country’s three special units at high-security prisons are in spotlight after Hashem Abedi’s assault against staff

With its high, ugly, grey concrete perimeter walls HMP Frankland looks as grim from the outside as you would expect for a place nicknamed “Monster Mansion”.

Since it was opened in 1983 on the leafy outskirts of Durham – near a 13th-century priory used for centuries as a holiday retreat for Benedictine monks – its inmates have included Peter Sutcliffe, Harold Shipman and Charles Bronson.

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British Steel to deploy emergency measures to save Scunthorpe furnaces

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Firm in race against time to get key materials as business secretary says no guarantee it will get what it needs

British Steel is to deploy emergency measures in a race against time to save the blast furnaces at Scunthorpe, as the business secretary refused to guarantee the plant could get what it needed in time.

The company is understood to be looking at offers of help from more than a dozen businesses to obtain materials such as iron ore and coking coal, potentially allowing it to avoid the temporary shutdown of one of the two furnaces.

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Oil tanker involved in North Sea collision to be towed to Port of Tyne

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About 200,00 barrels of jet fuel to be transferred before Stena Immaculate is taken to north-east coast for inspection

A US oil tanker that was hit by a container ship in the North Sea is to be towed to the north-east of England after more than 200,000 barrels of jet fuel are removed over the weekend, a maritime company has said.

The Solong collided with the anchored tanker Stena Immaculate about 12 miles off the coast of East Yorkshire on 10 March, leaving one man missing, presumed dead. Crowley, which manages the Stena Immaculate, said salvage and recovery operations are moving into the next phase.

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