Category Archives: North of England

Labour urged again to vow to scrap Tories’ two-child benefit limit

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Exclusive: Data shows policy, deepening poverty among low-income families, affects about 1.5 million children

Labour has come under fresh pressure to vow to scrap the two-child benefit cap after it emerged one in four children in some of England and Wales's poorest parliamentary constituencies live in families left at least £3,000 a year out of pocket as a result of the policy.

The party’s stance on the policy, which critics say has been a major driver of deepening poverty among low-income families, is estimated to affect about 1.5 million children and is seen by some in Labour as an indicator of the strength of its determination to tackle child poverty.

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Revealed: children’s care homes flood into cheapest areas of England, not where most needed

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Shocking figures gathered by the Observer show social care provision is dictated by money, not need

New children’s care homes are being disproportionately placed in cheaper and more deprived parts of England, according to an Observer investigation. .

Over the past five years the number of children’s care homes located in areas with the cheapest house sale prices has risen almost three times faster than in the most expensive places. Among the regions with big increases in homes was the north-west, including in parts of Blackpool and Burnley and other northern cities such as Bradford. Children’s services directors warned that the trends were driven by the “blatant profiteering” of private care providers, targeting cheap housing and local labour.

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Mother of Cheshire boy, 7, kidnapped by father says Saudi lawyers ‘too scared’ to help

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Exclusive: Ranem Elkhalidi meeting Foreign Office officials this week as she continues fight to bring her son home

A woman whose seven-year-old son was kidnapped by his father and taken to Saudi Arabia has said lawyers in the country are too afraid to get involved with her case, as she prepares for a meeting with the Foreign Office this week.

Ranem Elkhalidi has vowed to keep fighting for the safe return of her Cheshire-born son Ibrahim, who was taken from his primary school six months ago by her estranged husband, Hamzah Faraj, a Saudi national, in breach of a court order.

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Girl, 15, dies after being pulled from sea at Cleethorpes beach

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Teenager was airlifted to hospital along with another child after going missing off Lincolnshire coast

A 15-year-old girl has died after being pulled from the sea at Cleethorpes beach, police said.

She was one of two teenagers airlifted to hospital just after 7.30pm on Saturday after a search by coastguards, the fire service and police for the missing pair.

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Thunderstorm warning for UK as weekend temperatures rise

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Chance of floods as yellow warning issued for parts of northern England and Scotland on Sunday

A yellow weather warning has been issued for thunderstorms for parts of northern England and Scotland on Sunday.

The Met Office said the storms could cause localised flooding and in some places hail up to 3cm in diameter along with strong, gusty winds.

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Michael Gove orders review into corruption allegations at Teesside freeport

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Investigation of Teesworks project to be led by independent panel of his choosing, not National Audit Office

Michael Gove has ordered an “independent review” into allegations of “corruption wrongdoing and illegality” surrounding a Teesside redevelopment project that is part of Rishi Sunak’s freeports plans.

But there was anger as Gove declined to act on calls for the National Audit Office (NAO) to lead the investigation, instead announcing it will undertaken by an independent panel that he will appoint, while the watchdog will have some limited role.

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‘No one listened’: mother of Cheshire boy kidnapped by father says she warned authorities

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Ibrahim Faraj, seven, was abducted and taken to Saudi Arabia in November

A woman whose seven-year-old son was kidnapped by his father and taken to Saudi Arabia has said she repeatedly warned authorities it would happen but “no one listened”.

Ranem Elkhalidi has not seen or spoken to Ibrahim Faraj since November, when he was abducted by his father, Hamzah Faraj, in breach of a court order.

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Man jailed for life for murdering schoolgirl Nikki Allan in 1992

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David Boyd must serve at least 29 years for killing seven-year-old he stabbed 37 times

A child killer who brutally murdered a “bright and sparky” seven-year-old girl and managed to escape justice for more than 30 years has been sentenced to life in prison.

A judge on Tuesday ruled that David Boyd must serve a minimum term of 29 years for the murder of Nikki Allan.

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Khayri Mclean’s mother calls for end to knife violence after boys sentenced to life

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Charlie Mclean says she has lost a child and parents of teenage murderers have lost two sons

A mother has called for an end to teenage knife violence after two boys who murdered her 15-year-old son on his way home from school were given life sentences.

Khayri Mclean was murdered as he walked with friends in Huddersfield at 2.50pm on 21 September last year. Cousins Jakele Pusey, 15, and Jovani Harriott, 17, had changed into black clothes and black balaclavas and were hiding, waiting to ambush him.

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State to take control of TransPennine Express after ongoing poor service

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Northern rail network to be run by state-owned operator of last resort when contract expires on 28 May

TransPennine Express (TPE) is to be run by the state after ministers announced that the failing rail company would not have its contract renewed.

The transport secretary, Mark Harper, said the northern rail network would be run by the state-owned operator of last resort after passengers experienced disruption, cancellations and a significant decline in the extent and reliability of the service.

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Boy who ‘hoped’ to stab someone guilty of murdering Tomasz Oleszak, 14

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Newcastle court convicts 15-year-old who armed himself before stabbing stranger

A 15-year-old boy who went out with a knife “hoping” to stab someone has been found guilty of murdering another schoolboy in Gateshead.

A jury at Newcastle crown court on Monday found the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, guilty of the murder of Tomasz Oleszak, 14.

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Christopher Eccleston: it would be impossible for me to become an actor today

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Theatres such as now-closed Oldham Coliseum vital for northern working-class people, says actor

Christopher Eccleston has said it would be impossible for him to become an actor in today’s world, in an impassioned interview after the closure of Oldham’s Coliseum theatre.

The British actor spoke about how the closure of the historic theatre would affect the acting community and people from working-class backgrounds.

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People in Cheshire village will not be forced to join hydrogen energy trial

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Backlash prompts companies to give residents option of keeping natural gas rather than joining pilot project

Energy firms will no longer force people in a village in Cheshire to stop heating and cooking with natural gas and swap to lower-carbon hydrogen after a local backlash to a planned government-backed pilot.

British Gas and Cadent had been prepared to cut off gas supplies to nearly 2,000 homes in the village of Whitby, just outside Ellesmere Port on the south bank of the Mersey, as part of their proposals to create the UK’s first hydrogen-fuelled village.

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Internal government briefing admits HS2 delays will increase costs

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DfT document appears to undermine ministers’ claims, saying jobs are likely to go and construction firms could be at risk

An internal Department for Transport briefing on the HS2 project has admitted delays to the high-speed railway will increase costs, appearing to undermine ministers’ claims.

The document seen by the Guardian says the decision to delay the project is also likely to cost jobs, put construction firms at risk of going into administration and that the department could face compensation claims.

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Eleanor Williams jailed for eight and a half years after rape and trafficking lies

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Twenty-two-year-old from Barrow posted photos on Facebook falsely claiming she had been abused

A woman has been jailed for eight and a half years after being found guilty of lying about being raped and trafficked by an Asian grooming gang, and making false rape claims against a series of other men.

Eleanor Williams, 22, from Barrow-in-Furness was convicted in January of nine counts of perverting the course of justice.

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UK weather: Tuesday night could be coldest of year so far, Met Office warns

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Temperatures could plummet to -15c in some sheltered Scottish areas with snow cutting off some rural areas

Tuesday night could be the coldest this year so far, the Met Office has warned, with fears that Arctic air could cut off some rural communities and cause power and transport chaos.

Temperatures could fall as low as -15c in some sheltered Scottish areas, with locations that have seen snowfall especially vulnerable.

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Labour wins West Lancashire byelection with 10% swing

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Ashley Dalton retains constituency for Labour after resignation of Rosie Cooper last autumn

Labour has retained the West Lancashire constituency in a byelection called after its MP, Rosie Cooper, resigned last autumn.

Ashley Dalton, a part-time charity worker, won with 14,068 votes. Her comfortable win, securing a 10.2% swing from the Tories, marks Labour’s third byelection victory since Rishi Sunak became prime minister.

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Fraudulent travel agent who pretended to have terminal cancer jailed

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Durham court heard Lyne Barlow’s £1.2m fraud also involved stealing financial identity of her mother

A rogue travel agent who defrauded 1,400 holidaymakers and pretended to have terminal cancer to deflect complaints has been jailed for nine years.

Durham crown court heard how the scale of Lyne Barlow’s fraud, which also involved stealing the financial identity of her mother and borrowing money from neighbours and friends that was not paid back, had been estimated at £1.2m.

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Nicola Bulley: partner of missing woman talks of search ‘brick wall’

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Paul Ansell says mystery impossible to comprehend as potential witness says she does not know anything

The partner of the missing woman Nicola Bulley has said every scenario has come to a “brick wall” as he pledged to “stay strong” for their daughters.

Speaking near the scene where she was last seen, Paul Ansell said the mystery of her disappearance was “absolutely impossible” to comprehend.

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Rishi Sunak has never paid a penalty to HMRC, No 10 says, amid growing pressure over Nadhim Zahawi – as it happened

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Rishi Sunak has welcomed Germany’s decision to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

There is more coverage of the German decision on our Ukraine live blog.

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