PM backs down over march on Armistice Day after meeting Met chief, with senior party figures critical of his handling of the issue
Rishi Sunak has been accused of “silly puffed-up posturing” by senior Tories after being forced to concede at the 11th hour that a pro-Palestine march planned for Armistice Day will go ahead.
For days minsters have insisted that the march through central London should not proceed out of respect for commemorations being held on 11 November.
Continue reading...Letters from loved ones of captured ship’s crew during seven years’ war lay forgotten for centuries
A forgotten bundle of love letters sent to French sailors more than 260 years ago – but never before opened or read – has been discovered among British naval archives, revealing intimate details of 18th-century marital and family life.
The remarkable stash of more than 100 letters was discovered by chance at the National Archives in Kew by Renaud Morieux, professor of European history at the University of Cambridge, who asked archivists if they could be opened so he could read them for the first time.
Continue reading...Harassment and bullying flourished within the elite display team, enabled by a sense that the rules don’t apply
It was intended to be a hard-hitting review into allegations of sexism, harassment and bullying in the elite Red Arrows display team. The inquiry was concerned that the squadron was “not a safe environment” for women and said it was “highly likely” women would be subject to unlawful harassment.
The report makes a generalised list, ranging from “unwanted physical contact” to unwanted texts of a sexual nature; unsought invitations to engage in sexual activity to a broader attitude of “male sexual entitlement”. But what comes shortly after is a classic case of overzealous Ministry of Defence secrecy.
Continue reading...Remembrance poppy created from renewable sources introduced as 2023 appeal launched
More than a century after its introduction, the Royal British Legion poppy has had a plastic-free makeover in its first major redesign in a generation.
With the launch of the 2023 poppy appeal on Thursday details of the symbol of remembrance are unveiled, revealing a paper poppy created from renewable sources including half from offcuts from the production of takeaway coffee cups.
Continue reading...Memo by military police chief said there was ‘no shortage of detractors’ in Whitehall of elite unit’s conduct
Senior figures in Downing Street were calling in 2016 for the SAS to have its “wings clipped” as it emerged that a growing number of suspected murders of Afghan civilians were being investigated by military police.
Critics of the elite unit’s behaviour were led by Jeremy Heywood, who at the time was cabinet secretary to the then prime minister, Theresa May, according to a memo cited last week during a public inquiry into allegations of unlawful SAS killings in Afghanistan.
Continue reading...British PM says aim is to support efforts to ensure regional stability and prevent further escalation
Britain will send surveillance aircraft, two Royal Navy support ships and about 100 Royal Marines to the eastern Mediterranean from Friday to support Israel and help prevent any sudden escalation of fighting in the Middle East.
Patrol flights of Poseidon P-8 aircraft and other planes will begin on Friday, Downing St announced, tasked partly with monitoring any efforts to transfer of weapons from countries such as Iran or Russia to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Continue reading...Two children were seriously injured in 2012 incident, inquiry into 80 deaths hears
The SAS shot dead two Afghan adults who were sleeping in an incident in August 2012 in which two children were seriously injured, a public inquiry has heard.
The barrister representing victims’ families in a public inquiry into the killing of 80 civilians by the SAS in Afghanistan said the incident amounted to war crimes committed by British soldiers.
Continue reading...Public inquiry into alleged actions of SAS units to begin amid victims’ families pleas for truth to be uncovered
A public inquiry into allegations that 80 Afghans were summarily killed by members of three different British SAS units begins on Monday amid pleas from victims’ families to uncover the truth behind the deaths.
Mansour Aziz, whose brother and sister-in-law were shot and killed while sleeping by British elite forces during a night raid on 6 August 2012, said he hoped the inquiry would establish why his home had been targeted.
Continue reading...Figures raise questions about safeguarding at college given ‘outstanding’ for welfare by Ofsted
Nine rapes at the Harrogate military college, which trains 16- and 17-year-olds for careers in the British army, were reported to civilian police over a 13-month period to the middle of August, figures show.
Disclosed under freedom of information legislation, the figures raise questions about safeguarding at Harrogate, and why its welfare arrangements are rated as “outstanding” by Ofsted.
In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support for rape and sexual abuse on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
Continue reading...Defence secretary says proposal being discussed would reduce reliance on UK and other Nato members’ bases
The new defence secretary, Grant Shapps, said he has held talks with army leaders about deploying British troops within Ukraine for the first time for a training programme.
Shapps, who met Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, for talks in Kyiv earlier this week, said the proposal being discussed would reduce the reliance on the UK and other Nato members’ bases.
Continue reading...Archaeologists to survey waters off coast of northern France using latest technology to scour seabed
Churchill called the mass evacuation of allied forces from the beach and pier at Dunkirk a “miracle of deliverance”, but the operation to rescue more than 330,000 troops trapped by German forces in May 1940 came at a heavy cost.
Of the up to 1,000 vessels, from military warships to fishing boats, lifeboats and pleasure craft, that scrambled to help the stranded men, hundreds were sunk during the nine-day Operation Dynamo with the loss of many lives.
Continue reading...Tank could be one of 14 UK gave to Ukraine that Kyiv was keeping in reserve for frontline breakthrough
A battlefield video circulating on social media overnight showed the destruction of a British Challenger 2 from a mine and Russian drone in Ukraine, which would be the first time one of the tanks has been destroyed in combat.
At the beginning of the clip, filmed from a car involved in the fighting, the Challenger 2 with its distinctive gun barrel is seen shrouded in thick, grey smoke after the battlefield incident.
Continue reading...Ben Wallace’s successor faces major issues on several fronts including Ukraine and a British military seeking more investment
Grant Shapps’ appointment comes at a time of the largest war in Europe since 1945, with Britain a key strategic partner for Ukraine as it seeks to kick out the Russian invaders. A central part of the job is public and private diplomacy, with the UK particularly keen to maintain its position as a bridge between Kyiv, always seeking new weapons, and an often cautious White House, already increasingly mindful of the looming 2024 election battle, most likely with Donald Trump.
Once Boris Johnson had been ousted from Downing Street, Kyiv looked to Wallace as an increasingly important figure, with the former defence secretary central in efforts to find a pathway for Ukraine to eventually join Nato and in ensuring long-term military support continues. Shapps will want to keep the long-term door to Nato membership open, but he may have give Kyiv candid advice and help it temper its not always realistic lobbying.
Continue reading...Investigators believe player died in an accidental fall in Brittany, which is hosting World Defence Rugby competition
A British armed forces rugby player has been found dead in France, where the World Defence Rugby competition is being held.
Investigators believe the player may have died in an accidental fall in northern Brittany, a prosecutor said.
Continue reading...Nairobi MPs say findings could have implications for the defence deal that allows UK troops to train in the country
The Kenyan government has launched an inquiry into allegations of abuse by the British army, which MPs say could have implications for the future role of UK troops in the country.
The investigation will examine the activities of the British Army Training Unit Kenya (Batuk), whose soldiers have been accused of murder, sexual abuse, and damaging land close to its base in Nanyuki, about 125 miles (200km) north of the capital, Nairobi.
Continue reading...UK-backed move could help spread cost of developing fighter jet and drones, but may prove controversial
Saudi Arabia has asked the UK, Japan and Italy to be made a full partner in their joint effort to build the next generation of fighter jets, in a move backed by the British government.
Companies from the UK, Japan and Italy are working together to build a new fighter jet and other systems such as drones under the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), also known as Tempest. The programme aims to deliver the first planes by 2035, a tight turnaround.
Continue reading...Chris Lewis began his walk while facing homelessness in 2017 and acquired a fiancee, baby son and dog en route
A former British paratrooper, who set out alone on a 19,000-mile UK coastline walk has completed the challenge, raising £500,000 for charity and returning home with a partner, dog and baby son in tow.
Chris Lewis, 43, was joined by hundreds of cheering supporters as he completed the final mile of his walk, which began on Llangennith beach on the Gower peninsula, near his home city of Swansea, south Wales, on 1 August 2017.
Continue reading...A bureaucratic, peacetime approach to training and stockpiling among Zelenskiy’s allies is posing a threat to European security
For two months Ukrainian forces have been endeavouring to fight their way through densely fortified Russian positions to breach the so-called Surovikin line in an attempt to liberate their territory. Fighting has been exceedingly hard, with heavy losses of equipment and personnel on both sides. Irrespective of how much progress is made over the coming months, Ukraine’s international partners need to focus their assistance on preparing Ukrainian armed forces for the next fight.
It is important to understand the challenge the Ukrainians are trying to overcome. Russian troops are fighting from successive layers of concrete-hardened positions, each behind 120-500 metres of complex minefields. They are backed up by significant artillery and attack helicopter support and protected by dense electronic warfare and air defences. Although Ukrainian troops tend to win when they get into close combat with the Russians, getting there without taking unsustainable losses is not always possible.
Continue reading...West Lindsey council votes down proposal to relocate dog, named after a racial slur, to Norfolk airbase
Councillors have rejected proposals to exhume and relocate a dog buried at the former base of the Dambusters put forward amid concerns about the suitability of the grave’s location once the site is repurposed as accommodation for asylum seekers.
During an extraordinary planning meeting on Wednesday evening, West Lindsey district councillors unanimously voted down an application by RAF Heritage to relocate the dog to an airbase in Norfolk.
Continue reading...MoD acknowledged at preliminary hearing that ‘UK special forces’ were present in Afghanistan
A partial admission by the defence secretary that UK special forces were present in Afghanistan risks discrediting a public inquiry investigating allegations of unlawful killings by the SAS, according to a lawyer representing victims’ families.
Richard Hermer KC said Ben Wallace had made only “a semi-concession” in a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, when the minister made a rare acknowledgment that “UK special forces” were present in Afghanistan.
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