Say Nothing, about 1972 abduction and murder of Jean McConville, is horrendous, says Michael McConville
The son of Jean McConville, a woman who was murdered and buried in secret by the IRA, has condemned a new Disney series on her death as “horrendous” and “cruel”.
The series is based on the acclaimed book Say Nothing, about McConville and the wider role of the IRA during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, written by the US journalist Patrick Radden Keefe.
Continue reading...Only 2.5% of more than 300,000 farms were inspected at least once in 2022 and 2023, researchers find
There is just one local authority inspector for every 878 farms in England, Scotland and Wales, according to a report, which says that the current welfare system is continuing to fail animals.
Researchers for the Animal Law Foundation found that only 2.5% of the more than 300,000 UK farms were inspected at least once in 2022 and 2023, a marginal decrease from 2018-21 when Covid-19 might be expected to have affected inspection rates.
Continue reading...Matthew Pennycook says Tory position now unclear on cap on tax rises that was in place when Kemi Badenoch was local government minister
A minister has criticised her Tory shadow for talking about “joy” in the health sector about the funding it received.
Karin Smyth, a health minister, said it was a strange word to use given the state of NHS finances left by the last government.
Many in the health sector would have been pleased to hear the announcement of the extra funding going into the NHS [in the budget], only for the joy to be struck down by the realisation of a broken manifesto promise not to raise national insurance contributions.
This was only compounded further on the discovery that a raft of frontline care providers – care homes, hospices, care charities, pharmacies, GPS, to name but a few – found themselves not exempt from the NI rises, leaving them with crippling staff bills and the threat of closure and redundancies.
He talks about joy. There was no joy when we inherited the mess that they left back in July.
The chancellor took into account the impact of changes to national insurance when she allocated an extra £26bn to the Department of Health and Social Care.
There are well established processes for agreeing funding allocations across the system, we are going through those processes now with this issue in mind.
The British government needs to start now indicating for them what they believe is the tipping point at which they believe a referendum would be called.
Continue reading...Ombudsman’s report on death of Katie Simpson, 21, adds to concerns at levels of gender-based violence in Northern Ireland
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) “failed” the family of a 21-year-old woman after her death two years ago in Derry, initially treating it as suicide rather than a suspected murder, the police watchdog has said.
The report by the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland comes amid renewed concerns that gender-based violence is not being taken seriously enough in the region with the highest rate of femicide per capita of all nations in the UK and in the island of Ireland.
Continue reading...This live blog is closed
Here are some of the main points from Jonathan Reynolds’s evidence to the Post Office inquiry so far this morning.
Reynolds said he accepted as business secretary he was responsible for ensuring the compensation scheme operated properly. He said in the past there had been “insufficient accountability”.
He said that since the general election there has been a “significant increase” in the pace at which compensation is being paid. The journalist Nick Wallis (who wrote a superb book, The Great Post Office Scandal) is live tweeting from the inquiry, and he quotes Reynolds as saying:
Since the general election there has been a significant increase in the pace at which compensation has been paid. The overall quantum of compensation is up in the last four months by roughly a third and the number of claims to which there has been an initial... offer being made in response to that claim has roughly doubled in the last four months [to] what it has been in the four months preceding the general election.
Home Office officials do not believe Labour’s plan to “smash the gangs” will work as a way of bringing down illegal migration to the UK, i can reveal.
They say that civil servants in the department have been “underwhelmed” by the approach that was being outlined again this week by Sir Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
Continue reading...Jonathan Powell led talks on Chagos Islands in September and played key role in Good Friday agreement
Jonathan Powell, the former chief of staff to Tony Blair, has been appointed as Keir Starmer’s national security adviser in a further sign that leading figures from the New Labour era are returning to the government.
The veteran former diplomat, who played a significant role in the Northern Ireland peace deal struck in 1998 and served Blair for a decade, will be responsible for advising on the UK’s approach to the war in Ukraine and the international implications of Donald Trump’s presidency.
Continue reading...Claire Hanna lambasts arrogance of former PM and ‘stinking status quo’ in Stormont that has stifled ambition
Boris Johnson left a “wholly negative legacy” for the island of Ireland but difficulties in Northern Ireland also stem from a “stinking status quo” that has stifled ambition and drive for change, the new leader of the Social Democratic and Labour party has said.
Weeks after taking over from Colum Eastwood, Claire Hanna, spoke about her plans to revive the SDLP, pull Northern Ireland out of past mindsets and fight for new partnerships with Dublin on health and other public services.
Continue reading...Met Office issues warnings for across the UK as the first named storm of the season sweeps in
Parts of the UK have been battered by strong winds and heavy rain, as Storm Ashley – the first named storm of the season – swept in.
The Met Office said the storm was likely to bring a threat of injuries and danger to life, with winds of up to 80mph and heavy rain expected in some areas.
Continue reading...Ward’s body was found at her home and Ahmed Abdirahman was arrested in Dublin
A man has appeared in a Dublin court charged with the murder of Mary Ward in Belfast.
The 22-year-old was found dead at her home on 1 October with neck wounds. Her body was found after police officers went to her house, but she was last seen alive on 25 September, according to police.
Continue reading...Deal to rescue owner of four UK shipyards, including Belfast shipyard that built the Titanic, could save up to 1,000 jobs
Spanish shipbuilding firm Navantia is in exclusive negotiations to buy Harland & Wolff, the owner of the Belfast shipyard that built the Titanic, in a deal that could rescue up to 1,000 jobs.
It is understood the group could take control of the group’s four yards – in Belfast; Appledore, Devon; Arnish on the Isle of Lewis; and Methil, Fife – as early as next month.
Continue reading...Most of those hurt were well enough to be discharged at the scene, according to the ambulance service
Four people have been taken to hospital after a school bus carrying 43 school pupils and a driver overturned in a field in County Down on Monday.
Photographs on social media showed children in uniform walking from the blue doubledecker bus, which had a shattered windscreen.
Continue reading...Villa Vie Odyssey passengers spent four months stuck in Northern Ireland while their vessel underwent repairs
The luxury cruise liner stranded in Belfast for four months has finally set sail after three days marooned in Belfast Lough.
By 8pm the Marine Traffic website showed the Villa Vie Odyssey skirting the Isle of Man, apparently on its original course to Brest in France. Six hours after raising anchor, the company issued a statement confirming the ship was on the way to France at the start of what it described as “an extraordinary journey”. There was no explanation for the delay.
Continue reading...Villa Vie Odyssey set sail on three-and-a-half-year voyage on Monday after repairs but departure delayed again
The luxury cruise liner stranded in Belfast for four months remains anchored off the coast of Northern Ireland after two failed attempts to finally set sail on a round-the-world voyage.
The Villa Vie Odyssey was originally due to embark on a “perpetual” three-and-a-half-year trip on 30 May but was marooned after requiring repairs, leaving passengers stranded in Belfast over summer.
Continue reading...Villa Vie Odyssey reportedly forced to sail back to Northern Ireland to complete paperwork
The luxury cruise liner stranded in Belfast for four months is reportedly to port only hours after it set sail to cheers and applause from the 125 passengers who thought when they departed on Monday they were finally on their way around the globe.
The Ville Vie Odyssey only made it a few miles out of Belfast lough, however, before it dropped anchor again for the night. Passengers were told it would finally depart at 11pm on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Travellers finally board Villa Vie Odyssey for three-and-a-half-year global circumnavigation
More than 100 passengers are due to finally leave Belfast on Monday on a three-year round-the-world “perpetual” cruise after being marooned unexpectedly in the city for four months.
They were supposed to have set sail from the legendary Harland and Wolff dockyards in Belfast, best known as the home of the Titanic, on 30 May.
Continue reading...Council of Europe also calls for more support for Cornish, Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh and Manx Gaelic
The UK is being urged by Europe’s leading human rights organisation to push ahead with strategies to promote the use of Irish and Ulster Scots languages in Northern Ireland despite continued tensions over the issue.
The Council of Europe experts also want to see the strengthening of teaching of all minority languages in the UK including Cornish, Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh and Manx Gaelic in the Isle of Man.
Continue reading...Policy devised under Conservatives will be reviewed after warnings of chaos for producers and suppliers
Government plans to force food manufacturers to put “not for EU” labels on all meat and dairy products sold across Britain next month have been indefinitely postponed after warnings that the scheme could cause “chaos” for producers and suppliers.
The government will instead review the policy, which was devised under the Conservative administration. Legislation to implement the changes has yet to be brought in.
Continue reading...Greenpeace urges Labour to ‘fulfil international obligations’ as critics question accuracy of official data
The UK’s worst methane hotspots include the last coalmine, livestock farm clusters, landfills, power plants and North Sea oil and gas wells, according to an analysis.
The process has also thrown up serious doubts over the UK’s ability to calculate its methane emissions.
Continue reading...PM says he will not take lectures from previous government as Kemi Badenoch launches Tory leadership campaign
Kemi Badenoch is speaking now. She says she wants to talk about the future.
She was born in the UK, but “grew up under socialism”, she says (referring to her childhood in Nigeria).
Labour have no ideas. At best, they are announcing things we have already done, and at their worst, they are clueless, irresponsible and dishonest.
They are trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the public about the state of Britain’s finances, placing political donors into civil service jobs, pretending that they have no plans to cut pensioner benefits before the election and then doing exactly that to cover the cost of pay rises for the unions with no promise of reform, But their model of spend, spend, spend is broken, and they don’t know what to do, and this will only lead to even more cynicism in politics.
Continue reading...Health minister at Stormont was sole candidate to replace Doug Beattie when nominations closed
The former television news presenter Mike Nesbitt is to become the leader of the Ulster Unionist party for the second time, succeeding Doug Beattie who quit last week.
Nesbitt, 67, who led the UUP between 2012 and 2017, was the only declared candidate when nominations closed on Friday evening. He is expected to be formally ratified as leader at an extraordinary general meeting of the party on 14 September.
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