MPs back bill to end criminal penalties for abortion in key vote – as it happened

Parliament votes on biggest shake-up to reproductive rights in England and Wales in 60 years

Casey says in the past government has talked relentlessly about the need for better data sharing between departments.

But she says there is a need to consider making this mandatory.

I was there when the tragedy of Soham happened. We knew at that point that if we had had better data sharing there’s a possibility that we might have saved those girls’ lives. There’s certaintly an absolute clarity that intelligence would have been much faster in either avoiding it or or actually finding that dreadful human being earlier.

And we’ve known that forever onwards. And so I think there is also an issue that the Home Office can’t drag their feet on, looking at police intelligence systems, given we’ve living in the 21st century. Probably everbody in this room can connect within seconds. Yet we had Befordshire police finding a young boy that was being, in my mind trafficked to London. But the data intelligence system did not make it easy for them to find that he was in Deptford and being circled and dealt with by predators.

I feel very strongly on issues that are as searing as people’s race, when we know the prejudice and racism that people of colour experience in this country, to not get how you treat that data right is a different level of public irresponsibility.

Sorry, to put it so bluntly, I didn’t put it that bluntly yesterday, but I think it’s particularly important if you are collecting those sorts of issues to get them 100% right.

When we asked the good people of Greater Manchester Police to help us look at the data we also collected – I think it’s in the report – what was happening with child abuse more generally, and of course … if you look at the data on child sexual exploitation, suspects and offenders, it’s disproportionately Asian heritage. If you look at the data for child abuse, it is not disproportionate, and it is white men.

So again, just note to everybody, really outside here rather than in here. Let’s just keep calm here about how you interrogate data and what you draw from it.

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Calls for abortion law change grew louder as number of prosecutions rose

While parliament was moving towards more liberal abortion laws more women were being arrested or investigated

Calls for decriminalisation of abortions have been growing louder in recent years – in line with a growing number of women being prosecuted for terminating their pregnancies.

Until 2022, it is believed that only three women had ever been convicted of having an illegal abortion in the 150 years since 1861, when the procedure was made illegal under the Offences Against the Person Act.

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Michelle O’Neill accuses DUP minister of inflaming racial tensions on social media

Gordon Lyons rejects calls to resign after posting information about leisure centre hours before it was set on fire

Northern Ireland’s first minister has accused a DUP politician of inflaming tensions after a leisure centre in Larne was set on fire.

Gordon Lyons, the communities minister, should “consider his position”, Michelle O’Neill said. Hours before the centre was set on fire by a mob of masked youths on Wednesday, Lyons had posted on social media that the building was being used to accommodate several people who had fled from Ballymena, about 20 miles (32km) away.

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Fire breaks out at Larne leisure centre as Antrim unrest enters third night

Local MLA blames ‘masked thugs’ for attack on centre that had been hosting people in need after Ballymena rioting

A fire broke out at a leisure centre during a third night of disorder in Northern Ireland on Wednesday.

People wearing masks smashed windows at the Larne leisure centre in County Antrim and set fires outside which spread inside the building.

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Public disorder breaks out in Northern Ireland town Ballymena after alleged sexual assault

Police in Northern Ireland say a number of missiles had been thrown towards officers and damage to properties had been reported

Public disorder broke out in Ballymena in Northern Ireland, with police saying a number of missiles had been thrown towards officers after crowds gathered near the site of an alleged sexual assault in the town.

The unrest follows a protest in the area, about 30 minutes’s drive from the capital city of Belfast, earlier on Monday evening, the police statement said, adding damage had been reported to a number of properties.

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Temperatures could hit 27C on Saturday as UK’s sunniest spring on record draws to end

Morning rain could affect Northern Ireland and Scotland but southern and eastern parts likely to remain dry

Temperatures could hit 27C on Saturday, as the UK’s sunniest spring on record draws to a close. But more changeable weather is forecast next week.

Temperatures reached 25.7C at Heathrow on Friday – about 7C hotter than the average for the time of year – and the trend is due to continue into Saturday, with highs of 27C possible in some areas, the Met Office said.

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Gerry Adams’ BBC libel win risks more benign view of Troubles taking hold

Concerns raised that hefty award to politician over Spotlight episode could lead to less hard-hitting journalism

For more than half a century, Spotlight has roved a beam over Northern Ireland, illuminating dark and overlooked topics. But now the flagship BBC documentary series is itself in the glare of scrutiny.

Gerry Adams’ victory in a libel case on Friday dealt a heavy blow to Spotlight and the BBC and raises questions over the programme and the impact of the case on journalism in the UK and Ireland.

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Gerry Adams awarded €100,000 damages in libel victory over BBC

Former Sinn Féin leader sued broadcaster over allegation in documentary that he sanctioned murder of MI5 informant

Gerry Adams has won a defamation action against the BBC over a documentary that carried a claim he sanctioned the murder of an MI5 informant in 2006.

A jury at Dublin’s high court on Friday found that the BBC had not acted in good faith or in a fair and reasonable way and awarded the former Sinn Féin leader €100,000 (£84,000) in damages

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MPs call on Criminal Cases Review Commission chief executive to resign

Committee says Karen Kneller’s position no longer tenable in damning report on miscarriage of justice watchdog

The miscarriage of justice watchdog for England, Wales and Northern Ireland has continually failed to learn from its mistakes and its chief executive should follow the organisation’s chair out the door, MPs have said.

In a damning report on the leadership of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the House of Commons justice committee said Karen Kneller had provided it with unpersuasive evidence and her position was no longer tenable.

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Sharon Osbourne urges US to revoke Kneecap rappers’ visas after Israel criticism

Irish language group uses Coachella gig to denounce Gaza attacks, saying ‘Palestinians have nowhere to go’

Sharon Osbourne has urged US authorities to revoke work visas for Kneecap after the Irish language rap group used a performance at Coachella to denounce Israeli attacks on Gaza.

The TV presenter accused the band of hate speech and supporting terrorist organisations and said it should not be allowed to perform in the US. “I urge you to join me in advocating for the revocation of Kneecap’s work visa,” she exhorted followers on X on Tuesday.

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Badenoch says Labour’s claims to have always defended single-sex spaces are a ‘shameless work of fiction’ – UK politics live

Minister for women and equality makes statement after supreme court ruling on gender recognition

Some MPs and peers are calling for President Trump not to be invited to address parliament when he visits the UK. In 2017, during Trump’s first presidency, the then Speaker, John Bercow, vetoed a proposal for Trump to address parliamentarians in Westminster Hall.

In an interview with Times Radio this morning, Stephen Morgan, an education minister, said Trump should be allowed to give a speech in parliament. Asked if Trump should be allowed to address MPs and peers, Morgan said:

I look forward to the US president addressing parliament in due course.

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Christian Dior appoints UK designer Jonathan Anderson as menswear boss

Man behind puzzle and pigeon bags, who transformed Loewe, brings buzz to French house as creative director

Jonathan Anderson, the designer who brought success, cool and viral fame to the Spanish label Loewe during his 11-year reign, has been announced as the new creative director of Christian Dior’s menswear collection. Taking over from Kim Jones, Anderson’s first show for the brand will take place in Paris in June.

While this is confirmation of news that fashion insiders were long aware of, it will definitely bring new buzz to Christian Dior. Anderson, now 40, has become something of a unicorn in the industry, a designer with boundless energy and ideas who is able to create distinctive and original designs but also sell clothes.

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Rachel Reeves rejects calls for a ‘Buy British’ campaign amid tariffs crisis – UK politics live

Chancellor also says fiscal rules will not be changed, saying ‘we saw what happened when the previous government lost control of the public finances’

Half of Britons (51%) think the government should impose retaliatory tariffs on imports from the US, according to polling by More in Common, a campaign group. Last week, just before the Trump tariffs were announced, YouGov published figures suggesting 71% of Britons would favour retaliatory tariffs against the US.

Yesterday YouGov also released polling suggesting that only around a third of voters think Keir Starmer and the government played a significant role in ensuring the US tariffs imposed on the UK are relatively low.

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Northern Ireland faces court case over £300m north-south power pylon plan

Campaigners claim NI is being used as a ‘whipping boy’ to feed Irish republic’s energy-hungry datacentres

An ambitious €350m (£300m) plan to connect electricity grids across the island of Ireland is heading for the high court after a challenge brought by campaigners claiming Northern Ireland was being used as a “whipping boy” to feed the republic’s energy-hungry datacentres.

An estimated 150 landowners representing 6,500 residents have called on the Northern Ireland minister for infrastructure, Liz Kimmins, to suspend the construction of more than 100 towering pylons in Armagh and Tyrone until a judicial review, due to start on 9 April, has been completed.

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Police in England, Wales and NI too overworked to investigate crimes properly – report

Watchdog finds forces are ‘overwhelmed’ by common offences, and victims are being failed

Overworked police lack the resources, time and experience to investigate crimes properly, leading to victims being failed and an erosion in faith in law enforcement, an official report has found.

The report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) says that the rate of positive outcomes – when police identify a suspect and they face justice – has crashed from 25% in England and Wales a decade ago to 11% in 2024.

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Former Citibank exec settles maternity discrimination case for £215,000

Maeve Bradley, who worked for Citibank in Belfast, lost out on expected promotion after having a baby

A former Citibank employee has received £215,000 in a discrimination settlement after she lost out on an expected promotion when she returned from having a baby.

Maeve Bradley, who had worked at the American bank’s offices in Belfast as an assistant vice-president of derivatives since March 2021, took maternity leave in 2023 and said she was devastated to be offered a different role on her return.

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UK weather: temperatures in southern England could hit 19C this week

Some areas forecast to have warmer weather than Ibiza and Corfu on Thursday’s spring equinox

Parts of the UK are expected to be warmer than Ibiza and Corfu this week on the first official day of spring.

This Thursday marks the spring equinox and temperatures could reach 19C (66F) in the south of England. The Met Office meteorologist Becky Mitchell said that was 8C hotter than the average for the time of year.

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Starmer welcomes Zelenskyy’s offer to work with Trump on Ukraine peace deal – as it happened

PM says any deal must be ‘lasting and secure’ following fiery Trump-Zelenskyy meeting last week and UK weekend summit. This live blog is closed

Lisa O’Carroll is the Guardian’s acting Ireland correspondent.

Michelle O’Neill, Northern Ireland’s first minister, has described a decision to build thousands of lightweight missiles for Ukraine in a Belfast factory as “incredulous”.

I find it really incredulous that at a time when public services are being cut left, right and centre.

At a time when we have endured 14 years of austerity ... I think at a time like that, rather than buying weapons of war, I would rather see the money invested in public services.

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Most school leaders in England, Wales and NI say pupils’ parents have abused them

Parents banned from school sites after leaders spat at and trolled, poll finds

Four in five school leaders in England, Wales and Northern Ireland say they have suffered abuse from pupils’ parents in the past year, according to a poll that found they had been spat at, trolled on social media and even physically attacked.

The problem has become so serious that more than two out of five (42%) of those who took part in the survey said they had been forced to ban parents from the school site in the last year. Nearly a third (32%) have reported parents to the police and almost three-quarters (72%) have issued a warning letter or email.

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Poorest UK households pay rising share of income on council tax, study finds

Resolution Foundation report says failure to reform has ‘slowly recreated the issues that undid the poll tax’

Britain’s poorest households are paying an increasing share of their income on council tax, according to new analysis that likened it to the poll tax that contributed to the downfall of Margaret Thatcher.

The poorest fifth of households paid 4.8% of their income on council tax in England, Wales and Scotland and on domestic rates in Northern Ireland in the 2020-21 financial year, up from 2.9% in 2002-3, according to research by the Resolution Foundation.

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