Law Society says home secretary’s review of refugee status after 30 months is in tension with UK’s legal obligations
Shabana Mahmood’s decision to tell every person applying for asylum from Monday that their status is temporary could undermine the refugee convention, the Law Society has said.
The body representing solicitors in England and Wales said the home secretary’s move to review every refugee’s status after 30 months was “in tension” with the UK’s legal obligations.
Continue reading...Eddie Hill, 20, and Jayden Long, 19, found dead on Yr Wyddfa in north Wales after a huge search operation
Tributes have been paid to two young men who died on a hiking expedition on Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon, in north Wales.
Eddie Hill, 20, and Jayden Long, 19, both from Norfolk, were found dead in Eryri national park on Thursday after a huge search operation in severe winter conditions.
Continue reading...Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick has announced party’s plans to cut welfare spending
Robert Jenrick, Reform UK’s Treasury spokesperson, is giving his speech now.
He has announced, or confirmed, three measures to cut welfare spending.
The number claiming disability benefits for an attention disorder has more than doubled since Covid. We all know a significant number of these claims are spurious …
We will stop those with mild anxiety, depression, and similar conditions from claiming disability benefits and instead encourage them into the dignity of work.
We will end the abuse of the Motability scheme, where expensive cars are handed out for conditions like tennis elbow, and paid for by working people who can’t afford them themselves.
Continue reading...Environmental charity Fidra says 168 of 195 SSSIs it surveyed are contaminated with tiny pellets
Plastic nurdles have been found in 84% of important nature sites surveyed in the UK.
Nurdles are tiny pellets that the plastics industry uses to make larger products. They were found in 168 of 195 sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs), so named because of the rare wildlife they harbour. They are given extra protections in an effort to protect them from pollution.
Continue reading...Shortage of specialist doctors means service is in crisis, says chair of Royal College of Pathologists committee
Bereaved parents are enduring “harrowing” delays of more than a year to find out why their child died because the NHS has too few specialist doctors to perform postmortems.
The shortage of paediatric and perinatal pathologists is revealed in a report by the Royal College of Pathologists published on Sunday. It warns that the situation is “dire”, services in some parts of the UK have “totally collapsed” and families are paying the price.
37% of consultant posts in the UK are lying vacant.
The UK has just 52 paediatric and perinatal consultants and 13 are due to retire in the next five years.
Just 3% of consultants think current staffing levels are enough to sustain their service.
Only 13 resident doctors are in training to become consultants in the specialty.
Continue reading...Police say Nathan Gill received at least £40,000 while he was an MEP from Oleg Voloshyn, an alleged Russian asset
Reform UK’s former leader in Wales, Nathan Gill, has been jailed at the Old Bailey for 10 and a half years for taking bribes to make statements in favour of Russia when he was an MEP.
Gill, a member of the Ukip and Brexit party blocs led by Nigel Farage in the European parliament, had pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery between 6 December 2018 and 18 July 2019.
Continue reading...Justice secretary tells MPs as many as four may still be at large and blames previous governments’ cuts for mistakes
The justice secretary has revealed that 91 prisoners have been released by mistake in England and Wales since April, of whom as many four remain at large.
David Lammy gave details in a Commons statement of three mistakenly released prisoners the police are trying to trace. He said the Prison Service was also investigating a fourth inmate released in error last Monday who may still be at large.
Continue reading...Surprise finding by Hamptons shows age group comprises 50% of all new shareholders in firms set up this year
Millennials now account for half of new buy-to-let investors in England and Wales, signalling a generational shift in landlords, while rents have dipped, according to a report.
It is a surprise finding, as many millennials – people born between 1981 and 1996 – have struggled to afford a housing purchase, which means they are less likely than older generations to own their home. Even so, some have clearly fared better, and millennials are leading the charge in buy-to-let investment, according to analysis of Companies House data by the estate agent Hamptons.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here
Voting in the Labour deputy leadership election opens today. Lucy Powell, the former Commons leader, is seen as the favourite and, as Jessica Elgot reports, Powell told supporters yesterday that, if she is elected, she will use the post to argue for changes in the way the government is operating. “We can’t sugarcoat the fact that things aren’t going well,” she said.
Powell is no longer a government minister and, if she is elected deputy leader, she will do the job from the backbenches. In an interview on Newsnight last night, Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary standing against Powell, said a Powell victory would be “destabilising” for the party. She said:
[Electing Powell] risks destabilising the party … we best achieve what we need to do together when we have those fierce conversations, including disagreements, behind closed doors.
Members need to understand that there’s a potential challenge around all of that – that if you’re not inside when the big decisions are being made, you’re not at that table, you’re not in those conversations.
Continue reading...Ex-Conservative ministers denounce Robert Jenrick’s intention to abolish body that develops court guidelines
A Conservative plan to abolish the judge-led Sentencing Council and hand its powers to the Ministry of Justice has been described as “bonkers”, “unimplementable” and “potentially dangerous” by former Tory ministers.
The shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick will announce on Tuesday that the independent public body responsible for developing guidelines for judges and magistrates in England and Wales would be closed down by a future Conservative government because it was “not fit for purpose”.
Continue reading...South Wales police issue public appeal for information after burglary at one of Wales’s most beloved museums
Raiders have broken into one of Wales’s most beloved museums and stolen gold jewellery from the bronze age.
Staff at St Fagans National Museum of History in Cardiff said its “Wales is …” gallery was specifically targeted in the burglary, which was discovered in the early hours of Monday.
Continue reading...This blog has now closed, you can read more on this story here
The Environment Agency has issued two flood alerts where “flooding is expected” for Keswick Campsite in the Lake District and locations near the River Ure, particularly around Boroughbridge Camping and Caravanning Site in North Yorkshire.
“Avoid using low-lying footpaths and any bridges near local watercourses. Take care and avoid walking, cycling or driving through flood water,” it advises.
Continue reading...Asbestos and faeces flooding cells also among problems contributing to huge backlog in cases, Law Society finds
Asbestos, mould, rotten seagulls and cells flooding with excrement are among the problems experienced in crumbling courts in England and Wales, the Law Society has found.
The professional body for solicitors said deteriorating buildings and unreliable technology were contributing to the record backlog in crown courts and undermining confidence and trust in the justice system.
Continue reading...Documents include letters calling for recovery of bodies and a falsified safety log that was part of a cover-up
Poignant records relating to a colliery disaster in the 1930s that lay unseen for decades at the National Archives are being put on display close to the site of the mine in north Wales.
Among the documents at the west London archive are petitions and emotional letters calling for the bodies trapped in the underground explosion at the pit in Gresford to be recovered. Despite the heartfelt entreaties, the vast majority remain there.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Chief inspector of probation says it is inevitable there will be more murders and rapes without an improvement
The Probation Service in England and Wales is failing to monitor and assess tens of thousands of offenders who pose a serious risk to women and girls, a watchdog has told the Guardian.
Martin Jones, the HM chief inspector of probation, launching a six-month inquiry into failings in public protection, said it was inevitable there would be more murders, rapes and serious sexual offences without an improvement.
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 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...Andy Cooke says the cases take up little time for forces in England and Wales but create intense controversy
Police should no longer record or investigate non-crime hate incidents, the chief inspector of constabulary has said.
Sir Andy Cooke said handling the incidents took up a minuscule amount of time but drew vehement criticism.
Continue reading...Gift comes 8o years after Welsh guards first left replica uniform for Belgian statue to commemorate end of Nazi occupation
When British forces commemorated the liberation of Brussels for the first time in 1945, they left a unique gift – a replica Welsh guards uniform for the Belgian city’s emblematic “peeing boy” statue, the Manneken Pis.
Now 81 years after the Welsh guards freed Brussels from Nazi occupation, the gift has been renewed: the Manneken Pis has a new regimental uniform, including scarlet jacket embroidered with gold lace, gleaming white belt and authentic bearskin hat.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Legislation that will include Texas-style scheme to shorten jail time expected to be rolled out this year
Ministers will legislate next month to abolish most short prison sentences, toughen up community punishments and introduce a Texas-inspired system whereby inmates can earn early release as part of an attempt to avert another prison crisis.
Government sources said the legislation, which will bring about the biggest shake-up in sentencing laws in England and Wales for three decades, would be introduced once MPs had returned to the Commons in September.
Continue reading...Unite says stoppages at Broughton and Filton factories could disrupt production of wings and delay deliveries
Thousands of Airbus workers in the UK are to go on strike for 10 days in September in a row over pay that threatens to disrupt the production of aircraft wings.
A series of two-day strikes are planned to begin on 2 September and continue throughout the month at the company’s factories in Broughton, north Wales, and Filton, near Bristol, according to Unite.
Continue reading...Lower mortgage rates have helped cool rental sector after years of above-inflation increases in rent, data shows
Average private rents in Great Britain have fallen for the first time in five years as lower mortgage rates helped take some of the heat out of the rental sector, data shows.
Years of above-inflation increases in rents have put the squeeze on many households but the estate agent Hamptons said the average rent on a newly let property fell by 0.2% year on year in July. It was the first annual decline since August 2020, during the height of the Covid pandemic – although this national figure masks wide regional variations.
Continue reading...