Foreign Office says it is supporting families after 32 Wales football fans arrested in Yerevan
More than 30 Wales football fans have been arrested in Armenia before Saturday’s European Championship qualifier in Yerevan.
The Football Association of Wales (FAW) confirmed that 32 supporters had been arrested in the Armenian capital and that the Foreign Office was involved.
Continue reading...Unions say move could force Tata’s automative steel factory at Llanwern to close, costing 600 jobs
Large parts of the Port Talbot steelworks will be closed or mothballed for years, and would leave the plant and its few remaining workers reliant on imported steel, according to proposals under consideration by the owner, Tata Steel.
Tata Steel has briefed union representatives on the proposals but has yet to announce a final decision. Workers, who marched through the town in protest on Saturday, were left in limbo two weeks ago after the company’s board in India decided to pull an announcement about its plans for the plant at the last moment.
Continue reading...Former home secretary tells PM he broke promises he made to gain her support during party leadership contest
Rishi Sunak took something of a risk when he decided to sack Suella Braverman. Her hardline, anti-immigration rhetoric was popular, not just with rightwing MPs, but with most of the Tory press (particularly the Daily Mail), and this morning those papers might have come out in her defence.
But, judging by their editorials, they are broadly supportive of Sunak. They have not turned on him – at least today.
Moving the impressive James Cleverly to Home Secretary is smart, as is appointing Esther McVey as ‘Common Sense Tsar’ to oversee the anti-woke agenda.
Will this be enough to placate the Tory Right? Only time will tell, but any MP who thinks salvation lies in yet more no- confidence letters – and trying to unseat another leader – needs their head testing.
The seeds of his downfall were planted that year when his promise of an EU referendum was included in the Tory manifesto, not least to see off a populist threat from Ukip. Mr Sunak is facing something similar in that the country is increasingly alarmed by high levels of immigration, both legal and illegal, and extremism. The recent pro-Palestinian marches and the rise of anti-Semitic hatred have brought much of this to a head.
Mrs Braverman articulated many of these concerns, and those who agree with her will be angry that she has been dropped, seeing it as appeasing the Left and deepening Tory divisions.
[Cameron’s] central achievement in 11 years as party leader, often overlooked after the Brexit debacle, was to give the Conservative party a much broader base. In his time, great strides were made in making sure a fiscally conservative party was also socially liberal and internationalist: advancing the careers of women in politics, championing same-sex marriage, expanding development aid and becoming the natural home of ethnically diverse British leadership, of whom Rishi Sunak himself is the outstanding embodiment.
Cameron’s renewed prominence is a reminder that the cabinet in which he will be sitting is mainstream and centre-right, looking to reduce taxation but only in a financially responsible way, controlling migration effectively but without divisive language, improving the UK’s relations with Europe while eschewing nationalistic rhetoric. That is what Sunak has been doing but against the backdrop of mixed messages from former PMs and some of his own cabinet. The Conservatives after this reshuffle are more unmistakably the party that some of its disenchanted former voters will recognise as their own.
Continue reading...Large waves and winds of up to 85mph forecast for England’s south coast with rain warnings in place and trains slowed or cancelled
Storm Ciarán is forecast to bring a fresh bout of strong winds and heavy rain to the UK – with “danger to life” amber weather warnings issued for Thursday.
Two amber warnings, the second-highest level of alert, are in place for parts of the south coast of England on Thursday, with further yellow rain warnings, the lowest level, meaning some disruption could be on the way.
Continue reading...Tata Steel board thought to be meeting in India and decision over blast furnaces expected about noon
Tata Steel is expected to confirm as many as 3,000 job losses at its steelworks in Port Talbot on Wednesday, in what would be a devastating blow to the south Wales economy.
The board of Tata Steel is thought to be meeting in India, where it is headquartered, to make a final decision.
Continue reading...Families talk of devastation at not being able to protect children from abuse of serving police officer
The victims of Lewis Edwards and their families have spoken of the deep trauma they suffered and the psychological effects of his crimes.
Some of the girls he targeted contemplated suicide or self-harmed and said they could never trust the police again. Relatives described their guilt at not spotting what was going on, feelings of failure at not being able to protect their children, and devastation that the abuser was a serving officer. Many expressed heartbreak that Edwards stole the innocence of their daughters.
Continue reading...Police name Cheryl Woods, 61, and Sarha Smith, 40, from south Wales, and Peter Pelling, 61, from Scotland
Tributes have been paid to three people killed in two separate weather-related incidents on Friday at the height of Storm Babet, as new weather warnings were issued on Tuesday.
Yellow weather warnings were put in place for parts of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the south-east of England on Tuesday, with the expectation of heavy rain in some areas that are already flooded.
Continue reading...Change means drone operators could face fines up to £2,500 for flying within 400 metres of prisons or young offender institutions
New “no-fly zones” will be introduced around prisons in England and Wales to prevent drones being used to deliver drugs and contraband to inmates.
The legal change will mean drone operators could face fines of up to £2,500 for flying within 400 metres of closed prisons or young offender institutions.
Continue reading...Red ‘danger to life’ warning covers Angus and southern Aberdeenshire, as person confirmed killed by falling tree
The Met Office has issued a second “danger to life” red warning for rain covering the region in eastern Scotland already suffering unprecedented flooding.
The weather agency said the very rare red warning of severe flooding and disruption covered Angus and southern Aberdeenshire and was in place for the whole of Saturday. It came as a second person was confirmed to have been killed after a falling tree hit a van near Forfar on Thursday evening.
Continue reading...Police Scotland say 57-year-old’s body recovered from River Esk after reports of someone being swept away
The body of a 57-year-old woman has been recovered from a river in Angus, Police Scotland have said, as hundreds of people were ordered to evacuate their homes in a town in the east of the country because of fears that the River Esk will burst its banks during Storm Babet.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 1.45pm on Thursday October 19, officers attended a report of a person having been swept into the Water of Lee, Glen Esk.
Continue reading...HMP Wandsworth holding more extra prisoners than any other jail despite recent high-profile problems
Two-thirds of prisons in England and Wales are officially overcrowded, with HMP Wandsworth holding more extra prisoners than any other jail despite the alleged escape of a terror suspect last month.
In September there were 663 more men in Wandsworth than the 950 the south London prison has “good, decent” accommodation for, under the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) definition. That means prisoners sharing cells designed for one, often with a toilet in the middle shielded by a curtain.
Continue reading...Use of portable buildings and more doubling up in cells could be part of package to be announced next week
Prisoners in England and Wales could be moved into portable buildings or released early as part of a huge extension of the electronic tagging scheme, as the justice secretary considers creative measures to solve the overcrowding crisis.
Alex Chalk KC is expected to reveal a package of measures on Monday that could add 1,000 prison places across the estate, the Guardian understands.
Continue reading...Government accused of letting down victims as full prisons mean convicted criminals will spend longer on bail
Victims of crime in England and Wales are being let down by a government that has failed to provide adequate resources to the criminal justice system, women’s groups have said, after it emerged that sentencing hearings of convicted criminals currently on bail – including rapists and burglars – were to be delayed because prisons are full.
It has been reported that the senior presiding judge for England and Wales, Lord Justice Edis, issued the guidance on a private call with senior crown court judges. A government source told the Guardian it applied to those who had been on bail throughout the court process and had, therefore, already been assessed as lower risk.
Continue reading...Humza Yousaf says Lisa Cameron’s move was ‘the least surprising news I’ve had as leader of the SNP’
NHS waiting lists have hit a new record high, with more people facing long waits, PA Media reports. PA says:
Figures for the NHS in England show 7.75 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of August, up from 7.68 million in July.
This is the highest number since records began in August 2007 and comes despite Rishi Sunak saying cutting waiting lists is one of his priorities.
Continue reading...Danger-to-life warning issued as first named storm of autumn damages buildings and disrupts travel
Gusts of 70mph were recorded as the first named storm of the autumn, Agnes, swept across Britain and Ireland, damaging buildings, causing travel delays and leaving homes without power.
The Met Office issued severe weather warnings covering much of the UK, where strong winds and heavy rain were expected on Wednesday evening and into Thursday.
Continue reading...Co-operative enterprise Vale of Aeron is one of 45 projects to receive money in Community Ownership Fund’s latest round
When Iwan Thomas received the news that he had won a £300,000 grant for the Vale of Aeron, a pub adored by the poet Dylan Thomas when he lived nearby in the 1940s, he was working a shift but had to hold his tongue.
Thomas, the 53-year-old chair of the Menter Tafarn y Vale co-operative group that runs the pub, could not tell any of the regulars until the news embargo lifted. “There was certainly a wry smile, where you know you’ve got something you’re keeping a secret, but it’s a good secret,” he said. “We’re delighted.”
Continue reading...Attempt to show Labour as ‘anti-motorist’ at forefront of Conservative pre-election campaign
After a week in which Rishi Sunak rowed back on the UK’s climate commitments and delayed a ban on petrol cars, it seems he is making a pitch to drivers a key part of his pre-election campaign. Here are the wedge issues the Tories are expected to deploy against Labour to paint them as “anti-motorist”:
Continue reading...PM says breed, responsible for series of attacks, will be banned once it has been properly defined
Here is the full text of what Rishi Sunak said in his video statement about banning American XL bully dogs. (See 11.50am.)
The American XL bully dog is a danger to our communities, particularly our children.
I share the nation’s horror at the recent videos we’ve all seen. Yesterday we saw another suspected XL bully dog attack, which has tragically led to a fatality.
It’s clear the American XL Bully dog is a danger to our communities.
I’ve ordered urgent work to define and ban this breed so we can end these violent attacks and keep people safe.
Continue reading...First and only Nice-recommended medicine could ‘alleviate misery’ of condition in England and Wales
NHS health advisers have approved the first treatment for acute migraine in a decision that promises to bring relief to about 13,000 people.
The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has recommended a drug called rimegepant, also known as Vydura, which is made by Pfizer.
Continue reading...Households could save £400 a year on energy bills via means-tested insulation scheme
Households could save up to £400 a year on energy bills under a new means-tested scheme to insulate more than 300,000 of Great Britain’s draughtiest homes.
The government is spending £1bn on grants for homes that have low energy efficiency ratings and are in lower council tax bands.
Continue reading...