Company close to technical default on some of its debt, underlining UK industry’s precarious state
Southern Water’s debt has been downgraded to junk status by the credit rating agency Moody’s in a decision that underlines the precarious state of the UK water industry.
Moody’s said Southern’s “history of material operational and financial under-performance” could imperil its plan, announced last month, to borrow £4bn from investors.
Continue reading...Several bodies pulled from sea after boat got into difficulty off coast of Audresselles on Monday night
More than 50 people have been rescued after attempting to cross the Channel and the bodies of several others were found floating at sea.
The French coastguard said 51 people were rescued on Monday night after a boat got into difficulty when its engine failed off the coast of Audresselles in northern France. Those rescued were met by emergency services at Boulogne-sur-Mer quayside and taken to safety.
Continue reading...Conservation trust says Boki ‘not out of the woods’ yet but doing well after operation to drain buildup of fluid
A brown bear that underwent brain surgery in the first operation of its kind in the UK is doing well but is “not out of the woods” yet, a charity has said.
Boki went under the knife on Wednesday after an MRI scan revealed he had hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid in the brain.
Continue reading...Figure of woman on her back underwater draws inspiration from Hamlet’s Ophelia and death of senior Tudor judge
Almost 500 years ago, a wealthy and well-connected judge named Sir James Hales walked into the River Stour near Canterbury in order to take his own life. Hales had risen to favour under King Henry VIII but had refused to convert to Catholicism under the repressive regime of his daughter Mary, and had been imprisoned in the Tower of London.
Struggling with his mental health after his release in 1554, he drowned himself. But as suicide was a crime at the time, his widow was denied the right to inherit his property and so took the matter to law, in a case that became so famous in the 16th century that it inspired Shakespeare’s portrayal of the suicide by drowning of Hamlet’s Ophelia.
Continue reading...It is the first time such notification has been given to a category C prison focusing on training and resettlement
A Kent prison has become the first of its kind to be issued with an urgent notification after a decade of “systemic failure and decline”, the chief inspector of prisons has confirmed.
HMP Rochester is the seventh prison to have received such a notification since November 2022, but has become the first category C prison, which focuses on training and resettlement, to receive one. The urgent notification process was introduced in 2017 and is a means of raising immediate concerns following an inspection and requires a response and action plan from the secretary of state within 28 days.
Continue reading...The countries are heading in different directions, but voters on both sides of the Channel have similar concerns
It was raining in Calais on election day. A thin, penetrating, miserable drizzle blowing in off the Channel that was entirely in keeping with the mood of a great many voters as they headed to the polls in France’s most momentous ballot in living memory.
“It’s all going to shit,” said Xavier Hembert, voting with his son Arthur on the rue Philippine de Hainaut, named after Edward III of England’s French-born wife, much loved here ever since she persuaded him not to decapitate the port’s Burghers in 1347.
Continue reading...One patient airlifted to hospital and 12 taken by ambulance after collision near Culverstone Green
Children are among those in hospital after being injured in a crash between a tractor and bus in Kent.
The collision occurred on the A227 South Street near Culverstone Green in Meopham shortly before 3.30pm on Wednesday, Kent police said.
Continue reading...Tory sources allege that Dover MP Natalie Elphicke crossed the floor because she was not given a post running housing policy
Tory defector Natalie Elphicke stormed out of the party and joined Labour because she was “bitter” about being denied a ministerial job in charge of housing policy, senior Conservative sources have told the Observer.
It is understood that Elphicke was considered for a government job first by Liz Truss when she became prime minister in 2022 but was not in the end given a post. Elphicke then made clear her ambition to become a minister under Rishi Sunak, but again was unsuccessful.
Continue reading...Ministers said to have dropped opposition to inquiry into alleged assaults and mistreatment of people at Manston centre
The Home Office is to concede to demands for a statutory inquiry into alleged assaults and mistreatment of asylum seekers at Manston processing centre, Whitehall sources have told the Guardian.
The move comes after the government spent a year fighting off demands in the courts for an independent figure to investigate chaos, which led to claims of violence, drug dealing and filthy conditions at the Kent camp.
Continue reading...Inspired by French action, British campaigners say they will continue slow tractor protests after Dover roads were blocked
Farmers say there will be further French-style blockades following a slow tractor protest at Dover against low supermarket prices and cheap food imports from post-Brexit trade deals.
Around 40 tractors and other farm vehicles blocked roads around the Kent port for several hours on Friday evening by driving slowly and carrying signs with slogans such as “No More Cheap Imports”.
Continue reading...Critics say dance event sends message that ‘Christians do not take their faith or their holy places seriously’
From south London’s Ministry of Sound to Ibiza’s legendary superclub Pacha, everyone has a favourite venue for dancing the night away. And now a rave in the nave may be about to join that illustrious list.
More than 3,000 people were expected to take to the floor across four sessions of Canterbury Cathedral’s 90s silent disco to dance to the likes of the Spice Girls, Vengaboys and Eminem, in an event that officials hope will serve to attract a new generation of worshippers to the building’s hallowed cloisters.
Continue reading...New EU entry-exit system could lead to gridlocked roads if scheme goes ahead as planned, MPs hear
Tourists heading to Europe could face waits of up to 14 hours at border controls under a scheme to be launched in October, MPs have been told.
The Port of Dover and the surrounding area could face significant disruption when the EU entry/exit system is introduced unless measures are taken to prevent delays, parliament’s European scrutiny committee has heard.
Continue reading...Weather warnings issued for drivers and London’s King’s Cross and Paddington stations will be closed
Christmas getaway travel disruption is expected to continue throughout the weekend, with millions of car journeys under way and major London railway stations due to close on Sunday.
The AA estimated that 16.4m car journeys will take place on Saturday and warned of “lengthy jams”.
Continue reading...Palestine Action’s Richard Barnard and co-defendants say alleged actions against Elbit Systems were aimed at stopping bombings
A co-founder of Palestine Action on trial with others for damaging an Israeli arms manufacturer’s UK sites has said they were justified because they were trying to stop people being bombed.
Richard Barnard, 51, and seven other defendants are accused of charges relating to actions against Elbit Systems Limited, which he said Palestine Action aims to “shut down”.
Continue reading...Location, Location, Location star’s parents, Anne and David, died after their car toppled off a bridge into river
The TV presenter Phil Spencer has said his parents “would have held hands” after their car crashed into a river on their farm.
The Location, Location, Location presenter paid an emotional tribute to Anne and David Spencer on Instagram after the accident on Friday.
Continue reading...Saturday expected to be busiest day for travel this year as millions take to UK’s roads, airports and ports
Holidaymakers face delays of up to three hours at the Port of Dover as poor weather and train strikes hit Britain’s summer getaway.
Saturday is predicted to be the year’s busiest day for travel after schools in England and Wales broke up for the six-week summer holiday. Abta, the travel association, said more than 2 million UK holidaymakers will head overseas this weekend.
Continue reading...Kimberley Sampson and Samantha Mulcahy died in 2018 after caesarean sections by the same surgeon in Kent
A coroner has criticised an NHS trust over the deaths of two new mothers with herpes.
Kimberley Sampson, 29, and Samantha Mulcahy, 32, died in 2018 after having caesarean sections six weeks apart by the same surgeon at hospitals in Kent.
Continue reading...Murals at Manston and Kent Intake Unit understood to have been painted over last week by MoJ estates team
The Home Office ordered the removal of child-friendly murals from the controversial Manston detention camp near Ramsgate, as well as a separate reception centre, the Guardian has learned.
The i newspaper revealed last week that the immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, had ordered the removal of colourful murals of Disney cartoon characters including Mickey Mouse and Baloo the bear painted on the walls at the Kent Intake Unit (KIU) at Dover.
Continue reading...Council of Europe team raised a wide range of concerns based on visit to Kent detention centre last year
Many asylum seekers may have been subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment at Manston holding facility in Kent, according to a report.
A seven-strong delegation from the Council of Europe’s prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment committee carried out a “rapid reaction” visit to Manston over 25-28 November due to concerns about conditions there, a visit that officials described as “relatively rare” in these circumstances.
Some people absconded from Manston.
One-sixth of those who arrived in small boats were lone children.
Some people were detained at Manston for up to 15 days after being granted bail.
Three different Home Office databases did not communicate well with each other.
There were two documented cases of migrants trying to strangle themselves with seatbelts while segregated in a cell van on the site. The delegation invoked human rights legislation to ensure that the cell van was removed from the site, a stipulation that the Home Office has complied with.
There were cases of people being detained for up to 43 days at Manston.
Continue reading...Utility’s head says demand for drinking water has risen 20% since pandemic, outpacing supply
A water company has blamed more people working from home post-pandemic for a new hosepipe ban.
South East Water, which supplies more than 2m homes and businesses, will impose the first hosepipe ban of the summer on Monday, affecting households across Kent and Sussex.
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