Rain forecast for UK over bank holiday weekend, including in London as Charles III is crowned
A coronation washout is forecast for many this weekend with rain and drizzle likely to provide a quintessentially British backdrop to the royal pomp and pageantry.
Saturday, the day of the formal ceremony, is forecast by the Met Office to be a cloudy and wet day for many, including in the capital around midday, just as King Charles III is being crowned.
Continue reading...Party products, including bunting, flying off shelves, with Britons forecast to spend £200m on weekend festivities
High street retailers are reporting a “coronation effect” sales boost as shoppers make a last-minute dash to the shops to stock up on party fare including bunting, champagne and cakes for this weekend’s celebrations.
With potentially more than £200m of extra sales riding on the festivities surrounding the coronation of King Charles, retailers’ shelves are being cleared of fizz, quiche, scones as well as buffet favourites such as pork pies and scotch eggs.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Johnny Briceño attacks his UK counterpart’s refusal to apologise for atrocities of slavery
The prime minister of Belize, Johnny Briceño, has sharply criticised Rishi Sunak’s refusal to apologise for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, and said it was “quite likely” Belize would be the next member of the Commonwealth realm to become a republic.
Speaking to the Guardian in the country’s capital, Belmopan, Briceño argued the British government had a moral responsibility to apologise for the atrocities of slavery and added to the calls throughout the English-speaking Caribbean for financial reparations from the UK.
Continue reading...Hāmiora Bailey says wall to wall Charles III coverage is unappealing to Indigenous people and has devised a solution
A Māori artist has designed a way for the masses to tune out of royal coverage, with a web browser plugin that replaces all monarchy and coronation stories with Indigenous news.
Despite a distance of more that 18,000kms from the palace, New Zealand news headlines have featured a steady flow of royal family gossip: the latest potential snubbing, deep-dive analysis of the new king’s conduct, invitation list scandals and features on the coronation quiche.
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Senators Jacqui Lambie and Tammy Tyrrell have agreed to back the government’s housing affordability legislation.
The housing minister, Julie Collins, has told ABC Radio the deal was struck after the government agreed to build 1,200 social housing homes in every state and territory:
We’ve agreed to make sure that every state and territory gets a fair share of housing from the housing future funding from other federal government programs.
What we want to do is make sure that every state and territory gets their fair share of funding.
Many of these deaths occurred in the home. There is opportunity for others present to avert death and reverse the effects of an opioid overdose if they administer a medicine called naloxone.
The Australian Government has funded the availability of naloxone for free, without a prescription, for anyone who may be at risk of witnessing or experiencing an overdose.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Aboriginal Olympian Nova Peris says ‘change begins with listening’ as campaigners from 12 countries ask for ‘process of reparatory justice to commence’
Australians have joined Indigenous leaders and politicians across the Commonwealth to demand King Charles III make a formal apology for the effects of British colonisation, make reparations by redistributing the wealth of the British crown, and return artefacts and human remains.
Days out from Charles’s coronation in London, campaigners for republic and reparations movements in 12 countries have written a letter asking the new monarch to start a process towards “a formal apology and for a process of reparatory justice to commence”.
Continue reading...Met says technology will not be used to target protesters or activists, but campaigners say use is ‘extremely worrying’
The Metropolitan police has been accused of using the coronation to stage the biggest live facial recognition operation in British history.
The force said on Wednesday it intended to use the controversial technology, which scans faces and matches them against a list of people police want for alleged crimes and could identify convicted terrorists mingling in the crowds.
Continue reading...Guardian Australia encounters a mix of apathy, indignation and enthusiasm on the streets of Melbourne and Sydney
King Charles III is just days away from his coronation but you wouldn’t know it from the mood on Australia’s streets.
Many people Guardian Australia spoke to in the lead-up to Saturday’s coronation didn’t know it was coming up – and certainly had no intention of pledging allegiance to the king from their couch, as the public will be invited to do.
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Continue reading...Latest updates: PM and Labour leader face off in final prime minister’s questions before voters head to the polls
George Osborne, the Conservative former chancellor, has come out in favour of banning smoking over the long term, and taxing orange juice, to promote public health.
He proposed the ideas – neither of which have much chance of featuring in the next Conservative manifesto – in evidence to the the Times Health Commission, a year-long project to investigate ideas that would improve health and social care.
Since the dawn of states, [the government] has regulated certain products and medicines, and made certain things illegal. I don’t see why you can’t do that in a space such as food. Food’s been heavily regulated since the 19th century.
Of course you’re going to have lots of problems with illegal smoking, but you have lots of problems with other illegal activities. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try and ban them and police them and make it less readily available. I thought that was a compelling public health intervention.
We’re making sure that we stop those sort of cold calls and those spoof text messages that pretend to be from somebody else, that’s the first thing.
The second thing we’re doing is we’re making sure there’s more ability for the police to pursue fraudsters and that’s where the national fraud squad with 400 new investigators and a new national fraud intelligence unit comes in. That’s a huge development.
Continue reading...PM says he is pleased to contribute to Friends of the Western Ground Parrot as the king ‘has long championed conservation’
Australia is gifting King Charles III a donation to Friends of the Western Ground Parrot to mark his coronation.
The government has pledged $10,000 to help conserve the critically endangered “shy and rarely seen” species in honour of the monarch, on behalf of the people of Australia.
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Asked whether he would swear allegiance, Albanese replied he “will do what is entirely appropriate as the representative of Australia” promising to “engage in that spirit” by swearing the oath – as he has done 10 times when sworn in to parliament and as a minister.
Albanese noted that Australians had voted at the 1999 referendum to remain a monarchy, but acknowledged that Australians have a “wide range of views” on whether to become a republic.
I think that Australia should have an Australian as our head of state, I don’t shy away from that. I haven’t changed my views.
But my priority is constitutional recognition – I can’t imagine going forward, for example, going forward as was suggested by some legitimately that we should be having another referendum on the republic before that occurs.
All Australians wish King Charles well regardless of the different views of people will have about our constitutional arrangements.
Continue reading...Extra 100,000 visitors expected amid £1bn lift for UK hospitality in May helped by coronation, bank holidays and Eurovision
Liverpool is likely to receive a £40m boost as tens of thousands of Eurovision fans descend on the city to celebrate the annual song contest next week.
Liverpool, which saw off Glasgow to be chosen as host after last year’s winners, Ukraine, were unable to hold the event amid Russia’s invasion, is expecting an influx of visitors.
Continue reading...Mark Harper and Labour MP back ‘homage of the people’, but republicans say it ‘holds people in contempt’
A cabinet minister has said he “hopes people do” swear the proposed oath to the king on the day of his coronation, as republicans described it as “an offensive and tone-deaf gesture that holds the people in contempt”.
The transport secretary, Mark Harper, said he would be swearing the oath, to be known as a “homage of the people” and pointed out that MPs already “pledge allegiance to his majesty” on taking their seats.
Continue reading...British subjects asked to form a ‘chorus of a million voices’ and make oath of loyalty while watching service
Members of the public watching the coronation on television, online and in parks and pubs will be invited to swear aloud their allegiance to the monarch in a “chorus of millions of voices” to be known as the Homage of the People.
People around the UK and abroad will be invited to say the words “I swear that I will pay true allegiance to your majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God”, in a declaration that replaces the traditional homage of peers.
Continue reading...Matildas captain will join delegation including Anthony Albanese, Nick Cave and Adam Hills at London ceremony next week
Footballer Sam Kerr will lead a contingent of prominent Australians at King Charles’s coronation next week after being named as the official flag bearer for the ceremony in London.
The Matildas captain will lead a delegation that includes the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, the governor general, state governors and a number of other representatives at the event at Westminster Abbey.
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Continue reading...On eve of king’s coronation, survey shows only three in 10 Britons think monarchy is ‘very important’
Only three in 10 Britons think the monarchy is “very important”, the lowest proportion on record, a poll shows as the king’s coronation approaches.
A survey by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) shows public support for the monarchy has fallen to a historic low. A total of 45% of respondents said either it should be abolished, was not at all important or not very important.
Continue reading...Senior MPs say attendance of Han Zheng, accused of breaching Sino-British treaty with Hong Kong crackdown, would be insult
Senior Conservative MPs have labelled the expected attendance of China’s vice-president at King Charles’s coronation as “outrageous”.
Han Zheng, who was recently appointed as president Xi Jinping’s deputy, is expected to represent China at the May event, Politico reported.
Continue reading...Action by Terminal 5 security guards to take place on 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 25, 26 and 27 May in dispute over pay
Security staff at Heathrow airport are to strike on eight days next month in a dispute over pay.
The action by members of the Unite union will take place on 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 25, 26 and 27 May, and follow strikes over Easter.
Continue reading...Recipe follows coronation chicken and platinum pudding as suggested centrepiece for parties and events
From coronation chicken to platinum pudding, royal occasions demand a signature dish and King Charles III’s coronation is no exception.
The “coronation quiche” has been personally chosen by the king and Camilla, the Queen Consort, in the hope it will be a centrepiece to many a coronation “Big Lunch” at street parties and community events on 6 May.
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