Church must ‘turn back’ public opinion on assisted dying, says archbishop

Stephen Cottrell tells General Synod assisted dying means assuming ‘authority over death that belongs to God alone’

Members of the Church of England should work to “withstand and even turn back” the forces of public opinion “that risk making … assisted dying a reality in our national life”, the archbishop of York has said.

Speaking to the church’s General Synod on Friday, Stephen Cottrell said permitting assisted dying would change “forever the contract between doctor and patient, pressurising the vulnerable and assuming an authority over death that belongs to God alone”.

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Resident doctors’ 29% pay claim is non-negotiable, BMA chair says

Exclusive: Tom Dolphin says rise needed to redress real-terms earnings loss since 2008 and strikes could last years

Resident doctors’ 29% pay claim is non-negotiable, reasonable and easily affordable for the NHS, the new leader of the medical profession has said.

Strikes to ensure resident – formerly junior – doctors in England get the full 29% could drag on for years, according to Dr Tom Dolphin, the British Medical Association’s new council chair.

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Thursday briefing: Why young people fear ‘there’s nothing here for us’ in England’s coastal towns

In today’s newsletter: As a new Guardian project begins, we hear from the teenagers navigating deprivation, isolation and a sense of being forgotten

Good morning. A few weeks ago, 18-year-old Tamsin Jarman-Smith, born and raised in a small town just outside Blackpool, sat on a battered sofa at House of Wingz, a community youth organisation tucked down an alleyway a few streets from the beach, and explained what it felt like to be a young person growing up in a coastal town.

“I’m lucky because I found this passion for dancing and I come to this place, which has saved me I think, especially my creativity and hope for opportunities for myself, but lots of people my age feel like there is nothing here for them,” she said.

Europe | Talks over a British and French migration deal remained deadlocked on Wednesday night, as negotiators haggled over how much Britain will pay towards the cost of policing small boat crossings.

UK news | Campaigners have decried as “dangerously naive” the UK government’s sweeping deal with Google to provide free technology to the public sector.

Europe | Police have raided the headquarters of France’s far-right National Rally and seized documents as part of an investigation into alleged illegal campaign financing.

UK news | Thames Water has refused to claw back almost £2.5m paid to senior managers from an emergency loan that was meant to keep the failing utilities company afloat.

Housing | The Bank of England has rolled out looser mortgage rules that policymakers hope will help 36,000 more first-time buyers on to the housing ladder each year.

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Number of abortions in England and Wales hit record high in 2022

Almost three in 10 conceptions ended in legal terminations, ONS figures show, as provider says women struggling to access contraception

The number of abortions in England and Wales reached a record high in 2022, with a leading provider stating that women are facing “significant barriers” in access to contraception.

Almost three in 10 conceptions ended in legal abortions in the two nations in 2022, up from about two in 10 a decade earlier, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

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NHS bosses fear fresh resident doctors’ strikes could embolden other staff

The Royal College of Nursing and Unison are undertaking indicative ballots to assess members’ willingness to strike

A looming fresh wave of strikes by resident doctors could encourage other NHS staff including nurses to take industrial action over pay, health service bosses fear.

Resident doctors, formerly junior doctors, in England are threatening to stage stoppages until January in pursuit of their demand for a 29% pay rise, after 90% voted in favour in a ballot on a 55% turnout.

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More trials with no jury will disadvantage people of colour, campaigners warn

Charities say more judge-only trials in England and Wales could lead to more miscarriages of justice

Removing the right to a jury trial for more offences would disadvantage people of colour and other minorities and lead to more miscarriages of justice, reformers have warned.

Sir Brian Leveson’s independent review of the criminal courts in England and Wales is expected to be published this week and recommend the creation of intermediate courts, sitting without a jury, to try some offences.

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‘Like an academic’: private papers reveal John le Carré’s attention to detail

Exclusive: Oxford’s Bodleian libraries to put archive items on display for first time, celebrating spy author’s ‘tradecraft’

The extent of John le Carré’s meticulous research and attention to detail are among insights into his working methods that will be revealed when the master of spy thrillers’ private archive goes on display for the first time this autumn.

His classic cold war-era espionage novels have sold tens of millions of copies worldwide and inspired acclaimed films and television adaptations.

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Kew Gardens to host largest outdoor exhibition of Henry Moore’s sculptures

Show will include 30 monumental pieces displayed across gardens and 90 works filling Shirley Sherwood Gallery

Henry Moore believed “sculpture is an art of the open air” and that his works should be seen in “almost any landscape, rather than in or on the most beautiful building”.

Now the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is planning the world’s largest outdoor exhibition devoted to the miner’s son who became one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century, it will announce on Monday.

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Police chiefs call for cuts to number of forces in England and Wales

Reduction from 43 forces to as few as 12 could save money and end ‘postcode lottery’ for crime victims, leaders say

Police chiefs in England and Wales have told ministers that the number of forces should be cut to end “the postcode lottery for victims of crime”, the Guardian has learned.

They believe a reduction from the current 43 forces would save money, cut overheads and boost crime-fighting efforts.

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First-time buyers turn from rural areas to Britain’s regional cities

Number looking to move to urban centres up 16% in first five months of 2025 compared with same period in 2015

With the rise of home working and surging house prices in many urban areas, one might have assumed that British cities had lost some of their appeal to homebuyers over the past decade, but it turns out the opposite is the case.

An analysis of the first five months of this year shows the number of would-be first-time buyers in Great Britain looking to move to cities is up by 16% on average compared with the same period in 2015.

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MP Zarah Sultana says she will ‘co-lead’ new party as she quits Labour for Corbyn group

Coventry South MP, who lost whip last year, surprises some in Corbyn’s Independent Alliance with news of formal plans

MP Zarah Sultana, suspended from Labour, has announced she is resigning from the party to join Jeremy Corbyn’s Independent Alliance.

Sultana declared she will “co-lead the founding of a new party” – even though, while there was an agreement in principle to form one, the timing and leadership had not been settled, the Guardian understands.

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Labour’s 10-year health plan for the NHS is bold, radical – and familiar

The health service transformation proposed for England faces daunting challenges that overwhelmed earlier attempts at reform

The government’s 10-year health plan to revive, modernise and future-proof the NHS in England has arrived as the service is facing a dual crisis. It has been unable for a decade now to provide the rapid access – to GPs, A&E care, surgery, ambulances and mental health support – which people need and used to get.

Normalisation of anxiety-inducing, frightening and sometimes fatal delay has produced a less tangible, but also dangerous, crisis: of public satisfaction, born of a profound loss of trust that the NHS will be there for them or their loved ones when they need it.

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Starmer outlines plan to shift NHS care from hospitals to new health centres

Prime minister unveils 10-year health plan to ‘put care on people’s doorsteps’ and prevent illness in first place

The NHS will shift a huge amount of care from hospitals into new community health centres to bring treatment closer to people’s homes and cut waiting times, Keir Starmer will pledge on Thursday.

The prime minister will outline radical plans to give patients in England much easier access to GPs, scans and mental health support in facilities that are open 12 hours a day, six days a week.

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Will Labour’s 10-year health plan usher in a ‘new era’ for the NHS in England?

Major health service reforms have had mixed results, and more emphasis on tech, community-based care and prevention has been tried before

Keir Starmer and Wes Streeting say the 10-year health plan will usher in a “new era for the NHS” in England. Their promised transformation will ensure it works in a more patient-friendly way and offers faster care, with health professionals providing a greater range of services in the same place and spotting illness earlier.

The “three big shifts” in the way the health service operates will involve it becoming more tech-based, moving significant amounts of care into community settings and giving greater priority to preventing illness rather than treating it.

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Man, 92, jailed for 1967 rape and murder of Louisa Dunne in Bristol

Ryland Headley sentenced to minimum of 20 years after what is thought to be oldest cold case solved in modern English policing history

A 92-year-old man has been jailed for life with a minimum of 20 years after being convicted of the rape and murder of a woman in Bristol 58 years ago.

The sentencing judge, Mr Justice Sweeting, told Ryland Headley that he would spend the rest of his life in prison for killing Louisa Dunne at her home in 1967.

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Fewer pupils in less affluent English schools taking languages, survey finds

Less than half taking foreign languages GCSEs compared with 69% in most prosperous state schools

Ministers must make access to language learning a national priority, experts have said, after research showed that children from more deprived areas of England are disproportionately denied the chance to learn a foreign tongue.

This year’s Language Trends report by the British Council surveyed 1,000 primary, secondary and independent schools and found that the proportion of pupils studying a modern language GCSE in less affluent English state schools was 38% lower than in the most affluent and 12% lower than the average.

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‘Smoke and confusion’: exhibition points out Jane Austen’s true thoughts on Bath

Georgian city is not shy of milking its links with the author, but actually she was not happy during her time there

The city of Bath does not fight shy of promoting its Jane Austen connections, tempting in visitors from around the world by organising tours, balls, afternoon teas and writing and embroidery workshops inspired by the author. If you have the inclination, you can buy souvenirs ranging from Jane Austen Top Trumps to a Mr Darcy rubber duck.

But in this, the 250th anniversary year of her birth, an exhibition is being launched daring to point out that in truth Austen wasn’t terribly happy during the five years she lived in the city.

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Lindsey oil refinery owner Prax falls into administration as ministers urged to intervene

Fears over fuel supplies and jobs as Lincolnshire facility handles nearly a tenth of total UK capacity

One of the UK’s largest oil refineries – and the only big one owned by a British company – has collapsed into administration, prompting calls for the government to intervene urgently to protect fuel supplies and jobs.

State Oil, which owns the Prax Lindsey refinery in north Lincolnshire, called in administrators on Monday, Sky News reported first, prompting concern from the trade union Unite.

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Wimbledon opening day hottest on record as temperatures soar

Temperatures set to climb to 34C across much of England in one of hottest June days ever

This year’s Wimbledon tennis championships have begun with the hottest opening day on record, according to the Met Office.

Temperatures reached a provisional high of 29.7C (85.5F) at Kew Gardens in west London on Monday afternoon, surpassing the previous record of 29.3C set in June 2001.

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Extra cost of being disabled in UK to rise by almost 12% in five years, says Scope report

Estimate by disability charity published on eve of MPs’ vote on restricting welfare payments for new claimants

The extra cost of being disabled is on course to rise by almost 12% to £14,688 in five years, according to a new estimate published on the eve of a controversial vote to restrict welfare payments for new claimants.

A threatened rebellion by more than 120 Labour MPs forced the government into a last-minute climbdown on its welfare bill, by exempting claimants to planned cuts in personal independence payments (Pip), England’s main disability payment.

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