Planned 22 days of disrupted weekend services suspended with Aslef stating it has resolved a longstanding dispute
A series of weekend strikes by train drivers on LNER from Saturday has been called off, their trade union Aslef has announced.
Passengers travelling between London and Edinburgh had faced the prospect of months of disruption after LNER drivers earlier this month announced 22 days of industrial action from the start of September until early November.
Continue reading...Samaritans charity calls on government to invest in suicide prevention as it has with smoking reduction
Ministers have been urged to treat suicide as a public health crisis after the rate at which people killed themselves in England and Wales reached the highest level in more than two decades.
The official figures, described by the suicide prevention charity Samaritans as “worse than expected”, showed 6,069 suicides were registered in the two nations in 2023, up from 5,642 in 2022 and the highest rate since 1999.
Continue reading...Mussie Imnetu from Sweden, who worked under Gordon Ramsay, was assaulted while in London on business trip
A Swedish chef who had worked under Gordon Ramsay is in critical condition after being attacked near Notting Hill carnival on Monday.
Mussie Imnetu, 41, the head chef at the Arts Club in Dubai, was visiting London on a business trip. At about 11.20pm on Monday, Imnetu was attacked at the Dr Power restaurant in Queensway.
Continue reading...Hospitality industry expresses concern about impact on businesses of leaked proposals not denied by PM
Keir Starmer is on a collision course with the hospitality industry and political opponents after signalling plans for major curbs on outdoor smoking.
The proposals, not denied by the prime minister, would potentially prohibit tobacco use outside pubs and restaurants, including on pavements. The restrictions would come on top of existing plans to gradually outlaw smoking year by year.
Continue reading...Amanda Walton, who was walking dog when she threw missile, daughter and daughter’s boyfriend all plead guilty
A woman, her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend have admitted taking part in violent far-right disorder earlier this month in Middlesbrough.
Amanda Walton, 52, who was walking her pet chow chow, threw a missile and damaged a car. Her daughter Megan Davison, 24, jumped on the roof of a car. Davison’s boyfriend Jake Wray, 23, stopped cars at a junction demanding: “Are you white? Are you English?”
Continue reading...Department for Transport’s annual travel poll shows car or van trips up 8% as Covid-era shift to cycling fizzles away
People in England are walking record distances, official figures show – but charities have said more needs to be done to get individuals on their feet.
According to government data, the average walking journey increased in length last year, even as most other forms of day-to-day travel continued to lag behind pre-pandemic levels.
Continue reading...Josh Greally, 28, pleaded guilty to public order offence over incident during election campaign
A man has been given a suspended prison sentence after being convicted of throwing what appeared to be a coffee cup at Nigel Farage during the general election campaign.
Josh Greally, 28, was sentenced to six weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, at Barnsley magistrates court after throwing items at the Reform UK leader who was campaigning in the South Yorkshire town.
Continue reading...Largely peaceful festival marred by fresh stabbing on Monday after three people were hurt on Sunday
Tens of thousands of revellers have turned out to enjoy the final day of this year’s Notting Hill carnival, flooding the streets of west London with colour, dancing and music.
Dancers showed off their flamboyant costumes while floats blasted music for the spectators on the streets of W11. Vendors cooked up a mix of food on open barbecues, as sound systems played everything from rare groove to house, samba, reggae and ska.
Continue reading...John Alfred Tinniswood was born the year the Titanic sank and has lived through the tenure of 24 UK prime ministers
The world’s oldest living man has turned 112 at his care home in Merseyside.
John Alfred Tinniswood, who lives in Southport, put his long life down to “just luck”, and said he did not follow a special diet, except for eating fish and chips every Friday.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Children in disadvantaged areas three times as likely to be sent away as pupils in wealthier places
Fifty secondary schools in England suspended more than a quarter of their students after the pandemic, with children at schools with the most disadvantaged pupils three times as likely to be suspended as those in wealthier areas, according to analysis by the Guardian.
The proportion of schools suspending large numbers of pupils has risen sharply since schools were closed to many children during Covid, and teachers have struggled with deteriorating behaviour since they reopened.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Experts say ‘desocialised’ pupils home schooled through Covid are entering traditionally most disruptive years
Teachers returning to work next month will confront a worrying “behaviour bubble” as younger children who were most severely affected by the pandemic reach the teenage years renowned for peak classroom disruption.
The warning from experts and school leaders in England comes as evidence shows that children of primary school age during the pandemic – when schools were closed to most pupils – have been accruing exclusions and suspensions at a record pace since moving to secondary school.
Continue reading...Charity is considering removing some of the water and there is also concern over the sediment on the canal floor
When sodium cyanide leaked into a Walsall canal this month, leading to major incident being declared and miles of the waterway closed off, the Canal & River Trust was working in uncharted territory.
The charity is used to fighting pollution in the waterways that crisscross the country, but this type of chemical – and the extreme risk to public health that came with it – was not something it had tackled before.
Continue reading...Hope that this weekend’s event in west London will bring people together to celebrate diversity after recent unrest
Organisers of Notting Hill carnival have said the festivities this year will take on a renewed importance and remind people of the need for diversity and inclusion after the far-right riots that took place this month.
More than a million people are expected to line the streets of west London this weekend for the 56th annual carnival, one of the biggest street festivals in the world.
Continue reading...Paul and Luke Sissons among those sentenced over disorder earlier this month in English towns and cities
Two brothers have each been jailed for three years after being convicted of being at the forefront of a riot outside a hotel housing more than 200 asylum seekers in Rotherham.
Sheffield crown court heard that Luke and Paul Sissons were involved in several violent incidents at the Holiday Inn Express, in Manvers, on 4 August, including confrontations with riot police and an attack on a police dog van.
Continue reading...Campaigners fear increase by £149 in energy price cap by Ofgem will put more pressure on households
Households will begin the run-up to winter with a sharp increase in their energy bills after the industry regulator increased its cap on energy prices by 9.5% from October.
Under the new price cap, the average annual energy bill will rise to £1,717 a year for gas and electricity, up £149 from its current level of £1,568, which has been in place since July.
Continue reading...Michelle Charters urges more recognition and reconciliation on Unesco’s Slavery Remembrance Day
Liverpool must not “shy away” from its historic involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, the organiser of the city’s 25th Slavery Remembrance Day commemoration has said.
Michelle Charters, who is leading Liverpool’s events for Unesco’s Slavery Remembrance Day, said it was important to address and recognise the city’s tarnished history.
Continue reading...NFCC says statutory safety standards would raise emergency response to flooding and wildfires in line with rest of UK
Fire chiefs are calling for more support to respond to extreme weather events such as flooding and wildfires in England amid warnings of a postcode lottery on safety standards during emergencies.
The National Fire Chiefs Council urged ministers to impose a statutory duty in England to respond to severe weather-related incidents in order to ensure there is the right equipment, training and budget to deal with them.
Continue reading...Analysis of grades shows disparities also conceal enormous variations in performance within each region
As the tide of exam results affected by Covid recedes, it reveals stark social and regional inequalities in GCSE performances across England that are barely changed or worse than before the pandemic struck.
Those receiving their GCSE results this week were in their first year of secondary school when the pandemic began in early 2020, with that year and the next hugely disrupted as a result.
Continue reading...Charity says rise ‘hugely concerning’ and calls for change in law in England and Northern Ireland in line with rest of UK
Concerns raised to the NSPCC helpline about children being physically punished have more than tripled in a year, the charity has said.
Helpline staff heard about children being hit, slapped and shaken, with 45% of the concerns raised requiring a referral to social services, the police or other agencies.
The NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000.
Continue reading...England’s controversial eradication scheme may have caused higher rates of disease in surrounding areas, research shows
England’s controversial badger cull may have increased the risk of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) among herds in neighbouring areas, according to new research.
Researchers at the University of Oxford found that although badger culling reduced incidences of tuberculosis in the areas where it took place, in neighbouring areas the risk of the disease in cattle increased by almost a third.
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