Met Office issues warnings for across the UK as the first named storm of the season sweeps in
Parts of the UK have been battered by strong winds and heavy rain, as Storm Ashley – the first named storm of the season – swept in.
The Met Office said the storm was likely to bring a threat of injuries and danger to life, with winds of up to 80mph and heavy rain expected in some areas.
Continue reading...A fresh look at cultural identity will follow outline of 60-year-old Survey of Language and Folklore, conducted by two academics driving a red Mini
In 1964, two young academics clambered into a red Mini and, armed with a mountain of printed slips, set out to conduct what would become the definitive survey of English folklore and traditions for the next 60 years.
John Widdowson and Paul Smith went to town centres, community halls, Women’s Institute meetings. They handed the simple forms out to anyone who visited Sheffield University, where they were based. And they wanted to know the answer to one simple question: what do you know to be true?
Continue reading...Rachel de Souza makes strongest intervention yet as three relatives go on trial for murder of Sara Sharif, the 10-year-old who allegedly suffered two years of abuse by her father
Ministers must ban smacking now, the children’s commissioner for England has said, in her strongest intervention yet on child safety.
Rachel de Souza said that banning smacking was “a necessary step” to keep children safe, and that bans in Scotland and Wales had “taught us we need to take that step in England too”, adding “now is the time to go further”.
Continue reading...Bunker built in 1950s has no electricity or running water, but could be used as a wine cellar, auctioneer suggests
Online auctions are usually filled with fragile antiques and niche memorabilia that ought not to be touched. Those looking for something a bit more durable are now in luck.
An underground bunker with no running water or electricity but built to help survive a nuclear attack is to go on sale next month.
Continue reading...Forecast of high winds and rain leads to cancellation of event that was due to take place in Portsmouth on Sunday
High winds and rain expected from Storm Ashley have caused organisers to cancel the Great South Run, which was due to take place on Sunday.
Great Run, which organises the annual 10-mile race in Portsmouth, said it had been monitoring weather conditions and they “haven’t improved to a point where we can safely stage Sunday’s event”.
Continue reading...Mohamed Iidow attacked Natalie Shotter after she apparently passed out in park in Southall after night out
A man has been convicted of the rape and manslaughter of a woman while she lay unconscious on a park bench in west London after a night out.
Natalie Shotter, 37, an NHS worker, was attacked after apparently passing out in Southall in July 2021. Mohamed Iidow orally raped her “until she died”, his trial heard.
Continue reading...Inspector dismissed emergency services’ concerns that incident was similar to Skripal poisonings, KC says
Police officers urged paramedics and firefighters to treat the second novichok incident in 2018 as a drug overdose despite warnings from the ambulance and fire services that it had similarities to the first poisoning four months earlier in Salisbury, a public inquiry has heard.
The UK government believes the novichok was brought into Britain by agents tasked by Vladimir Putin to target the former spy Sergei Skripal, who had been settled in Salisbury after a spy exchange, the inquiry heard earlier this week. Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were poisoned on 4 March 2018 and both survived.
Continue reading...Newborn received 10 times the correct amount of painkiller and could have died if colleagues had not spotted error
Lucy Letby gave a potentially fatal dose of morphine to a newborn baby two years before she murdered her first victim, an inquiry has heard.
The infant received 10 times the correct amount of the painkiller at the end of a night shift in July 2013 and could have died if colleagues at handover had not spotted the error an hour later.
Continue reading...Wolsingham school’s carbon-cutting event had been planned by pupils but parents raised concerns
A school has made a U-turn on a student-led plan to turn the heating off for a “blue nose” climate action day after parents raised concerns.
The heating was due to be turned off at Wolsingham school, County Durham, on Friday but the plan has now been postponed until the summer term of next year when it is likely to be warmer.
Continue reading...Summer riots were a consequence of relegating the subject to just one month, says Black Curriculum founder
Black history must be made mandatory in England to counter hatred and help prevent racist riots, a leading campaigner says.
Lavinya Stennett, who founded the Black Curriculum, warned of the real risks of black history and a diverse curriculum being relegated to just one month, or only being implemented in schools with diverse students and in metropolitan areas.
Continue reading...Building opened in 1904 and featured on Smiths album sleeve needs ‘urgent cash injection’ as grant income falls
Salford Lads Club, the youth centre immortalised by the Smiths on the sleeve of their third studio album The Queen Is Dead, is under threat of closure.
The rising costs of maintaining and running the Grade II-listed building, as well as a drop in grant funding, have left it with a shortfall of about £250,000.
Continue reading...Virginia McCullough, 36, kept bodies of her father and mother in house for four years after their deaths
A woman who murdered her parents and lived with their bodies for four years has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 36 years.
Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father, John McCullough, 70, with prescription medication that she crushed and put into his alcoholic drinks, the prosecutor Lisa Wilding KC told Chelmsford crown court. She then murdered her mother, Lois McCullough, 71, the following day.
Continue reading...Hitachi digger tracked down to town of Pruchnik, with arrangements made to reunite it with its owner
A digger stolen from a development site in Dorset has been found five months later and 1,200 miles away in a rural town in south-eastern Poland.
Dorset police received a report on 1 April that a Hitachi digger and a JCB digger had been stolen in the small town of Ferndown, near Bournemouth.
Continue reading...English primary schools having to help infants catch up on speech and language to cope with lessons
Primary schools are having to teach infants how to communicate, as they struggle to make friends or cope with lessons because of speech and language difficulties, according to a report by Ofsted.
The research by Ofsted inspectors, based on visits to schools in England rated as good or outstanding, found that the Covid pandemic “is still having an impact on children’s behaviour and social skills”.
Continue reading...Lawyers return to court in dispute over amount of legal costs to be paid from ‘Wagatha Christie’ case
Coleen Rooney has claimed she ran up a legal bill totalling more than £1.8m from her high-profile libel battle with Rebekah Vardy, the high court has been told.
Vardy, the wife of the Leicester City footballer Jamie Vardy, lost the legal action in July 2022 after she sued Rooney for libel in what became known as the “Wagatha Christie” case.
Continue reading...Seized dog, named Bruno, euthanised while owners were applying for exemption to keep him
Lancashire police has apologised after putting down an XL bully dog while the owners were in the process of applying for an exemption to keep him.
The seized dog, named Bruno, was euthanised due to an “administration error”.
Continue reading...Stephen Cox, 65, to be sentenced on Monday for 12 offences between 1988 and 1997
A retired GP has been found guilty of indecently assaulting female patients on the pretext of carrying out routine procedures.
Stephen Cox, 65, denied 16 charges of indecent assault against seven women while practising in Bracknell, Berkshire, between 1988 and 1997. He was found guilty of 12 of those counts on Friday at Reading crown court after a four-week trial, Thames Valley police said. He will be sentenced on Monday.
Continue reading...Some senior ministers expected to vote against measure in free vote, while others are still undecided
MPs backing a new bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales hope to secure a Commons vote by Christmas, but cabinet ministers are set for a big split over support for the legislation.
The bill, due to be brought forward by the Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater this month, is to be a free vote but some senior cabinet ministers are expected to vote against – and several, including the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and the health and social care secretary, Wes Streeting – remain undecided.
Continue reading...From general election upsets to protests on the streets, the shockwaves from the Middle East have resonated in Britain
When Shockat Adam, the newly elected independent MP for Leicester South, addressed his supporters at the July election count, he brought his speech to an end with a dedication – not to the constituents of the East Midlands city he now represents, but to people more than 2,000 miles away.
“This is for the people of Gaza”, he said, holding a Palestinian keffiyeh aloft.
Continue reading...Business students at £9,250-a-year Regent College London raised series of complaints with Office for Students
Students at a private higher education college charging £9,250 a year were taught by staff reading out bullet points and showing videos, according to an investigation that found one tutor held an online class while appearing to be on public transport.
The students attending Regent College London told investigators from England’s higher education regulator that teaching staff changed frequently, including one cover tutor who “arrived almost half an hour late” to host an online class and “was clearly travelling or in a public place”.
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