Category Archives: England

‘Far-right racists’ will not win, Sunderland MP says after riots

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Lewis Atkinson says rioters do not represent city and praises residents gathering to clear up debris

• Police brace for more disorder – latest updates

“Far-right racists” who brought violent disorder to the streets of Sunderland will not be allowed to win, the city’s MP has said as residents gathered to help clean up.

About 500 people, including some parents and their children, came together in the city centre on Friday evening, responding to far-right social media posts to turn up and demonstrate.

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Stephen Lawrence’s father says he was not told son’s body was being exhumed

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Neville Lawrence says he learned of plans to return remains to UK after he saw video of damaged grave in Jamaica

Stephen Lawrence’s father has said he was not informed of the decision to exhume his son’s body in Jamaica and return it to the UK, and that he is “appalled” at the condition his grave was left in.

It comes after Stephen’s mother, Doreen Lawrence, said her family had decided to “bring Stephen home to be closer to us” after originally burying him on the Caribbean island because they felt “he would not be at peace in this country”.

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English hospitals brace for ‘alarming’ disruption as GPs go on strike

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Exclusive: A&Es and mental health services face ‘dangerous’ surge that could continue into 2025, say bosses

The NHS faces “alarming” and “dangerous” disruption until Christmas and potentially into 2025, health chiefs have said, after GPs began their first industrial action in 60 years amid a major row over funding.

Hospitals, A&E units and mental health services are already under huge pressure. They are now braced for a surge in demand from thousands of patients turning to them for help after family doctors in England launched work-to-rule action on Thursday.

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Man jailed after shoplifting hundreds of Cadbury Creme Eggs

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Layton Richards, 29, sentenced to eight months in prison for string of thefts in Dorset, Hampshire and West Sussex

A thief has been jailed for eight months after being found guilty of shoplifting almost 800 Cadbury Creme Eggs over a three-month period.

Layton Richards, 29, had been charged with 24 shoplifting offences between 6 January and 18 April this year, with Hampshire and Isle of Wight constabulary accusing him of stealing as many as 798 of the confectionery items.

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Stephen Lawrence’s body to be returned to UK 31 years after murder

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Doreen Lawrence announces son’s body has been exhumed in Jamaica, after photos of open grave posted online

Stephen Lawrence’s body will be returned to the UK from Jamaica 31 years after his racist murder, his mother, Doreen, has said.

In a statement issued through her lawyer, Lady Lawrence said images of her son’s grave had appeared on social media after his body had been exhumed, which had caused the family “distress”.

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Goals to stop decline of nature in England ‘off track’, report warns

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Audit of Environmental Improvement Plan finds it inadequate as government announces overhaul of goals

Goals to stop the decline of nature and clean up the air and water in England are slipping out of reach, a new report has warned.

An audit of the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP), which is the mechanism by which the government’s legally binding targets for improving nature should be met, has found that plans for thriving plants and wildlife and clean air are deteriorating. This plan was supposed to replace the EU-derived environmental regulations the UK used until the Environment Act was passed in 2021 after Brexit.

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Manchester youth who delivered ‘fatal blow’ to Kennie Carter detained for 16 years

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Three others sentenced to up to five years in young offender institution for revenge attack against teenager

Four teenagers have been sentenced for killing a 16-year-old boy out of revenge in a fatal attack where a single stab “pierced his heart”.

Kennie Carter died after being stabbed in the chest once in Stretford, Greater Manchester, on the evening of 22 January 2022.

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School worker jailed for sexually abusing autistic boy aged under 16

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Acasia Welburn pleaded guilty to three charges of sexual activity with child by person in a position of trust

A school worker has been jailed for sexually abusing an autistic boy who was under 16 at the time, police said.

Acasia Welburn, now 26, had been working at a school in North Yorkshire in a “trusted care position” when she abused the child.

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Record numbers in England taking ADHD medication, NHS data shows

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Increase of 18% in a year attributed to more diagnoses, especially among younger women

A record number of people in England are taking medication used to treat ADHD, data shows, underlining a surge in the number of diagnoses.

Almost 278,000 patients in England were prescribed central nervous system stimulants (CNS) and drugs to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) between April 2023 and March 2024, latest NHS Business Services Authority data shows.

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Cost of England’s four biggest killer diseases could hit £86bn by 2050

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Study predicts overall economic cost of cancer, heart disease, dementia and stroke will rise by 61%

The cost of England’s four biggest killer diseases could rise to £86bn a year by 2050, prompting calls for a crackdown on alcohol, junk food and smoking.

The ageing population means the annual cost of cancer, heart disease, dementia and stroke combined will go from the £51.9bn recorded in 2018 to £85.6bn in 2050 – a rise of 61%.

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Teenager kicked in face by Manchester police is ‘traumatised’, solicitor says

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Akhmed Yakoob claims Muhammed Fahir, 19, is victim of police brutality after video shows arrest at airport

A teenager who was kicked in the face by an armed police officer while lying prone on the ground is “traumatised” and receiving hospital treatment after the “barbaric” assault, his solicitor has said.

Akhmed Yakoob said 19-year-old Muhammed Fahir was a victim of “police brutality” after footage showed an officer stamping on his head during an arrest at Manchester airport on Tuesday.

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Inga Rublite timeline: events in run-up to death of woman in A&E waiting room

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From experiencing a sudden headache at work to being found slumped under a coat in hospital with a brain haemorrhage

• Inquest finds hospital missed two chances to treat Inga Rublite

Inga Rublite was on a break at work when she came down with a sudden headache. Less than 24 hours later, she lay dying on the floor of an overcrowded A&E waiting room under a coat, hidden in plain sight. The sequence of events that led up to her death show an NHS under strain and the risk of patients falling through the cracks.

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Rock star Stevie Van Zandt in plea for more arts and music in English schools

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Exclusive: E Street Band and Sopranos star visits south London to see his TeachRock programme in action

Legendary guitarist and Sopranos star Stevie Van Zandt has made an impassioned plea for more arts and music in England’s schools as a way of engaging disaffected young people during a visit to south London.

It was a last day of term like no other for pupils at Beckmead College – a school for students aged 14-19 with social, emotional and mental health needs – when the E Street Band member turned up, dressed like a rock star in purple velvet, winkle picker boots and trademark bandana.

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Couple and two children among six killed in Wakefield crash

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Shane Roller, Shannen Morgan and their daughters Lillie and Rubie died in collision between two vehicles

A couple who died in a crash with two children in West Yorkshire on Sunday that also killed two other adults have been named by police as Shane Roller and Shannen Morgan.

The collision between two vehicles, which also left an 11-year-old girl orphaned, happened on the A61 Barnsley Road between Staincross in Barnsley and Newmillerdam, Wakefield, on Sunday afternoon.

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Indonesians who paid thousands to work on UK farm sacked within weeks

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Exclusive: Several sent home for slow fruit picking face debts as watchdog investigates alleged illegal fees

Indonesian workers who paid thousands of pounds to travel to Britain and pick fruit at a farm supplying most big supermarkets have been sent home within weeks for not picking fast enough.

One of the workers said he had sold his family’s land, as well as his and his parents’ motorbikes, to cover the more than £2,000 cost of coming to Britain in May and was distressed to find himself unemployed with few possessions.

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UK weather: hottest day of the year so far as temperature of 31.9C recorded

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St James’s Park in central London records highest reading, with health alerts in place across the Midlands, eastern and southern England

UK temperatures have reached their highest point of the year so far, the Met Office has confirmed, with 31.9C recorded at St James’s Park in central London.

The high temperatures, which were recorded largely along the eastern half of the country, came as the majority of schools in England and Wales closed for the summer.

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English councils call for further delay to social care costs cap

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Funding and staffing shortages mean plan to introduce cap in October 2025 impossible to deliver, councils say

Long-awaited changes designed to protect individuals from having to sell their homes to meet large social care bills must be further delayed because of funding and staffing shortages, the leaders of England’s largest councils have said.

Plans to introduce a cap on social care costs – which would limit people’s lifetime care cost contributions to a maximum of £86,000 – in October 2025 will be impossible to deliver, the County Councils Network (CCN) said.

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Women in England could be offered DIY cervical screening tests on NHS

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Research suggests at-home tests could encourage 400,000 more women a year to have a screening

Women could be offered DIY cervical screening tests on the NHS, after research found self-testing at home significantly improved screening rates.

Researchers calculated that being able to take their sample at home could encourage about 400,000 more women a year to have a cervical screening.

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Irish glee as Sinn Féin leader congratulates Spain on Euros win over England

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For some it was harmless banter but others say Mary Lou McDonald’s post on X was an example of obnoxious trolling

It’s a venerable football equation: English defeat = Irish glee.

Mary Lou McDonald, the Sinn Féin leader, reflected this tradition when she posted “Olé, Olé, Olé” and celebrated Spain’s victory over England in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin on Sunday. “Felicidades! Comhghairdeas to the champions of Europe,” she added, using the Irish word for congratulations.

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England’s healthcare watchdog apologises over ‘new regulatory approach’

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CQC ‘got things wrong’ implementing inspection regime and new computer system, interim chief admits

England’s healthcare regulator has issued a public apology over reforms to its monitoring of tens of thousands of hospitals, care homes, dentists and GPs.

The apology from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) came in the wake of care organisations complaining of a “hostile” inspection regime and a major new computer system failing to work properly.

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