Paul Gilbert says people in flood-prone areas are forgotten, after death of Maureen Gilbert, 83, in Storm Babet
A man who found his mother’s lifeless body floating in flood water triggered by Storm Babet inher Chesterfield home has spoken of his anger that people in flood-prone areas are being “forgotten”.
It is thought that Maureen Gilbert, 83, drowned after she was unable to escape the rapidly rising water inside her terrace home owing to mobility problems.
Continue reading...Major cleanup operations get under way in worst-hit areas after storm that left four people dead
Fresh danger-to-life flood warnings have been issued as water levels continued to rise in the wake of Storm Babet, while cleanup operations got under way in some of the worst-hit areas.
All weather warnings triggered by the storm had expired on Sunday morning, with drier and brighter weather forecast, but flooding was expected to last for days and two severe flood warnings, signalling danger to life, were later issued for Retford in Nottinghamshire.
Continue reading...Warnings from both the Met Office and the Environment Agency come as storm continues to batter the UK
In North Wales, a sheepdog named Patsy rescued three ewes which had been cut off by floodwater on Friday afternoon.
Farmer Llyr Derwydd, 44, went to check on his sheep in Flintshire when he saw the sheep “stranded on this little spot on the field”.
So we thought we’d better get them off and make sure they’re safe.
I just thought, ‘I’ll see if the dog will go’. I gave her the command and she swam across.
Continue reading...Change means drone operators could face fines up to £2,500 for flying within 400 metres of prisons or young offender institutions
New “no-fly zones” will be introduced around prisons in England and Wales to prevent drones being used to deliver drugs and contraband to inmates.
The legal change will mean drone operators could face fines of up to £2,500 for flying within 400 metres of closed prisons or young offender institutions.
Continue reading...Pubs in south-west London, where many of the UK’s 200,000-plus South Africans live, are hosting viewing parties
Excited fans of England and South Africa are gathering in bars, pubs and community centres around the UK to watch the tense Rugby World Cup semi-final between the two nations.
England secured their spot in the final four after overcoming Fiji 30-24 in a close-run quarter-final in Marseille, while South Africa narrowly defeated the hosts – and erstwhile favourites – France last weekend, 29-28.
Continue reading...On the streets of Labour’s new constituencies, there was anti-Tory feeling – but also much apathy
It was a stunning pair of victories – and among the most damaging byelection nights any government has suffered in living memory, according to the celebrated psephologist John Curtice.
The question in the newly minted Labour constituencies of Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth the morning after was whether the opposition party can repeat the success at a general election.
Continue reading...Red ‘danger to life’ warning covers Angus and southern Aberdeenshire, as person confirmed killed by falling tree
The Met Office has issued a second “danger to life” red warning for rain covering the region in eastern Scotland already suffering unprecedented flooding.
The weather agency said the very rare red warning of severe flooding and disruption covered Angus and southern Aberdeenshire and was in place for the whole of Saturday. It came as a second person was confirmed to have been killed after a falling tree hit a van near Forfar on Thursday evening.
Continue reading...Ability to regain marginals as well as eat into Tory heartlands shows party is on course for stunning general election win
Labour is deservedly basking in its byelection successes in Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth. The 2019 general election results left the party with a mountain to climb if it were to achieve an overall majority. It needed a huge swing to reclaim many traditional marginals that had supported Tony Blair back in the day, or else make progress in constituencies that had never been Labour before, even at the peaks in 1945 and 1997. These byelection victories show that Labour can achieve both objectives.
Tamworth was a traditional bellwether that had shifted well to the right. Mid Bedfordshire was the archetypal home counties Conservative stronghold, which had been true blue since 1931.
Continue reading...Police Scotland say 57-year-old’s body recovered from River Esk after reports of someone being swept away
The body of a 57-year-old woman has been recovered from a river in Angus, Police Scotland have said, as hundreds of people were ordered to evacuate their homes in a town in the east of the country because of fears that the River Esk will burst its banks during Storm Babet.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 1.45pm on Thursday October 19, officers attended a report of a person having been swept into the Water of Lee, Glen Esk.
Continue reading...David and Celia Barlow were married in South Africa on Saturday and were killed by a group linked to Islamic State
Tributes have been paid to a couple who were killed on their honeymoon in Uganda in a “cowardly terrorist attack”.
A British businessman, David Barlow, his wife Celia, a South African-born hotel executive, and their Ugandan guide were driving through the Queen Elizabeth national park on Tuesday when they were attacked and killed by a group linked to Islamic State.
Continue reading...AQA awaits regulator approval for on-screen assessment of reading and listening components
GCSEs in Italian and Polish are to be assessed digitally in England from 2026, with plans to move at least one large-entry subject such as English to partial digital assessment by the end of the decade, a major exam board has announced.
England’s largest exam provider, AQA, said that subject to regulatory approval, the reading and listening components of the two language GCSEs would be examined through digital assessment for the first time.
Continue reading...HMP Wandsworth holding more extra prisoners than any other jail despite recent high-profile problems
Two-thirds of prisons in England and Wales are officially overcrowded, with HMP Wandsworth holding more extra prisoners than any other jail despite the alleged escape of a terror suspect last month.
In September there were 663 more men in Wandsworth than the 950 the south London prison has “good, decent” accommodation for, under the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) definition. That means prisoners sharing cells designed for one, often with a toilet in the middle shielded by a curtain.
Continue reading...Use of portable buildings and more doubling up in cells could be part of package to be announced next week
Prisoners in England and Wales could be moved into portable buildings or released early as part of a huge extension of the electronic tagging scheme, as the justice secretary considers creative measures to solve the overcrowding crisis.
Alex Chalk KC is expected to reveal a package of measures on Monday that could add 1,000 prison places across the estate, the Guardian understands.
Continue reading...Head of Honywood school says building of temporary structure is a near miracle after crisis it faced
“Three and a half weeks ago, there was nothing here,” said James Saunders, the headteacher of Honywood school, looking with pride – and disbelief – at the scene unfolding in front of him. “It was a field!”
Before us is a brand new school, built in the space of six weeks – a temporary home for the 800 pupils at Honywood in Coggeshall, Essex, one of the schools most severely affected by the recent concrete crisis that threw the start of the new term across England into chaos.
Continue reading...Government accused of letting down victims as full prisons mean convicted criminals will spend longer on bail
Victims of crime in England and Wales are being let down by a government that has failed to provide adequate resources to the criminal justice system, women’s groups have said, after it emerged that sentencing hearings of convicted criminals currently on bail – including rapists and burglars – were to be delayed because prisons are full.
It has been reported that the senior presiding judge for England and Wales, Lord Justice Edis, issued the guidance on a private call with senior crown court judges. A government source told the Guardian it applied to those who had been on bail throughout the court process and had, therefore, already been assessed as lower risk.
Continue reading...Leading Jewish groups have hit out at English football’s response to the Hamas attacks in Israel and criticised the Football Association’s refusal to light up the Wembley arch in the colours of the Israeli flag.
With the FA believed to be nervous over being seen to favour one of Israel and Palestine, it has decided to hold a period of silence for all victims of the conflict before England host Australia in a friendly on Friday night. On a day when the Premier League broke its silence on the situation, it was announced that the England and Australia players would wear black armbands and that supporters would be prevented from bringing Israeli and Palestinian kits and flags into Wembley.
Continue reading...The FA will announce plans on Thursday to mark the recent atrocities in Israel at the friendly match between England and Australia, after leading Jewish figures within the game urged them to act.
As the leader of the opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, said he believed the Wembley arch should be illuminated in the colours of the Israeli flag following attacks by Hamas across the country last weekend, pressure grew on the FA to break the silence that has been consistent across the professional game this week.
Continue reading...Conditions such as diabetes and obesity are said to magnify risk of south Asian and black people developing the disease
The most common risk factors for dementia appear to have a more pronounced effect in black and Asian people, a study suggests, prompting calls for greater efforts to tackle health inequalities.
The number of adults living with dementia worldwide is on course to nearly triple to 153 million by 2050. Experts say the disease presents a major and rapidly growing threat to future health and social care systems in every community, country and continent.
Continue reading...Historic England announces scheme to deter would-be criminals from treasures at shipwreck sites
Shipwreck treasures that lie on seabeds around the coast of England are to be given “gamechanging” protection against criminals.
Historic England has announced details of a scheme that will involve, for the first time, forensic marking at some of the 57 most protected wreck sites.
Continue reading...More people attending accident and emergency in England with sore throats, nosebleeds and insomnia
The NHS in England is facing mounting pressure amid a surge in patients attending A&E departments with minor ailments, health bosses have said.
Emergency departments, which are designed for serious injuries and life-threatening emergencies only, are seeing an increase in people attending with sore throats, insomnia, coughs and earache.
Continue reading...