Force’s boss called prosecution of PC Paul Fisher over crash while racing to Streatham stabbings ‘appalling’
A police officer who was cleared of dangerous driving after crashing while racing to the scene of a terrorism attack may still face the sack, the Guardian has learned.
PC Paul Fisher was acquitted by a jury at Southwark crown court on Friday, leading the Metropolitan police commissioner to describe his ordeal as “appalling”.
Continue reading...Education experts agree with Ofsted chief that many parents now disregard rules previously taken for granted
Lockdown “broke the spell” that bound parents and schools together, according to school leaders and experts who have endorsed the Ofsted chief’s view that many parents now disregard rules on behaviour and attendance they once took for granted.
Delivering her last annual report as chief inspector of schools in England, Amanda Spielman said: “The social contract between parents and schools has been fractured by lockdowns and closures.” And she warned: “That social contract took years to build and consolidate and it will take time to restore.”
Continue reading...Home secretary under pressure over abusive comments in Commons, with Tory mayor among those condemning them
James Cleverly is coming under pressure over abusive comments he made in the Commons after his explanation that he was insulting the local MP, not calling a Labour-held constituency a “shit-hole”, was met with scepticism.
After Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor for Tees Valley, condemned what he called Cleverly’s “childish and unprofessional language”, the Labour MP concerned, Alex Cunningham, said he simply did not believe the home secretary.
Continue reading...Former deputy chief medical officer said police advised they move out of their home at one point in pandemic
Prof Sir Jonathan Van-Tam and his family were advised by police to move out of their home at one point during the Covid pandemic because of a threat that they would have their throats cut, he has told the inquiry into the pandemic.
Van-Tam, who was one of the deputy chief medical officers for England during the pandemic, said he was worried that the scale of hate from people who objected to lockdown-type measures could put off other people from doing jobs like his.
Continue reading...Local authorities fear service cuts or even bankruptcy as costs jump from £400m to £700m in five years
Soaring costs of school transport for children with special educational needs is causing councils in England to warn of service cuts and potential insolvency, according to local authority leaders.
The County Council Network (CCN), which represents mainly rural local authorities in England, says its 37 members are spending more than £700m a year on school transport for 85,000 children with special education needs and disabilities (Send), compared with less than £400m five years ago.
Continue reading...From building more homes to giving private renters a legal right to buy after longer tenancies
Demand far outstrips supply in private rented housing. More housing of any tenure should reduce excess demand, and with it rents. It could also increase competition among landlords, meaning higher standards, and restore the possibility that young renters could eventually afford to buy.
Continue reading...Boys charged with using a machete to stab Shawn Seesahai, 19, to death in a park near a primary school
Two 12-year-old boys have appeared in court charged with using a machete to kill a 19-year-old man in a park in Wolverhampton.
Shawn Seesahai died after being stabbed shortly before 8.30pm on Monday while he was with friends on open fields near Stowlawn primary school in the East Park area of the city.
Continue reading...Species populations falling, with some decreasing due to loss of habitat and less food availability
More than half the seabird species breeding on British and Irish coasts have declined over the last 20 years, according to the most comprehensive census to date.
Eleven of 21 nesting seabirds species have fallen, five species have remained stable and five have increased, some because of targeted conservation work, according to the Seabirds Count survey.
Continue reading...International study finds those on England programme have bigger drops in BMI, blood sugar and bad cholesterol
People at risk of diabetes reduce their weight and levels of bad cholesterol after undergoing “lifestyle counselling” in the NHS’s diabetes prevention programme, a major international study has found.
The health service launched the programme in 2016 to help prevent patients in England from developing diabetes through intensive weight loss, diet and exercise goals. Prediabetic patients referred to the scheme attend at least 13 group sessions over nine months. Latest figures from NHS England show that 1.3 million people have been referred to the scheme so far and 120,000 patients are due to take part this year.
Continue reading...After the building was evacuated, leaving hundreds temporarily homeless, we look at what happens next for residents and the council
What has happened at Barton House tower block in Bristol?
Barton House, a 65-year-old 15-storey tower block, was built in the late 1950s using reinforced concrete cross walls, pre-cast concrete floors and reinforced concrete external walls.
Continue reading...Quarter of new flood defence projects will also not go ahead, NAO finds, as Environment Agency blames cuts on inflation
The number of properties that will be better protected from flooding by 2027 has been cut by 40%, and 500 of 2,000 new flood defence projects have been abandoned, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).
The number of homes forecast to be under enhanced flood protection by 2027 has been slashed from 336,000 to 200,000. This means 136,000 more homes will be at risk of flooding since plans were drawn up in 2020, figures from an NAO report show.
Continue reading...Number of antibiotic prescriptions also up and officials warn against giving leftovers to friends and family
Giving leftover antibiotics to friends and family risks fuelling a surge in infections resistant to the drugs, officials have warned, as data shows a rise in related cases in England – with people of Asian heritage at greater risk than those who are white.
While severe antibiotic-resistant infections – such as bloodstream infections, UTIs, surgical site infections and respiratory infections – remained below 2018 levels last year, the latest estimates suggest there was a 4% rise between 2021 and 2022, from 55,792 to 58,224. The uptick follows a notable decline during the height of the Covid pandemic.
Continue reading...Amanda Pritchard will say combination of vaccination and screening means goal within two decades is realistic ambition
Cervical cancer can be eliminated in England by 2040, saving thousands of women’s lives, the head of NHS England will say on Wednesday.
A combination of HPV vaccination and screening for the disease means that elimination of it is a realistic ambition, Amanda Pritchard, NHS England’s chief executive, will say.
Continue reading...With waiting times on the rise and a challenging winter ahead, analysts claim the ‘financial bottom line’ is being prioritised
Rishi Sunak’s pledge to slash NHS waiting lists has effectively been downgraded, the Observer has been told, amid an increase in the number of patients in England waiting longer than 18 months for treatment.
Hospital leaders are warning that morale is low, staff absences are high, and funds for new equipment and repairs are having to be raided ahead of winter. They have now been told to prioritise controlling costs in favour of some of the extra work being done towards the prime minister’s pledge to bring down waits.
Continue reading...Association of Clinical Psychologists must pay £20,000 after intervening in family justice case where it mounted ‘critique of expert’
A professional body ordered to pay costs of £20,000 by the president of the family division after intervening in an appeal regarding the qualifications of a court-appointed expert has said the ruling was “unfair” and could have a “chilling effect”.
The Association of Clinical Psychologists UK (ACP-UK) said it had acted in good faith on a matter of “public protection”, after being criticised for conducting itself in a “wholly exceptional manner” during an appeal before the most senior family judge in England and Wales.
Continue reading...Fears grow that Rishi Sunak’s anti-green policy shift is driving investment in renewable energy abroad
The government has received no new applications for onshore wind farms in England since cabinet ministers eased planning rules earlier this year – in a further sign that Rishi Sunak’s anti-green policy shift is driving investment abroad.
So far this year, only one new project, with a single turbine, has become fully operational in England, with many more being built in the EU – and in Scotland and Wales, where planning rules are less burdensome. This is despite renewables being seen as the cleanest and safest form of power, and having wide public support.
Continue reading...BMA raises concerns with minister about planned data platform, which could be run by US firm Palantir
Patients fear that their personal information may be misused by the NHS’s new data store, especially if the US spy technology company Palantir runs it, doctors’ leaders have warned ministers.
The planned creation of the “federated data platform” (FDP) has prompted concerns about privacy and trust in the NHS and suggestions that suspicion around it will lead patients to refuse to share their data.
Continue reading...Police to put tight controls on protesters’ movements with hundreds of thousands expected at event on Armistice Day
The organisers of the pro-Palestine march due to take place in London on Armistice Day believe “hundreds of thousands” of people will turn out for what they say will be one of Britain’s biggest days of mass protest.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan police said the policing of the remembrance weekend would be “far greater and more complex than we’ve delivered before” and that officers would draw on “an extensive set of powers to prevent any disruption whatsoever”, with tight controls put on the movements of protesters.
Continue reading...Katie Tidmarsh found guilty of killing ‘defenceless young child’ she had been in the process of adopting
A woman has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 17 years for murdering the one-year-old baby she was in the process of adopting, after failing to disclose mental health problems to the adoption panel.
Katie Tidmarsh, 39, was convicted of murdering Ruby Thompson, who sustained catastrophic brain damage and died in hospital in August 2012.
Continue reading...Susan and John Cooper, from Burnley, fell ill after hotel room next door was sprayed for bed bug infestation
A woman whose parents were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning during a holiday to Egypt has said her family is “broken without them”.
John and Susan Cooper, aged 69 and 63 respectively, died after falling ill in their hotel room after a pesticide was sprayed in the room next door to kill bed bugs, a coroner ruled on Friday.
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