Category Archives: England

Keir Starmer accuses Tories of ‘moving goalposts’ on NHS cancer care

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Proposals to ‘streamline’ treatment, which government says are clinically led, would cut number of targets from nine to three

Keir Starmer has accused the government of “moving the goalposts” as the number of NHS cancer waiting time targets is expected to be reduced.

The government has been consulting on the proposed measures to streamline NHS cancer care, which would replace the nine existing cancer targets with just three. The target of all patients seeing a specialist within two weeks of an urgent referral for cancer tests by the GP is expected to be scrapped.

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Forty days, 117 buses, 1,650 miles: man completes charity trip round England

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Stephen Chitty, 70, from Watford raised about £2,000 for Mercy Ships on ‘tiring but rewarding’ journey

A 70-year-old man has raised almost £2,000 for charity by completing a 40-day challenge to travel the length and breadth of England entirely by bus.

Stephen Chitty, from Watford, Hertfordshire, travelled 1,650 miles on 117 buses. He started and finished his ambitious journey in Watford and travelled to English cities including Newcastle and Norwich.

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Suella Braverman under pressure to scrap refugee barge plan after legionella found

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Asylum seekers removed from Bibby Stockholm after bacteria which can cause serious lung infection found in water

Suella Braverman is under pressure to abandon plans to house asylum seekers on a barge after 39 people had to be removed from the vessel after the discovery of potentially deadly bacteria in the water system.

Ministers said they were concerned contractors knew there were traces of legionella bacteria on the Bibby Stockholm on Monday, when the first asylum seekers boarded the vessel in Portland, Dorset. Officials have insisted the Home Office was not told about the detection until Wednesday when further tests were ordered.

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International search for three people over death of 10-year-old girl in Surrey

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Police conducting murder investigation after body found at house near Woking say they believe people have left UK

An international search has been launched after detectives said they believed three people sought over the suspected murder of a 10-year-old girl in Surrey left the UK on Wednesday.

Police opened a murder investigation on Thursday after discovering the child’s body at a house in the village of Horsell, near Woking.

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Southern Water owner Macquarie invests further £550m

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Australian investment bank funds troubled UK utility’s overhaul of pipes and sewage works

The Australian infrastructure investor Macquarie has confirmed it will inject a further £550m into the UK’s Southern Water in an attempt to turn around the troubled company.

The funds are intended to help Southern Water, which supplies Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, to overhaul its leaky pipes and faulty sewage works.

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Murder investigation under way after girl, 10, found dead in Surrey

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Police officers were called to house in Woking in early hours in response to a concern for safety

A murder investigation has been launched after a 10-year-old girl was found dead at a house in Woking.

Officers were called to a property on Hammond Road at about 2.50am on Thursday in response to a concern for safety. On arrival, the girl was found dead, Surrey police said.

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Politicians too scared to take on tech firms, says former senior Met officer

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Dal Babu calls for financial penalties after social media posts attract hundreds of teenagers to Oxford Street

Politicians are too scared to take on big tech companies, a former chief superintendent has said after posts shared on social media attracted hundreds of teenagers to London’s Oxford Street.

Police issued 34 dispersal orders and arrested nine individuals on Wednesday after people gathered outside JD Sports in an apparent response to posts on Snapchat and TikTok urging users to take part in an “Oxford Circus JD robbery” at 3pm.

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Change planning laws to protect historic pub buildings, campaigners say

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Call for government to act amid anger over demolition of Crooked House pub in Staffordshire

The UK risks losing a vital part of its heritage unless planning laws are changed to protect historic pub buildings, campaigners have said.

Greg Mulholland, the director of Campaign for Pubs, said the growing anger over the fire and demolition of the Crooked House pub in Staffordshire must act as a “catalyst for change” in the approach to protecting historic pubs.

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UK philanthropist gives almost £29m to heritage skills training

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Hamish Ogston’s donation will fund up to 2,700 apprenticeships in crafts to preserve historic buildings

A British philanthropist has given almost £29m to heritage skills training, breathing new life into dying crafts and addressing the chronic shortage of specialists who can prevent historic buildings from deteriorating beyond repair.

Hamish Ogston’s donation, which has been made through his charitable foundation, will be announced on Thursday.

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One in three of England’s university starters ‘may live at home’ this year

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Study shows cost of living influencing students’ choice, with fears of limiting effect on career options

One in three students starting university this year may opt to live at home, according to new research that found rising costs and family needs are affecting the “Covid generation” of school-leavers.

Before the pandemic about 20% of first year undergraduates in England lived at home while studying, including older mature students. But a new survey of current sixth formers by University College London found that as many as 34% of 18-year-old school-leavers could stay at home if accepted by their first-choice university when exam results are published next week.

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Consultants in England to strike in September if government refuses talks

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BMA highlights government’s ‘complete disregard’ for the health service and its patients

Consultants in England will strike for two additional days in September if the government continues to refuse pay talks and fails to present the profession with a credible offer, the British Medical Association has said.

The BMA said on Monday that it had written to the health secretary, Steve Barclay, to inform him that on top of strikes by consultants on 24 and 25 August, there would be additional strikes on 19 and 20 September, unless the government agrees to further negotiations.

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Nearly 100,000 fewer top A-levels this year in grading plan, research suggests

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Tens of thousands of students face likely drop in As and A*s as ministers aim to return results in England to pre-pandemic levels

Tens of thousands of A-level students face disappointment on results day next week, amid warnings that nearly 100,000 fewer As and A*s could be awarded as the government seeks to return grades to pre-pandemic levels.

Up to 50,000 candidates this summer are likely to miss out on the top grades they might have expected last year, according to one estimate, throwing applications for the most competitive universities into doubt.

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Storm Antoni hits UK with near-80mph gusts and train disruption in south-west

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Winds in Berry Head in Devon of 78mph could be August record for area while trees fall on Exeter-Penzance track

Storm Antoni, the first the Met Office has named this season, has hit the UK, with forecasters warning that flying debris thrown up by strong winds could pose a danger to life.

The highest wind gust recorded was in Berry Head (78mph) in South Devon followed by Cardinham (56mph) in Cornwall. The Met Office said these were both provisionally a new highest wind gust for August in those places.

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‘One step at a time’: entrepreneur buys stairwell in London to help startups

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Simon Squibb plans to provide small businesses with rent-free space after bidding £25,000 for disused stairs

An entrepreneur who woke up homeless in a stairwell at the age of 15 with his first business idea has spent £25,000 on a disused stairwell to provide a rent-free space in London for small businesses to fulfil their dreams.

Simon Squibb, who retired at 40 after selling Fluid, his marketing agency, to PricewaterhouseCoopers, hopes the stairwell in Twickenham, south-west London, will provide a showcase for owners of small businesses.

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Rishi Sunak warned of concerns over NHS private sector partnerships

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Plans to cut waiting lists in England were welcomed but critics say they do not address deeper staffing issues

Rishi Sunak has been warned his plan for more private sector partnerships with the NHS in England to cut waiting lists will amount to “reshuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic” without addressing deeper structural issues with staffing.

The recommendations of an elective recovery plan, published on Friday, were broadly welcomed by opposition parties and health experts, but said to be overdue. Critics also said they only addressed a fragment of the much wider capacity and staffing issues across the whole of the country’s health systems.

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Let private and third sectors cut NHS waiting lists, says Steve Barclay

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Health secretary says ‘every available resource’ must be used to help patients access diagnosis and treatment faster

More private and third sector providers should be used by the NHS to help cut post-Covid waiting lists, Steve Barclay, the health secretary, will say after a review of capacity in the health service.

Barclay will draw on the work of his “elective recovery taskforce” – a group convened by ministers to look at how to bring down waiting times.

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Relief as teachers in England settle for 6.5% – but there may be battles ahead

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While many welcome the end of strike action, the campaign for fair pay and better funding for state schools looks set to continue

Ministers will have heaved a huge sigh of relief to see teachers and school leaders in England vote to accept a 6.5% pay offer and end strike action in state schools in England.

After months of disruption as a result of strikes by members of the National Education Union (NEU), there were real fears in government of an escalation of the dispute, with coordinated strike action in the autumn term by four unions.

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Why English Heritage is encouraging adults to dress up

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Research shows our imaginations grow richer with age so the charity is giving grownups a chance to have fun

Parents are used to watching their children eagerly dress up as a knight or a gladiator before going bananas when they visit castles, forts and stately homes.

But English Heritage believes adults will also get more out of visiting their sites if they leave their inhibitions aside and don a Roman toga or medieval chainmail for the day.

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‘Catastrophic’ forecast shows 9m people in England with major illnesses by 2040

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Cases of dementia, diabetes, cancer, depression and kidney disease expected to soar as growing numbers reach old age

Nine million people in England will be living with major illnesses such as dementia, diabetes, cancer, depression and kidney disease by 2040, according to projections health leaders called “catastrophic”.

In a rapidly ageing population, the number living with serious diseases will rise from almost one in six of the adult population in 2019, to nearly one in five by 2040, with huge implications for the NHS, social care and the public finances.

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Thousands of children in England facing ‘heartbreaking’ waits for NHS dental care

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Exclusive: health leaders and MPs warn of ‘perfect storm’ in which children wait ‘in agony’ for treatment

Thousands of children in England are experiencing “heartbreaking” long waits for NHS dental care, with some waiting “in agony” for years to have teeth extracted, according to shocking new figures.

Health leaders and MPs warned of a “perfect storm” in which children are struggling to access dentists to nip minor issues “in the bud”, and then facing horrific waiting times for operations to fix problems that have spiralled out of control.

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