Category Archives: England

Nine Met police suspended amid inquiry into claims of excessive force

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Watchdog says there are also allegations of discriminatory and misogynistic comments, centring on Charing Cross police station

Nine Scotland Yard officers have been suspended after an investigation was launched into claims of excessive use of force and the making of discriminatory and misogynistic comments.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the allegations centre on Charing Cross police station in central London, the source of a previous scandal for the Metropolitan police.

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Relax with Rembrandt: artist’s self-portrait to take a slow tour of England

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National Trust-owned painting will be exhibited with a meditation option for art lovers to take a long, lingering look

The impulse to race around a gallery and take in as many wonderful paintings as possible can be hard to resist.

But art enthusiasts are being urged to slow down and take a lingering, meditative look at one of the great self-portraits when it is taken on an unhurried tour of England.

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Don’t log non-crime hate incidents, says head of police watchdog

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Andy Cooke says the cases take up little time for forces in England and Wales but create intense controversy

Police should no longer record or investigate non-crime hate incidents, the chief inspector of constabulary has said.

Sir Andy Cooke said handling the incidents took up a minuscule amount of time but drew vehement criticism.

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School absence a big factor in child mental illness in England, data shows

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Loughborough University and ONS study of 1 million school-age children reveals risks increase with longer absence

School absences “significantly contribute” to children’s mental ill health, according to research backed by the Office for National Statistics that shows the risks increase the longer a child is absent.

“Our research shows that the more times a child is absent from school, the greater the probability that they will experience mental ill health,” the authors, from Loughborough University and the ONS, concluded.

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South West Water taken to court over cryptosporidium outbreak in Devon

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Inspectorate issues summons after water supply infected 140 people with diarrhoea-type disease in Brixham last year

South West Water is being taken to court over a parasite that infected the water supply in parts of Devon last summer and left dozens sick.

More than 140 people were confirmed to have the diarrhoea-type disease, which also causes stomach pains and vomiting, typically lasting for about two weeks. Four people were hospitalised at the time.

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Thousands in England unable to access weight loss jabs via GP, figures reveal

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Doctors say NHS rollout not fit for purpose with fewer than half of commissioning bodies prescribing Mounjaro

Thousands of patients in England are unable to access weight loss jabs via their GP, figures reveal, as doctors warn that the NHS rollout is “not fit for purpose”.

Family doctors got the green light to prescribe the drugs for the first time in June. About 220,000 people with “greatest need” were set to receive Mounjaro, also known as tirzepatide and made by Eli Lilly, on the NHS over the next three years.

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Ministers urged to digitise adoption records to help reunite families

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As ITV’s Long Lost Family airs, campaigners say retaining archives is crucial for those separated by forced adoptions at unmarried mothers’ homes

Ministers have been urged to digitise records essential to reuniting families separated by the UK’s unmarried mothers’ home scandal by campaigners who fear they could be lost in Angela Rayner’s local government reorganisation project.

Hundreds of thousands of British women were coerced to give up babies at church-linked homes, which worked alongside statutory agencies, between the 1940s and 1980s.

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NHS corridor care now year-round crisis in England, experts say

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About 74,150 patients waited at least 12 hours on trolleys in June and July, a situation almost nonexistent 10 years ago

Corridor care in the NHS is now a year-round crisis, experts have warned, as analysis showed nearly 3 million patients attended A&E over the first two months of the summer.

The latest NHS figures in England, analysed by the Liberal Democrats, show that since 2015 the number of people going to A&E in June and July has increased 15% to 2.9 million – the highest level recorded over the past decade.

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Tap-in, tap-out rail ticket trial to streamline fares using GPS tracking

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East Midlands passengers to test digital tickets that will automatically charge best fares at end of day

Train passengers in the East Midlands are to test technology that will let them tap in and out for journeys and be charged the best fare for their trip at the end of the day.

Trials of digital rail tickets based on GPS tracking will begin on Monday as part of the government’s plan to improve the rail network’s complex fare system.

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Labour won the legal battle over asylum hotels, but the right is running the story

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Ruling has bought government time to plan closures but Farage and Tories have more fuel for their grievances

Protesters were already gathering outside the Bell hotel by Friday evening with union flags and St George’s flags waving. This court ruling was never going to end as a quiet legal moment.

For the Home Office, the court of appeal’s decision was a practical win. If the ruling had gone the other way, the government would have been forced to rehouse 138 asylum seekers in a matter of days, opening the floodgates to similar legal challenges from other councils. Since there is scant alternative accommodation available, this ruling buys the government time.

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Asylum seekers to remain at Epping hotel after court of appeal revokes ban

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Judges say decision to allow injunction was ‘seriously flawed’ and contained several ‘errors in principle’

More than 130 people seeking asylum will be allowed to remain in the Bell hotel in Epping after the court of appeal overturned a high court ban on housing them there, leaving police braced for further angry protests.

While the decision was a technical victory for the Home Office, as other local councils could have brought legal challenges against the use of hotels, it has already been seized on by Labour’s political opponents.

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Minister orders immigration centre to remove ‘balloon craft’ job ads

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Outsourcing firm Mitie listed several roles aimed at providing ‘safe and productive’ environment for detainees

Jobs aimed at improving the wellbeing of people at an immigration detention centre, including holding workshops in floristry and balloon craft, are unnecessary and should be removed, a government minister has said.

The outsourcing firm Mitie, which manages the Heathrow immigration removal centre (IRC) in west London, listed several roles online, including a painting and decorating tutor and gym manager, for salaries ranging between £31,000 and £38,000.

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Vaccine warning for England as one in five children start school unprotected

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Experts say country needs ‘wake up call’ with levels far below those needed for herd immunity

England needs to “wake up” to its faltering infant vaccination programme, experts have warned, as it was revealed that one in five children start primary school unprotected from serious infectious diseases.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the target for vaccine uptake among children in order to achieve herd immunity is 95%. But figures for 2024-25 released by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on Thursday show that no childhood vaccine has met this requirement.

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Asylum ban at Essex hotel may incite future demonstrations, court hears

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Home Office and the Bell hotel owners are challenging Epping Forest council’s injunction to stop 138 asylum seekers being housed

A ban on housing asylum seekers at a protest-hit hotel would have a “serious impact” on the government’s ability to house refugees and could incite further demonstrations, the court of appeal has heard.

The Home Office and the owners of the Bell hotel in Essex have launched an appeal against the temporary injunction granted to Epping Forest district council (EFDC) last week.

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Man whose arrest sparked asylum hotel protests tells court he did not touch girls

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Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu denies sexually assaulting two teenagers and a woman in Epping last month

An Ethiopian man who became the focus of far-right demonstrations outside a hotel in Epping after being accused of sexually assaulting two teenagers has told a court he did not touch the girls.

“I’m not a wild animal. I can’t do these kind of things,” Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, an asylum seeker housed at the Bell hotel in Epping, told his trial at Colchester magistrates court on Wednesday.

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Tommy Robinson will not be charged over alleged St Pancras assault, police say

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British Transport Police say alleged victim ‘did not wish to provide a statement to the investigation’

The far-right activist Tommy Robinson will not face charges over allegations he punched a man to the ground at a London train station, police and prosecutors have announced.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm after the incident on 28 July at St Pancras train station.

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Cancer charities call for earlier diagnosis as cases projected to surge in England by 2040

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NHS may struggle to cope with more than 6 million predicted new cases over next 15 years, study shows

Cancer cases are projected to surge in England by 2040, with a person diagnosed every two minutes, up from one every four minutes in the 1970s.

More than 6 million new cases of the disease are predicted to be diagnosed over the next 15 years, with the NHS at risk of being unable to cope unless action is taken to prevent more cases and diagnose the disease earlier, when it is more treatable.

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Couple who died in Isle of Wight helicopter crash named

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Justyna Czoska, a horse riding instructor, and her partner, Wojtek Kowalkowski, died along with a third person

A couple who died in a helicopter crash during the bank holiday on the Isle of Wight have been named by relatives.

Justyna Czoska, 52, a horse riding instructor, and her partner, Wojtek Kowalkowski, 49, from Bloxham, Oxfordshire, died after the aircraft crash-landed at about 9.24am on Monday between Shanklin and Whiteley Bank. The helicopter had taken off from Sandown airport 20 minutes earlier.

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Dorset police investigate antisemitic hate crimes including swastika graffiti

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Officers step up patrols for Bournemouth’s Jewish community after teenage boy shot with air rifle

Dorset police have launched an investigation and stepped up patrols for Bournemouth’s Jewish community after a wave of antisemitic hate crimes in the seaside town.

Over the weekend, a teenage boy was shot with an air rifle and injured, and swastika graffiti appeared on buildings, police said.

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Labour to abolish most short prison sentences in England and Wales

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Exclusive: Legislation that will include Texas-style scheme to shorten jail time expected to be rolled out this year

Ministers will legislate next month to abolish most short prison sentences, toughen up community punishments and introduce a Texas-inspired system whereby inmates can earn early release as part of an attempt to avert another prison crisis.

Government sources said the legislation, which will bring about the biggest shake-up in sentencing laws in England and Wales for three decades, would be introduced once MPs had returned to the Commons in September.

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