Category Archives: England

MP Imran Ahmad Khan resigns after conviction for child sexual assault

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Byelection triggered in Wakefield as MP expelled from Tory party says he is withdrawing from political life

Imran Ahmad Khan, the disgraced MP expelled from the Conservative party after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy, has announced he will resign, triggering a byelection in the Yorkshire seat of Wakefield.

Although Khan is appealing against Monday’s conviction, he admitted in a statement that the legal proceedings would last “many more months” and leave his constituents without proper political representation.

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One in eight privately rented homes in England pose threat to health, MPs say

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Serious health and safety risks costing NHS £340m a year, public accounts committee report finds

More than one in eight privately rented homes in England pose a serious threat to people’s health and safety, costing the NHS about £340m a year, according to a report from a committee of MPs.

It also uncovered evidence of unlawful discrimination, with an estimated one in four landlords unwilling to let to non-British passport holders.

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Climate activists ‘disrupt supplies from three oil terminals in England’

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Just Stop Oil says action will affect fuel availability at petrol pumps across south-east and Midlands

Clean energy campaigners claim to have disrupted supplies from three oil terminals in the Midlands and south-east of England, as motorists complain that some petrol stations are running short of fuel.

The government said only one terminal was out of action on Sunday afternoon as a result of the Just Stop Oil protests, and that local police forces were working with the industry to ensure that fuel supplies can be maintained.

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UK holidaymakers face cancelled flights and ferry delays in Easter travel chaos

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High rates of staff absences due to Covid and fallout from P&O Ferries scandal contribute to disruption over busy spring break

Holidaymakers looking to get away for Easter are facing major disruption to travel, as airlines cancel more than 100 flights a day because of staff shortages and ferry operators struggle to meet demand following the suspension of P&O Ferries services.

The rise in passenger numbers over the spring break has coincided with high rates of staff absences due to the latest wave of Covid infections.

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Wiltshire hunt supporters fined after admitting clashing with saboteurs

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William Renny, Callum Lewis and Evan Lorne pleaded guilty to public order offences at December hunt in Lacock

Three hunt supporters have been fined for public order offences after admitting clashing with saboteurs at a post-Christmas meet in Wiltshire.

William Renny, 30, Callum Lewis, 26, and Evan Lorne, 18, pleaded guilty to using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause unlawful violence.

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UK temperatures to plummet to as low as minus 6C over weekend

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Gardeners warned of frost damage to blooms on Saturday night ahead of a week of unsettled weather

The UK is braced for more wintry weather across the weekend with frost creeping in overnight and temperatures set to plummet as low as minus 6C in some areas.

Forecasters said the “peaks and troughs” of spring will hit most of the country over the next week, with sunny spells and windy intervals expected in most regions.

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People with type 1 diabetes in England to be given skin sensor to monitor blood sugar

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Nice says wearable tech reduces need for finger-prick testing by up to 50%

Hundreds of thousands of people with type 1 diabetes in England are to be offered a hi-tech skin sensor to monitor their blood sugar levels in seconds.

The device, the size of a £2 coin, sits on a patient’s arm and constantly checks their glucose levels. It comes with an app that tells them whethertheir blood sugar levels are at an appropriate level.

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Free Covid tests to end for most people in England on Friday

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From 1 April most people will have pay for a test even if they have symptoms, ministers confirm

Free Covid testing will end for most people in England from Friday, ministers have confirmed, meaning most people who want to know if they are infected will have to pay for a test, whether they have symptoms or not.

Details of the new testing regime, released in a written ministerial statement on Tuesday, reveal that from 1 April, free symptomatic testing will be available only to hospital patients when it is required for their care and to people living or working in “high-risk settings”, such as care homes and prisons.

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National Trust acquires Dorset ‘speed-dating’ caves for bats

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Colonies mix annually at Winspit caves near Swanage, a hibernation site for rare greater horseshoe bats

Three sea caves hewn into the rocky coastline of Dorset that are the bat equivalent of a speed-dating site, attracting crowds of the flying mammals from as far as 40 miles away, have been acquired by the National Trust.

The bats gather at Winspit caves near Swanage in the late summer and early autumn, dart around the cliffs and, if all goes well, find a mate from a different colony.

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‘Even snow or sleet’: wintry weather forecast for UK this week

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A cold front will push down from the north in midweek and temperatures will plummet, Met Office says

Snow could fall in parts of the UK this week, with temperatures set to plummet over the coming days, forecasters say.

The Met Office said the country would see colder, cloudier and more unsettled weather from Monday, with the risk of wintry weather in the middle of the week.

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Hundreds of boaters join London protest against ‘cull’ of waterway life

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Boat dwellers stage demonstration about new moves by the Canal & River Trust to restrict mooring spaces

Hundreds of boaters converged in west London’s Little Venice area on Saturday to protest about what they say is a “cull” of a traditional way of life along the capital’s waterways.

The boat dwellers staged a demonstration about new moves by the Canal & River Trust (CRT), a charity which manages the waterways in England and Wales, to restrict mooring spaces in some parts of the capital and to issue enforcement notices against some who officials say are mooring their boats in the wrong areas. The CRT began issuing enforcement notices in January of this year.

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Weekly Covid cases in UK increase by 1m, figures show

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ONS says one in 11 people in Scotland had coronavirus in week ending 20 March – country’s highest figure since survey began

The number of coronavirus infections across the UK rose by an estimated 1m compared with the previous week, with figures in Scotland at a record high, data from the Office for National Statistics has revealed.

According to the latest information from the ONS, based on swabs collected from randomly selected households, an estimated 9% of the population in Scotland had Covid in the week ending 20 March, about one in 11 people. The figure is the highest recorded by the survey since it began looking at the situation in Scotland in October 2020.

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5m people in England to be offered Covid booster jabs

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Vaccine available to care home residents, people aged 75 and over, and immunosuppressed aged 12 and over

Coronavirus booster vaccine jabs for millions of people in England will begin to be offered this week, the NHS announced.

The vaccine will be available to care home residents, people who are 75 and over, and the immunosuppressed aged 12 and over.

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UK city of culture 2025: Southampton and Bradford among those on shortlist

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Contenders hope to use the status as a springboard for social and economic recovery

Bradford, County Durham, Southampton and Wrexham county borough have been shortlisted to become the UK next city of culture, it has been announced.

The finalists were whittled down from a record 20 bids to eight longlisted regions, which also included Cornwall, Derby, Stirling, and the district of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon.

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Rise in UK Covid admissions leading to hospital illness, absence and delays

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Hospitals in southern England worst affected, with Devon recording highest ever numbers of Covid patients

Rising numbers of people entering hospital with Covid are leading to other patients becoming infected, staff absences, delayed operations and long waits in emergency departments, experts have said.

In recent weeks, Covid infection levels have been rising in the UK and hospitalisations are also increasing.

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Jamaica Inn calls time on 100 years of hunts meeting on its land

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Cornish pub used in Daphne du Maurier novel says there are no pluses, just minuses to hunt visits

A pub that was the setting for a novel by Daphne du Maurier has banned hunts from meeting on its land after 100 years of the practice.

The Jamaica Inn in Cornwall – immortalised in the 1936 novel of the same name about smuggling – announced the decision after the East Cornwall Hunt invited the Beaufort Hunt to meet there on Saturday, a move the pub called “extremely ill-advised”.

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Outdoor weddings legalised permanently in England and Wales

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Temporary measures introduced during Covid crisis will be made made permanent from April

Outdoor weddings and civil partnerships are to be legalised permanently in England and Wales, ministers have announced.

Since last summer, couples have been able to hold their civil wedding or ceremony outside under temporary measures introduced during the coronavirus pandemic.

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UK’s Covid travel restrictions to be dropped despite rise in cases

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Remaining rules including mandatory passenger locator forms and tests for unvaccinated arrivals will end on Friday

All remaining Covid travel restrictions are to be dropped across the UK from later this week, despite a concerning rise in cases and hospitalisations.

Ministers approved the scrapping of passenger locator forms and the requirement for all unvaccinated arrivals to get tested, with the changes to come into force from 4am on Friday.

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Severn Trent and Anglian Water pledge to do more to protect rivers

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Water firms commit to improving sewage discharge practices after government pressure

Severn Trent and Anglian Water say they will accelerate efforts to protect rivers after the government and regulators called on the sector to do more.

Last month, the environment minister Rebecca Pow called on water companies to significantly improve their practices in England and Wales to support the local environment.

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Covid made parents ‘more relaxed’ about unauthorised holidays – Ofsted

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Chief inspector tells leaders the pandemic has ‘fractured the social contract between parents and schools’

The Covid pandemic has made families “more relaxed” about their children staying home or going on unauthorised holidays, fracturing the social contract between parents and schools in England, according to the head of Ofsted.

Amanda Spielman, Ofsted’s chief inspector, said she was concerned about the high level of absences among pupils, telling the Association of School and College Leaders annual conference: “Some parents have health concerns for themselves or family members and wait in hope for a highly unlikely zero-Covid future.

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