2 h. ago Business groups urge peers to PASS Labour's workers' rights law

In a joint letter to Business Secretary Peter Kyle, six organisations said that 'now is the time' for Parliament to pass the Employment Rights Bill.

Economics

37 h. ago MSP Ash Regan demands Scots Government enforces law on women’s rights to single

Ash Regan’s comments come following a partial win by nurse Sandie Peggie, who was suspended by NHS Fife after complaining about having to share a changing room with transgender medic Dr Beth Upton.

Politics

59 h. ago Labour MP calls for 'serious debate' on abolition of House of Lords

Euan Stainbank said it was a “disgrace” that Conservative and Liberal Democrat peers were obstructing Labour's worker’s rights law.

Politics

59 h. ago ‘Who’s it going to be next time?’: ECHR rethink is ‘moral retreat’, say rights experts

As 27 European countries urge changes to laws forged after second world war, human rights chief says politicians are playing into hands of populistsThe battle had been brewing for months. But this week it came to a head in a flurry of meetings, calls and one heady statement. Twenty-seven European countries urged a rethink of the human rights laws forged after the second world war, describing them as an impediment when it came to addressing migration.Amnesty International has called it “a moral retreat”. Europe’s most senior human rights official said the approach risked creating a “hierarchy of people” where some are seen as more deserving of protection than others. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Trans rights should be a private affair. A toxic debate does no one any favours | Simon Jenkins

The courts are a clumsy means to negotiate social relationships. Let organisations make up their own minds about inclusionTowards the end of her life, I was a friend of the writer Jan Morris. I had known her for many years and, much to my regret, had declined an offer to do her “tell all” interview when she transitioned. Jan presented herself as a woman and had undergone an operation. To me she was simply a remarkable woman. She touched, sometimes humorously, on embarrassing incidents in her life. But it never occurred to me that a legal ruling might hover over our restaurant table and block her from going to the ladies.Last April, the supreme court issued a ruling confirming that the word “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex, not a person’s legal gender. This has a wide-reaching impact on how equality law is applied in practice, particularly in providing sex-based rights such as single-sex spaces. Six months later, a draft code on the ruling’s implementation was ...

Events

6 d. ago Workers may get right to take at least a week off if a distant relative or an in

Take a week off if a distant cousin or an in-law dies, workers are told under Labour's employment rights shake-up.

Politics

6 d. ago Trump has declared civilisational war on Europe. It won’t be easy – but here’s how to fight back | Paul Taylor

With democratic values under attack from populists within and former allies without, there are no simple solutionsThree decades after political philosopher Francis Fukuyama declared the End of History and the “universalisation of western liberal democracy as the final form of human government”, the democratic model is under attack in many parts of the world, not least here in Europe. Populists bent on weakening the rule of law, rolling back human rights protections, subjugating the judiciary and cowing independent journalism are amplified by anything-goes social media algorithms that promote anger and polarisation over rational discourse.They have now received a mandate from the Trump administration, which effectively declared civilisational war on the EU and its values in its National Security Strategy.Paul Taylor is a senior visiting fellow at the European Policy Centre Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Rosa Parks’ vacant former home is an emblem of racist housing policies | Bernadette Atuahene

Seventy years after the Montgomery bus boycott, policies hiding in plain sight continue to ravage the Black communityFriday is the 70th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott, which began because Rosa Parks refused to relinquish her seat to a white person, as required by law. While her brave act brought national attention to the civil rights movement and triggered student sit-ins to end segregation across the south, it also subjected her and her husband, Raymond, to constant death threats. Consequently, like many other Black families fleeing Jim Crow south’s racial violence, in August 1957, Rosa and Raymond moved up north to Detroit.When the Parks arrived in Detroit, they and other Black people did not have to sit at the back of the bus. Nonetheless, the city was permeated by a quieter but no less pernicious type of racism: racist policies, which are any written or unwritten laws and processes that produce or sustain racial inequity. In my book Plundered: How Racist Policies Unde...

Events

1 week ago Ministers don't know how many illegal migrants are in Britain or the number using human rights law to avoid deportation

The University of Oxford's Migration Observatory flagged 10 major areas where information is lacking, including immigration enforcement and returns.

Politics

1 week ago How to turn excess nuts and seeds into a barnstoming festive pudding – recipe | Waste not

Love ice-cream, don’t love Christmas pudding? This make-ahead semifreddo, jewelled with dried fruits, might just fit the bill Last Christmas we visited my in-laws in Cape Town, where, at over 30C, a traditional Christmas pudding just didn’t feel quite right. But my mother-in-law and her friend created the most delicious feast: a South African braai (barbecue) followed by an incredible ice-cream Christmas pudding made by mashing vanilla ice-cream with a mix of tutti frutti, candied peel, raisins and cherries. This semifreddo is a take on that dessert: a light frozen custard that still carries all the festive flavours.Tutti frutti semifreddo Christmas puddingWe stopped using clingfilm in our kitchen 15 years ago now, because it’s not easily recycled and because of health concerns about the possible transfer of microplastics into our food. Most semifreddo recipes tell you to line the freezer container with clingfilm, but I suggest using no liner at all, or silicone-free, unbleached bak...

Politics

1 week ago Putin says he 'is ready for a war with Europe right now' as Trump's son

Russian President Vladimir Putin today warned he is ready for a war with Europe 'right now' - as Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner arrived for peace talks in Moscow.  

Politics

1 week ago Angela Rayner returns to pressure Starmer over workers' rights law by leading drive to force him to introduce protection for staff SOONER

The former deputy prime minister is set to table an amendment to the Workers' Rights Bill she championed before resigning in disgrace.

Events

2 w. ago Italy’s rape law stalls as Matteo Salvini claims it could be used for ‘vendettas’

Parliament delays debate over law defining sex without consent as rape, after comments by far-right deputy PMItaly’s parliament has delayed a debate over a landmark law that would define sex without consent as rape amid a rift within the ruling coalition.The measure, the result of a rare pact between the far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and her main political opponent, the centre-left leader, Elly Schlein, passed in the lower house last week and had been expected to get final approval in the senate this week. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Teenagers sue government over nationwide social media ban for ‘violating their right to communicate’

High Court challenge says law imposing ban is ‘grossly excessive’ and infringes on ‘constitutional right of freedom of political communication’

Politics

2 w. ago Australian teenagers sue government saying social media ban violates their right to communicate

High Court challenge says law imposing ban is ‘grossly excessive’ and infringes on ‘constitutional right of freedom of political communication’

Politics

3 w. ago Home Bargains and The Range among 28 shops forced to change online returns policies following Martin Lewis investigation

HOME BARGAINS and The Range are among 28 shops forced to change their online returns policy following a Martin Lewis investigation. Back in July, the founder of Money Saving Expert (MSE) discovered some 28 shops and cafés’ policies suggest consumers have fewer rights than what the law entitles them to. Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013,...

Economics

3 w. ago MoJ to remove right to trial by jury for thousands of cases in controversial overhaul

Exclusive: Courts minister says change needed to stop criminals opting for juries to delay cases, sometimes by years, and clear huge backlogUK politics live – latest updatesCriminals will be stopped from “gaming the system” by choosing trial by jury in order to increase the chances of proceedings collapsing, the courts minister has said, promising to enact radical changes to limit jury trials by the next election.Drug dealers and career criminals were “laughing in the dock” knowing cases can take years to come to trial, Sarah Sackman told the Guardian, saying inaction would be a road to “chaos and ruin”. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Trial begins in archdiocese of New Orleans’ $230m settlement for abuse survivors

US bankruptcy judge will decide whether plan is fair to 650 survivors and dozens of other creditorsThe archdiocese of New Orleans has begun a three-week confirmation trial that will determine whether a federal bankruptcy judge signs off on a $230m settlement meant to compensate 650 clergy abuse survivors and resolve one of the US’s longest-running and costliest church bankruptcies.US bankruptcy judge Meredith Grabill will decide whether the plan – five and a half years in the making – is fair to the survivors and dozens of other creditors who have waited through repeated delays, contentious negotiations and a protracted legal fight over a 2021 state law giving survivors of decades-old child sexual abuse the right to sue. Continue reading...

Events

4 w. ago Rape victims in Scotland will be protected when giving evidence, says lord advocate

Supreme court ruled ‘rape shield’ laws to limit intrusive cross-examination may breach men’s right to fair trialScotland’s most senior law officer has moved to reassure victims of sexual abuse that they will be protected after a supreme court ruling warned that Scottish laws designed to limit intrusive cross-examination could be breaching men’s right to a fair trial.In a strongly worded statement, the lord advocate, Dorothy Bain KC, said: “I would like to make clear that I understand sexual abuse inflicted upon women and children to be the single greatest challenge our justice system faces. Continue reading...

Events

4 w. ago Human rights law overhaul planned as part of Mahmood’s sweeping asylum reforms

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood plans to rewrite how Britain grants refuge to those fleeing conflict and upheaval with a statement in the Commons.

Events