52 h. ago Thornberry calls for envoy to stop ’embarrassing failures’ like in El

The chairwoman of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Emily Thornberry, criticised ‘serious shortcomings’ in information sharing.

Events

54 h. ago Thornberry calls for envoy to avoid ’embarrassing’ failures in El

The chairwoman of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Emily Thornberry, criticised ‘serious shortcomings’ in information sharing.

Events

4 d. ago Cooper orders Foreign Office review of ‘serious failures’ in El

The Foreign Secretary said successive prime ministers were not briefed on tweets dating back as far as 2010 and civil servants were also unaware.

Events

9 d. ago What happened next: how a shocking rape and murder case was solved – 58 years later

In Portishead, a dusty box of forgotten files led Jo Smith and her team to a criminal who had escaped justice for more than half a century. This was the longest-running cold case to be solved in the UK, and possibly the worldIn June 2023, Jo Smith, a major crime review officer for Avon and Somerset police, was asked by her sergeant to “take a look at the Louisa Dunne case”. Louisa Dunne was a 75-year-old woman who had been raped and murdered in her Bristol home in June 1967. She was a mother of two, a grandmother, a woman whose first husband had been a leading trade unionist, and whose home had once been a hub of political activity. By 1967, she was living alone, twice widowed but still a well-known figure in her Easton neighbourhood.There were no witnesses to her murder, and the police investigation unearthed little to go on apart from a palm print on a rear window. Police knocked on 8,000 doors and took 19,000 palm prints, but no match was found. The case stayed unsolved. Continue...

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1 week ago China has set a bear trap for Keir Starmer – and our naive PM is walking straight into it | Simon Tisdall

The conviction of Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong is another hostile act. How can Britain ignore Beijing’s provocations and human rights abuses?The UK pushed hard to secure the release of Jimmy Lai, the newspaper publisher and British citizen who was a leading light in Hong Kong’s brutally suppressed pro-democracy movement. So, too, did press freedom and human rights campaigners. But the Beijing-appointed high court judges in the former colony convicted him anyway, finding Lai guilty last week on fake charges of trying to “destabilise” the Chinese Communist party (CCP). For Xi Jinping, China’s dictator-emperor, there is no greater crime.Protesting to China’s ambassador, the UK’s foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, condemned the trial as “politically motivated”. She’s right, of course – but her angry words will make no difference. Beijing’s contempt for Britain’s views is as painfully obvious as the UK’s weakness and indecision in the face of Chinese hubris. The breaking of its solemn promise t...

Politics

1 week ago Pressure grows on DWP over ‘misleading’ response to carer’s allowance scandal

Senior officials face criticism after review found systemic failings plunged hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers into debtSenior officials who oversaw a flawed benefits system that plunged hundreds of thousands of carers into debt are under mounting pressure over their “misleading” response to the scandal.Prof Liz Sayce, the chair of a scathing review into the government’s treatment of unpaid carers, last week called for an overhaul of management and culture at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Artificial sweetener found in Diet Coke and chewing gum could trigger heart AND brain damage, study suggests

Experts behind the research from the Centre for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials in San Sebastián, urged officials to review current aspartame consumption guidelines.

Events

2 w. ago New UK migration pact to tackle small boats hailed as breakthrough

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has signed a new pact with Greece which will see the UK help authorities deal with smuggling gangs and the supply of small boats used for Channel crossings

Politics

2 w. ago Labour's inheritance tax raid on farmers has left them 'bewildered and frightened' according to official review by ex

The farm profitability report by former NFU president Baroness Minette Batters called for a 'new deal for profitable farming' that recognises the true cost of producing food.

Politics

2 w. ago Labour's inheritance tax raid on farmers has left them 'bewildered and frightened' according to official review by ex

The farm profitability report by former NFU president Baroness Minette Batters called for a 'new deal for profitable farming' that recognises the true cost of producing food.

Politics

2 w. ago Freemasons call in lawyers to stop the Met Police from forcing officers to declare their membership

A letter has called on the Met, led by Sir Mark Rowley, to suspend its decision to make officers publicly declare membership or face a judicial review.

Events

2 w. ago Freemasons versus the Met: Grand Lodge set to take legal action in bid to maintain police membership secrecy

A letter before action calls on the Met to suspend the decision to force officers to publicly declare membership, or face a judicial review

Events

2 w. ago Freemasons set to take legal action over Met Police membership declaration plan

A letter before action calls on the Met to suspend the decision to force officers to publicly declare membership, or face a judicial review.

Events

2 w. ago Chinese ambassador summoned by Foreign Office over Jimmy Lai verdict

Yvette Cooper says the Foreign Office had summoned China’s top diplomatic representative to the UK to express unhappiness over the guilty verdict

Politics

2 w. ago John Swinney hits out at reported UK Government cuts to Malawi aid

John Swinney has written to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper with his concerns.

Politics

3 w. ago Security guard sacked after CCTV showed him lying barefoot on sofa instead of doing patrols loses racial discrimination claim

Mohammed Ouslimane was working as a relief security officer at a Premier Foods site when a routine review of overnight footage revealed him stretched out on a sofa in the main reception area

Events

3 w. ago Dominik Szoboszlai holds his nerve to give Liverpool late win at Inter

The Liverpool hierarchy protected Arne Slot’s authority by axing Mohamed Salah from the Champions League trip to Milan. The Liverpool team followed suit by inflicting a first European home defeat on Inter since September 2022 courtesy of Dominik Szoboszlai’s 88th-minute penalty. A brooding superstar with a bruised ego looked on from afar.Salah would have been on penalty duties had he not talked himself out of a showpiece occasion at the San Siro, another legend of the game that is showing its age. Instead it fell to Szoboszlai, the friend he argued should not be playing on the right ahead of him, to give Slot a precious victory after Alessandro Bastoni was penalised for pulling Florian Wirtz’s shirt in the box with minutes remaining. Liverpool had been resolute and fiercely committed to that point, well worthy of the point that was heading their way until the video assistant referee sent German official Felix Zwayer to the pitch-side monitor to review Bastoni’s foul. Continue readin...

Politics

3 w. ago UK on frontline of new information war as Russia floods social media with fake videos

In a speech in London, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will sound the alarm over hostile actors flooding social media with doctored videos to undermine support for Ukraine

Events

3 w. ago UK rule Prince Harry has had to put up with may be set to change

Prince Harry wrote to the Home Secretary in October to request a formal review, with the Home Office now conducting an assessment for the first time since 2020

Politics

3 w. ago Win for Prince Harry as Home Office 'agrees to review his UK security arrangements'

The duke said security concerns mean it is ‘impossible’ for him to bring Meghan and their children back to the UK safely

Politics