5 h. ago Government may have failed to comply with law on protecting birds – watchdog

The Government has a legal obligation to maintain populations of wild birds and ensure they have enough suitable habitats.

Politics

6 h. ago UK may have failed to protect wild birds with environmental law, watchdog says

Government appears not to be meeting legal targets to halt decline of species, Office for Environmental Protection saysThe government may have failed to protect critical wild bird populations by neglecting to implement environmental law properly, the environmental watchdog has found.Wild bird populations are declining across the UK. Under the EU, certain parts of Britain’s landscape were designated specially protected conservation zones when the UK was still a member state. They include estuaries, coastal areas and peatlands, as well as wetland areas where wading birds live, and places birds of prey prefer to nest. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Europe's armies are blocked from preparing to face Russia because of EU eco laws which force the military to hit recycling quotas, limit carbon emissions and avoid upsetting wildlife

Regulations on the protection of birds, reducing of waste and lowering emissions have hindered the ability for European countries to prepare to defend their countries.

Events

4 d. ago Young Scots groomed by gangsters to carry out crimes due to 'reduced risk' of being jailed

The SNP Government has been accused of failing to tackle organised crime after two notorious Scots gangsters were gunned down in Spain.

Events

4 d. ago The Welsh health board which has spent 10 years in special measures

The resulting decade has, in the words of opposition politicians, been a "failure" of both management, accountability and the Welsh Government

Politics

4 d. ago Why is defence such a hard sell? The same reason Starmer is struggling in the polls | Martin Kettle

Decades of failures have left liberal democratic governments unable to command public confidence when it really mattersDefence reviews and foreign policy resets seem to turn up almost as often as the Sussexes’ lifestyle brand relaunches these days. Labour’s strategic defence review this week comes less than two years after the Conservatives’ hardly less detailed defence white paper in July 2023, which in turn was a “refresh” of Boris Johnson’s ambitious integrated review of defence and foreign policy of March 2021. By this measure, it must be doubtful if, come the 2030s, analysts will look back on Keir Starmer and John Healey’s review and say it broke the mould.The Labour government was entitled to try to put its own stamp on defence policy, of course, and its review team of George Robertson, Richard Barrons and Fiona Hill did a good, reasonably independent job. Yet this 2020s pattern of repeated strategic adaptation and refocus feels like the new normal now. It is also true that gr...

Politics

4 d. ago Collapse of Dutch government leaves uncertainty on streets of Amsterdam

Geert Wilders’ walkout left some disappointed, others relieved – and trust in politics falling most among far rightAtaa Bodin is glad that the Dutch government has fallen. “It’s good,” said the 34-year-old Syrian who lives in the Netherlands. “I have a passport, the father of my daughter is Dutch but for other people it’s difficult. They can’t just go back to Syria like counting to three.”On Tuesday, far-right populist Geert Wilders collapsed his first government after failing to break open the coalition agreement to add 10 new policies on asylum – including deporting Syrians with temporary residency within six months, forcibly if necessary. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Landlords say homes energy efficiency schedule is ‘detached from reality’

The organisation representing private landlords warned the current timeline for implementing improved minimum standards is unachievable.

Politics

4 d. ago Trump officials intensify Columbia dispute with accreditation threat

Education department accuses university of violating federal anti-discrimination laws and notifies accreditorThe Department of Education announced on Wednesday afternoon that it has notified Columbia University’s accreditor of an alleged violation of federal anti-discrimination laws by the elite, private university in New York that is part of the Ivy League.The alleged violation means that Columbia, in the Trump administration’s assessment, has “failed to meet the standards” set by the relevant regional, government-recognized but independent body responsible for the accreditation of degree-granting institutions, as a kind of educational quality controller. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Thousands of people in work to receive back payments from their employer

Over 40 businesses in Scotland have been identified by the UK Government for failing to pay their employees the minimum wage.

Economics

6 d. ago Water sector is failing and needs much stronger regulations, independent commission reports

The Independent Water Commission slammed failures in Government strategy and planning for the future, failures to protect billpayers and a failure to act in the public interest.

Events

1 week ago Pizza Express, Lidl and Halfords named by Government for minimum wage failures

The government has released a list of over 500 employers that underpaid workers

Politics

1 week ago Capita, Pizza Express and Lidl named by Government for minimum wage failures

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) released a list of 518 employers and businesses that underpaid workers over several years.

Politics

1 week ago Kevin Bakhurst said he was ‘infuriated’ by reaction to RTE newsroom promo

The clip, which the RTE director general said cost less than 100,000 euro, has not yet been aired.

Politics

1 week ago Why a Fair Banking Act would create a more inclusive economy

Sharon Macpherson urges the Government to do more than produce yet another policy document that fails to shift the dial

Economics

2 w. ago Work begins to protect vital Dumfries and Galloway habitat for rare bird

Threave Garden and Nature Reserve is home to three breeding pairs of willow tits – the most rapidly declining bird species in the UK.

Politics

2 w. ago MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: Labour's in a mess of its own making... now the rebels are gathering

This is a Government in a mess. It has failed on its own terms, and it has failed in the eyes of the electorate.

Politics

2 w. ago Rape victim forced to live just minutes from abuser after government failings

Exclusive: In letters seen by The Independent, the government promised that the perpetrator would only be released once a plan was put in place to manage him safely

Events

3 w. ago Starmer and his allies spent so long attacking Labour’s left, they forgot how to govern | Owen Jones

Rehashing 20-year-old Blairite ideas that were stale then will inspire nobody. Britain is crying out for bold, transformative policy-makingJust why has Keir Starmer’s government proved such a catastrophe? This is a question that must be posed to his cheerleaders, or at least those who were at one time cheerleaders: the road from the last general election is lined with silently discarded pompoms. The idea here is not to rub their faces in a political project that is now both electorally toxic and morally bankrupt, but to determine what happens next.First off, the failure should be considered absolute. It is projected that a Labour government will drive more than a million Britons into – or more deeply into – poverty through an assault on disability benefits. The same government imposed hardship on many pensioners by stripping away the winter fuel payment, and it refuses to reverse the Tories’ two-child benefit cap, the UK’s biggest single generator of child poverty. Not content with ...

Events

3 w. ago Voices: Children with special educational needs are being failed by the system – here’s how we fix the crisis

The government says it wants to protect existing SEND provision while improving the system, writes Dame Christine Lenehan, who is advising ministers. That can only happen if families are genuinely heard and they make help services routine, not a privilege

Events