12 h. ago Treasury minister dismisses claims spending review will lead to autumn tax rises – UK politics live

Darren Jones says such claims are ‘incoherent’ and the government is allocating money that has already been raisedSpending review: key points at a glanceGreen party MPs and activists joined a protest outside parliament today saying the government should use the spending review to announce a wealth tax. In a post on social media, Adrian Ramsay, the party’s co-leader, said:We expect the chancellor to take another axe to public spending today: decline by design from a govt that refuses to tax wealth to properly fund our overstretched public services & support the most vulnerable. We need to invest in a secure & fairer future. #TaxExtremeWealth Continue reading...

Politics

14 h. ago Israeli army officers refuse to serve in ‘unnecessary, eternal war’ in Gaza

In letter to Netanyahu, 41 signatories say government’s orders are ‘clearly illegal’ and hostages have been given ‘death sentence’Israel’s government is issuing “clearly illegal” orders that must not be obeyed, a group of Israeli military intelligence officers have said, announcing they will no longer participate in combat operations in Gaza.In a letter addressed to Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the defence minister, Israel Katz, and the head of the military, the group of 41 officers and reservists said the government was waging an “unnecessary, eternal war” in Gaza. Continue reading...

Events

14 h. ago Reeves says use of hotels for asylum seekers to end ‘in this parliament’ – UK politics live

Chancellor delivers spending review, claiming asylum move will save £1bn and says health spending represents a record cash investmentSpending review: key points at a glanceGreen party MPs and activists joined a protest outside parliament today saying the government should use the spending review to announce a wealth tax. In a post on social media, Adrian Ramsay, the party’s co-leader, said:We expect the chancellor to take another axe to public spending today: decline by design from a govt that refuses to tax wealth to properly fund our overstretched public services & support the most vulnerable. We need to invest in a secure & fairer future. #TaxExtremeWealth Continue reading...

Politics

16 h. ago Reeves says use of hotels for asylum seekers to end ‘in this parliament’ and NHS spending to rise 3% a year – UK politics live

Chancellor claims asylum move will save £1bn and says health spending represents a record cash investmentSpending review: key points at a glanceGreen party MPs and activists staged a protest outside parliament today saying the government should use the spending review to announce a wealth tax. In a post on social media, Adrian Ramsay, the party’s co-leader, said:We expect the Chancellor to take another axe to public spending today: decline by design from a govt that refuses to tax wealth to properly fund our overstretched public services & support the most vulnerable. We need to invest in a secure & fairer future. #TaxExtremeWealthSenior SNP figures held a secret meeting on Monday night to discuss removing John Swinney as party leader, The Herald has learned, following last week’s defeat in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse byelection.One of the 25 attendees said the first minister had two weeks to come up with a new strategy on independence — or risk facing a leadership...

Politics

17 h. ago PMQs: Starmer says there is ‘no easy answer’ to finding way of seizing frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine – UK politics live

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, asks prime minister about frozen Russian assets in the UK after sanctioning of two Israeli ministers on TuesdayGreen party MPs and activists staged a protest outside parliament today saying the government should use the spending review to announce a wealth tax. In a post on social media, Adrian Ramsay, the party’s co-leader, said:We expect the Chancellor to take another axe to public spending today: decline by design from a govt that refuses to tax wealth to properly fund our overstretched public services & support the most vulnerable. We need to invest in a secure & fairer future. #TaxExtremeWealthSenior SNP figures held a secret meeting on Monday night to discuss removing John Swinney as party leader, The Herald has learned, following last week’s defeat in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse byelection.One of the 25 attendees said the first minister had two weeks to come up with a new strategy on independence — or risk facing a leadership ch...

Politics

36 h. ago ‘Send me some money!’ My unforgettable encounters with the legendary Sly Stone

He went from the towering highs of the 60s and 70s, where he changed the face of music, to the shambolic lows of a decades-long addiction. But interviewing the music genius over the years showed me a man who was awed, revered and strangely shySly Stone, pioneering funk and soul musician, dies aged 82A trailblazer and icon of hope and painSly Stone – a life in picturesIn 2013, there didn’t seem much point in requesting an interview with Sly Stone. It was 31 years since he had released an album of new material, Ain’t But the One Way, which he had abandoned midway through, vanishing completely from the studio and leaving the producer Stewart Levine to patch together what he could. It was longer still since he had produced any music that was even vaguely close to the standard he had set himself in the late 60s and early 70s – a six-year period bookended by the release of the groundbreaking single Dance to the Music in 1967 and his last truly classic album, Fresh, in 1973 – when he could...

Politics

4 d. ago Painter gets 'sweet revenge' on customer who refused to pay for garden fence job

A tradesman has shared his fury after a customer refused to pay for a service, so he decided to take matters into his own hands and get 'revenge' on the non-paying client

Economics

4 d. ago Your rights if a hotel refuses to serve English food on a foreign holiday

A consumer rights champion has explained the rules after one woman had to eat Greek food every day on her Greek holiday

Society

8 d. ago Omagh bomb inquiry chair refuses Government’s bid to redact civil servant names

The decision relates to the dissemination of the names to other core participants to the inquiry, not their publication in the media.

Politics

2 w. ago Thug, 33, who hurled a pint glass at a pregnant Wetherspoon barmaid after she refused to serve him is jailed

Ben Kelly, 33, hurled the glass across the bar in a shocking outburst at the Up Steps Inn in Oldham town centre - leaving the woman, who was just four weeks pregnant, with a painful lump on her face.

Events

2 w. ago Kool & the Gang singer Michael Sumler dies at 71 in horror car crash

Since the horror smash tributes have flooded in for the soul music icon, remembered by many as the “life of the party.”

Events

2 w. ago Pop superstar recluse Sade's totally different life and career after she ditched fame

The soul singer quickly became a global icon after the release of her first album in 1984 and would go on to be one of the biggest music stars of the 1980s and 1990s

Politics

2 w. ago Soul icon Irma Thomas on the Stones, segregation and survival: ‘Restaurants refused to serve us – we lived on sardines and crackers’

She has endured racism, industry machinations and Hurricane Katrina across her seven decades in music. Now with a new album, and an unlikely boost from Black Mirror, the 84-year-old ‘Soul Queen of New Orleans’ is hitting new heightsIrma Thomas greets me at the front door of the ranch house she shares with her husband and manager Emile Jackson. For a singer celebrated as the “Soul Queen of New Orleans”, I’m somewhat surprised her home isn’t more, well, palatial. Graceland this isn’t.Although Thomas, 84, has enjoyed hit records, Grammy awards, international tours, critical praise and the loyal devotion of her home city, she has never experienced the largesse that comes with sustained stardom. Instead, she has her health, a 50-year marriage, great-grandchildren and a stunning new album, Audience With the Queen, created with Galactic, the esteemed New Orleans electro-funkers. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Kemi Badenoch denies ignoring security advice over taxpayer funded private driver

Tory leader's comments follows reports she refused a vehicle from the official government car service (GCS) and instead given access to a private driver

Economics

3 w. ago Man claims cafe refused to serve him and looked like they'd 'seen a ghost' because of his facial tumours

Amit Ghose from Birmingham, was born with the rare genetic condition called Neurofibromatosis Type 1 which causes benign tumours to grow on his nerves.

Politics