News- UK

Met to refer itself to watchdog after black man was kneed in face Teenager was kneed in head in April after being pursued by officers in Hackney, east LondonThe Metropolitan police is to refer a stop and search incident in which one of its officers kneed a handcuffed black man in the head to the Independent Office for Police Conduct following pressure.Video footage of the 18-year-old shows him shouting “I’m not resisting” and “I didn’t do anything” before receiving a knee to the head on 22 April in Hackney after a pursuit by officers who had repeatedly requested him and two other men on bicycles to stop for a weapons search. Continue reading... Go to Source

'Product of theft': Greece urges UK to return Parthenon marbles The New Acropolis Museum wants to display antiquities removed on the orders of Lord ElginThe New Acropolis Museum was purpose-built to host the one thing every Greek government will always agree on: the Parthenon marbles being returned from London.On Saturday, as the four-storey edifice marked its 11th anniversary, Athens reinvigorated the cultural row calling the British Museum’s retention of the antiquities illegal and “contrary to any moral principle”. Continue reading... Go to Source

NHS Covid app developers 'tried to block rival symptom trackers' Developers claim government technology unit was hostile to other groups, hampering the fight against the diseaseCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageNHSX, the health service technology unit responsible for the government’s failed contact-tracing app, attempted to block rival apps to protect its own, hampering efforts to track the early spread of the coronavirus.Developers were urged to stop work by NHSX and the Ministry of Defence, who told them their apps might distract attention from NHSX’s app when it was launched. Last week the app was abandoned after three months, with work beginning on an alternative design without any deadline. Continue reading... Go to Source

Cross-party group urges chancellor to consider four-day week for UK MPs sign letter arguing policy could be powerful tool to help nation recover from Covid-19Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA group of cross-party MPs have urged the government to consider a four-day working week for the UK post Covid-19, arguing the policy could be “a powerful tool to recover from this crisis”.The MPs – from Labour, the Scottish National party and the Green party – have written a letter to the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, asking him to set up a commission to explore the option, similar to Scotland’s post-Covid-19 Futures Commission which is looking at the possibility of a four-day working week to generate more jobs. Continue reading... Go to ...

Coronavirus live news: Spain will not quarantine visitors from UK Brazil passes 1 million infections; Australia struggles with new cases; Greta Thunberg says similar urgency needed for climate change as for Covid-19 Spain will not quarantine UK visitorsNearly 1,500 deaths in one day: UK ministers accused of downplaying Covid-19 peakFrom celebration to dismay: the week coronavirus re-emerged in New Zealand 6.28pm BSTLike in many other countries, Black Lives Matter protests in small towns as well as big cities in the UK continued taking place this week, with people often defying appeals from the government to refrain from gathering in large numbers.My colleagues Kyri Evangelou, Alex Healey and Katie Lamborn report. 6.17pm BSTSpain’s foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez has said that Br...

Portugal hoping to be among first countries with quarantine-free 'air bridge' to UK The PM is expected to announce travel agreements with a small number of countries within daysCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coveragePortugal could become one of the first countries to agree to an “air bridge” with the UK, allowing citizens travelling between both countries to avoid quarantine measures.Manuel Lobo Antunes, Portugal’s ambassador to the UK, said the nation was keen to come to an agreement that would allow British tourists to return this summer. Continue reading... Go to Source

Travel clinic: what you need to know about your summer holidays From flights, ferries and quarantine to staycations and insurance, the lowdown on your rightsThe Ryanair email sent out to millions of people this week was certainly enticing, advertising up to 250,000 seats from £29.99 each on one of the 1,000 flights a day that the airline will be running from 1 July. Reading the long list of destinations on offer, you could almost forget that the UK government is still advising against all holiday travel. But it is, so if you have a trip planned – or are desperate to get one in the diary – here’s what you need to know. Continue reading... Go to Source

Coronavirus UK live: review of England's 2-metre rule due in days and announcement on pubs coming next week - latest updates Culture secretary tells BBC review of rules on physical distancing likely to conclude in the coming days as pressure mounts to ministers to relax them Coronavirus – latest global updatesUK ministers accused of downplaying Covid-19 peakSee all our coronavirus coverage 12.44pm BSTA group of senior cross-party MPs from Labour, the SNP and the Green Party have written a letter to the government urging them to explore a four-day working week for the UK post Covid-19.The MPs, including the former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, SNP MP Mhairi Black and Green MP Caroline Lucas, are urging the government to set up a commission to explore the options for a four-day ...

Britain beyond lockdown: could the country be healthier? As the economy grinds back into life, Jonathan Watts goes on the road to find out if there is a lasting appetite for changeIn a near-deserted plaza near Birmingham’s Bull Ring shopping centre, local artist Diane Wiltshire considers the imminent return of traffic and pollution after lockdown with a feeling close to dread.Wiltshire suffers chemical sensitivity – severe intolerance to pollutants, which give her breathing problems, affect her eyesight and disrupt her digestion. Doctors and immunologists are divided about the causes of her condition, but that makes little difference to the trauma felt by the 42-year-old as the old economy starts to rev up again. Continue reading... Go to Source

Coronavirus live news: pandemic is accelerating, says WHO chief Brazil passes 1 million infections; Australia struggles with new cases; Greta Thunberg says similar urgency needed for climate change as for Covid-19 Nearly 1,500 deaths in one day: UK ministers accused of downplaying Covid-19 peakFrom celebration to dismay: the week coronavirus re-emerged in New Zealand 12.19pm BSTPope Francis has held his first audience for a group of people since Italy lifted its coronavirus lockdown, granting it to health workers from the Italian region most affected by the pandemic. “You were one of the supporting pillars of the entire country,” he told doctors and nurses from the Lombardy region gathered in the Vatican’s frescoed Clementine Hall, which had not been used for months be...

Drinkers may order pints via apps under Covid-19 plans for England Pubs could also be patrolled to ease 2-metre rule after alert level reduced to threeCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageDrinkers would be encouraged to order pints on smartphone apps and pubs could be patrolled to ensure social-distancing measures are enforced under plans to ease the lockdown for the hospitality sector.Boris Johnson is expected to make an announcement next week on pubs, cafes, restaurants and hotels – with their reopening in England an ambition from 4 July to start reviving the ailing economy. Continue reading... Go to Source

Nearly 1,500 deaths in one day: UK ministers accused of downplaying Covid-19 peak Official toll passed a thousand on 22 consecutive days – far more than daily briefings saidThe UK’s darkest days of the coronavirus crisisEight of the lives lost on UK’s worst day of pandemicMinisters have been accused of playing down the gravity of the coronavirus pandemic after it emerged that more than 1,000 people died every day in the UK for 22 consecutive days – in stark contrast with daily tolls announced by the government.According to an analysis of official figures, the darkest day came on 8 April as the country prepared for Easter under lockdown, when a record 1,445 people died from Covid-19 in 24 hours. Continue reading... Go to Source

Chaos and a car crash: Tories begin to fear Boris Johnson has lost his vim Missteps, U-turns and fears for the PM’s health leave senior party members openly muttering he may have to goAt prime minister’s questions this week, Boris Johnson appeared to be fired up. He scored a point against Keir Starmer, needling the Labour leader about whether he would say schools were safe to return to, and claiming Starmer had been silenced by the teaching unions.Several MPs on his own side remarked how pleased they were to see him back to what Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, of the 1922 executive committee, called “such robust form”. Continue reading... Go to Source

England to drop class 'bubbles' and pupil caps from September Government wants all pupils back full-time in new school year, education secretary saysCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageMinisters plan to drop restrictions on classroom “bubbles” to let all pupils attend school full-time in England from September, the education secretary has said.Gavin Williamson said lifting the 15-pupil cap and expanding the size of protective bubbles would enable whole classes of 30 to be taught together, overcoming the lack of space that has resulted in schools having to rotate year groups. Continue reading... Go to Source

UK coronavirus live: Matt Hancock hails 'big moment' as Covid-19 alert level reduced from 4 to 3 News updates: Education secretary to reveal details of £1bn funding package for schools to help pupils catch up on lessons missed during the coronavirus lockdown English schools to get £1bn to help pupils catch up after lockdown4.5m people in UK forced to become unpaid carers due to Covid crisisCoronavirus global updatesAll our coronavirus coverage 12.40pm BST 12.37pm BSTA total of 2,470 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus, up by six from 2,464 on Thursday, Nicola Sturgeon said.Speaking at the Scottish government’s virtual coronavirus briefing, the first minister said 18,104 people have tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up by 27 fr...

'It’s a basic equality issue': home learning gap between state and private schools Lessons continue online at Manchester grammar school while nearby St Ambrose buys textbooks for disadvantaged pupilsIt is 9.30am in the staff room at Manchester grammar school (MGS) and the head of chemistry, Fay Roberts, is settled in the windowless cupboard where she now does much of her teaching. All of her year 12s have turned up online to learn about the acid-catalysed elimination of an alcohol. “They’re pretty good at getting out of bed, but they’re 17-year-old boys,” she says. “If one is missing, I get one of their friends to text them and they soon turn up.”Like all teachers at the UK’s biggest independent boys’ school, Roberts has been offering a fu...

UK borrowing hits record £55bn in May; retail sales rebound -business live Rolling coverage of the latest business news, as new public data reveals the growing costs of the Covid-19 pandemicCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverage 12.30pm BSTThe CEO of crisis-hit payment group Wirecard has resigned just a day after the company said that €1.9bn worth of cash seemed to be missing. (That’s roughly a quarter of its total balance sheet.)In an incredibly short market statement, Wirecard said: In mutual consent with the Supervisory Board of Wirecard AG, Dr. Markus Braun resigned today with immediate effect as member of the management board. The Supervisory Board of Wirecard AG appointed Dr. James H. Freis, Jr., who was appointed yesterday as member of the m...

As UK lockdowns ease, fears grow of return to pre-pandemic crime and pollution levels Carbon emissions, crime and air pollution all fell but are now starting to reboundIn a sudden realisation of what climate campaigners have been urging for years, flights were cancelled, vehicle use plummeted and the oil industry found itself in turmoil as lockdown restrictions took hold. Continue reading... Go to Source

Disability campaigners warn of UK's progress unravelling in the arts Lockdown has magnified inequality, say activists, just as change seemed to be arrivingCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageProgress made in the representation and inclusion of disabled artists and audiences is in danger of unravelling because of the pandemic, campaigners have warned.A new alliance of disabled people and groups working in the UK’s cultural industries, #WeShallNotBeRemoved, has been established to make sure disabled voices are heard as the nation’s devastated arts sector attempts to rebuild after the lockdown. Continue reading... Go to Source

Dysfunctional 'toxic culture' led to Labour defeat, major report finds Exclusive: party has mountain to climb to return to power, says Labour Together reviewKey points from review of Labour defeat Ed Miliband: Let’s learn the right lessonsLabour has a “mountain to climb” if it is to get back into power, according to a major review of the 2019 general election defeat, which paints a picture of dysfunctionality, toxicity and drift inside the party’s election-fighting machine.Negative perceptions of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, doubts about the manifesto and the party’s ambivalent Brexit stance reinforced each other in a “snowballing” effect to deliver December’s catastrophic result, the 150-page report by the party group Labour Together...

Only fraction of £600m pot to fix Grenfell-style cladding spent so far MPs to launch investigation into delay, which has left 300 highrises yet to be remediatedThe government has spent less than a quarter of what it promised to replace dangerous Grenfell-style cladding, leaving 300 highrise buildings still not fixed three years after the disaster.Ministers pledged £400m in May 2018 to strip social housing towers of aluminium composite material (ACM) panels similar to those which spread the fire at Grenfell Tower in west London, killing 72 people in June 2017. But only £133m has been spent, a National Audit Office report found, leaving more than half of the 154 affected blocks still needing work. Continue reading... Go to Source

John Bolton urged to elaborate on Trump-Erdoğan claims New book claims US president agreed to intervene in federal investigation into Turkish bankThe former US national security adviser John Bolton is facing calls to elaborate on a claim in his new book that Donald Trump agreed to help Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan by intervening in a federal investigation into a Turkish state-owned bank.In excerpts of the memoir seen by US media, Bolton said Trump appeared to “give personal favours to dictators he liked”, that should have been included in the impeachment inquiry focussing on Trump’s dealings in Ukraine. Continue reading... Go to Source

Radical proposals in Lib Dem policy review suggest shift to the left Free broadband among ideas in Build Back Better, edited by leadership hopeful Layla MoranThe Liberal Democrats could make a decisive shift to the centre left, shedding the final legacies from the party’s period in coalition, under a review of policy ideas overseen by the leadership hopeful Layla Moran.A new booklet, Build Back Better, edited by the MP, is billed as a modern equivalent to the Orange Book, a 2004 collection of essays from Lib Dem figures – including the former leaders Nick Clegg and Vince Cable, and former cabinet minister David Laws – which pushed the party towards a centre-right, markets-based stance. Continue reading... Go to Source

Ministers accused of 'betrayal' over NHS surcharge for migrants Doctors say it is unacceptable that foreign-born health workers are still paying the feeCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageDoctors have accused ministers of “a crass betrayal” by not honouring Boris Johnson’s pledge to scrap the £400-a-year fees foreign-born NHS staff have to pay for healthcare.The Doctors’ Association UK has written to Priti Patel, the home secretary, criticising the delay as “unacceptable”. Continue reading... Go to Source

Dominic Raab criticised for comments on BLM protesters taking the knee Foreign secretary said symbolic act ‘seems to be taken from Game of Thrones’Dominic Raab has prompted criticism and scorn after saying he views the symbolic Black Lives Matter action of taking the knee as “a symbol of subjugation and subordination”, and that it originated from the TV show Game of Thrones.In a sometimes eyebrow-raising exchange during a radio interview, the foreign secretary appeared not to know that the stance was popularised by US athletes, notably the American football player Colin Kaepernick, as a protest against racism and police brutality. Continue reading... Go to Source

California: half-brother of black man found hanged killed in police shooting Terron Boone killed in shootout in Rosamond WednesdayBody of Boone’s brother Robert Fuller found in park last week The half-brother of a black man found hanged in a southern California park was killed by Los Angeles county police. Related: Supreme court blocks Trump from cancelling Daca immigration program – follow live Continue reading... Go to Source

Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds among UK banks that had links to slavery Many bank directors received compensation after slavery was made illegal in 1833The slave trade was abolished in the British Empire in 1807 but it was not until 1833 that the Abolition of Slavery Act finally banned the ownership of other human beings. However, some 46,000 slave owners continued to benefit financially as the subsequent Slave Compensation Act provided for £20m in payments – a sum worth billions of pounds in 2020 terms. Despite the name of the act, the former slaves were not compensated.University College London’s Legacies of British slave ownership project shows that 10% to 20% of Britain’s wealthy can be identified as having had significant links to slavery. The amount of money bor...

Campaign doesn't end with Rhodes statue, says Oxford group Rhodes Must Fall in Oxford plan to ‘decolonise’ university – and target second figureThe campaign to bring down a statue of Cecil Rhodes at Oxford University has said the project to “decolonise” the institution should not end with the removal of the memorial to the Victorian imperialist.After the university’s Oriel College voted in favour of removing the controversial statue of Rhodes on Wednesday, the campaign group Rhodes Must Fall in Oxford called for the removal of a statue of the slave owner Christopher Codrington at All Souls College, and for increased representation of BAME students and staff. Continue reading... Go to Source

UK coronavirus live: Hancock says 'we backed both horses' as he defends contact tracing app News updates: UK official death toll rises by 135; Sturgeon announces key measures in lockdown easing; Stormont ditches 2-metre rule for schools from AugustGovernment to abandon contact-tracing app for Google and Apple modelsRaab: taking the knee ‘feels like symbol of subjugation’Crisis risks UK ‘lost generation’ of people about to retireTreasury blocks plan for private hospitals to tackle NHS backlogCoronavirus global updatesAll our coronavirus coverage 6.50pm BSTThat’s it from us on the UK side. If you’d like to continue following the Guardian’s coronavirus coverage, head over to the global live blog for the worldwide picture. Related: Coronavirus live...

Nurse claims Met police wrongfully arrested her because she is black Neomi Bennett’s legal complaint adds to calls for force to examine racism in its ranksWhen police officers stopped Neomi Bennett late at night, they did not know anything about her – including that she had been awarded a British Empire Medal for services to nursing, and invited to Downing Street in recognition of her work. In her opinion, they simply saw a black woman sitting in a car and asked her to get out to be searched.She said she was frightened and refused repeatedly to comply, demanding a female officer before she would leave the vehicle, video footage shows. After heated exchanges, male officers pulled Bennett out, arrested her and kept her in a cell for 18 hours, despite finding nothing incriminat...