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Don’t sign pledges on NHS or climate, Tory HQ tells candidates Exclusive: leaked briefing note advises candidates not to sign up to non-approved pledges – but supporting shooting is allowedLatest election news - live updatesConservative candidates in the general election will be told not to sign up to specific pledges on protecting the NHS from privatisation and trade deals or tackling climate change, according to a leaked internal document from party headquarters.The 11-page briefing note explains the party’s position on nine key areas and “strongly advises” prospective Tory MPs “against signing up to any pledges” unless they have been agreed from the centre. Continue reading... Go to Source

Climate crisis: 11,000 scientists warn of ‘untold suffering’ Statement sets out ‘vital signs’ as indicators of magnitude of the climate emergencyMost countries’ climate plans ‘totally inadequate’ – expertsThe world’s people face “untold suffering due to the climate crisis” unless there are major transformations to global society, according to a stark warning from more than 11,000 scientists.“We declare clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency,” it states. “To secure a sustainable future, we must change how we live. [This] entails major transformations in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural ecosystems.” Continue reading... Go to Source

Stormzy joins backlash against Rees-Mogg over Grenfell apology Rapper attacks cabinet minister for saying fire victims should have used ‘common sense’Lives of Grenfell: portraits of the 72 who diedTory politician Jacob Rees-Mogg found himself at the receiving end of an excoriating attack by British rapper Stormzy ahead of the government’s general election launch over ill-judged comments he made about Grenfell Tower victims not using their “common sense” to escape the blaze.The award-winning musician, who famously used his Brit awards performance in 2018 to criticise Theresa May over her response to the fire, said Rees-Mogg has insinuated that those who “lost their lives weren’t smart enough to escape” and called on him to resign. Continue reading... Go to Source

Mothercare to cease all UK trading with loss of 2,800 jobs Chain to close all 79 UK stores and online business after appointing PwC as administratorsMothercare is to close all its 79 UK stores and online business with the potential loss of 2,800 jobs after appointing administrators from PricewaterhouseCoopers on Tuesday.The administration will not include Mothercare’s profitable overseas operations, which have more than 1,000 stores in over 40 countries. Continue reading... Go to Source

Teenagers sentenced for murder of Irish 14-year-old Ana Kriégel Boys, now 15, are youngest people in Irish history to be convicted of murder Two teenage boys have been sentenced to life and 15 years respectively for murdering a schoolgirl who was lured to an abandoned house, savagely beaten and sexually assaulted in a case that has horrified Ireland.A judge in the central criminal court in Dublin on Tuesday sentenced one boy to life in detention, with the sentence to be reviewed after 12 years. The other received 15 years, with the sentence to be reviewed after eight years. Continue reading... Go to Source

General election: Corbyn says Tory UK-US trade deal would be 'Thatcherism on steroids' for Britain - live news Rolling coverage of the 2019 general election campaign, including Jeremy Corbyn’s speech on Brexit and the Liberal Democrat launchBrexit transition period will not be extended past 2020, says GoveGove’s morning interviews - Summary and analysis 11.51am GMTQ: You quoted a figure for a trade deal costing the NHS £500m a week that is based on a crude assumption about all drug prices being the same as in the US. Isn’t this misleading?Corbyn says he believes this to be an accurate and credible figure. He would not be using it otherwise. And he says he is happy for people to analyse it, and to tell him if he is understating the case. 11.44am GMTCorbyn is now taking questions.Q:...

Rees-Mogg sorry for saying Grenfell victims lacked common sense Commons leader apologises after criticism over his remarks on adherence to stay-put policyJacob Rees-Mogg has apologised after claiming Grenfell Tower fire victims did not use “common sense” and leave the burning building.The leader of the House of Commons was widely criticised on Tuesday morning after he said the stay-put policy issued by the fire service had limited people’s chances of survival and he would have ignored it. Continue reading... Go to Source

Cambridge accepts £6m Shell donation for oil extraction research Cambridge Zero Carbon says university has been ‘hijacked’ by fossil fuel industryCambridge University has accepted a multimillion-pound donation from Shell to fund a team researching oil extraction technology, even as it publicly positions itself as part of the transition to a sustainable future.Shell has given £6m to fund the work of the university’s magnetic resonance research group amid a concerted campaign by students and staff to persuade the university to sever its links with extractive industries. Continue reading... Go to Source

India's top court orders crackdown on stubble burning to cut Delhi pollution Supreme court says residents are ‘losing precious years’ as judges order immediate halt to practiceIndia’s top court has ordered a crackdown on stubble burning around Delhi, a major contributor to lethal smog that on Tuesday kept the metropolis of 20 million people choking in air rated “very poor”.The supreme court said the capital’s residents were “losing precious years” of their lives, adding “people are dying, this just cannot happen in a civilised country”. Continue reading... Go to Source

Impeachment inquiry transcripts reveal shock and concern over Trump plot Yovanovitch and McKinley warned plot undermined national securityImpeachment inquiry live – rolling reportTwo senior American diplomats warned congressional investigators a White House plot to manufacture political dirt on Joe Biden in Ukraine had undermined US national security interests and shredded faith among foreign service personnel, according to transcripts released on Monday by committees pursuing an impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump. Related: Trump rejects whistleblower offer to answer Republican questions Continue reading... Go to Source

Sir Lindsay Hoyle promises calm after being elected Speaker Successor to John Bercow – and 158th occupant of the job – beats Chris Bryant in final round of votingSir Lindsay Hoyle was elected as the new Speaker of the House of Commons on Monday, succeeding John Bercow who held the role for more than a decade.The 62-year-old Labour MP for Chorley, the only candidate who refused to say how he voted in the 2016 EU referendum, became the 158th Speaker after beating six others in a secret ballot of members. Continue reading... Go to Source

Scotland stops treating under-12s as criminals but is urged to do more Children’s commissioner says move is inadequate and minimum age should be 14Scotland is to stop treating children under 12 as offenders later this month after the Scottish parliament voted earlier this year to raise the age of criminal responsibility from eight.The Scottish children’s commissioner, however, has criticised the measure as inadequate and urged ministers in Edinburgh to revisit the decision and raise the minimum age to 14. Continue reading... Go to Source

Flour power: Hong Kong protest-themed cake disqualified from UK baking contest Creator claims cake was victim of political censorship after attendees at Cake International show threatened to damage itA Hong Kong protest-themed cake has become the latest cause célèbre of the city’s five-month political crisis after it was disqualified from a cake decorating competition in the UK.The three-tiered cake features a mini black-clad protester in a yellow hard hat, a large Guy Fawkes mask, tiny umbrellas and mini political slogans – all symbols of the ongoing protests. It even has a miniature black LP record playing the unofficial anthem of the protest, Glory to Hong Kong, and emits a vapour designed to look like tear gas. Continue reading... Go to Source