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Royal Mail talks over pay on brink of collapse - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A source says continuing strike action could mean Royal Mail is put into administration. | Business | Talks to resolve a long-running row with Royal Mail staff over pay and conditions are close to collapse.
Discussions are "precarious" and in their "last throes", with the next 24-48 hours key to settling the dispute, a source close to the talks said.
The Royal Mail board is reported as threatening to put the firm into administration if a deal is not done.
The BBC understands that there may be movement on the current pay offer to unions to try and resolve the issues.
"Administration is a real possibility for Royal Mail if the industrial action continues. It is not a negotiating ploy," the source told the BBC.
A separate source said that Royal Mail is in "uncharted territory" in terms of what would happen if it went into administration, but the unprofitable letter delivery part of the business would likely have to be split from the parcel delivery part.
A Royal Mail spokesman said the firm is "doing all we can" to resolve the dispute, and that the firm is "committed to getting the right deal".
But he said the firm has been "very clear about the damaging impact of strike action".
A CWU spokesman said it was "clear" that Royal Mail Group are in a "serious financial situation", but that this was due to "mismanagement and recklessness at the most senior level of the company".
"There is no positive future for Royal Mail without the support of the workforce," he added.
The government would have to approve a move into administration.
This could mean Royal Mail, including Parcelforce, is declared insolvent.
The dispute is not just over pay. Royal Mail is also trying to make changes to the way postal staff do their jobs including changes to start times and sick pay.
The long-running dispute has seen workers and management at loggerheads, leading to industrial action including a strike over Christmas, with further possible strikes.
The company has been beset by recent problems, including the prospect of further strikes, and a cyber attack which disrupted overseas mail.
Royal Mail has said it is losing £1m a day and that it is projected to lose more than £350m for the financial year ending in April.
It has said the strikes have cost the company £200m in lost business and in covering striking staff.
Talks between the company and the Communications Workers Union (CWU) have been ongoing since the end of last year.
In the past few days, Sir Brendan Barber, the former head of the TUC and ex-chair of conciliation service Acas, has been brought in to help facilitate the talks.
There is currently a pay offer of 9% over two years starting in April, including a 2% offer for 2022/23.
The business says modernisation is essential if the company is to improve its parcel delivery service.
The firm has been trying to move away from letter delivery, which it has said is unprofitable, but it is obliged to deliver letters to all parts of the UK.
The CWU has previously said that Royal Mail's management was trying to "casualise" the postal service and that they "want to turn it into an Uber-style employer". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65099143 |
Climate change: England not ready for impact - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The government's advisers urge a "step change" in climate adaptation policy to avoid an increased risk to life. | Science & Environment | England is not ready for the unavoidable impacts of global warming, the government's advisers on climate change say in a new report.
The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) said the government hasn't achieved any of its targets and needed a policy "step change" to avoid loss of life.
The CCC reviews the government's adaptation plans - preparations to cope with the effects of global warming.
The government said it would take the recommendations into account.
The committee, also known as the CCC, is an independent group of experts set up to provide the government with advice on the climate crisis.
Baroness Brown, chairwoman of the CCC's sub-committee on adaptation, said that the government wasn't taking the issue seriously enough.
"The government's lack of urgency on climate resilience is in sharp contrast to the recent experience of this country," she said.
Over the last couple of years, England has faced a series of extreme weather events, likely made worse by climate change.
Last year was the warmest on record for the UK - temperatures broke 40C for the first time and more than 25,000 wildfires broke out.
Sheffield was hit by wildfires last year as summer temperatures breached 40C in parts of England
As well as extreme heat, rainfall has been consistently low for parts of south and southeast England, affecting crop yields.
Andrew Blenkiron's 6,000-acre (24 sq km) farm in Thetford, Norfolk saw just 2.4mm of rain in February compared to the local average for that month of 43mm. He has now been forced to cut back on plans to plant potatoes, onions, parsnips and carrots by around a fifth.
He said: "Farmers are at the very forefront of climate change on a day-to-day basis... we are used to working with these issues, but we are concerned with the extremes we are now facing."
To cope with the impacts of extreme heat Mr Blenkiron has enlarged reservoirs on his farm and shifted harvesting patterns to prevent wildfires.
But he said that farmers needed more money from government to implement their climate plans, especially if they involved new infrastructure projects like reservoirs.
Andrew Blenkiron has adapted his farm to reduce emissions and lower the impact of climate change
A UK government spokesperson told the BBC: "We have taken decisive action to improve the UK's climate change resilience - including investing a record £5.2bn into flood defences."
The spokesperson said the government would factor in the committee's recommendations to the new National Adaptation Plan, which is expected to be published this summer.
The committee said the government needed to consider the resilience of farming systems in other countries.
Nearly half of all the food the UK consumes is imported. The CCC said this makes all of the UK's food supply vulnerable to global weather patterns.
Already this year supermarkets have placed limits on fruit and vegetable sales after bad weather in North Africa affected supply.
The committee has recommended the government require all large food sector companies by law to assess the climate risks to their supply chains.
Climate change could lead to more empty supermarket shelves
The committee reviewed the government's plans across 12 other areas - from buildings to transport to nature. They found that just five out of the 45 policy areas had fully credible climate change plans and none were making progress to improve climate resilience.
The committee commended the government for updating building regulations last year for new domestic properties - requiring developers to take account of overheating.
But they said this needed to be extended to cover all existing homes - as 80% of all homes that will be around in 2050 have already been built.
As many as 4.6 million homes overheat, according to a recent survey, putting those with existing health conditions like asthma at risk.
The report singled out England's internet networks as being woefully unprepared for climate change despite their crucial importance.
England's internet networks - made up of hundreds of data centres, and extensive networks of cables and masts - underpin the UK's service-based economy.
This infrastructure is already at risk from extreme weather, including heat and strong winds during storms. In November 2021, Storm Arwen left one million British properties without power and internet supply.
The committee found "there was no visible plan by the industry or government, to manage long-term risk".
The UK's internet supply is at risk from extreme weather as shown during Storm Arwen
Matt Evans, director of Markets at techUK, the UK's tech trade association, told the BBC the report showed there needed to be better collaboration across industry and government.
But he said it "doesn't fully capture the resiliency strategies employed by high-tech industries".
The committee did praise local governments for innovative climate change preparation, including the work of Kent County Council to help farmers switch their crops to those that will fare better in warmer weather.
But Baroness Brown said that central government needed to better support local adaptation plans by providing more funding and more region-specific information on future threats. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-65099546 |
Minister confirms plans to house asylum seekers in military bases - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Labour's Yvette Cooper says the plans are an "admission of failure". | UK Politics | If you're just joining our live coverage, or need a bit of a catch up, it's safe to say it's been a busy afternoon in the Commons.
We had PMQs at midday... in which deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner and justice secretary Dominic Raab stood in for their respective leaders, who were attending former speaker Baroness Boothroyd's funeral.
Rayner focused on... violence against women and girls, challenging the government on low rape convictions, and slow case progress. In a thinly veiled reference to his own bullying enquiry, she also asked Raab whether he wanted to see bullies brought to justice.
In response, Raab... said the conviction rate measured by the CPS in rape cases had gone up 69%; funding for victims had been quadrupled; and violence against women was one of the government's "top priorities". He also accused Rayner of being more interested in playing "political games" than the issues she was raising.
Away from Westminster, Sunak attended the funeral of former Commons speaker Baroness Boothroyd Image caption: Away from Westminster, Sunak attended the funeral of former Commons speaker Baroness Boothroyd
After that, we had a statement by Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick... who confirmed plans to house migrants arriving in the UK on small boats in accommodation such as repurposed barrack blocks on former military bases in Essex and Lincolnshire. There'll be another site in East Sussex, as well as one in Rishi Sunak's constituency.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper... branded the plans an "admission of failure" by the government to tackle the migrant crisis. She said small boat crossings had increased and 40% fewer asylum cases were being decided due to the policies. She also accused the Home Office of behaving in such a panicked way that it had, she said, bid against itself for hotel contracts - driving prices up. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-65110010 |
Watch: King Charles speaking German in Berlin - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | null | The King joked with his hosts as he impressed with his language skills at a lavish banquet. | null | King Charles has delivered a speech partly in German at Bellevue Palace in Berlin during a state visit to the country, his first since becoming monarch.
The monarch made several jokes and praised the ties between the UK and Germany.
The King and his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, attended a state banquet hosted by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Among those in attendance were the first lady Elke Büdenbender, as well as dignitaries from both Germany and the UK, including former Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65118773 |
UK asylum: Ex-military bases to be used in migrant housing plan - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The move will cut down on the use of private hotels, immigration minister Robert Jenrick says. | UK | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Robert Jenrick's plans to use military bases "being disposed of" face criticism from both sides of the Commons.
Three sites including two ex-military bases will be used as migrant housing in a bid to cut down on hotel use.
Sites in Lincolnshire and Essex, plus another in East Sussex, could house "several thousand", Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said.
The government is "exploring the possibility" of using ferries but no firm decision has been taken, he said.
Labour shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the announcement was "an admission of failure" on asylum policy.
The plans are likely to meet local opposition and have been criticised by MPs whose constituencies are impacted, with one Conservative warning the government a legal challenge would be launched.
Mr Jenrick told the Commons "the sheer number of small boats have overwhelmed the asylum system" and said the government would "not elevate the wellbeing of illegal migrants above the British people".
"Accommodation for migrants should meet essential living needs and nothing more, because we cannot risk becoming a magnet for the millions of people who are displaced and seeking better economic prospects," he added.
Mr Jenrick said the three new sites will help reduce the need to rely on private hotels but conceded that "these sites on their own will not end the use of hotels overnight".
He also revealed barracks at Catterick Garrison in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's constituency was being assessed for suitability as potential accommodation.
Later, bosses of a commercial port on the Dorset coast in southern England said the Home Office had asked it to provide space for an "accommodation facility".
Bill Reeves, chief executive of Portland Port, said: "We are currently liaising with the Home Office about the next steps."
Conservative-led Dorset Council has said it has "serious concerns" about the location.
There had been media speculation the government could announce plans to use vessels to house migrants, but it wasn't included in what the minister called the "first tranche" of housing options.
The government says £6.2m a day is being spent on hotels for migrants and areas with high concentrations of people face a strain on local services.
The BBC understands more than 51,000 people are currently being housed in 395 hotels.
Mr Jenrick said new funding would be made available for local authorities to help deal with costs.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
The BBC understands necessary planning changes has been secured to repurpose military sites in Lincolnshire and Essex, and both could be used to house people who enter the country illegally within weeks.
Mr Jenrick did not name the individual sites during his Commons statement but their locations have previously been reported.
Use of RAF Scampton - home of the Dambusters squadron during World War Two - near Scampton, Lincolnshire, could trigger a legal challenge.
Its local Tory MP, Sir Edward Leigh, criticised the choice as a "thoroughly bad idea" and said the local authority would launch an immediate judicial review.
A deal was agreed in March to allow West Lindsey District Council buy the base from the Ministry of Defence as part of a £300m regeneration project of the site for commercial activity, heritage, tourism and research.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has previously criticised plans to house people at the base near the village of Wethersfield in his Essex constituency of Braintree.
He said the site was "inappropriate" because it was remote and had limited transport infrastructure. The local authority has confirmed it is considering legal action.
Former home secretary Priti Patel, who represents a neighbouring constituency, has also questioned the site's suitability.
Bexhill and Battle MP Huw Merriman identified the East Sussex site as Northeye near Bexhill, which formerly housed an RAF property, a prison and a training centre.
Government sources say each site will be able to house between 1,500 and 2,000 migrants, and initially are more likely to be used for new arrivals rather than to rehouse people currently in hotels.
Mr Jenrick said the sites would be used to house single adult males and stressed it was not his "intention" that minors will be taken there.
The current system of housing asylum seekers in hotels is deeply unpopular with many Conservative MPs. But the alternatives are also unpopular with a few.
The lack of detail on exactly what the government is "exploring" by way of options for using ferries and barges certainly looks like it's caused some jitters.
It was noted that several Tory MPs with ports or docks in their areas spoke out against the plans.
It's also allowed the opposition to question if the much-trailed idea is really a runner at all.
As for the two military sites, the opposition from local councils is fierce and seems it may be headed for the courts.
The dilemma isn't going away though: people going through the asylum system need somewhere to live.
The government has pinned its reputation on dealing with this issue so the prospect of some local fights, however fierce, is unlikely to put it off.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the government's announcement was an "admission of failure" and not a proposal to cut or provide an alternative to "costly hotel use".
"They've got this huge backlog of asylum decisions, so much so that 98% of last year's small boats arrivals simply haven't even been decided or processed."
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has accused the government of "going after headlines" while failing to solve the problem of people arriving in small boats.
The Refugee Council believes the accommodation being suggested is "entirely unsuitable" to the needs of asylum seekers.
Alex Fraser, from the British Red Cross, said: "Military sites, by their very nature, can re-traumatise people who have fled war and persecution".
Mr Sunak told his cabinet on Tuesday the cost of the current approach and pressure it put on local areas was not sustainable, according to No 10.
At a Commons liaison committee, the prime minister said children cannot be exempted from plans to detain people who cross the Channel in small boats to prevent the creation of a "pull factor".
It comes as the government's asylum proposals laid out in the Illegal Migration Bill are being debated in Parliament.
The legislation aims to stop migrants claiming asylum in the UK if they arrive through unauthorised means, by crossing the English Channel in small boats.
People could be detained without bail or judicial review for 28 days before being removed to their home country or a safe third country like Rwanda. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65107827 |
Newtownards and Bangor: Two men charged after attacks - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Three other men who were arrested in connection with the attacks have been released by police. | Northern Ireland | A forensic officer in Moyne Gardens in Newtownards after two petrol bombs were thrown at a house on Sunday
Two men have been charged following a series of attacks in north Down.
A 30-year-old has been charged with a range of offences, including arson with intent to endanger life and possessing petrol bombs.
The second man, also aged 30, has been charged with a number of offences including arson with intent to endanger life and making a petrol bomb.
Police said on Monday that in recent days eight houses in north Down had been attacked.
Some of the attacks, including one on a house in Moyne Gardens in Newtownards on Sunday, involved petrol bombs.
Both of the men are due to appear before Newtownards Magistrates' Court on Wednesday morning.
Three other men - aged 29, 50 and 53 - who were arrested under the Terrorism Act in relation to the incidents in north Down have all been released following questioning. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-65094671 |
AI could replace equivalent of 300 million jobs - report - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | ChatGPT-style AI will have a large impact but new jobs could emerge, a Goldman Sachs report says. | Technology | Artificial intelligence (AI) could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs, a report by investment bank Goldman Sachs says.
It could replace a quarter of work tasks in the US and Europe but may also mean new jobs and a productivity boom.
And it could eventually increase the total annual value of goods and services produced globally by 7%.
Generative AI, able to create content indistinguishable from human work, is "a major advancement", the report says.
The government is keen to promote investment in AI in the UK, which it says will "ultimately drive productivity across the economy", and has tried to reassure the public about its impact.
"We want to make sure that AI is complementing the way we work in the UK, not disrupting it - making our jobs better, rather than taking them away," Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan told the Sun.
The report notes AI's impact will vary across different sectors - 46% of tasks in administrative and 44% in legal professions could be automated but only 6% in construction 4% in maintenance, it says.
BBC News has previously reported some artists' concerns AI image generators could harm their employment prospects.
"The only thing I am sure of is that there is no way of knowing how many jobs will be replaced by generative AI," Carl Benedikt Frey, future of-work director at the Oxford Martin School, Oxford University, told BBC News.
"What ChatGPT does, for example, is allow more people with average writing skills to produce essays and articles.
"Journalists will therefore face more competition, which would drive down wages, unless we see a very significant increase in the demand for such work.
"Consider the introduction of GPS technology and platforms like Uber. Suddenly, knowing all the streets in London had much less value - and so incumbent drivers experienced large wage cuts in response, of around 10% according to our research.
"The result was lower wages, not fewer drivers.
"Over the next few years, generative AI is likely to have similar effects on a broader set of creative tasks".
According to research cited by the report, 60% of workers are in occupations that did not exist in 1940.
But other research suggests technological change since the 1980s has displaced workers faster than it has created jobs.
And if generative AI is like previous information-technology advances, the report concludes, it could reduce employment in the near term.
The long-term impact of AI, however, was highly uncertain, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation think tank Torsten Bell told BBC News, "so all firm predictions should be taken with a very large pinch of salt".
"We do not know how the technology will evolve or how firms will integrate it into how they work," he said.
"That's not to say that AI won't disrupt the way we work - but we should focus too on the potential living-standards gains from higher-productivity work and cheaper-to-run services, as well as the risk of falling behind if other firms and economies better adapt to technological change." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-65102150 |
Shona Robison to be Scottish deputy first minister - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The Dundee East MSP is the first appointment to Humza Yousaf's new Scottish government. | Scotland politics | Scotland's new First Minister Humza Yousaf has announced that Shona Robison will serve as his deputy.
Ms Robison has been an MSP since 1999, and has served as health secretary and social justice secretary.
Mr Yousaf made the announcement moments after MSPs voted to make him Scotland's sixth first minister.
He will be sworn in at the Court of Session on Wednesday morning, and is expected to start appointing his cabinet in the afternoon.
Ms Robison, who is MSP for Dundee City East, is a close friend of Mr Yousaf's predecessor Nicola Sturgeon - who posted congratulations on Twitter.
The former health secretary nominated Mr Yousaf for the post of first minister in advance of the formal vote which made him parliament's nominee for the post.
And after it concluded, he told reporters she would be his deputy first minister.
Mr Yousaf was also nominated by MSP Neil Gray, who played a key role in his campaign and is also expected to land a key role in government.
Further appointments are expected to be announced on Wednesday, before being confirmed in more votes at Holyrood on Thursday.
Ms Robison has held a series of roles in government, dating back to before Mr Yousaf was elected to Holyrood.
She was the minister who oversaw the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, was health secretary under Ms Sturgeon and was later in charge of social justice, housing and local government. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-65104651 |
Mortgage lending hits lowest level since 2016 excluding pandemic - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Borrowing falls sharply but more mortgage applications are being approved, says Bank of England | Business | Mortgage lending in February fell to its lowest level since 2016, excluding the pandemic, the Bank of England has said.
But the number of mortgages approved by lenders rose slightly, suggesting the slowdown may be stabilising.
It comes as higher borrowing costs make buying property less affordable.
Homeowners borrowed £700m in February, down from £2bn in January, the Bank said. That is the lowest level since April 2016 apart from the Covid crisis.
However, mortgage approvals rose to their highest level for three months, climbing to 43,500 in February from 39,600 in January.
Karen Noye, a mortgage expert at Quilter, suggested people were still in "wait-and-see" mode as borrowing costs remained high.
But she said the rebound in approvals meant "green shoots might be appearing" in the housing market.
"It's clear that home-buyers are cautiously returning back to the market in early 2023 after the huge shocks at the back end of last year made many put their house hunts on ice. How this all feeds through to house prices is yet to be seen."
Mortgage rates began to rise last year as interest rates climbed, but they spiked in September after Liz Truss's mini-budget caused panic on financial markets.
Rates have stabilised but remain much higher than they were a few years ago, squeezing people's purchasing power.
It has fed through to house prices, which in the year to February saw their biggest annual fall in more than ten years, according to Nationwide.
Nevertheless, the Bank of England forecast that fewer households were likely to struggle to afford mortgage payments this year than previously forecast due to falling energy prices.
In December it warned 670,000 households could face difficulties.
Alice Haine, personal finance analyst at Bestinvest, said buyers were going for smaller homes to reflect their budgets as the "cost-of-living crunch is still very real".
"The cost pressures mean buyers simply cannot afford the same properties they could a year ago and must consider smaller or cheaper homes if they want to push ahead with a purchase at this time," she said.
The mini-budget last autumn sparked market turmoil, with the Bank of England having to step in to stabilise pension funds.
It bought up government debt to stop a fire-sale by some pension funds of assets which could have led to their collapse.
On Wednesday, the Bank laid out a range of ways pension funds could protect themselves in future, to avoid another crisis.
It urged the funds at the heart of last year's crisis - known as Liability Driven Investment funds - to have enough money to withstand a surge in government bond yields, as well as other measures.
It came as the Bank of England's committee watching for financial risks said the UK economy had remained resilient, and banking system robust, despite global stresses. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65112278 |
Renting: 'We were kicked out because we complained' - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Renters tell the BBC how they have been evicted for complaining about the state of their homes. | Business | Mould and a broken toilet were just some of the problems Chiara said she and her family faced in their rented home over the past two years.
But when the teacher complained to her landlord, she said they responded with a no-fault eviction notice.
It comes as a survey found tenants in England who complain to landlords were more than twice as likely to get an eviction notice than those who do not.
It has renewed calls to scrap no-fault evictions, known as Section 21 notices.
The government pledged to ban the use of Section 21 orders in England last June, but since then the number of households threatened with homelessness because of such notices has increased by 34%.
Shelter, a major housing charity, said that scrapping no-fault evictions was more urgent than ever, especially with the number of homes available to rent in the UK dropping by a third over the past 18 months.
Chiara told the BBC that she, her husband Ben and their three-year-old daughter Maggie had "lived with disrepair for two years" in a flat in Leyton, London.
"We had moths in the carpet, the cellar was flooded, we had no bath, the toilet broke so we had no toilet," she said.
With mould and damp also causing problems, Chiara complained about the state of the flat to her landlord.
"They responded with a Section 21, giving us two months' notice to vacate the property," she said.
"We were kicked out because we complained."
Chiara, who is a teacher in Walthamstow, said that after they got the notice in January, the family experienced a frantic search to find a new home, finally moving into a new place two weeks ago.
She said while searching they discovered that rents had surged.
Chiara said it made it "pretty much impossible" for them to find another two-bed flat with a garden, so now the family has moved into a one-bed.
According to a YouGov survey of just over 2000 private renting adults in England commissioned by charity Shelter, tenants facing issues with properties who then complained about disrepair to their landlord were more than twice as likely to be handed an eviction notice than those who had not.
The research found that 76% of private renters in England have experienced disrepair in the last year, and a quarter of renters have not asked for repairs to be carried out due to fear of eviction.
"We just need to get rid of Section 21," said Polly Neate, Shelter's chief executive.
She added there needed to be a "situation where landlords can evict people for legitimate reasons, and can't evict them just because they complain about the poor condition of their home".
David and Samira from Richmond in North Yorkshire have had a similar experience to Chiara and her family.
The couple were issued with a no-fault eviction just before Christmas after complaining about damp.
Samira was six months' pregnant at the time.
David said the eviction was "really unfair" and caused a lot of stress for the parents-to-be.
"Looking at the options we had as tenants there was very little we could do. It was just really baffling, really confusing, it doesn't seem like a fair process," David added, after being outbid or rejected for more than 30 properties they had viewed.
"Soul destroying is the term I'd use for it, it was just rejection after rejection after rejection."
David and Samira managed to find a new home just in time for the arrival of their daughter Aila last week.
The government is due to introduce a Renters' Reform Bill before the summer, which it has said will redress the balance in the market and provide more security for tenants.
Housing rules are different in each of the devolved nations, and Scotland and Wales have already banned no fault evictions. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65114284 |
Barmouth: David Redfern guilty of bed mix-up murder - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | David Redfern murdered 71-year-old Margaret Barnes after she mistook his home for a B&B. | Wales | Margaret Barnes died in the street following the attack in Barmouth, Gwynedd, last July
A man has been found guilty of murdering a 71-year-old who mistook his home for a B&B and got into his bed.
Margaret Barnes, from Birmingham, died following the attack last July while she was visiting Barmouth, Gwynedd.
David Redfern, 46, found Mrs Barnes asleep in his bedroom and dragged her downstairs by her feet before kicking and stamping her to death.
Redfern denied murder but was found guilty after a trial at Caernarfon Crown Court.
Mrs Barnes had been out drinking with friends and had been planning to stay at a B&B on Marine Parade, where Redfern lived.
She mistakenly went into Redfern's house and went straight to his bedroom and fell asleep.
Michael Jones, prosecuting, described that as a "mistake that ultimately cost her her life".
After returning home and finding Mrs Barnes in his bed, Redfern, who had self-confessed anger issues, dragged her downstairs by her ankles.
Redfern, a 6ft 1in (1.85m) man who weighed 21 stone (133kg), then kicked and stamped on Mrs Barnes, breaking numerous ribs.
David Redfern found Mrs Barnes in his bedroom, dragged her downstairs and kicked and stamped on her
A post-mortem examination found she had a traumatic liver injury and extensive internal bleeding.
In police bodycam footage shown during the trial, Redfern said: "I threw her out the bedroom, dragged her down the stairs by her ankles and threw her out the door.
"You do not expect to find someone else in your bed. I just wanted to get this strange woman out of the house."
In CCTV footage, Redfern is heard telling his partner: "I didn't mean to kill her".
His partner replied: "You could have just escorted her out. It's an old lady."
Redfern told the jury when he and his fiancée came into the room, they found Mrs Barnes sitting up in their bed drinking gin and tonic with her false teeth on the bedside table.
Redfern claimed Mrs Barnes became aggressive and lunged at his partner after the couple called the police.
After dragging Mrs Barnes downstairs Redfern delivered a "deliberate, gratuitous, and forceful" kick or stamp to her.
Redfern denied murdering Mrs Barnes, but was found guilty after a trial
Redfern claimed there was accidental contact during the confrontation and accepted saying "some appalling things" but always maintained he was not responsible for her death.
A pathologist told the jury Mrs Barnes' injuries were the sort they would expect to see in a car crash.
Mrs Barnes collapsed outside the front door of Redfern's home, where he mocked her as she complained of chest pains before losing consciousness.
Despite the efforts of neighbours and paramedics, she could not be revived and was pronounced dead in the early hours of 11 July.
The jury found Redfern guilty of a single charge of murder after deliberating for 15 hours.
Addressing Redfern, Mr Justice Bourne said he must expect a life sentence when he is sentenced on Friday, with the minimum time he must serve to be decided.
Redfern told the court he "just wanted to get this strange woman out of the house"
After the trial, Mrs Barnes' family said she was a much-loved wife, mother and grandmother.
"As a family it has been the hardest time of our lives," they said.
"It has been especially difficult for Margaret's husband who had been her partner for 56 years.
"We now have some sort of closure on what has happened however no length of sentence will ever fill the void that Margaret has left behind." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-65062565 |
Adidas backtracks on Black Lives Matter design opposition - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The firm previously said a Black Lives Matter design would create confusion with its famous three-stripe mark. | Business | Adidas says it is withdrawing a request to the US Trademark Office to reject a Black Lives Matter (BLM) application for a trademark featuring three parallel stripes.
The sportwear giant did not give a reason for the reversal.
On Monday, Adidas said the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation design would create confusion with its own famous three-stripe mark.
It added that it has been using its logo for more than 70 years.
"Adidas will withdraw its opposition to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation's trademark application as soon as possible," a spokesperson for the German company said in a statement emailed to the BBC on Wednesday.
The company declined to make any further comment on the decision.
Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is the most prominent entity in the decentralised BLM movement.
The group applied for a US trademark in November 2020 for a yellow three-stripe design to use on merchandise including clothing and bags.
In a notice of opposition submitted to the trademark office, Adidas said the proposed design "incorporates three stripes in a manner that is confusingly similar to the Three-Stripe Mark in appearance and overall commercial impression".
The company added that consumers who are familiar with its goods and services "are likely to assume" that those offered under the applicant's mark "originate from the same source, or that they are affiliated, connected, or associated with or sponsored by Adidas".
The US Patent and Trademark Office gave Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation until 6 May to respond to the challenge.
Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment.
BLM rose to prominence after the 2012 death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old who was shot by neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, in Florida.
The movement gained further support in the summer of 2020 after George Floyd, an unarmed black man, was murdered in Minneapolis, Minnesota by a police officer who knelt on his neck.
In January this year, Adidas lost a court case to try to stop the luxury brand Thom Browne from using a design.
The sportswear giant argued that Browne's four stripes were too similar to its three stripes.
Browne argued that shoppers were unlikely to confuse the two brands as - among other reasons - his had a different number of stripes.
Documents used in the case showed that Adidas had launched over 90 lawsuits and signed more than 200 settlement agreements related to its trademark since 2008.
According to Adidas, the number of stripes on its famous mark does not have any significance. The company said its founder Adolf Dassler tested several versions and combinations of stripes, and found that those shown on its mark showed up most prominently in photographs. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65107924 |
Rishi Sunak's wife holds shares in childcare firm given Budget boost - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Rishi Sunak faces questions over the shares and says his interests have been declared "in the normal way". | UK Politics | Rishi Sunak is facing questions over shares his wife holds in a childcare agency that could benefit from a new policy unveiled in the Budget.
The Chancellor announced a pilot of payments for new childminders with more for those who sign through agencies.
Akshata Murty was listed as a shareholder in one of those agencies, Koru Kids, as recently as 6 March.
The prime minister's press secretary said all Mr Sunak's interests "have been declared in the usual way".
Ministers are expected to provide a written list of all financial interests that might "give rise to a conflict".
Mr Sunak mentions Ms Murthy's venture capital company, Catamaran Ventures, in his list of ministerial interests, but does not mention Koru Kids.
The PM also did not mention Ms Murthy's links to Koru Kids when he was questioned by MPs over the policy at a parliamentary committee hearing on Tuesday.
Labour MP Catherine McKinnell asked Mr Sunak whether he had any interest to declare, and in reply he said: "No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way."
The Liberal Democrats say there are "are serious questions for Rishi Sunak to answer" about "any extra income his family could receive from his own government's policy", and have urged the government's ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, to investigate Mr Sunak over a potential breach of ministerial rules.
Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner said Mr Sunak must explain why his wife's shareholding "was not deemed necessary to publish in the register of members' interests"."He must urgently correct the record and set out what steps he took to avoid an actual or perceived conflict of interest," Ms Rayner said.
When asked about Ms Murty's shareholding - which was reported by the i newspaper - Mr Sunak's press secretary told reporters the details of Ms Murthy's holding in the agency were not in the public domain, but indicated they would be included in the updated statement of ministers' interests, due out in May.
"The ministerial code sets out a process by which ministers declare their interests. They do that in writing, in this case to the Cabinet Secretary. That process was followed to the letter by the prime minister," the press secretary said.
Declarations to the Cabinet Office are not immediately available to MPs or others to see.
Pressed that MPs are usually expected to draw attention to an interest they have declared if questioned about it in a committee, Mr Sunak's press secretary said "there was not a specific interest that was put to him".
The BBC has sought to ask both the company and Ms Murthy for comment.
The pilot of bonuses for childminders was announced in the Budget on 15 March as part of the government's overhaul of childcare.
Mr Hunt said the government would be "piloting incentive payments of £600 for childminders who sign up to the profession, rising to £1,200 for those who join through an agency".
The pilot could drive up the number of childminders entering the profession and generate more business for companies such as Koru Kids.
Koru Kids is listed as one of six childminder agencies on the government's website.
On its website, Koru Kids welcomed the government's reforms and said "the new incentives open to childminders are great".
The website says new childminders would get a bonus of £1,200 if they "come through an agency like Koru Kids who offer community, training and ongoing support". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-65115204 |
Ministers can veto prisoners' parole in Victims and Prisoners Bill - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The government has promised to make it easier for victims of crime in England and Wales to get justice. | UK Politics | Ministers will be able to block the release of some prisoners and stop others getting married under new plans to overhaul the parole system.
The idea is among measures in its Victims and Prisoners Bill, which is aimed at giving greater rights to victims of crime in England and Wales.
Ministers promise to make it easier for crime victims to get justice.
But critics fear efforts to improve life for victims will be lost in a bill which also combines parole reform.
Some victims of crime, especially of rape and sexual assault, feel that the criminal justice system has let them down as investigations are slow, and information scarce. Many do not make it to court. Those that do face further delays.
Now the government is promising new legislation to allow victims to be kept informed, and also to challenge decisions.
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said the plans will "make sure that victims are front and centre of the criminal justice system".
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I want to make sure that the drift away from public protection [in the parole system] is curtailed."
The plan for a ministers' veto on some parole decisions follows the cases of double child-killer Colin Pitchfork, who was recalled to prison within months of being released, and black cab rapist John Worboys, which the government says have shaken public confidence in the system.
It will mean ministers can veto recommendations to release criminals including murderers, rapists and terrorists, the government said. Bids for freedom could be blocked on multiple occasions up until the end of a sentence.
Mr Raab previously told MPs that public protection would be the "exclusive focus" of the Parole Board decision-making process under the reforms.
The changes are in an effort to "stop a balancing exercise taking into account prisoners' rights", the Ministry of Justice said.
Mr Raab said: "Our reforms will improve the experience for victims from the first meeting with a police officer to the support they get in court, and we will refocus the parole system on its overriding duty to protect the public from violent and sexual criminals."
He acknowledged that the Parole Board did not like the changes, but he said he wanted to take the parole process in "a different direction" with the emphasis on public safety.
Those serving whole-life orders will be banned from marrying behind bars. These plans also follow an attempt by serial killer Levi Bellfield to marry in prison, and reportedly making a bid for legal aid to challenge the decision to block his marriage.
The 54-year-old is serving two whole-life orders for killing 13-year-old Milly Dowler, Marsha McDonnell and Amelie Delagrange, as well as the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy.
Labour said it had been eight years since the Conservatives first promised this bill, "and now they've had to combine it with parole reform".
"Yet again, the Tories overpromise and underdeliver," said Labour's shadow victims minister Anna McMorrin.
"Victims are now waiting years for a trial because of record court backlogs, with criminals getting off scot-free at a record rate. Rape victims are suffering on average for three years as they wait to hear their case in court."
Diana Fawcett, chief executive at Victim Support, said the charity welcomed many of the measures in the bill "which will make a real and meaningful difference to the experience of victims".
"But we are seriously worried that expanding its scope to include prisoners will be a distraction and delay it even further."
The End Violence Against Women Coalition said women and girls' confidence in justice agencies was at an all-time low because of their "persistent failures towards victims and survivors of rape, sexual violence and domestic abuse", and said it was concerned the bill "will not transform victims' experiences without significant changes".
It said there was a "glaring absence of funding" in the bill and said it was concerned it was "creeping away from its intended aim of improving victims' experiences".
Director Andrea Simon said: "Recovery is an essential part of justice, and we need to ensure every survivor who needs help can access specialist support that is tailored to their needs" - but added matters were a "long way from that being a reality".
A Parole Board spokesman said: "Public protection has always been, and will always be, at the heart of Parole Board decision-making, which is based on the evidence and the law.
"We are committed to working with the ministry and Parliament to ensure this important legislation receives the consideration that it richly deserves." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-65105135 |
Nashville shooter sent a former classmate messages moments before attack - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | "I'm still trying to wrap my head around what we're going through," former classmate Averianna Patton told the BBC. | US & Canada | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Averianna Patton is thought to be one of the last people the Nashville school shooter messaged before the attack.
On Monday morning, Ms Patton received a message on Instagram from her former classmate, who sounded depressed and desperate.
"She said that I would see her on the news later on… and something tragic was about to happen," Ms Patton told BBC News.
"I don't know what she was battling... but I knew it was a mental thing, you know?" Ms Patton said.
"Just something in my spirit, when she reached out, I just jumped into the mode of trying to call around make sure that I'm doing everything that I could."
But within minutes, Audrey Hale attacked the Covenant School, killing three nine-year-old pupils and three staff members.
"I later found out that this was not a game, this was not a joke, it was [Hale] who did this," she said. "It's just been very, very heavy."
Ms Patton said that police came to her home that afternoon to review the messages from Hale.
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around what we're going through as a city and trying to find solutions to prevent this from happening again," she said.
Ms Patton, who is a local TV personality and influencer in Nashville, said she and the shooter were once teammates on the same middle school basketball team.
The suspect, Ms Patton said , could be "standoffish" at times.
But the shooter remained in contact with teammates over the years, and occasionally attended Ms Patton's events in the city.
Ms Patton said she last saw the shooter earlier this month.
Now, she's left turning over the same question plaguing Nashville residents and indeed the rest of the country: why?
"I am asking that the same thing. And I guess you know, just we'll never know. And I'm really sorry.
"I would have never in a million years imagined this." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-65106763 |
Russian whose daughter drew anti-war picture flees jail term - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Alexei Moskalev was investigated after his daughter drew an anti-war picture at school. | Europe | Masha's school contacted the police after the 12-year-old drew this picture
A Russian single father whose daughter was reported for drawing an anti-war picture has been given a two-year jail term for discrediting the army.
But Alexei Moskalev, 53, was not in court in Yefremov for the verdict. The court press secretary said he had escaped house arrest.
"I don't know where he is," his lawyer Vladimir Biliyenko told the BBC.
His daughter Masha, 13, was sent to a children's home in early March when the criminal case began.
Moskalev was accused of repeatedly criticising the Russian army on social media and had appeared in court the day before.
He is only the latest Russian to be given a jail term for discrediting the military, but his case 320km (200 miles) south of Moscow has attracted international attention because of the authorities' decision to remove his daughter from their home early in March.
"I'm in shock," Yefremov town councillor Olga Podolskaya said. "A prison sentence for expressing your opinion is a terrible thing. A two-year jail term is a nightmare."
"When I heard that Alexei had gone on the run, that was the second shock. We hope that Alexei is OK and that nothing has happened to him."
The family's problems began last April, she told the BBC, when Masha Moskaleva's school told the police that the girl had drawn a Ukrainian flag with the words "Glory to Ukraine", rockets and a Russian flag bearing the phrase "No to war!"
Alexei Moskalev had contacted Ms Podolskaya last year to tell her about the pressure he and his daughter were coming under. Masha's mother does not live in the area and is estranged from the family.
Moskalev was initially fined for a comment about the war made on a social media network last year. But after his flat was searched in December he was charged under the criminal code because he had already been convicted of a similar offence.
He has been recognised as a political prisoner by human rights group Memorial, which has itself been banned by Russia's authorities.
Moskalev was not allowed to communicate with the BBC during a visit to his building earlier this month. However, his lawyer said Moskalev was very worried that his daughter was not with him.
Alexei Moskalev was being held under house arrest ahead of the verdict in Yefremov
Social services in Yefremov have officially been tasked with looking after the girl. The local Juvenile Affairs Commission had already taken legal action to restrict her father's parental rights. Last week he wasn't allowed to leave his house arrest to attend a preliminary hearing.
Ahead of the verdict on Tuesday Vladimir Biliyenko visited the children's home where Masha has spent most of the month.
The director told him that the girl had gone to a children's cooking festival and passed on two drawings she said Masha had done for her father, as well as a letter she had written him. Mr Biliyenko told Sotavision that Masha had written the words: "Papa you're my hero."
He later spread the drawings on a table in court.
Although Moskalev had turned up the day before, court press secretary Olga Dyachuk said he had escaped house arrest overnight and should have been taken into custody after the verdict.
"To say I'm surprised would be an understatement," Mr Biliyenko told the BBC. "I've never seen anything like it. No client of mine has ever gone missing like this. I don't know when he fled, or if he has." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65102392 |
Afghan refugees to be moved out of hotels under new government plans - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | But campaigners say ministers' plans could risk leave Afghans at risk of homelessness. | UK | A new plan to move Afghan refugees out of hotels and into permanent homes in the UK has been announced.
Afghans in "bridging hotels" will be written to and given at least three months' notice to move, Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer said.
Labour said the government was "serving eviction notices" with no guarantee of suitable housing for families.
Mr Mercer said new people arriving from Afghanistan under government schemes would not be housed in hotels.
Speaking in the Commons, he said the new plan meant Afghan refugees living in hotels who turn down an offer of housing would not receive a second offer.
The new plan applies to Afghans who have arrived in the UK under two resettlement schemes: the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), which focuses on women, children and religious minorities, and the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP), for Afghans who worked for the British military and UK government.
In August 2021, thousands of people fled Afghanistan after the Taliban took back control of the country. Many refugees have since been living in hotels across the UK.
Mr Mercer said the thousands of people who left Afghanistan were housed in "bridging hotels" which were never meant to be permanent.
He added that of the 24,500 people now living in the UK under the two resettlement schemes, about 8,000 remained in hotels, with about half of those being children - costing £1m a day.
The government says that Afghans make up a fifth of all people living in bridging hotels.
Mr Mercer said the long-term residency in hotels has "prevented some Afghans" from putting down roots, committing to employment and integrating into communities, as well as creating uncertainty.
But campaigners said the new policy would cause anxiety and upheaval for refugees who had already experienced trauma, and could leave Afghans at risk of becoming homeless.
After its withdrawal from Afghanistan, the UK pledged to resettle up to 20,000 more vulnerable Afghans under the ACRS.
The government will begin writing to families and individuals housed in hotels at the end of April, giving them "at least three months' notice" before they are forced out, Mr Mercer told the Commons.
He promised "generous" support, with trained staff based at hotels to provide advice - including Home Office staff and charity workers.
The veterans minister said £35m of funding would help councils provide increased support and the local authority housing fund would be expanded by £250m.
The increased fund for local authorities will help councils to source homes for Afghan refugees currently in hotels, the government says.
Mr Mercer noted there was a "national duty" owed to Afghan refugees who helped British forces during the war.
He added that "in return, we do expect families to help themselves" and where an offer of accommodation was turned down, "another will now not be forthcoming".
He said: "At a time when there are many pressures on the taxpayer and the housing market, it is not right that people can choose to stay in hotels when other perfectly suitable accommodation is available."
Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer announced the plan in the Commons
Enver Solomon from the Refugee Council said the government's plan risked people being left "homeless and destitute on the streets of Britain".
He said: "This is not how those who were promised a warm welcome in the UK should be treated."
Government plans to resettle Afghans who had worked with the UK during the war were initially named Operation Warm Welcome.
Mr Solomon added: "To expect councils to suddenly move them out of hotels by putting pressure on Afghan families risks causing great misery and anxiety for those who have already experienced trauma and upheaval."
Labour called on the government to ensure no Afghans would be left homeless.
Shadow defence secretary John Healey accused the government of "serving eviction notices on 8,000 Afghans - half of whom are children - with no guarantee they will be offered a suitable, settled place to live".
He said: "Never mind 'Operation Warm Welcome', never mind the warm words from the minister today. He has confirmed the government is giving them the cold shoulder."
Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael the public would "have no faith in this initiative".
"They have proven time and time again they cannot treat refugees, including women and young children, with the respect they deserve."
Lib Dem MP Munira Wilson said the government's promise of help for those who remained in danger in Afghanistan was "utterly hollow".
She said she had repeatedly raised the case of five British children who were still "living in hiding" in Kabul and had been "abandoned" by the government.
The Local Government Association (LGA) said councils would need extra resources to help find and fund the accommodation or there would be a risk of a further increase in homelessness. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65098829 |
Easter holiday travel: No repeat of airport chaos, industry says - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Airports and airlines say they have enough staff to cope, with travel set to return to pre-Covid levels. | Business | Airports and airlines have told the BBC they are confident they have enough staff to avoid a repeat of last year's disruption in the Easter holidays.
Some struggled with staff shortages last year as passengers returned, leading to delays and cancellations.
Wages have risen, as businesses try to attract and keep new recruits.
Airline bosses have warned strikes in France are likely to cause issues, but still expect passenger numbers to return to pre-Covid levels of 2019.
EasyJet's chief operating officer, David Morgan, said: "When they close an airport because of strikes you are going to see disruption. But the vast majority of flights, even during a disrupted period, will run smoothly".
EasyJet started recruitment six months early, while Manchester Airport said it already had enough security staff for the summer peak.
Passenger numbers swiftly returned after Covid restrictions were lifted in March 2022. But many holidaymakers encountered huge disruption, as some aviation businesses could not scale up or reverse pandemic job cuts quickly enough to cope.
For people to get away on flights smoothly, various businesses need to work together with the right resources in place.
Last spring, Manchester Airport faced particular criticism for long queues caused by shortages of security staff. By the summer, its managing director Chris Woodroofe could only promise a "reasonable" experience.
This time he promises a "great" experience, adding: "I can absolutely reassure passengers they won't see the [security] queues they saw in summer 2022. We're aiming to deliver at least 95% of our passengers in fifteen minutes".
He said the airport had 350 more security officers than the same time last year, and there would be enough staff in place this April to cope with the busiest day in August.
A new 100 person-strong 'resilience team' has been set up, trained to help in any area where pressure builds up.
Staff shortages led to long queues at airports last Easter
Last year, shortages of ground handlers also proved a particular challenge. These teams do tasks like unloading baggage and helping to prepare the plane for departure.
It is the responsibility of airlines, many of whom contract out the services to specialist providers. Swissport is the world's biggest, operating at 292 airports including Manchester.
Karen Cox, Swissport UK & Ireland managing director, said returning to peak levels of operations in 2022 had been a "massive challenge".
To prepare better this time, she said Swissport had kept on 5,000 workers over the winter and recruited 1,500 more.
Ms Cox described an "absolute war for labour", caused by Covid and Brexit reducing the pool of available workers. But she said: "I sit here now at end of March ready for summer."
As well as recruiting early, she said Swissport had done a number of things to recruit and retain workers.
"We did the single biggest pay deal in our history, and we've given all of our people advance roster notification so they can actually plan their lives," she said.
Backlogs in security clearance for new workers were also an issue last year, but Swissport says this is not a problem now.
Airlines too are optimistic. EasyJet was just one carrier to make large numbers of cancellations last year. The carrier and British Airways offered bonuses as airlines battled to recruit and retain staff.
EasyJet's David Morgan said the airline started hiring for this summer as early as July last year.
"We would not normally start recruiting until January, something like that," he said. "So we wanted to get ahead of the game to make sure that if there were challenges getting people through, we had plenty of time to do that."
He added: "I can say confidently that we are fully staffed for this summer. We have a good resilient number of crew in the system even to cope with the bumps if stuff that's thrown at us."
Mr Morgan acknowledged wages have gone up across the industry, and these costs and higher fuel prices are being reflected in fares.
But he insisted this was not hitting bookings. "We are seeing people prioritise travel. Easter is booking really well and we're seeing good signs for the summer as well."
The communication director of travel firm TUI, Aage Duenhaupt, said: "You can never come to the point where you can give a guarantee for everything. But what we can prepare, that's what we're doing."
Mr Duenhaupt said ground handling partners had given assurances they now had the right resources in place, and the airline had made extra planes available.
Elsewhere, security staff at London Heathrow's Terminal 5 are due to begin a 10-day strike on 31 March, which has already caused British Airways to remove flights from its schedules and could mean queues for security.
In a cost of living crisis, are people still keen to travel? Richard Slater of Henbury Travel in Macclesfield thinks so.
He said many customers - who include those looking for package holidays and cruises - are booking late. But his agency had "seen incredible demand, back to 2019 in fact probably higher".
"We're certainly seeing some people having to cut their cloth a little bit and potentially shorten their holiday, whereas others have been saving up through the pandemic," he added. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65113682 |
Associated Newspapers says Prince Harry and other accusers are 'out of time' - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The Duke of Sussex and six others are bringing a legal case against Associated Newspapers. | UK | The Duke of Sussex attended court in person this week
Barristers for Associated Newspapers have argued to a High Court judge that Prince Harry and six other well-known people have run out of time to bring privacy claims against the Mail titles.
The law requires that claims are brought within six years.
But some of the allegations against Associated date back decades.
Lawyers for the claimants - also including Sir Elton John and Baroness Doreen Lawrence - argue that new evidence has recently come to light.
The newspaper publisher said "they haven't come close" to proving that only now could they sue the Mail and Mail on Sunday.
Last year, the seven claimants said they had only recently become aware of "compelling and highly distressing evidence that they had been the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy by Associated Newspapers".
This included, they said, evidence that the publisher's journalists paid private investigators for bugging cars and homes, listening to private telephone calls, paying police officials and obtaining medical and financial records.
In the case of the Duke of Sussex, his witness statement published on Tuesday stresses that he was not told by lawyers acting for the Royal Family of the possibility of suing newspapers.
He said he only realised this when press interest grew around his relationship with his now wife, which was when he started talking to a senior Royal Family lawyer.
At the Leveson Inquiry in 2011, the Mail's editor Paul Dacre swore on oath that his journalists had not used illegal methods of gathering information.
The lawyers for the claimants say legal action was prevented because of these denials.
They are now arguing that the clock for bringing a legal action only started when the new evidence came to light.
But Adrian Beltrami KC for Associated Newspapers argued that the claimants should have complained about articles in the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday at the time they were published.
He told the judge, Mr Justice Nicklin, that there was no new evidence which justified lifting the time restriction on bringing a case.
Sir Elton John, another claimant in the case, was also seen outside the court
Ledgers kept by the newspapers of payments to private investigators could not be used to prove the case because they had been leaked from a public inquiry, he said, referring to a legal disagreement the judge will have to resolve.
Even if they were valid as evidence, the claimants could have obtained them years ago, he said.
In the same way, admissions by private investigators that they worked for Mail titles in the 1990s and 2000s were not new.
Turning to a "handful" of documents he said were being used to suggest Mail journalists had commissioned illegal activities, Mr Beltrami asked: "Are they the tipping point?"
"If this is supposed to be the tipping point they can not bear the weight which is attributed to them," he said.
If the judge decides in favour of the newspapers, the case could be brought to an end long before it comes to a trial. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65117106 |
Joe Biden defiant on NI visit after terrorism threat level raised - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The US president says "they can't keep me out" after the terrorism threat level was raised in NI. | Northern Ireland | President Biden told reporters "they can't keep me out"
US President Joe Biden has said he still plans to visit Northern Ireland despite MI5's decision to increase the terrorism threat level to "severe".
The move follows a rise in dissident republican activity, including a recent gun attack on a top police officer.
Mr Biden was asked by reporters on Tuesday if it would affect his upcoming visit to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
"No. They can't keep me out," he said.
President Biden has been a vocal supporter of the peace deal signed on 10 April 1998, which was designed to bring an end to three decades of conflict in Northern Ireland.
Following a meeting with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in March, Mr Biden said he intended to visit both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland as part of the anniversary celebrations.
Full details of Mr Biden's visit are yet to be confirmed, but the White House has said the increased threat level "does not have any potential implications for future travel".
Former US President Bill Clinton, ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Taoiseach (Irish PM) Bertie Ahern are among those expected to visit Northern Ireland for commemorative events.
Former PM, Tony Blair, and then taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern are also due to visit
MI5, rather than the PSNI or the government, is responsible for setting the Northern Ireland terrorism threat level, which it has been publishing since 2010.
The move reverses a downgrade in Northern Ireland's terror threat level last March - its first change for 12 years.
On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said the rise in the threat level was "disappointing".
However, Mr Raab said it is worth nothing that the number of dissident republican attacks has been in significant decline since its peak in 2009 and 2010.
He was responding to a question from DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson who asked for assurance the government would provide the PSNI and the security services with the resources they need to counter the threat.
MI5, the UK's Security Service, is believed to review the threat level every six months.
The terrorism threat level remains substantial in the rest of the UK, meaning an attack is a strong possibility.
In a written statement to MPs, Mr Heaton-Harris said: "The public should remain vigilant, but not be alarmed, and continue to report any concerns they have to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)."
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met with Joe Biden in California earlier this month and invited him to Northern Ireland for Good Friday Agreement anniversary events
Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton said dissident republicans were focused on attacking police officers, not the public.
"You should be worried for your police service," he said.
"I wouldn't encourage people to be hugely concerned about their own safety broader than that."
In February Det Ch Insp John Caldwell was shot several times by two gunmen as he was putting footballs into his car boot having been coaching a youth training session in Omagh.
On Tuesday, police said the 48-year-old father-of-one had been moved out of intensive care for the first time but remained in a serious condition.
Det Ch Insp John Caldwell was moved out of intensive care for the first time on Tuesday but remains in a serious condition
The attack on him was admitted by the New IRA, the biggest and most active group dissident group, whose main areas of operations are in Londonderry and County Tyrone.
The group was formed in 2012 and previous security assessments estimated it had about 500 supporters, some 100 of whom are prepared to commit acts of terrorism.
Although tensions within loyalist groups have led to attacks in parts of County Down in the past few days, the change to the threat level is not related to this flare up.
Several loyalist paramilitary groups - the largest being the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Defence Association - are active in Northern Ireland but are not considered a threat to national security and therefore are not a factor in MI5's assessment. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-65110382 |
Space scientists reveal brightest gamma explosion ever - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Nasa satellites detected an explosion two billion light years away that lit up the galaxy. | Leicester | Satellites captured images of how the gamma blast lit up dust rings in space
Scientists have revealed how Nasa satellites detected the brightest gamma ray explosion in space.
The gamma-ray burst (GRB) occurred two billion light-years from Earth and illuminated much of the galaxy.
Images of the rare and powerful cosmic phenomenon show a halo and "bullseye" like shapes.
Experts, including academics from the University of Leicester, say the GRB was 10 times brighter than any other previously detected.
They have released detailed analysis of the powerful explosion that was spotted on 9 October, 2022.
The blast was officially named GRB 221009A but has been nicknamed the BOAT - Brightest Of All Time - by those working on a mission Nasa calls Swift.
The images captured have shown unprecedented details of GRBs
X-ray astronomer Dr Phil Evans, who leads the University of Leicester's involvement in Swift, said: "We were really lucky to see something like this. We estimate that events this bright occur roughly once every thousand years.
"By studying the evolution of this astonishingly bright GRB in great detail, we can learn a lot about the physics of a blast wave.
"Just like slow-mo cameras reveal details about movement, breaking our data into small time pieces allows us to see how the GRB changes and learn more."
The Swift team said its Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, a satellite telescope designed to study GRBs from space, was initially unable to observe the burst because the Earth was obstructing its view.
However, 55 minutes later, when the satellite's orbit allowed it to have a clear view of the GRB, its systems successfully detected it and created images of it.
Dr Andy Beadmore, who is also part of the Swift team at the University of Leicester, said: "These patterns are not just beautiful but are also useful scientifically.
"We're seeing a significant amount of dust in our galaxy being lit up by the intense burst of light from the GRB - two billion light years away - like a torch shining through a cloud.
"This lets us study its nature and composition, which was found to extend to large distances from the Sun.
"The brightness of this GRB means that we can collect much better data than normal, and so move beyond simple models of the GRB physics that we normally use - they just can't explain these data."
Dr Evans adds: "Even after 18 years of operation, Swift can still surprise us with something unexpected, awesome, and scientifically powerful, and it can still challenge us.
"Those dust rings may look pretty but they gave us some headaches, they really complicated the data analysis.
"Even with those complications, though, this event gives us an opportunity to study a GRB in unprecedented detail.
"Then there's the beautiful dust halo that Andy discovered.
"This is caused by massive clouds of dust in our galaxy - but it's the light from the GRB, around two billion light years away - that's actually revealed those clouds to us.
"Now, we can measure their distance and their composition using this GRB 'backlight'.
"This discovery is a testament to the power of careful observation and the potential of serendipitous discoveries.
"I'm thrilled that our team was able to contribute to our understanding of the Universe in such a meaningful way."
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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-65104115 |
Paul O'Grady: A life in pictures - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | His career spanned more than three decades - from drag acts in London, to an MBE and beyond. | Entertainment & Arts | Presenter, comedian and drag queen Paul O'Grady, who has died aged 67, had a vibrant and varied career in the entertainment industry spanning more than three decades.
After making his mark on London's comedy scene as Lily Savage, O'Grady would go on to become one of the most recognisable faces on TV.
O'Grady began his career using his drag act Lily Savage, pictured here in 1993 alongside fellow comedian Mark Thomas in Soho, London
O'Grady became a household name after starring on TV in programmes like the game show Blankety Blank
Savage appeared as the Wicked Queen in Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs at London's Victoria Palace Theatre in 2004
He hosted the Paul O'Grady Show on ITV and Channel 4 between 2004 and 2015
O'Grady won a Bafta for best entertainment performance for the show in 2005
O'Grady (pictured with Holly Willoughby and Dermot O'Leary) also won a National Television Award in 2008
The plaudits would keep on coming for O'Grady, who was made an MBE in 2008. He celebrated the honour alongside his partner Andre Portasio (left), sister Sheila Rudd and daughter Sharyn Mousley
O'Grady was made an MBE by the then Prince of Wales, now King Charles
He appeared alongside Robbie Williams and Darcey Bussell on the Graham Norton Show in 2012
O'Grady was a well-known animal welfare campaigner, who worked to raise money for Battersea Dogs and Cats Home over many years
With the late Queen for the opening of new dog kennels at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in 2015
O'Grady with his husband Andre at the 2019 National Television Awards
Pictured with Camilla, Queen Consort, then Duchess of Cornwall, in 2022 - a fellow supporter of Battersea's efforts
O'Grady was set to host a one-off Easter Sunday show on Boom Radio, alongside his long-term producer Malcolm Prince
O'Grady will be remembered as one of the UK's favourite entertainers | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-65107949 |
UK rules out new AI regulator - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | In a white paper due out today, the UK government says current regulators should also include AI | Technology | The government has set out plans to regulate artificial intelligence with new guidelines on "responsible use".
Describing it as one of the "technologies of tomorrow", the government said AI contributed £3.7bn ($5.6bn) to the UK economy last year.
Critics fear the rapid growth of AI could threaten jobs or be used for malicious purposes.
The term AI covers computer systems able to do tasks that would normally need human intelligence.
This includes chatbots able to understand questions and respond with human-like answers, and systems capable of recognising objects in pictures.
A new white paper from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology proposes rules for general purpose AI, which are systems that can be used for different purposes.
Technologies include, for example, those which underpin chatbot ChatGPT.
As AI continues developing rapidly, questions have been raised about the future risks it could pose to people's privacy, their human rights or their safety.
There is concern that AI can display biases against particular groups if trained on large datasets scraped from the internet which can include racist, sexist and other undesirable material.
AI could also be used to create and spread misinformation.
As a result many experts say AI needs regulation.
However AI advocates say the tech is already delivering real social and economic benefits for people.
And the government fears organisations may be held back from using AI to its full potential because a patchwork of legal regimes could cause confusion for businesses trying to comply with rules.
Instead of giving responsibility for AI governance to a new single regulator, the government wants existing regulators - such as the Health and Safety Executive, Equality and Human Rights Commission and Competition and Markets Authority - to come up with their own approaches that suit the way AI is actually being used in their sectors.
These regulators will be using existing laws rather than being given new powers.
Michael Birtwistle, associate director from the Ada Lovelace Institute, carries out independent research, and said he welcomed the idea of regulation but warned about "significant gaps" in the UK's approach which could leave harms unaddressed.
"Initially, the proposals in the white paper will lack any statutory footing. This means no new legal obligations on regulators, developers or users of AI systems, with the prospect of only a minimal duty on regulators in future.
"The UK will also struggle to effectively regulate different uses of AI across sectors without substantial investment in its existing regulators," he said.
The white paper outlines five principles that the regulators should consider to enable the safe and innovative use of AI in the industries they monitor:
• Safety, security and robustness: applications of AI should function in a secure, safe and robust way where risks are carefully managed
• Transparency and "explainability": organisations developing and deploying AI should be able to communicate when and how it is used and explain a system's decision-making process in an appropriate level of detail that matches the risks posed by the use of AI
• Fairness: AI should be used in a way which complies with the UK's existing laws, for example on equalities or data protection, and must not discriminate against individuals or create unfair commercial outcomes
• Accountability and governance: measures are needed to ensure there is appropriate oversight of the way AI is being used and clear accountability for the outcomes
• Contestability and redress: people need to have clear routes to dispute harmful outcomes or decisions generated by AI
Over the next year, regulators will issue practical guidance to organisations to set out how to implement these principles in their sectors.
Science, innovation and technology secretary Michelle Donelan said: "Artificial intelligence is no longer the stuff of science fiction, and the pace of AI development is staggering, so we need to have rules to make sure it is developed safely."
But Simon Elliott, partner at law firm Dentons told the BBC the government's approach was a "light-touch" that makes the UK "an outlier" against the global trends around AI regulation.
China, for example, has taken the lead in moving AI regulations past the proposal stage with rules that mandate companies notify users when an AI algorithm is playing a role.
"Numerous countries globally are developing or passing specific laws to address perceived AI risks - including algorithmic rules passed in China or the USA," continued Mr Elliott.
He warned about the concerns that consumer groups and privacy activists will have over the risks to society "without detailed, unified regulation."
He is also worried that the UK's regulators could be burdened with "an increasingly large and diverse" range of complaints, when "rapidly developing and challenging" AI is added to their workloads.
In the EU, the European Commission has published proposals for regulations titled the Artificial Intelligence Act which would have a much broader scope than China's enacted regulation.
They include "grading" AI products according to how potentially harmful they might be and staggering regulation accordingly. So for example an email spam filter would be more lightly regulated than something designed to diagnose a medical conditions - and some AI uses, such as social grading by governments, would be prohibited altogether.
"AI has been around for decades but has reached new capacities fuelled by computing power," Thierry Breton, the EU's Commissioner for Internal Market, said in a statement.
The AI Act aims to "strengthen Europe's position as a global hub of excellence in AI from the lab to the market, ensure that AI in Europe respects our values and rules, and harness the potential of AI for industrial use," Mr Breton added.
Meanwhile in the US The Algorithmic Accountability Act 2022 requires companies to assess the impacts of AI but the nation's AI framework is so far voluntary. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-65102210 |
Peter Thomas: Former Cardiff chairman dies aged 79 - BBC Sport | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | null | Former Cardiff chairman and businessman Peter Thomas dies aged 79. | null | Last updated on .From the section Welsh Rugby
Former Cardiff chairman and businessman Peter Thomas has died aged 79.
Thomas played for Cardiff RFC in the 1960s and returned to help run the club before its 2003 transition to one of Wales' regions.
Thomas first invested in the club in 1994 and was chairman for 22 years before stepping down in 2018.
Cardiff said Thomas "remained fiercely loyal and active in club matters until the very end and leaves a lasting legacy at Cardiff Arms Park".
In a statement, the region said Thomas, their life president, passed away peacefully at home on Wednesday with his family by his side.
He had been diagnosed with lung cancer in 2021.
Thomas' association with Cardiff spanned more than six decades.
A former hooker, he played 11 times for the club before becoming one of the powerbrokers in the game in Wales during his spell as chairman.
Thomas brought some of the biggest names in the game to the Arms Park including Jonathan Davies, Iestyn Harris and Jonah Lomu.
"Cardiff Rugby are saddened to announce the passing of life president, Peter Thomas CBE," the region's statement said.
"Thomas is survived by his wife Babs, four children Holly, Deborah, Steph and Rhod, and nine grandchildren.
"A full obituary and tributes will be issued in due course and Cardiff Rugby ask that both the public and media respect the privacy of the Thomas family at this difficult time."
During Thomas' off-field involvement at the Arms Park, Cardiff reached the inaugural 1996 Heineken Champions Cup final, in which they lost 21-18 to Toulouse.
They also twice won Europe's second-tier Challenge Cup, beating Toulon 28-21 in 2010 and edging Gloucester 31-30 eight years later.
In 2009 Cardiff also won the now-defunct Anglo-Welsh Cup, comprehensively beating Gloucester 50-12 at Twickenham.
Thomas stood down as Cardiff chairman in November 2018 - pledging to write off debts of more than £11m as he did so - but remained a board member and benefactor.
During his era as an influential figure in the game, Welsh rugby has often been beset by disputes and financial troubles at the top level.
Cardiff joined Swansea in 1998-99 for what became dubbed as Welsh rugby's "rebel season" when they played England's top-tier teams.
Welsh rugby's transition from clubs to regions at elite level took place in 2003 with Cardiff Blues formed as a region - a name that changed to Cardiff Rugby from the 2021-22 season.
His father Thomas Stanley Thomas, known as Stan, launched Thomas Pies in the 1950s, selling sausage rolls, pies and pasties around the south Wales valleys.
Peter's brother, Sir Stanley Thomas, is also a businessman with strong rugby connections, having backed their hometown club Merthyr in the Welsh Premiership in recent seasons.
By 1976, the family company had moved to its current base in Bedwas, Caerphilly, when it became known as Peter's Pies.
After their father's retirement in 1986, Peter Thomas and brother Stanley took over. They made their first fortune when they sold the business for £75m in 1988.
A number of Cardiff players have paid tribute to Thomas on social media.
"Incredibly sad day, proud to have known him grateful to have spent time with him, indebted for everything he has done for Cardiff Rugby," wrote captain Josh Turnbull.
Back row Thomas Young, the son of head coach Dai Young, wrote: "As a family we owe you a lot and will forever be grateful. Thank you, RIP Peter Thomas." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65082708 |
Western Trust: Blind man paid £3,000 in discrimination settlement - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Stephen Campbell says taking the case against two health organisations was "frankly embarrassing". | Northern Ireland | Stephen Campbell said it was embarrassing he had to take the case against the Western Trust
A blind man will be paid £3,000 after he alleged a health trust failed to accommodate his needs when he tried to apply for a promotion.
Stephen Campbell took a disability discrimination case against two organisations, including his employer the Western Health Trust.
He claimed the job application process did not meet his needs as a blind man.
The Western Health Trust and the HSC Business Services Organisation (BSO) did not accept liability.
A spokesperson for the Western Trust said the organisation was committed to ensuring everyone has "equality of access" to its services.
Mr Campbell, who worked in the trust's ICT department, uses a screen reader to interact with laptops.
When an opportunity for promotion arose within the trust, Mr Campbell wanted to apply.
However, he found that the online process, on the Health and Social Care Northern Ireland (HSCNI) website, could not be activated by his screen reader.
He also could not find any information on where reasonable adjustments could be made so he could apply.
As part of the settlement terms, both organisations confirmed their commitment to ensuring they comply with their obligations under relevant equality laws.
The BSO also said it would keep the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) updated on development of the HSCNI website.
Mr Campbell said: "For two job applications, the Western Trust did accommodate me by stalling the recruitment exercise and reasonable adjustments were made to facilitate me."
He said he brought the case "to raise awareness of the issue and hopefully remove this barrier to accessing employment for disabled people in the health service here".
Mr Campbell further told BBC News NI that it was "frankly embarrassing" he had to take the case.
Eoin O'Neill said the case will benefit all people with disabilities seeking employment
"In this day and age, in public bodies and in the private sector, we shouldn't have to encounter these issues. We should be able to apply for posts like our sighted counterparts," he said.
The Western Trust said it would work with the Equality Commission on policies around the recruitment process for blind people.
The spokesperson added: "The trust's HR department will always strive to support individuals who need assistance through a recruitment process, as we did on a number of occasions for Mr Campbell."
Eoin O'Neill, director of legal services at the Equality Commission, said the employment rate for disabled people in Northern Ireland at 36%, is the lowest in the UK.
He said Mr Campbell's case will benefit other disabled people in reminding organisations to ensure they are as accessible to disabled people as possible. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-65100390 |
Paul O'Grady obituary: From Lily Savage to TV national treasure, with a love of dogs - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | How Paul O'Grady went from a mould-breaking drag comedian to a much-loved prime-time TV host. | Entertainment & Arts | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Paul O'Grady went from being a social worker protecting children, to a mould-breaking drag icon, before reinventing himself again as a much-loved prime-time host and animal lover. Throughout it all, he retained his trademark direct humour and down-to-earth compassion.
One night in 1985, Paul O'Grady was working behind the bar at a gay pub in London when he remarked that he could do a better job of hosting ladies' night than the current compere.
"And they said, 'Well go on then, up you get and do it,' he recalled. "And the following week I did it, and Lily was born."
That was the first appearance of Lily Savage, the sharp-tongued blonde bombshell alter ego who became famous before O'Grady himself was well known.
The comic character had been forming before that, though. O'Grady gained the nickname Shanghai Lil after attending a party on a Chinese ship at the age of 18 in Liverpool, and he would often amuse himself by impersonating Scouse housewives. "So it was just an extension of that."
O'Grady as Lily Savage, with his dog, on the red carpet at the Bafta Awards in 1998
Savage was his mother's maiden name, and the character was also inspired by other tough but colourful women in his family.
In particular, there was Aunt Chrissie, a bus conductor with "a mouth like a bee's arse", as O'Grady put it on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.
"She was the talk of Birkenhead," he said. "She was witty and had a great string of one-liners. She came across as quite hard-bitten, but she wasn't at all. She was daft as a brush... I look back to Auntie Chris now - I see her on the bus and I sort of see where Lily was germinated."
Women dominated his household growing up, with the men often away in the Navy. It was a loving family, too. But their world was shattered when O'Grady's mother suffered a heart attack when he was 17.
"She was taken into hospital and the doctor said to my father, 'She's not going to last the night'," he said.
However, it was his father who was dead by the morning.
"He just collapsed on the spot," O'Grady recalled. "The doctor said, 'If I could put on the death certificate, he's died of a broken heart, then I would'.
"I'll never forget it. I was stood next to him and he went down like a tonne of bricks. He literally couldn't cope without my mother."
His mother survived, and would live for another 15 years.
Shortly after his father's death, O'Grady became a dad himself.
O'Grady said Lily Savage could get away with saying things he couldn't as himself
"People might wonder how a gay man managed to father a daughter," he said. "But I was a highly promiscuous teenager." He saw his daughter occasionally in her youth, but they grew closer as they got older.
Partly to pay child support, O'Grady took a job as a peripatetic care officer, looking after other people's children in Camden.
"Say a mum went into hospital and there were five children - rather than split the kids up and put them into various homes and stuff, I'd go in and look after them to keep them as a family unit," he explained, before adding: "God knows why, because most of them were the anti-christ version of The Waltons."
It wasn't an easy job. "Nine times out of 10, you're dealing with real squalor," he recalled. Drunken boyfriends would turn up in the middle of the night and think he was the mum's bit on the side. "I'd be having fights in Camden High Street at three o'clock in the morning with babies under my arm.
"And I'd think, I'm 25, give us a break, I should be having a life.
"But I really enjoyed it," he added. "I'm painting a bad picture but it wasn't all bad. I met some really great people."
He was also a regular star of pantomimes like Cinderella in 2016
On days off, he did try to have a life and worked in bars like the Royal Vauxhall Tavern before starting his regular turn there as Lily Savage.
One night in 1987, police raided the venue - an action that was ostensibly taken over concerns about the use of amyl nitrate, but was more widely believed to be part of a crackdown on gay clubs.
More than 20 officers flooded into the club, all wearing rubber gloves because, at the height of the Aids crisis, they didn't want to touch those they were arresting. "Well well, it looks like we've got help with the washing up," O'Grady quipped.
The following night, he was back on stage, undeterred. That defiance, combined with public support for LGBT campaigns in the years that followed and his performances as Lily, helped make him an icon in that community.
Last year, he was given a Rainbow Honour "for his stellar work to advance the rights of LGBTQI people in Britain and around the world"
His comedy career started to take off when he took Lily to the Edinburgh Fringe and was nominated for the prestigious Perrier Award in 1991.
The character followed a tradition of popular drag acts, but O'Grady said he wanted to stand out from the "matronly and sexless" figures who had come before, such as Dame Edna Everage and Hinge and Bracket.
"Nobody was ever sexual, and Lily was. She was unashamed. She turned tricks for money and all that business."
Lily also didn't have a highly polished look. "I had this image of this hard-bitten hooker from Birkenhead with her roots showing and a rip in her tights and a bit of old ratty leopard skin and a big handbag," O'Grady said.
With her gauche glam style and foul-mouthed wit, O'Grady's subversion of the drag tradition proved a hit.
Lily became a national star when she took over from Paula Yates interviewing celebrities on the bed on Channel 4's The Big Breakfast in the mid-1990s, and she was subsequently given her own BBC chat show.
He presented a Bafta to his friend and fellow former Blind Date presenter Cilla Black in 2014
The transition to mainstream TV personality became complete when Lily followed in the footsteps of Terry Wogan and Les Dawson as the host of game show Blankety Blank.
The real O'Grady initially stayed in the background - but his profile gradually began to take over.
ITV scheduled The Paul O'Grady Show at teatimes in 2004, and it was poached by Channel 4 in 2006. He was such a big star that ITV then poached him back, offering a reported £8m for a deal including the Friday night chat show, Paul O'Grady Live.
There were also Blind Date and a BBC Radio 2 slot, plus sitcoms, documentaries, autobiographies, pantomimes and other theatre shows - and in 2012, he was able to show a gentler side when he launched Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs.
He became a passionate advocate for animal rights and an ambassador for Battersea Dogs & Cats Home
His genuine affection for, and natural sense of protection over, the unwanted pets at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home shone through, and made that show a firm favourite for a decade.
His love of animals was also evident on the smallholding in Kent where he and husband Andre Portasio looked after sheep, chickens, pigs, owls and goats - as well as dogs.
He had met Andre while caring for Brendan Murphy, his boyfriend of 25 years, who died of cancer in 2005. O'Grady and Portasio married in 2017.
It wasn't the presenter's first marriage - he had wed a Portuguese lesbian friend in 1977, simply to help alleviate pressure from her family.
"I worked with her in a bar. She had strict Catholic parents who wanted her to settle back home. I thought, 'She'll have to get married' - so I offered. I never got anything out of it. I even provided the wedding buffet, but she was a good friend."
They stayed married until 2003. O'Grady had suffered a heart attack the previous year, which was followed by another in 2006. His parents, grandparents and siblings had also suffered from heart problems.
That all made him aware of his mortality. Speaking about his health and his career in 2017, he reflected: "I think I could lie there on my death bed and say, 'Well, I've had a good time and filled a book. I've done everything I wanted to do'." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-65108950 |
King Charles's first state visit: What to expect from Germany trip - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Improving relations with Europe is the priority, as the King's first state visit heads for Germany. | UK | King Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort (pictured in 2019) will be building relations with Europe on the trip to Germany
It's second time lucky for King Charles's first overseas state visit, when he touches down in Germany on Wednesday.
It should have begun at the weekend in France, but when it looked like the King was flying into a riot zone the initial stage of the visit had to be postponed.
The French protests were a reminder that even fairy-tale palaces have real-world political consequences, and it became impossible for President Macron to host King Charles at Versailles, with the prospect of angry protesters outside the gates.
A bouquet of tear gas and unemptied bins wasn't exactly the right atmosphere for the diplomatic courtship of a state visit.
Street protests over pension reforms stopped the King's planned visit to France
So, several days later than planned, a curtailed trip is getting under way again, with King Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort, arriving in Berlin for a three-day visit.
But the underlying purpose remains the same. There is a symbolic importance attached to the first state visit of a new reign - and this is about showing that Europe is the UK's diplomatic priority.
"There is an obvious rationale for the visit - to improve relations after Brexit," says Sir Vernon Bogdanor, leading constitutional expert and historian.
Such trips are made on the advice of the government and all the background briefings have been that this will be an important statement about rebuilding relationships with European neighbours.
This is the first state visit by a British monarch for eight years and it will reinforce what Buckingham Palace called "shared histories, culture and values".
It follows a meeting between the King and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen when a Northern Ireland Brexit deal was announced.
King Charles on a visit to Germany in 2019
After Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953, her first trip was a tour of Commonwealth countries.
For King Charles. 70 years later, the priority is to build bridges with European allies, particularly at a time of pressure over Ukraine.
Author and historian Sir Anthony Seldon said it was a message to Germany that "Britain might have left the European Union, it is not leaving the most powerful country in Europe".
That this was originally planned as a dual trip to France and Germany was a signal that neither country's importance to the UK could be questioned, they were both being given equal billing, says royal expert Prof Pauline Maclaran.
Perhaps some of the more dramatic moments would have been in France - "what could be more cinematic than travelling down the Champs-Elysees?", says Prof Maclaran.
But this is about realpolitik as well as rapprochement, and King Charles will become the first British monarch to give an address to Germany's parliament, the Bundestag.
The royal couple will lay wreaths at St Nikolai in Hamburg, damaged by wartime Allied bombing
Also, on the state visit:
Expect to hear some German spoken by the King, after all he has strong family ties to the country, and there will be plenty of references to environmental causes and supporting refugees from Ukraine.
But what impact will King Charles's trip make? Do state visits particularly cut through in the 21st Century?
"It's a really big deal", and will make a much bigger impression than a PM's visit, says Sir Anthony Seldon, who argues "we consistently underestimate the significance".
For better or for worse, King Charles is an instantly recognisable, global figure; wherever he goes there will be cameras, commentary and crowds.
"The monarch is a central part of how the UK projects soft power," says former diplomat and ambassador Tom Fletcher.
Mr Fletcher, now principal of Hertford College Oxford, says for such trips "the theatre matters as much as the substance".
During the late Queen Elizabeth II's long reign there were state visits that became historic in their own right, recognising a changed relationship - like the first visit to India after independence in 1961, the post-apartheid visit to South Africa in 1995 and the bridge-building visit to Ireland in 2011.
State visits can be historic landmarks, such as the late Queen's trip to post-apartheid South Africa in 1995
Sir Vernon believes the UK has a diplomatic advantage in being able to deploy a monarch on such visits. King Charles is more famous than many heads of state, but he can also stay above the party politics that can embroil a president like Emmanuel Macron.
But there are some sceptical voices in the UK about the value of the King's state visit.
Graham Smith, of the anti-monarchy group Republic, says sending a monarch gives a "misleading picture of the UK", where "we promote the idea that we're stuck in the past, always looking backwards and unable to fully embrace democratic values".
In Berlin the King will be given a formal welcome at the Brandenburg Gate
At the centre of all this is the King himself, and he must have been disappointed at how the French section of the trip was called off.
Particularly when Prof Maclaran believes that this is the type of serious role that the King would enjoy: "There's an obvious sense of purpose to it."
Such visits, with their set-piece speeches, are a chance to put down a marker for his reign.
Also in the background this week is another headline-grabbing royal visit - the Duke of Sussex arriving in London for a court case against Associated Newspapers.
Prince Harry is a magnet for press attention - so the timing risks an awkward clash which could overshadow the King's visit.
With the inaugural state visit already delayed, Buckingham Palace won't want any more distractions or disruptions and will want the carefully choreographed events in Germany to get the trip back on track. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64954731 |
Hero's return for astronaut Shaun the Sheep - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Europe's space mascot comes home "alive and wool" to Bristol after a 1.5 million mile journey around the Moon. | Science & Environment | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Rosemary Coogan: "Shaun's adventures have been so engaging"
It was a giant leap for lamb-kind, but now he's baa-ck.
Shaun the Sheep has returned to Britain after taking part in the US space agency's (Nasa) epic mission to the Moon last year.
A model of the animated movie character was a passenger in the capsule that was blasted into orbit by the world's most powerful operational rocket.
Shaun covered almost 1.5 million miles on his lunar travels before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
The 16cm-tall stop-motion model was strapped in for the ride.
He earned his astronaut wings as the mascot on the mission for the European Space Agency (Esa). The agency had provided the propulsion module that pushed the Nasa capsule along on its 25-day journey.
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Wednesday saw Dr David Parker, the agency's director of exploration, visit Aardman studios in Bristol, where all of Shaun's TV programmes and films are produced.
"It is always a special pleasure to greet European astronauts when they return from space, and today I am delighted to welcome Shaun the Sheep, alive and wool after a well-deserved rest on the farm," he said, tongue firmly in cheek.
"As the first sheep to fly to the Moon and back, he's got a lot to teach us about the ambition, talent and diversity needed for Europe's exploration of space."
Flock-star: Since his return, Shaun has been recuperating at home on Mossy Bottom farm
Dr Parker unveiled Shaun's official Esa astronaut photo, and presented Aardman with a certificate from Nasa.
Accompanying the Esa executive was the UK's newest human astronaut candidate, Dr Rosemary Coogan.
The astrophysicist was selected in November to join the agency's astronaut corps and will begin formal training next month.
Europeans will fly with their American colleagues on follow-up missions to the Moon later this decade. Dr Coogan could therefore emulate Britain's most famous sheep.
"I think Shaun going to space has been an incredible way to engage the public," she told BBC News.
"It's an absolute thrill to think about following in Shaun's footsteps, going around the Moon and getting involved with all of Nasa's missions. It would be an absolute pleasure to do that, and we'll see what the future holds."
Nasa's Orion capsule has another mission planned for next year. Shaun wants to be on board again
Shaun has become one of Aardman's most popular characters.
His TV series is currently broadcast in 170 territories around the world and his Facebook page has over 5.5 million followers.
Hannah Brooks is one of his animators.
In classic stop-motion style, she moves Shaun's silicone body parts, little by little, taking a photo at every step to build up the action. It's a slow process. A day's work in the studio will produce only a few seconds of storyline.
Stop-motion animation is a slow process: 25 movements for one second of storyline
"He's such a cute, cheeky little character," said Hannah.
"I can only imagine he would love to have such a big adventure. It's always what he's trying to do in all of his little episodes. He's a bit too naughty, but he has the need to go explore."
Shaun's habit of getting into various scrapes on his home farm, Mossy Bottom, probably convinced Nasa he had to be strapped in at all times.
Only the American agency's mascot - a toy Snoopy the Dog - was allowed to float free around the cabin.
Esa's tie up with Aardman began with publicity around the studio's release of a Shaun the Sheep sci-fi movie, Farmageddon, in 2019.
Aardman co-founder Peter Lord was shocked when the agency suggested Shaun go on a real space mission.
"I virtually couldn't believe it. It seemed incredible," he told BBC News. "It's every child's dream, isn't it, to be an astronaut? And so the fact that he was doing it for us seemed very, very important. Extraordinary. Our baby, our creation."
Nasa's project to return people to the Moon is called Artemis (or as Shaun likes to call it: "Baa-rtemis").
The next mission is scheduled to occur at the end of next year. Four human astronauts will fly around the Moon.
Aardman hopes its little sheep will once again be in the capsule.
Shaun's reputation for getting into scrapes meant he had to stay in his seat
Shaun has a certificate from Nasa to officially document his mission | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-65107594 |
Police call handlers used fake system for eight years - BBC News | 2023-03-29T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Thousands of calls to a control room were allocated to a fictitious call sign to manipulate response times. | Scotland | One of Scotland's main police control rooms used a fake system to manipulate response time targets for eight years, according to documents seen by the BBC.
Thousands of calls to the Bilston Glen control room were allocated to a fictitious call sign known as DUMY.
Internal systems would register that the calls had been passed to officers - but instead they were parked on a list.
This meant a police vehicle would not have been dispatched quickly to calls which had been judged as high priority.
It appears that many calls were not attended at all.
The practice, according to official police documents, was designed to "provide artificial levels of incident management performance".
The documents reveal that the DUMY call sign was used at Bilston Glen in Loanhead, Midlothian, from at least 2007 until the system was discovered in 2015 and stopped.
Police Scotland said the practice should not have been used after the creation of the national police force in 2013, and was "permanently discontinued" in March 2015.
The practice appears to have ended just four months before the M9 tragedy in July 2015. Lamara Bell and John Yuill died after their car lay undiscovered for three days after a crash, despite police being alerted.
Lamara Bell and John Yuill were found inside their car after it crashed down an embankment off the M9
Police Scotland was criminally prosecuted and admitted that failures in its call handling processes at Bilston Glen contributed to the death of Ms Bell.
The lawyer who acted for one of the bereaved families has told the BBC they were never told about the DUMY process.
David Nellaney, of Digby Brown, said this was information which should have been disclosed to the families.
He added: "I'm astonished to be perfectly honest. I think that puts the wider public at risk if calls are not being actioned… and to not respond to them and put them into a DUMY system whereby there's no guarantee that they'll come back to them, is quite shocking.
"I think it probably gives an indication of potentially the practices that were going on. When you adopt that type of practice you're bringing in factors such as human error, which have played a part in what happened with Lamara and John."
Moi Ali said the system sounded like "an attempt at deception"
Moi Ali, who was on the board of the Scottish Police Authority watchdog from 2013 to 2017, said this was the first time she had heard of the system.
"These are exactly the kind of things that should be flagged to the board so that we can start an internal investigation or inquiry," she said.
"So if that was concealed from us, I find that very, very concerning."
Two heavily-redacted documents were released to BBC Scotland after a lengthy Freedom of Information (FOI) process with Police Scotland.
An undated official misconduct document says an officer was being disciplined for conduct which "discredits the Police Service or public confidence in it".
It states that staff at Bilston Glen utilised a "fictitious call sign known as 'DUMY', which had been introduced to prevent the activation of internal alarms and provide artificial levels of incident management performance."
Each police car is given a four letter or number call-sign, which is used to allocate the calls which are received by the force.
When a call was given to DUMY, the system would recognise that it had been allocated successfully - but instead, these calls were parked on a separate list.
This would help artificially inflate the centre's call-handling response times.
These internal targets were not published, but the then Chief Constable Stephen House was known to be target-driven, and staff have previously spoken about the pressure to meet them. Stephen House has been approached for comment.
A report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) - the independent body which scrutinised Police Scotland - highlighted understaffing as one of the issues which contributed to the control room's problems around the time of the M9 crash.
However, the HMICS investigation into the call-handling process at Bilston Glen makes no mention of the DUMY system.
A HMICS spokesperson told the BBC its inquiry "did not include a retrospective inspection of historical practices before this period" and declined to say whether or not it knew about the practice.
A second briefing document, dated 28 July 2015, reveals that the DUMY practice was in use at the Lothian and Borders force from at least 2007, and continued for two years after the country's regional forces merged into Police Scotland in 2013.
It states that being placed on the DUMY list would cause the incident "to go to the bottom of the controller's incident list".
The practice was halted briefly in January 2015, when the control system was being upgraded to a new system known as Storm Unity, and the DUMY call sign was no longer available.
But staff at Bilton Glen "lobbied" senior management to re-introduce it to the new system, and this was approved by a senior person whose name and title has been redacted on the documents.
The DUMY system was up and running for another six weeks before a member of the Glasgow control room noticed and raised the alarm.
In December last year, the BBC learned that Police Scotland chiefs had been so worried about the DUMY practice that they launched an internal investigation, led by then Ch Supt Paul Anderson.
We asked Police Scotland, under FOI, to provide a copy of his report. It told the BBC that it "does not hold a copy of the report requested".
However, Mr Anderson, now a Deputy chief constable at Humberside Police, confirmed to the BBC that he did in fact carry out an investigation, and produced a report.
A spokesman for Mr Anderson told the BBC he "undertook a review on request of the chief officer team. The review pertained to an allocation practice in a particular call centre.
"A report was completed with recommendations made. The subject of the report and its findings is a matter for Police Scotland to formally comment on."
The BBC asked Police Scotland whether it had shredded the report. The force said it no longer holds the report, in line with its data retention policy.
One of the documents Police Scotland did release includes a table of how many calls were allocated to the DUMY call sign in the six weeks between 9 February and 21 March 2015.
Calls are graded when they come in to the control room in order to decide how they should be handled.
A priority one call is designated as "immediate" and described as "an ongoing incident where there is an immediate or apparent threat to life or a serious crime in progress". Police Scotland targets stipulate that a police car must be dispatched within five minutes.
A priority two call is designated as "priority" and described as an incident "where there is a degree of urgency associated with police action". priority two calls should be dispatched with 15 minutes.
It appears that 101 priority one calls were allocated to the DUMY call sign during that six-week period. This suggests none was dispatched within the five-minute target. The table suggests only 29 of these calls were attended at all.
In the same period 822 priority two calls were allocated to DUMY. The table suggests only 238 of these were attended.
If the numbers for that six-week period were averaged out over the eight years, it would suggest around 7,000 priority one calls were allocated to the DUMY call sign, with around a third actually being attended.
Using the same extrapolation, more than 50,000 priority two calls may have been allocated to the DUMY call sign, with around a third being attended.
The briefing paper says that all the priority one incidents "are currently being viewed in order to confirm that there are no unresolved incidents remaining in the system".
It adds: "Direction on the requirement for a review of all DUMY incidents is sought from senior management."
Moi Ali said the DUMY system sounded like "an attempt at deception".
"I think it cuts to the very heart of public trust and confidence in policing," she said.
"When you're at your most vulnerable and you dial 999, you really expect to get a quick service."
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "The DUMY call sign was a practice which had been in use by one legacy service since 1997 to assist controllers to allocate resource during periods of high demand.
"The practice should not have continued under Police Scotland and local use of the call sign in one service centre was halted in January 2015 when a new command and control system was introduced.
"The practice was permanently discontinued in March 2015 and appropriate action taken to address further use of the call sign between February and March 2015." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-65086107 |
William says Diana would be disappointed at level of homelessness - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The Prince of Wales says his mother would be disappointed at lack of progress on homelessness. | UK | Prince William is taking part in this year's appeal for Comic Relief
Prince William says his mother, Princess Diana, would have been disappointed at the lack of progress in preventing homelessness.
He shared his thoughts during a video recorded for this year's Red Nose Day charity appeal.
Making the video, the Prince of Wales spent time with people who had been helped by a homelessness charity.
His comments will be shown on BBC One on Friday as part of the annual appeal to raise funds for Comic Relief.
As a child, Prince William was brought by his mother on visits to charities working with homeless people, such as the Passage in central London.
Princess Diana with Harry and William at the Passage charity in 1993
"My mother introduced me to the cause of homelessness from quite a young age, and I'm really glad she did," said the prince, in the video to be shown during the Red Nose Day appeal.
"I think she would be disappointed that we are still no further on, in terms of tackling homelessness and preventing it, than when she was interested and involved in it."
Comic Relief quotes official government figures which reveal that rough sleeping in England has risen by 26% in a year, which it linked to a "spiralling cost-of-living crisis".
It also warned that the numbers of those sleeping on the street remained the "tip of the iceberg" in terms of the wider problem of homelessness.
Prince William spoke to people who had been supported by the Groundswell charity, funded by Comic Relief.
This included Miles, who told the prince: "Homelessness is about not having a safe space - it's a very isolating life. You exist, you don't live."
Miles told Prince William about the isolation of homelessness
Another person in the video, Nawshin, told him: "I didn't have a choice but to leave home - I had a lot of childhood trauma and circumstances happened around me that were out of my control."
Prince William is patron of the Passage homelessness charity. Last month he opened two residential buildings which will support 225 people per year.
At the opening ceremony in London, in February, he rejected the idea that homelessness was "inevitable", saying "ending homelessness must be thought of as more than simply a wishful aspiration. Instead, it should be viewed as an achievable goal".
"I am personally more determined than ever to play my part in working with others to do all we can to stop the human tragedy that is homelessness," said the prince. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64970278 |
Video shows moment Russian fighter jet hits US drone over Black Sea - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | US footage shows the jet apparently dumping fuel as it makes two close passes with the drone. | Europe | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: US releases footage from its drone of the encounter with a Russian jet
The US military has released footage of a Russian jet crashing into one of its drones over the Black Sea.
The US said the damage to the large drone meant it had to be brought down into the water near Crimea on Tuesday.
Russia denied its Su-27 fighter jet clipped the propeller of the drone, but the video appears to back up the American version of events.
It was in the Pentagon's interest to release this video - not least to verify its version of events.
The BBC has not seen the events before or after the collision. The US initially said the confrontation lasted around 30-40 minutes, but the released footage lasts for less than a minute.
On Wednesday night, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said: "We remain confident in the facts we've conveyed so far."
He said then the Pentagon was looking at what video could be released. It is not unusual for militaries to take some time to declassify video footage before making it public.
Mr Austin previously described Russia's actions as dangerous and reckless - and the edited video released appears to back that up.
A feed from a camera fitted under the fuselage of the surveillance drone shows a Russian Su-27 making two extremely close passes while releasing what appears to be fuel as it approaches.
In the first pass it seems to mire the lens of the camera. The second pass is even closer - disrupting the video feed from the remotely piloted aircraft.
When the picture returns, a blade of the drone's propeller at the back of the aircraft can be seen bent out of shape.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told the BBC's US broadcast partner CBS that it was not clear whether the Russian action was deliberate or accidental.
But he said this did not matter because the moves were "completely inappropriate, unsafe and unprofessional".
Surveillance flights would continue over the Black Sea, he said, but there was no need for military escorts, which he said were unnecessary and would put pilots at risk.
Russia has claimed the drone was approaching its territory, but all we can see from the video is sea, sky and cloud.
Moscow appeared to suggest on Tuesday that it had imposed a unilateral no-fly zone over the region as part of its invasion of Ukraine.
Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said the drone had "violated boundaries of the temporary airspace regime established for the special military operation".
But Mr Kirby said the airspace was international and not restricted.
In a statement released hours after the crash, the US said Russian jets dumped fuel on the drone several times before the collision.
Pentagon spokesman Brig Gen Pat Ryder told reporters the drone was "unflyable and uncontrollable", adding the collision also likely damaged the Russian aircraft.
Russia's defence ministry said the drone crashed after a "sharp manoeuvre", and that it was flying with its transponders (communication devices) turned off.
The Kremlin has not yet responded to the release of the US video. On Wednesday Russia's security council secretary Nikolai Patrushev said attempts were being made to find and retrieve the remnants of the drone.
On Thursday, Russian ships were seen at the site of the downed drone on the Black Sea, US media reported.
Mr Kirby said the US was also searching for the aircraft, but stressed that if Russia beat them to it, "their ability to exploit useful intelligence will be highly minimised".
That message was reiterated by General Mark Milley, America's top military general, who said the US has taken "mitigating measures" to ensure there was nothing of value on the downed drone. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64975766 |
Bakhmut: Russian casualties mount but tactics evolve - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The BBC has been given access to positions held by Ukrainian army brigades defending Bakhmut's southern flank. | Europe | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: The battle for Bakhmut, a city in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, rages on
Ukraine has drawn a line in the dirt, and that line is Bakhmut. It is a city that few say matters strategically, but that tens of thousands have died fighting over. It began more than seven months ago, and is the longest battle of the war so far.
Two Ukrainian army brigades defending the city's southern flank gave the BBC access to their positions last week as fierce fighting continued in and around Bakhmut. The men have spent months facing both regular Russian army forces, and prisoners recruited by the Wagner private military group who have swarmed their trenches in droves. Troops say Russian casualties far outweigh theirs, but the enemy is deploying new techniques to try to seize the city and surrounding countryside.
Ukraine's forces are outgunned and outnumbered, but on a chalk hillside to the south, there is the anti-tank group from the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade. 3Storm - as they are known - are unyielding. They've dug trenches deep into the earth. Timber props supporting the roof shudder as Russian artillery lands in the near distance, and field mice scurry along duck boards. An antiquated field telephone sits in a wooden nook; these are conditions their grandfathers would recognise.
"They cannot get to us, we can see for a kilometre in all directions," says a bearded 26-year-old soldier who goes by the call sign "Dwarf", pointing out Russian positions. "We can hit the enemy with everything we have," he says.
The 26-year-old goes by the call sign "Dwarf" as he's a big Lord of the Rings fan - although the name on the body armour actually translates as "Gnome"
Neither the Russian nor Ukrainian armies release official casualty figures for Bakhmut, or elsewhere, but the mostly abandoned city has become a slaughter house.
In a week fighting for the city, Dwarf's company faced conscripted prisoners from Russia's Wagner group. "We had battles every two hours," he says. "I guess a single company eliminated 50 people per day." In case of any doubt, he points out these numbers were confirmed by aerial reconnaissance. "The [Russian vehicle] arrives, 50 bodies come out, a day passes, 50 bodies come out again," he says. His company lost a fraction of that number, he says.
Officially, Ukraine estimates that for every one of its soldiers killed, Russia loses seven. Earlier this week, Russia said it had killed more than 220 Ukrainian service members in a 24-hour period in the battle for Bakhmut. None of these numbers can be independently verified.
In a newspaper interview, two captured Wagner conscripts told the Wall Street Journal that before they are sent forward, they receive little training beyond learning to crawl through forests in the dark. After six months serving at the front they are freed - assuming they survive.
Conditions all along the 600-mile-long eastern front have begun to change. 3Storm's chalky hilltop hideout feels like dry land compared with the surrounding territory. An early spring has turned the hard ground of winter to mud porridge - which may favour the defenders. To get there, we had to follow the Ukrainian soldiers on foot - within a few paces my boots become lumpen and heavy with thick dirt. A battlefield ambulance speeds by unsteadily, its caterpillar tracks ploughing up the ground, and spraying pools of sludge as it struggles for grip.
The villages around here - the location can't be revealed - are in ruin. Handwritten signs on gates, mostly in Russian, announce "People Live Here", a plea as much as it is a statement. But the streets are entirely empty, apart from abandoned dogs who roam the ruins of destroyed farms and homes.
For the past two months, Russian forces have steadily advanced, trying to encircle Bakhmut. The commander of Ukrainian ground forces, General Oleksandr Syrsky, says his forces will continue to resist. "Every day of steadfast resistance wins us valuable time to reduce the enemy's offensive capabilities," he says, sending more reinforcements to the area. But it isn't only Russians who have fallen into the Bakhmut trap. Ukrainians are dying there, too, in ever increasing numbers.
On the hillside, a group of soldiers have gathered around a gun position, and I ask Dwarf - given that Ukraine is losing soldiers to untrained Russian convicts - if the defence of dead city, surrounded by the enemy, makes sense.
He says, "I was wondering, myself, if we should keep defending Bakhmut. On the one hand what's happening here now is awful. There are no words to describe it. But the alternative is we give up Bakhmut and move to another settlement. What's the difference between defending Bakhmut or any other village?"
His comrade, a strongly built man with a full dark beard who goes by the call sign Holm, agrees. "It's not a strategic question for us here. We are ordinary soldiers. But this is our land. We may then retreat to Chasiv Yar, from Chasiv Yar to Slovyansk, and so we retreat up to Kyiv. Let it take a year or two, four, five - but we have to fight for every piece of our land."
The men have been fighting for more than a year now, and they say the Russians are evolving.
"They are learning, they are getting cleverer, and it really freaks me out," says Dwarf. "They send out a group - five morons taken from prison. They are shot, but the enemy sees where you are, walks around, and you are surrounded from behind."
Holm chimes in that Russia is now using drones armed with grenades more effectively. "We used to drop them and freak them out," he says. "Now they're dropping drone grenades on our positions."
Before the war, Dwarf was an outdoor youth worker and would take youngsters hiking in the Carpathian Mountains on the country's western edge. Here on Ukraine's eastern front, that is a far-off memory. He's been in many battles since then, but the horror of Bakhmut is what lives with him now.
When I ask about Wagner's convict army, he pauses to think and says, "I'll be honest. It's genius. Cruel, immoral, but effective tactics. It worked out. And it's still working in Bakhmut."
Soviet-era UAZ jeep makes it way through the mud
Days later, I'm back in the same area, crammed with four others into a Soviet-era UAZ jeep. Its steering wheel has the BMW logo - a joke says the driver, Oleg. He says little else as he grips the wheel and concentrates hard as the car whines and struggles over hills and through the shoals of muck. The automatic gunfire ahead signals we are nearing the 28th Mechanised Brigade, who are directly facing the Russians.
The landscape of war shifts in an instant - the men are holed up in a small wood, its trees shattered and split by Russian fire. In a month, the wood will offer them cover. For now, its bare branches expose them to surveillance drones. Nearby there's an exchange of gunfire, and Russian shells strike around 500m away. But Borys, a 48-year-old former architect who is serving now as a captain, seems untroubled.
"Today's war is a drone war," he says, "but we can walk around freely, because there's wind and rain today and drones are blown away. If it was quiet today, both our drones and our enemy's would be hovering over us."
On the way back, Oleg brings the jeep to a sudden halt. Lying in the dirt in front of us is a drone that has been blown off course. Its battery is quickly removed and it is brought inside - it turns out to be Ukrainian.
But today's war isn't so very different from the past.
Two nights before, the 28th Brigade was attacked by Russian infantry and tanks. In a timbered gun position below ground, the cold rain drips through the roof onto the dirt floor, and there, peering out into the bare landscape, is a Maxim belt-fed machine gun with stout iron wheels.
"It only works when there is a massive attack going on…then it really works," says Borys. "So we use it every week".
And this is how the battle for Bakhmut is being fought, as winter turns to spring in 21st Century Europe. A 19th Century weapon still mows down men by the score in the black Ukrainian earth. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64955537 |
Strikes Update: How Thursday 16 March's strikes affect you - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | What you need to know about the teachers' walkout in England and widespread rail disruption. | Business | Disruption for pupils and parents continues on Thursday, on day two of a 48-hour walkout by some teachers in England. There will also be reduced rail services across 18 train companies.
Wednesday saw strikes by junior doctors in England, up to 150,000 civil servants across 100 government departments and agencies, and on the London Underground.
Members of the National Education Union (NEU) in England will continue their two-day strike on Thursday - part of an ongoing dispute over pay and funding.
Many schools - more than half on previous strike dates - will be closed or have restricted attendance.
Sixth-form colleges will also be affected.
Parents are advised by the Department for Education (DfE) to send children to school unless school leaders have said otherwise.
No further industrial action is currently planned in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
You can read more here about why teachers are striking.
Members of the RMT union working at 18 train companies are striking over pay, job cuts and changes to terms and conditions.
They will also walkout this Saturday 18 March - and also on 30 March and 1 April, which is the start of the Easter school holidays for many.
There will be reduced services - and no trains at all in some places.
Network Rail, which manages the tracks, advises passengers to check train-operating company websites before setting out.
It also warns of possible next-day disruption because of the knock-on impact on shift patterns.
Routes in England will be worst hit - but some services which run into Scotland and Wales are also likely to be hit.
On the London Underground - following Wednesday's walkout by RMT and Aslef union members - Thursday's services are expected to start later than normal.
Transport for London (TfL) also says Thursday's national rail strike action will have an impact on the Overground, Elizabeth Line and some parts of the Bakerloo and District lines through Thursday and into Friday morning.
Tens of thousands of staff at 150 universities across the UK - including academics, librarians, technicians, security and catering workers - begin five days of strikes on Thursday.
Members of the University and College Union (UCU) are also walking out this Friday - and Monday to Wednesday next week.
The strikes have caused "low and isolated" levels of disruption to students, according to the Universities and College Employers Association (UCEA).
Some universities - says Universities UK (UUK), which represents 140 institutions - have extended coursework deadlines and rescheduled teaching.
The UCU action is over pay and working conditions and also pension cuts - but staff are only striking over both issues at 62 universities.
Members of the National Union of Journalists at BBC sites across England are in the middle of a 24-hour walkout - finishing at 11:00 on Thursday.
BBC local radio, regional television and digital services are being disrupted.
The strike is because of plans to merge some local radio programmes.
• University staff who are members of the University and College Union and Unison are on strike
• Union members at 150 universities have been taking part in industrial action Read more: Will my lecture be cancelled? There are currently no national strikes planned for this date There are currently no national strikes planned for this date There are currently no national strikes planned for this date There are currently no national strikes planned for this date There are currently no national strikes planned for this date There are currently no national strikes planned for this date There are currently no national strikes planned for this date There are currently no national strikes planned for this date There are currently no national strikes planned for this date There are currently no national strikes planned for this date There are currently no national strikes planned for this date
• More than 1,000 Passport Office workers are on strike in a dispute about jobs, pay and conditions
• Members of the Public and Commercial Services union have warned of delays to applications and the delivery of passports in the run-up to summer
• More than 1,000 Passport Office workers are on strike in a dispute about jobs, pay and conditions
• Members of the Public and Commercial Services union have warned of delays to applications and the delivery of passports in the run-up to summer
• More than 1,000 Passport Office workers are on strike in a dispute about jobs, pay and conditions
• Members of the Public and Commercial Services union have warned of delays to applications and the delivery of passports in the run-up to summer
• More than 1,000 Passport Office workers are on strike in a dispute about jobs, pay and conditions
• Members of the Public and Commercial Services union have warned of delays to applications and the delivery of passports in the run-up to summer
• More than 1,000 Passport Office workers are on strike in a dispute about jobs, pay and conditions
• Members of the Public and Commercial Services union have warned of delays to applications and the delivery of passports in the run-up to summer
• More than 1,000 Passport Office workers are on strike in a dispute about jobs, pay and conditions
• Members of the Public and Commercial Services union have warned of delays to applications and the delivery of passports in the run-up to summer There are currently no national strikes planned for this date
How are you affected by the strikes? Are you taking part in strike action? You can email: [email protected].
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at [email protected]. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64966053 |
SNP says its membership has fallen to 72,000 - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The party reveals its membership numbers amid a row over the conduct of its leadership race. | Scotland | Leadership candidates Kate Forbes, Ash Regan and Humza Yousaf had pushed for the membership figures to be published
The SNP's membership has fallen to just over 72,000, the party has confirmed amid a row over the integrity of its leadership race.
Candidates Ash Regan and Kate Forbes had demanded to know how many members were eligible to vote in the contest to succeed Nicola Sturgeon.
The party initially refused to do so - but has now told the candidates that it has 72,186 members.
It means it has lost 32,000 members from the 104,000 it had two years ago.
The SNP's membership hit a peak of 125,000 in 2019 as support for the party surged in the wake of the independence referendum but had dropped to 85,000 by the end of last year.
Its Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, told BBC Scotland earlier this week he had "no idea" how many members the party had, but that "I think the last time I heard it was about 100,000".
Ms Forbes' campaign manager, Michelle Thomson MSP, said she was pleased that "common sense has prevailed" and the membership numbers had been published - but that the "alarming drop in members shows that the party needs a change in direction".
Ms Regan issued a statement that said only: "I get things done", with her campaign questioning on Twitter whether the big drop in membership - which it linked to the government's controversial gender reforms - was a reason for Ms Sturgeon's resignation.
She later told BBC Scotland's Drivetime programme that it had been several weeks since she first asked for the membership figures to be released, but that she was pleased it had been as "we want to show that the SNP is fair, transparent and accountable".
Ms Regan also repeated her call for an independent observer to be appointed to oversee the leadership election.
The SNP's national secretary, Lorna Finn, wrote to the candidates earlier on Thursday in an attempt to address their concerns about transparency.
A spokesperson for the party said: "All three candidates were successful in parliamentary selection contests using exactly the same voting system and independent ballot services firm.
"The national secretary has again confirmed all necessary safeguards are in place to protect the integrity of the ballot."
The third candidate in the contest, Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, said his two rivals had produced no tangible evidence that would throw the integrity of the election process into question.
But he added that it had been "a bit of an own goal" for the party not to have published the figure at the start of the process, adding: "I don't know why they didn't - they should have done and certainly if I'm the leader of the party I'll make sure they are published annually."
This is a massive drop in the SNP's membership in a relatively short period of time and it seems to have been particularly acute over the last few months.
The party has lost more than 10,000 members since the end of last year when the row over reform of the process for legally changing gender was raging.
It is not possible to measure the extent to which that controversy may be responsible for members leaving.
The party's president Mike Russell has suggested cost of living pressures could offer an alternative explanation.
Falling membership also places Nicola Sturgeon's decision to stand down in a new context, albeit that she insisted it was not a response to short term pressures.
The SNP remains the largest political party in Scotland but it is considerably smaller now compared to its post referendum peak of around 125,000.
Mr Yousaf is widely seen as being the favoured candidate of Ms Sturgeon and the SNP hierarchy as a whole, with Ms Regan previously claiming that the party HQ was "bussing in" his supporters to hustings events.
Ms Regan has also questioned the role of SNP chief executive Peter Murrell - Ms Sturgeon's husband - in the leadership contest, saying it was a "clear conflict of interest".
Her campaign had also said it had concerns about votes from deceased party members or those who have allowed their membership to expire.
An open letter sent on behalf of Ms Regan and Ms Forbes to Mr Murrell had called on him to clarify how many "paid-up" members the party has, and the number of digital and postal voting papers that have been released.
Ms Regan and Ms Forbes had urged Peter Murrell to clarify how many members the party currently has
Ms Sturgeon denied her party was in crisis and said she had "100% confidence" in the process as she left her penultimate First Minister's Questions on Thursday.
She added: "My party is having a democratic leadership election - growing pains for any organisation can be painful, but they are important.
"I think it's incumbent for the three candidates standing to succeed me that they remember the task is to retain the trust of the Scottish people that we have won consistently over, not just the eight years of my leadership, but consistently since 2007."
SNP president Mike Russell told BBC Scotland the highest standards were being observed but accepted that the membership figures should have been published earlier.
"The party has to unite after this," he said. "We have an important job to do for Scotland and I'm quite sure the three candidates are capable of that."
Scottish Conservatives chairman Craig Hoy said the SNP "had to be dragged kicking and screaming into even releasing these numbers".
He added: "The SNP government are out-of-touch with the real priorities of Scotland and it seems tens of thousands of now former members have also come to that conclusion and decided enough is enough."
The leadership ballot is being managed by Southampton-based polling firm Mi-Voice, which the SNP has used for internal contests since 2013. The result is due to be announced on 27 March. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64976104 |
NHS and ambulance staff in Scotland accept latest pay offer - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | GMB Scotland said its members accepted the improved pay offer by a majority of 59.7%. | Scotland | A new pay offer was made to staff including ambulance workers
The union representing NHS and ambulance staff in Scotland have accepted the latest pay offer from the Scottish government.
GMB Scotland said 59.7% of balloted members had accepted the new offer.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has been locked in negotiations with health unions in recent months amid the threat of industrial action.
Strikes were suspended earlier this year while members of three unions considered the improved deal.
Both the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) are also balloting their members, with the recommendation to accept the deal.
The result of the RCN vote is expected next week.
The pay offer made to 160,000 NHS staff, including nurses, midwives and paramedics, equates to an average 6.5% increase in 2023/24.
It also includes the commitment to modernising Agenda for Change, which is nearly 20 years old, to support workforce recruitment, sustainability and retention.
The offer is on top of the imposed pay rise already allocated for 2022/23, meaning many staff could receive a consolidated 13 to 14% pay increase over a two-year period.
Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland senior organiser for public services, welcomed the acceptance but urged ministers to heed the warnings of the proportion of the union membership that voted to reject the pay offer.
He said: "We would warn that no-one in government circles should be naïve enough to think this puts the issue of worker value back in the box.
"The sizeable minority of members who voted to reject the offer illustrate the point and this sends a loud and clear message on future pay offers.
"If ministers want to seriously tackle the understaffing crisis in our health service and recruit and retain the people needed to build a recovery of our broken NHS, then the bar must continue to rise for the pay and conditions of staff in the years to come."
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said he was "delighted" that GMB members had accepted the pay offer.
He said: "This will ensure that Scotland's NHS Agenda for Change staff are, by far and away, the best paid anywhere in the UK. We are also committed to delivering the most progressive package of terms and conditions reform in decades.
"We await the outcome of the remaining union ballots." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64980613 |
US drone downing: Russia will try to retrieve remnants of drone - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A US surveillance drone plunged into the Black Sea after an encounter with Russian jets on Tuesday. | Europe | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Russia said on Wednesday that it would try to retrieve the remnants of a US drone that crashed into the Black Sea.
The large MQ-9 Reaper drone plunged into the water on Tuesday.
The US said it brought down the damaged drone after it became "unflyable" when a Russian jet clipped its propeller - but Moscow has denied these claims.
Speaking on state television, Russian security council secretary Nikolai Patrushev confirmed Moscow was attempting to find the aircraft.
"I don't know whether we'll be able to retrieve it or not but it has to be done," Mr Patrushev said.
He also said that the drone's presence in the Black Sea was "confirmation" that the US was directly involved in the war.
Senior Washington official John Kirby said the US was also searching for the aircraft, but stressed that if Russia beat them to it, "their ability to exploit useful intelligence will be highly minimised".
That message was reiterated by General Mark Milley, America's top military general, who said the US has taken "mitigating measures" to ensure there was nothing of value on the downed drone.
He said it would be challenging to retrieve the drone, noting the water where it crashed was anywhere between 4,000ft to 5,000ft (1,200m to 1,500m) deep.
US military officials said the incident happened on Tuesday morning and the confrontation lasted around 30-40 minutes.
In a statement, the US said Russian jets dumped fuel on the drone several times before the collision.
Pentagon spokesman Brig Gen Pat Ryder told reporters the drone was "unflyable and uncontrollable", adding the collision also likely damaged the Russian aircraft.
Russia has denied its two Su-27 fighter jets made any contact with the US drone.
Russia's defence ministry said the drone crashed after a "sharp manoeuvre", and that it was flying with its transponders (communication devices) turned off.
The US Defence Secretary, Lloyd Austin, confirmed he had spoken with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, the day after the drone was downed.
In a statement released after the phonecall, Russia's defence ministry said Mr Shoigu blamed the incident on "increased reconnaissance activities against the interests of the Russian Federation". It also called US drone flights off the coast of Crimea "provocative".
The US and UK have previously gone to extraordinary lengths to recover their technology after crashes.
They retrieved the wreckage of their stealth fighter jet, the F-35 from the bottom of the South China Sea after it sank.
But on the face of it, the Pentagon seems more relaxed about losing a Reaper drone. It's older technology and numerous have been lost before.
And trying to recover a downed drone in deep waters, next to a war zone, with Russian ships and submarines patrolling, could present even greater risks of escalation.
Tensions have risen over the Black Sea ever since Russia's annexation of nearby Crimea in 2014.
And since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the US and the UK have stepped up surveillance flights, though always operating in international airspace.
The lost Reaper may have been carrying a surveillance pod able to suck up electronic data such as radar emissions.
The US Department of Defense said in a press release that the surveillance trips are used to gather information which helps improve security for Europe and supports "allied partners".
The US has reportedly shared intelligence with Ukraine previously, including to help it sink a Russian ship in the Black Sea.
Ukraine's foreign minister told BBC reporter James Landale that incidents such as the downing of a US drone over the Black Sea are inevitable until Russia leaves Crimea.
Describing it as a "routine incident", Dmytro Kuleba said: "As long as Russia controls Crimea, these kinds of incidents will be inevitable and the Black Sea will not be a safe place."
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, but the vast majority of countries still recognise it as part of Ukraine.
The BBC asked Mr Kuleba if, following the drone incident, the US and other allies might become more cautious.
"If the West wants to demonstrate its weakness, it should certainly demonstrate its cautiousness after an incident like this, but I don't have a feeling that this is the mood in capitals," he replied.
"The mood is not to escalate but nor is the mood to lean under the pressure - the physical or rhetorical pressure - of Russia."
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin vowed the military would "continue to fly and operate" wherever international law allows.
After being summoned to speak to officials in Washington, Russian ambassador Anatoly Antonov said Moscow saw the drone incident as "a provocation".
From the Kremlin's point of view Mr Antonov added: "The unacceptable activity of the US military in the close proximity to our borders is a cause for concern."
On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reporters there has been no high-level contact between Moscow and Washington over the incident.
But he said Russia would never refuse to engage in constructive dialogue. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64961958 |
Jeremy Hunt's Budget is focused on the next election - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The chancellor's policies to boost growth are frontloaded to try to provide a boost before the election. | Business | The big claim from Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is a modest one - we are no longer going into recession, and inflation will fall faster.
That is better news, relatively speaking, given the size of the shock to the economy from higher energy prices. But the big picture on living standards is that we are still in the middle of an historic fall. It is little wonder that Mr Hunt felt compelled to extend the largest part of the energy bill support that was due to run out.
But the big broad strategic decision the chancellor has made is to spend the windfall from better upfront growth in the economy to try to get the UK out of a slow growth mire.
The government has spent nearly all the extra revenue from better economic news, which means it has borrowed about £20bn a year to spend on trying to boost business investment, getting people back to work and extra defence.
The plans to boost growth look like microsurgery: several dozen measures, designed to unlock two key self-admitted problems - poor business investment, and getting the workforce back up to full strength. And that surgery has a notable timing - all frontloaded to provide as big a boost possible now, before the next general election.
There are some eye-catching thrusts into a high-tech future of a dozen Canary Wharfs situated near our biggest universities. Post-Brexit changes to trading rules are focused on five key sectors. Pharmaceuticals will get the fastest regulator in the world and automatically accept medicines approved in the US, EU and Japan, building on the Covid vaccine success.
But some of the biggest measures run out just after the election, and that's why the forecasts from the government's independent forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), show growth declining afterwards.
So it's maximising the bang for the buck early, trying to get a deliverable, visible, noticeable impact for voters by the time of the election, which we're expecting by late 2024.
In fact in the small print of the OBR report it says that because the changes to corporation tax are a temporary measures "we have assumed that the Budget measure has no long run impact on the capital stock" and "all the additional investment is ultimately displaced from future years".
So you get a pre-election boom in business investment and then it falls below the level that it would have done without the policy, with "no overall impact" on total investment. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64968942 |
Metropolitan Police expected to be heavily criticised for being racist, sexist and homophobic in report - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The BBC understands the report will criticise the Met's tolerance of wrongdoing within its ranks. | UK | The Metropolitan Police is expected to be heavily criticised for being racist, sexist and homophobic in a report.
Baroness Casey's review will be published on Tuesday.
She was appointed to review the force's culture and standards after the murder of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens.
The BBC has not seen a draft of Baroness Casey's report but understands that it will heavily criticise the Met's tolerance of wrongdoing.
The report is also expected to criticise how the Met protects its own people ahead of the public.
A government source told the BBC the findings of the draft report were "very serious" and would make for "bad reading".
Home Secretary Suella Braverman has been in talks with the Met Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, this week about the findings after it is understood the final draft of the report was sent to them.
Sir Mark was appointed commissioner in September and even after the critical report is published next week, the Home Office will back his leadership to reform the Met and bring about change, and wants to give him the time to do so.
The force is already facing a separate independent inquiry into how Couzens and the serial rapist officer David Carrick were able to become policemen and were not identified as threats to women.
The interim Casey review which was published in October found hundreds of Met officers had been getting away with breaking the law and misconduct.
It found many claims of sexual misconduct, misogyny, racism and homophobia had been badly mishandled.
Sir Mark apologised and admitted there were officers still serving who should have been sacked.
While the interim report focused on the failures of the force's internal misconduct system, this final report is expected to be much wider.
It has examined, and will criticise the culture, recruitment, training and leadership of the force.
One source told the BBC the final report contained a lot of findings that were extremely bad for the Met.
The BBC has spoken to two women whose ex-partners are serving Met officers. Both women raised concerns that the force is unable to deal with abusive officers within its ranks.
Sally, not her real name, was living with a Met officer who she met when he investigated a crime she had been a victim of. Last year, she told the Met that he had domestically abused her and had misused police powers. He is now going through the Met's misconduct system and is on restricted duties.
She told the BBC she felt as though the force had not dealt with her complaints.
"I think it's easier to let these police officers stay than to get rid of them," she said. "He's still working, he's still getting paid, he's still going to get his full pension.
"I don't trust the police at all and I do not understand why we report allegations against the police to other police officers. There is no place in the police service for an officer like him, absolutely not."
A woman the BBC has called Natalie to protect her identity claims her ex-husband, a Met officer, coercively controlled her. She said she struggled to find the right avenues to complain to the force to get them to take action.
"You're brought up to believe the police are there to protect. The police should be there to protect, that's what we pay taxes for but they just seem to protect themselves."
"I've been in police stations, I've spoken to policewomen who squeezed my arm and looked compassionate, and told me this time it would be sorted. (That) it was unacceptable" she said. "You hear nothing and it then makes him worse. He's bolstered by this isn't he? He's enabled and protected."
Cdr James Harman from the Met's directorate of professional standards acknowledged that the force needs to do more, saying: "I recognise that we are in a bad place but we are committed and absolutely determined to turn that around and we are going to do so.
"I completely understand that people will often feel nervous or hesitant to report a crime committed by the police."
The Met Police said in a statement "the report will play an important role in informing and shaping our work to deliver 'More Trust, Less Crime and High Standards'.
"It will be published next week which will be the appropriate point for us to respond in further detail."
A Home Office spokesperson said: "The Home Secretary has been clear that culture and standards in policing must be raised in order to regain the trust and confidence of the public. We await the publication of Baroness Casey's full report."
A statement from a spokesperson for the Casey Review has said the review will "not be commenting on its contents ahead of publication". They have also asked other parties not to comment either.
"The review into the culture and standards of the Metropolitan Police was commissioned in light of the appalling facts relating to the murderer of Sarah Everard" the statement read.
"This must be remembered if at all possible as we move towards its publication".
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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64984878 |
Khayri Mclean: Boy killed near school by 'youths lying in wait' - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Khayri Mclean, 15, was stabbed outside his school in Huddersfield and died later in hospital. | Leeds & West Yorkshire | Khayri Mclean, 15, died after he was stabbed near the entrance to North Huddersfield Trust School
A boy was killed outside his school by two youths who were lying in wait for him wearing balaclavas and carrying knives, a court heard.
Khayri Mclean, 15, was stabbed near the entrance to North Huddersfield Trust School and later died in hospital.
Leeds Crown Court heard that as he left for the day, Khayri was met by two boys, aged 15 and 16, who "charged" towards him aggressively.
The younger boy admits murder, the older denies it.
Prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford KC told the court the 15-year-old had shouted "Oi Khayri" or "Yo Khayri" before jumping in the air, swinging a knife with a 30cm blade and stabbing Khayri.
This proved to be the fatal blow as it went through his ribs and penetrated one of his lungs and heart, the court was told.
Mr Sandiford said Khayri fell to the floor and was "defenceless on his back" when the 16-year-old went after him, knife in hand, and stabbed him again.
"Fortunately, Khayri was able to lift his legs to block the blow and so the knife penetrated his lower leg rather than a more vital part of his body," the prosecutor said.
Khayri Mclean was stabbed near the entrance to North Huddersfield Trust School on 21 September 2022
The jury was told that the 15-year-old had pleaded guilty to murder. The 16-year-old, who has since turned 17, denies murdering Khayri and is on trial.
Mr Sandiford told the court that although the older defendant did not inflict the fatal blow on 21 September 2022, he is guilty of murder because the pair acted together, "encouraging and supporting each other to carry out that attack".
"This was not an act of spontaneous violence but a planned attack in which [the defendants] armed themselves with knives, changed some of their clothing and wore balaclavas to hide their identities before going to lie in wait to attack Khayri as he walked home from school," he said.
After attacking Khayri, the boys ran away together, before stopping to remove their balaclavas and the clothing worn for the attack, Mr Sandiford said.
"Those items, and most likely the knives used to murder Khayri, were left in bags, concealed in woodland, from where they were later retrieved and disposed of by others," he told the court.
Having changed their appearances, the boys calmly walked to within a short distance of where Khayri lay fatally injured in the street, he added.
The court was also told that the older defendant's mother had texted him in the aftermath of the incident saying: "Your enemy has been stabbed and it doesn't look good."
Mr Sandiford said the 17-year-old has since claimed that he went to the school to confront another person who he believed had broken windows at his mother's house.
He was concerned this person and his friends might have knives, so he picked up "a small kitchen knife to defend himself if necessary", the court was told.
He did not name his co-defendant, but said "another boy" offered to come with him, and when a group of pupils approached them, the other boy rushed at them and he "instinctively" followed.
The boy claims he swung his knife at Khayri "in panic" as he "feared he would be attacked".
Mr Sandiford described the claim as "a pack of lies".
"The prosecution says this was a well-planned and targeted attack on Khayri Mclean with the intention of killing him or at least causing him really serious harm," he added.
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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-64969594 |
Northern Ireland travel disruption fears as heavy rain sweeps in - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | After heavy snowfall, now it's the turn of the rain with some areas facing 40mm in under 24 hours. | Northern Ireland | The rain warning is in place until 10:00 GMT on Thursday
Disruptive rain is forecast for Northern Ireland from this afternoon with a weather warning issued by the Met Office.
Travel disruption is expected as the rain becomes more persistent later on Wednesday.
It is due to last until later on Thursday morning, with between 20mm to 30mm of rain expected quite widely.
Some areas could see up to 40mm of rainfall accumulating during that period.
That is likely to lead to surface spray and flooding on roads before conditions improve from the west on Thursday.
The warning is in place from 14:00 GMT on Wednesday until 10:00 GMT on Thursday.
It comes after heavy snowfall last week caused major delays and disruptions across the country.
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Unions close to pay deal to avert more NHS strikes - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The offer in England includes a bonus for this year and a higher pay rise for next year than planned. | UK | A fresh pay offer for NHS staff in England, including nurses and ambulance workers, is expected to be announced this afternoon, the BBC understands.
The deal includes a bonus likely to be in excess of £1,000 for this year and a rise of close to 5% for the next financial year starting in April.
Negotiators on both sides have agreed it is the best deal they can get to.
Fourteen unions have been represented at the talks - and it is now up to them whether they recommend it to members.
A statement is expected in the coming hours.
The talks with government have lasted nearly two weeks.
The offer covers all NHS staff except doctors, who are on a different contract.
It comes after a winter of industrial action which has seen nurses, ambulance staff and physios all go on strike.
The unions involved in the current talks put further action on hold after the government agreed to enter discussions last month.
Earlier, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said he hoped a resolution to the dispute was near.
"We are working really hard to try and solve these issues," he told BBC Breakfast. "We have engaged very productively so I'm keeping my fingers crossed."
The talks have been led the the NHS Staff Council, which represents the 14 health unions.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said the government, NHS employers and unions had been holding constructive and meaningful discussions covering pay and non-pay matters and that the talks were ongoing.
The government had given NHS staff a pay rise of 4.75% this year on average and had originally suggested a 3.5% increase in April.
A 72-hour strike by junior doctors, who say inflation means the real value of their pay has fallen 26% since 2008, went ahead on 13-15 March.
They are asking for a 35% pay rise, but the government has said the request is "completely unaffordable".
The British Medical Association has called the strikes the "first round of action". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64973045 |
Five things we learned from the SNP leaders' debate - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A live studio audience, a move away from personal attacks and a wide range of policies were on show. | Scotland politics | There were more smiles on show, with fewer direct attacks between the candidates compared to previous debates
The three candidates to replace Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader and first minister of Scotland have taken part in the final TV debate of the campaign.
How did Kate Forbes, Ash Regan and Humza Yousaf approach the live TV event, and what does it tell us about how the contest will play out?
This was the only TV debate of the campaign to feature a live studio audience. Hustings have taken place in front of party members, but those have been altogether cosier in-house affairs.
This was where the candidates had to bump up against the general public for the first time, and thus a fascinating chance to see if the themes their campaigns have been based on chime with the priorities of the wider populace.
Health and the cost of living are obvious topics for all, but this debate featured perhaps the most discussion there has been about education in the contest to date - still all of about five minutes.
And seeing how the audience reacted to the pitch from each candidate was almost as enlightening as the policies themselves.
There was applause for the candidates - but also some sharp interventions from punters less than impressed by their efforts.
It was a reminder that whoever wins this contest will need to be the first minister for the whole country.
They only need to win over SNP members to get the job - they will need to convince the nation at large to keep it.
Kate Forbes changed tack from the direct attacks she used in previous debates
This was, broadly, a debate focused on policy rather than personality - something summed up when Humza Yousaf said he was "not going to sit here and slag off colleagues in government".
In previous debates, the candidates rarely missed an opportunity to kick lumps out of each other, but the cross-examination here was notably less fiery.
That may be in part because yellow-on-yellow attacks are greeted with glee by opposition parties, but it is also a mark of how the candidates have evolved their approach.
Humza Yousaf may have been braced for another broadside from Kate Forbes, but instead was greeted by policy-laden questions which promoted the finance secretary's own strengths.
Ash Regan used her questions to Mr Yousaf to bring up gender reform - again, something she sees as a strength of her own campaign.
Mr Yousaf was actually ticked off by Stephen Jardine for talking about his own policies at length when he was meant to be questioning Ms Forbes.
This may be because of the fear that mud thrown now could still be stuck on when future elections roll around.
But it may also be because this race uses a single transferable vote system - and in a tight contest, second-preference votes could turn out to be crucial.
The candidates might have calculated that it is profitable to make friends than to try to knock out opponents entirely.
Ash Regan is the candidate pushing for independence with the most urgency
Things are going to change, regardless of who wins this contest.
Perhaps that's obvious - none of the candidates are Nicola Sturgeon. But they have all worked for her, only to have developed some concerns about her policies since she decided to resign.
Kate Forbes has pitched herself as the change candidate, but even so it is striking to hear the sitting finance secretary talking about a need to "reset the relationship with business".
Ash Regan said the government she had resigned from "isn't in touch with the priorities of people and it seems like the government isn't listening", and talked about ending the partnership deal with the Greens.
Even Humza Yousaf, who has accepted the mantle of continuity candidate, wants to see changes to the deposit return scheme and said the delays to ferry projects were "unacceptable".
One audience member called out the "lack of accountability" on the part of government ministers who have been in post for years, now calling for a change of direction.
After a long run of stability under Nicola Sturgeon and indeed Alex Salmond before her, it feels like the direction of the Scottish government is up in the air for the first time in 15 years.
Humza Yousaf has accepted the mantle of continuity candidate, looking to continue Nicola Sturgeon's legacy
All three leadership candidates said they could see Scotland being independent within five years.
Frankly in order to lead the SNP, they probably need to say that. There may not be much appetite among the membership for pumping the brakes on the campaign now.
But the three of them still have quite different ideas about how to get there.
Ash Regan stands apart from Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes in urgency, bringing up independence in response to quite a few other questions.
Her idea of a "voter empowerment mechanism" essentially bakes the de-facto referendum into every election, for all that question marks hung over that approach.
Humza Yousaf, meanwhile, said the party should not be "obsessing" about process, saying that a surge of grassroots support will answer any and all questions. It sounds a lot like Nicola Sturgeon's approach of a few years ago, when she talked about not having a "magic wand" to bring about a referendum overnight.
And Kate Forbes was the most explicit in pitching herself as the candidate who can reach out to No voters - perhaps hoping that if she appears more electable with the broader electorate, that will be appealing to the SNP members who have a vote here.
Perhaps because it was taking part in front of a mixed audience rather than one of SNP devotees, it was striking that this debate ultimately focused more on winning people round to the "why" of independence, rather than the knotty question of "how".
Who are the SNP candidates?
When Nicola Sturgeon announced she was stepping down, plenty of names were thrown around as potential successors.
Perhaps not many would have predicted that the final three would be Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan.
But watching this debate, they certainly provide a broad choice for the SNP membership in both style and substance.
The field includes sitting cabinet ministers who have represented almost every top job in government, but also a minister who quit in protest over policy.
One represents the pro-business tribe within the party, another a group focused on social justice, and the other a group impatient for action on independence.
There are competing promises of change and of continuity - anything from tinkering around the edges of Nicola Sturgeon's legacy to tearing it up entirely.
Which of these campaigns wins out will be a fascinating test of where the SNP membership stands in 2023 - because the three candidates clearly have quite a different view of it. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-64959575 |
Welsh football: FAW members suspended for inappropriate behaviour - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The allegations include misogyny and sexism, breaching confidence and mocking political correctness. | Wales | Former FAW President Phil Pritchard is one of the members currently serving a suspension
Three male members of the Football Association of Wales (FAW) have been suspended in the past 10 months after allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
They were suspended from the FAW council, which is made up of 36 members representing local clubs, leagues and area associations across Wales.
The allegations include misogyny and sexism, breaching confidence and mocking political correctness publicly.
The FAW said it took a "robust approach" to sanctions.
The findings by the Newyddion S4C programme come at a time when sport in Wales is under scrutiny after allegations of sexism and misogyny within the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) were revealed by the BBC Wales investigates programme.
The FAW referred two of the disciplinary cases to independent arbitrators Sport Resolutions, with the other matter dealt with internally by the FAW as it was considered less serious in nature.
Former FAW President Phil Pritchard is one of the men currently serving a suspension for comments made at a pre-match dinner deemed misogynistic and sexist.
Mr Pritchard says he admitted fault due to the cost of legal fees
When asked for a response to the allegation, he lashed out at his suspension.
He denied making any sexist remarks, but claimed he pleaded guilty because paying for representation at the independent tribunal "would have cost £12,000 in legal costs".
Mr Pritchard added: "There is always a happy atmosphere at pre-match events, with plenty of banter."
He explained "the last thing he wanted to do" was upset anybody, adding he was "having a laugh and a joke when this young lady walked in and must have mistaken something".
"There were witnesses within 1ft [of me] on my table who said it didn't happen," he said.
"The only reason I said I did it was because it would have cost me a lot otherwise."
Life councillor Ron Bridges is also currently serving a long suspension for a breach of confidence. His case was also referred to Sport Resolutions.
When contacted, Mr Bridges admitted his transgression and said he had passed on embargoed team information to his son, who posted it on a popular Facebook group.
"I can't complain about the suspension or the way it was handled," said Mr Bridges.
"I broke the rules and pleaded guilty and so I'm suspended as an FAW council member, but still active in the game."
South Wales representative Huw Jones has served his suspension and now resumed his role.
Newyddion S4C has learned that his suspension, which was deemed less serious and therefore dealt with internally by the association, related to a social media post referencing a chant about former Wales international Nathan Blake.
Mr Jones was found to have used pronouns inappropriately in an attempted joke about political correctness, which was deemed unacceptable.
Mr Jones has also been asked to respond.
An FAW statement added: "Whilst we cannot comment on individual cases, the Football Association of Wales takes all disciplinary matters extremely seriously in relation to council members.
"We have processes and procedures set out within our rules and regulations, which govern how such matters must be dealt with.
"Depending on the nature of the alleged offence, it is either dealt with by an internal disciplinary procedure, or for more serious matters by an independent arbitration panel."
Last year, FAW chief executive Noel Mooney had said: "Ensuring that football in Wales is equal, diverse and inclusive for everyone is a priority for us at the Football Association of Wales."
Elections to the FAW council are due to take place this summer. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64970096 |
Libya uranium: Tonnes gone missing, UN says - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | UN inspectors are trying to locate around two and a half tonnes of uranium ore. | Africa | The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is the UN's nuclear watchdog
Two and a half tonnes of uranium have gone missing from a site in Libya, the UN's nuclear watchdog has said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) sounded the alarm after a visit by its inspectors to the undisclosed site earlier this week.
They found that 10 drums containing uranium ore had disappeared, the IAEA said.
Inspectors fear the uranium could pose a radiological risk, and also have concerns over nuclear security.
The IAEA said that the site where the uranium was stored was not in government-controlled territory.
In a statement, the organisation said it would conduct further activities "to clarify the circumstances of the removal of the nuclear material and its current location".
It is unclear when the uranium went missing or who could have taken it.
It was removed from a very remote location in southern Libya, where there were "lots of ungoverned areas", according to Scott Roecker from the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a global security organisation working on nuclear issues.
"If you're removing this material from this location you must really want it," he told the BBC's Newsday programme, adding that the quantity that appears to have been taken is "approximately one tenth of the amount of material" stored at the facility "so you would absolutely see it missing".
The IAEA told the BBC it was working to clarify what happened, how the nuclear material was removed and where it was now.
Mr Roecker said the material "in its current form [known as yellow cake] cannot be made into a nuclear weapon", although it could be used as "feedstock" - the raw material needed for a nuclear weapons programme.
He also downplayed fears of radiation, noting that "yellow cake doesn't really have any radiation in its current form" and as a result it had been stored in some "pretty rudimentary drums".
Mr Roecker suggested that it could potentially be used for other purposes, such as nuclear energy, but pointed out that countries would normally buy material for that on the open market.
"Perhaps it was stolen by someone who wants to make a profit out of this? There's a lot of scenarios around this," he said.
The IAEA explained that reaching the site had been complicated in recent times.
Inspectors had wanted to visit the location last year, but the trip had to be postponed because of fighting between rival Libyan militias.
But since Libya's former leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was deposed in 2011, the country has been divided into competing political and military factions.
It is now split between an interim government in the capital Tripoli and another one in the east led by Gen Khalifa Haftar.
Neither is in control of the south where the uranium was taken from.
Many foreign governments and groups have been vying for influence in Libya since Nato-backed forces overthrew Col Gaddafi. They include Russia's Wagner Group, and Islamic State militants.
The oil-rich country is largely lawless, and has previously been described as an "arms bazaar".
In 2103, UN experts reported that weapons smuggled out of Libya were fuelling conflicts in other parts of Africa and the Middle East. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-64972945 |
Ukraine war: Florida's Ron DeSantis invited to visit after 'territorial dispute' remarks - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The man likely to run for president said the "territorial dispute" was not a "vital national interest". | Europe | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Five things to know about Ron DeSantis
Ukraine has invited Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to visit, after the Republican dismissed the Russian invasion as a "territorial dispute".
Mr DeSantis is widely expected to run for president in 2024 and made his remarks in response to questions sent to possible Republican contenders.
The former congressman said continued US support of Ukraine was not among the country's "vital national interests".
The comment signalled he would probably scale back aid if he became president.
It also aligned Mr DeSantis with former President Donald Trump, the leading contender for the Republican nomination, who has opposed US support for Kyiv and criticised the Biden administration's handling of the war.
Their comments show the divide in the Republican Party between isolationists who are sceptical of providing military aid and the establishment party policy of supporting Kyiv.
In his response to a questionnaire by Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, Mr DeSantis said: "While the US has many vital national interests... becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them."
The 44-year-old has not officially announced his intention to challenge Mr Trump for the Republican nomination, but has been taking all the necessary steps suggesting he will do so.
When asked the same question on whether US backing for Kyiv was vital for Washington, Mr Trump said: "No, it is for Europe. But not for the United States."
Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko criticised Mr DeSantis's comments and tweeted his invitation to the Republican governor on Tuesday.
"We are sure that as a former military officer deployed to a combat zone, Governor Ron DeSantis knows the difference between a 'dispute' and war," Mr Nikolenko said.
"We invite him to visit Ukraine to get a deeper understanding of Russia's full-scale invasion and the threats it poses to US interests."
While studying law at Harvard University, Mr DeSantis was commissioned as an officer in the US Navy and was assigned to its legal arm, the Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps.
His service as a JAG officer included working with detainees held in Guantanamo Bay, as well as an assignment as a legal adviser for elite US Navy Seals deployed to Iraq.
Many Republicans, including the party's senior leadership in the Senate, have long said defending Ukraine is in the best interests of the US.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said Mr DeSantis' comments displayed "a misunderstanding of the situation" on the part of the governor.
"This is not a territorial conflict, it's a war of aggression. To say it doesn't matter is to say war crimes don't matter," Mr Graham said.
Former Vice-President Mike Pence has also called for the US to increase its support.
But there is a vocal wing of the party - mostly in the House of Representatives - that is hesitant about the continuing aid.
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has supported Ukraine, but recently warned that there "can't be a blank cheque" for the country given the scale of US debt.
Politicians from both parties in Congress have voted in favour of Western support for Ukraine, approving more than $112bn (£92.47bn) in 2022 alone.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday that he expects bipartisan support for Ukraine will remain strong, as senior leaders of both parties agree on the importance of the US offering aid.
"Ukraine matters. It matters not to just Ukraine or to the United States, it matters to the world. This is about the rules-based international order," Mr Austin said.
The US is the largest contributor to Ukraine in terms of money spent. It pays for drones, tanks, missiles and other munitions systems, as well as training, logistics and intelligence support.
Humanitarian aid has included food assistance, safe drinking water, medical supplies and other necessities for Ukrainians displaced by the conflict. Financial aid keeps Ukraine's government operating by paying civil servants, healthcare workers and teachers.
Largest donors of aid to Ukraine as percent of donor country GDP. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64880145 |
Wiltshire shoplifter made £500k with refund trick crime spree - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Narinder Kaur is convicted after duping stores into giving her refunds for goods she had stolen. | Gloucestershire | Kaur's crimes were spread across much of the UK
A woman who made half a million pounds by shoplifting on "an industrial scale" has been warned to expect a "substantial" jail sentence.
Narinder Kaur, 53, tricked high street stores into giving her refunds for goods she had stolen.
She was found guilty at Gloucester Crown Court of 25 separate offences on Friday after a four-month trial.
It is believed Kaur, from Cleverton, Wiltshire, stole from more than 1,000 shops across the country.
Judge Ian Lawrie KC remanded her in custody ahead of a sentencing date yet to be fixed.
The jury, praised by the judge after what is believed to have been the longest-ever trial at the court, found Kaur guilty of 14 offences of fraud, two of money laundering, four of possessing the proceeds of crime, one of conspiracy to defraud, and four of perverting the course of justice.
The court was told Kaur, originally from Worcester, had legally changed her name from Nina Tiara.
At the start of the trial on 8 November, prosecutor Gareth Weetman said she was "an intelligent but also a highly dishonest and manipulative individual" who had deceived shops, banks, solicitors and even the courts.
The jury was shown several images of Kaur stealing from shops
He said that when she was finally arrested and charged with wholesale offending, she was not deterred - and continued her life of crime by lying to courts to get her bail conditions amended so she could go out stealing again.
Mr Weetman said Kaur had discovered a way of "beating the system" by getting retailers to pay her the full value of things she had stolen.
"The defendant discovered that with many large retailers, if you take an item that they sell into a store, claim you've bought it but don't have the receipt, but say that you just want to exchange it, you're much more likely to succeed," he said.
The jury was told Kaur targeted branches of Boots, Debenhams, Homebase, John Lewis, House of Fraser, Monsoon, M&S and TK Maxx.
The prosecutor detailed how she spent £5,000 at Boots stores including in Cheltenham, Malvern, Solihull, Kidderminster, and Dudley - but obtained refunds she was not entitled to totalling £60,000.
At Debenhams stores, she got refunds of £42,800 but spent only £3,600. She defrauded John Lewis stores in Watford, Chester, Milton Keynes and Cardiff out of £33,000 after spending only £5,200.
For a £1,181 spend in Homebase and TX Maxx stores in 15 different towns and cities she tricked the retailers into handing over £19,540 in refunds.
At House of Fraser stores in Bristol, Cardiff, Cwmbran and Exeter she spent £2,850 and claimed refunds of £23,000.
Kaur's method was to shoplift, then trick shops into giving her refunds for the stolen goods
Her crime spree came to an end when police took an in-depth look at her bank and credit cards and discovered "an extraordinary history of refund payments", Mr Weetman said.
Kaur also defrauded eight firms of solicitors, instructing them to sue her brother for money, and using male accomplices to pay the compensation using stolen credit cards. The firms then forwarded the money to her before the frauds were uncovered.
The prosecutor said Kaur "failed to be deterred" after being caught and charged, lying to the court to get changes in her bail conditions for medical appointments so she could steal again.
But she raised suspicions at Dunelm in Swindon while trying to get a refund and was arrested. Police searched her house and found 49 shopping bags full of goods and £108,000 in cash.
Her home was searched again after she tried the trick at an Asda, and police found £4,000 cash in a carrier bag, among a total of £38,000 around her house.
Anthony Montgomery, defending, said Kaur had already had a lengthy period in custody on remand and later had been on bail but had not offended again during that time. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-64965027 |
Amir Khan: CCTV of gunpoint robbery shown to court - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The former world boxing champion was forced to hand over his bespoke £72,000 watch in the footage. | London | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The assailant pointed the gun at Mr Khan and ordered him to take off his watch
CCTV capturing the moment former world boxing champion Amir Khan was robbed at gunpoint has been shown in court.
Mr Khan, 36, was targeted when he and his wife left the Sahara Grill restaurant in Leyton, east London, in April last year.
Snaresbrook Crown Court has heard he was forced to hand over his bespoke £72,000 Franck Muller watch by gunman Dante Campbell, 20.
The assailant pointed the gun in his face and said: "Take off the watch."
Ismail Mohamed, 24, from Edmonton; Ahmed Bana, 25, from Tottenham; and Nurul Amin, 25, from Harringay; all north London, all deny conspiracy to rob.
Campbell, from Hornsey in north London, has pleaded guilty to the charges, the jury has been told.
The robbery, which lasted just seconds, was captured on CCTV played to the jury.
In the footage, Mr Khan is seen smiling as he leaves the restaurant with his wife Faryal Makhdoom, 31, before crossing the road towards a waiting car being driven by the sportsman's friend, Omar Khalid,
Two robbers get out of a silver Mercedes coupe parked in front and a hooded man jogs towards Mr Khan, raises his arm and points a gun at the boxer.
Mr Khan previously told the court that having a gun pointed at him was scarier than any of his fights
Mr Khan hands over his watch and the robbers run back to the Mercedes.
They drive away as members of the public rush towards Mr Khan.
Mr Bana is alleged to have been the driver of the car, which dropped Campbell and another unknown robber at the scene before serving as the getaway vehicle.
Mr Amin and Mr Mohamed, along with another man who is not on trial, are said to have acted as "spotters" - dining in the restaurant to keep track of Mr Khan's movements and relay them by phone to Mr Bana.
Follow BBC London on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-64971147 |
Multi-billion dollar rescue deal for First Republic Bank - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Wall Street says the move to prop up First Republic reflects confidence after bank failures. | Business | Bigger banks are injecting funds into First Republic in a bid to shore up confidence in the banking system
A group of big US banks has injected $30bn (£24.8bn) into a smaller regional bank, First Republic, which had been seen as at risk of failure.
The move came as authorities in the US are trying to quell panic over the health of the banking system, after a series of bank collapses.
Worries about the sector have spread globally, raising fears of a crisis.
US regulators called the move "most welcome", while the banks said their action reflected their "confidence".
They said the banking system had plenty of cash and made big profits.
"Recent events did nothing to change this," they said. "The actions of America's largest banks reflect their confidence in the country's banking system."
Reports of plans for the aid from the 11 banks, led by JP Morgan and Citigroup, helped lift financial markets and sent shares in First Republic surging more than 20% at one point, triggering trading halts.
But a sell-off started again in after-hours trade in a sign that concerns remain.
The San Francisco-based firm had seen its share price plunge nearly 70% over the last week, as investors worried it was the next bank at risk of a rush of customers withdrawing their deposits.
"This show of support by a group of large banks is most welcome, and demonstrates the resilience of the banking system," US financial officials said.
Problems in the banking sector surfaced in the US last week when Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the country's 16th-largest lender, collapsed in the biggest failure of a US bank since 2008.
That was followed two days later by the failure of New York's Signature Bank.
Authorities stepped in to guarantee deposits beyond typical limits in an effort to head off further runs on bank deposits, but financial markets have remained jumpy.
In a sign of strains in the system, the US central bank reported a surge in emergency lending to banks, with $318bn in outstanding loans as of Wednesday, up from $15bn a week earlier.
That included roughly $12bn offered through a fund created after the SVB collapse.
"The size of the spike in the Fed's emergency lending underlines that this is a very serious crisis in the banking system that will have significant knock-on effects on the real economy," Paul Ashworth, chief North America economist at Capital Economics said.
In an appearance before politicians in Washington, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that depositors should have confidence in the system, while acknowledging the severity of the episode.
"We felt that there was serious risk of contagion that could have brought down and triggered runs on many banks and that's something, given that our judgement is that the banking system overall is safe and sound," she said.
Meanwhile, the vice president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Luis de Guindos, said the banking industry in Europe was "resilient" and firms there had "limited exposure to the institutions of the US".
He spoke as the ECB announced a further increase to interest rates from 2.5% to 3%, sticking to its plan for a rise despite concerns about how the move might affect the market turmoil.
Central banks around the world have sharply raised borrowing costs over the last year to try to curb the pace of overall price rises, or inflation.
The moves have hurt the values of the large portfolios of bonds bought by banks when rates were lower, a change that contributed to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, and has raised questions about the situation at other firms.
The Swiss National Bank on Wednesday said it was extending up to £44bn in emergency funds to troubled lending giant Credit Suisse, which was seen as vulnerable in the wake of the US bank failures.
Its shares bounced back more than 15% after big falls a day earlier, while major indexes across Europe also gained.
Sir John Gieve, former deputy governor at the Bank of England, told the BBC that central banks were sending a "message" that such problems would be contained locally.
He added that in Credit Suisse's case, the Swiss National Bank's action was likely to be enough to stop the crisis spreading.
"What we've seen overnight is the Swiss central bank saying 'no, we will not let this get into a disorderly collapse'," he said.
"I don't know what the future for Credit Suisse holds but so far they are still standing and it looks like the Swiss central bank will ensure it's standing long enough to rearrange its affairs for the future."
Credit Suisse, founded in 1856, has faced a string of scandals in recent years, including money laundering charges, spying allegations and high profile departures.
It lost money in 2021 and again in 2022 and has warned it does not expect to be profitable until next year. Customers pulled millions of dollars from the firm in recent months.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said officials had been monitoring the developments at Credit Suisse but its troubles were "distinct" from events in the US.
"Its problems are not related to the current economic situation," she said. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64973321 |
Energy bills: Power NI customers face electricity price increase - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Government support with energy bills will be reduced in Northern Ireland at the end of March. | Northern Ireland | Falling electricity prices have been offset by a reduction in government support
Power NI customers will face a 14% increase in electricity prices from 1 April.
It is actually reducing its tariffs by 16.2%, but that has been offset by a reduction in government support to customers.
That support was through the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG), which protects customers from price rises by limiting the amount suppliers can charge.
The government said that means a typical Northern Ireland household using electricity and mains gas will see their energy bill increase from the equivalent of £1,952 a year to £2,109.
On Wednesday, the Chancellor announced that in Great Britain the EPG will be extended for three months at its current level keeping a typical household bill at the equivalent of £2,500 a year.
However, in Northern Ireland the EPG will become less generous from the end of March.
This is because the scheme was originally introduced later in Northern Ireland than in Great Britain, so Northern Ireland customers got an additional backdated discount.
That extra support will be withdrawn at the end of March.
William Steele, director of customer solutions at Power NI, said any customers worried about paying bills should contact the company directly.
Mr Steele said Power NI would "ensure the most vulnerable in our society and those who are struggling get the help they need".
Peter McClenaghan, of the Consumer Council, said it was likely the other four unregulated electricity suppliers in Northern Ireland will also increase their prices.
"Consumers should consider reviewing their tariff in the coming months to ensure they are on the best deal for their needs, as money can be saved by switching supplier, tariff, or billing method," he said.
One of Northern Ireland's smaller electricity suppliers, Click Energy, has also contacted customers to say prices will be increasing as a result of the EPG change.
Click says its underlying tariff rates have not changed and the increase is solely to do with the EPG.
Electric Ireland has announced a rise in energy bills too due to the reduction of government support.
Its customers' weekly bills will rise from an average of £20.35 to £24.02.
Budget Energy have about 96,000 customers in Northern Ireland
Budget Energy announced it will be reducing its tariffs by 19% for prepay and bill-pay domestic customers from 1 April due to a decrease in wholesale energy costs
However, their prices will also likely be going up because of the change to EPG, although it's not yet clear by how much.
The company is one of the largest energy providers in Northern Ireland with about 96,000 customers.
The new rate means prepay customers will save about £324 a year including VAT.
Budget Energy said it will be communicating with customers in writing over the coming days what a reduction in the EPG change will mean for them.
General manager Sean O'Loughlin said the rate reduction should offset the majority of household bills increases following the reduction of government support.
"We hope that this is the first step in returning household electricity prices to more affordable levels for our customers," he said.
Meanwhile, SSE Airtricity domestic gas bills in Greater Belfast are expected to rise almost 15% from the start of April due to the cut in the EPG subsidy.
• None What does the Budget mean for Northern Ireland? | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-64975470 |
Fire at security building in Russia's Rostov-on-Don - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | One person dies in the blaze in a federal security service building in the southern Russian city. | Europe | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
At least one person has been killed and two injured in a fire at a building used by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, Russian media say.
Dramatic footage on social media shows a large blaze, with smoke visible all over the city.
Rostov's regional governor said a short circuit appeared to have caused the fire, which ignited fuel tanks.
The street where the building is located has been cordoned off.
The blaze occurred at a building belonging to the FSB's regional border patrol section in a built-up area of the city.
The FSB is Russia's internal security service and is responsible for counter-intelligence, border security and counter-terrorism.
Rostov Governor Vassily Golubev said the fire had spread over 800 sq m, causing two walls to collapse.
In a statement, the FSB's public relations office said the blaze started at around 12:30 local time (09:30 GMT). It also confirmed there had been fatalities, but offered no further details.
Authorities managed put out the blaze by 16:00 local time (13:00 GMT), Russian media reported.
The city is the capital of the southern Rostov region bordering on the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, currently the scene of intense fighting in the war.
There have been a spate of arson attacks on government buildings in Russia, such as enlistment and conscription offices, since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak said on Twitter that the incident was a "manifestation of panic" in Russia. "Ukraine doesn't interfere, but watches with pleasure," he said. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64975202 |
Strictly judge Motsi Mabuse says she can't understand northern accents - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Motsi Mabuse says she needs fellow Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood's help with northern accents. | Entertainment & Arts | Motsi Mabuse admitted she asks fellow Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood for help understanding some northern people
Strictly Come Dancing judge Motsi Mabuse has said she struggles to understand the accents of people from the north of England.
Mabuse, who speaks five languages, admitted she has to "really concentrate" when making conversation in the UK.
She added that fellow Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood helps translate when an accent is "too strong".
Mabuse grew up in South Africa but now lives in Germany.
Speaking to comedians Ed Gamble and James Acaster on their Off Menu podcast, the 41-year-old said: "The thing is, you [Britons] all speak differently.
"Every time I'm in the country I really have to concentrate.
"Some people I just don't know … I'm just like, 'Are we speaking the same language?'
"There's a lot of accents here."
Mabuse was then asked if she struggled with contestant AJ Odudu's Blackburn dialect during series 19 of the dance reality show back in 2021.
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes. But there have been quite a few people from the north, so I'm always asking Craig. I'm just trying to understand … but it's not easy."
She added fellow judge Craig Revel Horwood sometimes acts as a translator for her when they interact with some people from the north of England.
"I really struggle with people that come from the north.
"I'm like, can you please translate at this point? It's so strong, I just don't understand, really. I'm being honest."
Mabuse can speak five languages: English, German and three South African languages including Afrikaans and Setswana.
She said that she often accidentally slips into German during broadcasts: "It's happened quite a few times.
"Plus I have that South African accent, so it's a mess. It's a complete mess."
Mabuse lives in Germany and has appeared on their version of Strictly called Let's Dance.
When the dance competition airs on BBC One every autumn and winter, she commutes to the UK every week for the live shows.
She joined Strictly in 2019 as a judge alongside Head Judge Shirley Ballas, Revel Horwood and Anton Du Beke. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64980687 |
Mounted police ride after driver holding his phone - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | null | Two mounted police officers ride after a man holding his phone while driving through a town centre. | null | Two mounted police officers rode after a man spotted holding his mobile phone while driving.
They saw him driving through East Reach in Taunton, Somerset last Tuesday and quickly turned their horses around and caught up with him.
It is illegal to hold and use a phone, tablet, or any device that can send or receive data, while driving or riding a motorcycle.
Avon and Somerset Police said the man had been issued with a traffic offence report and would be issued with a £200 fine plus six points on his licence, or he could choose to take the matter to court. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-64982398 |
France's Macron to force through pension reform with no vote - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The French government will use the constitution to push through a pension age rise from 62 to 64. | Europe | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
The French government has been forced to push through unpopular pension reforms, to avoid a knife-edge vote in the National Assembly.
Although the plan to raise the pension age from 62 to 64 passed the upper house on Thursday, ministers realised they might not win the support of MPs.
Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne was jeered as she invoked article 49:3 of the constitution.
That power enables the government to avoid a vote in the Assembly.
"We cannot bet on the future of our pensions and this reform is necessary," the prime minister told a rowdy session of the lower house.
As she took the stand, left-wing MPs sang the national anthem La Marseillaise while holding placards that read "No to 64".
The session was briefly suspended and when she began to speak she was interrupted with cries of "Resign, Resign!"
Forcing the bill through may be the least bad option for the government, but it's also fraught with risk. It exposes the government to a censure motion and risks enflaming the country.
The far-right National Rally immediately called a confidence vote, while Marine Le Pen, who challenged Mr Macron for the presidency, said the government's move was a recognition of his personal failure.
"It's his reform, he's the one who proposed it and defended it during his campaign," she added.
The pension reforms have prompted weeks of protests and strikes across France. They do not just raise the retirement age by two years, but also require an additional year of contributions to the national pension scheme.
As the drama unfolded inside the Assembly, a group of some 1,500 mainly young protesters rallied a short distance away at Place de la Concorde, chanting "general strike".
Even though President Emmanuel Macron was re-elected last year on a platform of retirement reforms, his ruling coalition has no majority in the Assembly and would have needed support from the Republicans party.
Officials from his Renaissance party spent the morning desperately whipping members into line in a bid to get their bill over the line. They knew some of their MPs could vote against or abstain, faced with the evident unpopularity of the bill.
President Macron even suggested on the eve of the vote that he could dissolve the Assembly and call early elections. Maybe it was a bluff, or maybe it wasn't.
He began Thursday afternoon closeted with the prime minister and other key figures at the Élysée Palace, counting the yes and the no votes. Minutes before the Assembly was due to convene, sources told French media that Ms Borne would go ahead without a vote.
The unions, which have already masterminded eight days of protests across France, earlier appealed to MPs to reject the reforms. "Seventy per cent of the population and 94% of workers are opposed to this project," said François Hommeril of the CFE-CGC.
Simon Duteil of the Solidaires union complained that the government's decision to force the law through was a "100% denial of democracy".
Another union leader, Laurent Berger of the CFDT, made clear that there would be further protests.
Leading Republicans figure Olivier Marleix said his party regretted that the Assembly could not have a vote on a reform that affected all of France.
Earlier, police moved in to clear a waste depot in Paris after police chief Laurent Nuñez told Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo that striking bin workers would be forced back to work under a government threat of jail or a large fine.
Since 5 March, piles of bin-bags have built up in many districts of Paris and several other cities, with some 7,600 tonnes uncollected by Thursday.
Refuse collectors currently work until they are 57, because of difficult working conditions. Under the reforms, they would have to continue until they are 59. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64967516 |
Buck Ruxton: The Jigsaw Murders case where forensics were key - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The remains of Buck Ruxton's victims were found dumped under a bridge near Moffat in the 1930s. | South Scotland | Dr Buck Ruxton was sentenced to death for his crimes
It was one of the highest profile murder cases of the 1930s and also a pioneering one in terms of how the killer was brought to justice.
The downfall of Lancashire doctor Buck Ruxton began after human remains were found under a bridge near Moffat.
A painstaking investigation saw him sentenced to death for the murder of his common-law wife and housemaid.
A new exhibition is set to open in Moffat museum highlighting the area's role in solving the notorious crime.
Janet Tildesley is a volunteer and trustee who has helped to put it all together and explained why the case - dubbed the Jigsaw Murders - still fascinated people nearly 90 years later.
After murdering the two women in September 1935 in Lancaster, Ruxton dissected the bodies and wrapped them in newspaper, old clothes and sheets and drove north.
That is where Moffat comes into the story as he found the spot north of the town he thought was remote enough for his crime to go undiscovered.
"He threw the body parts over a bridge into a ravine," Ms Tildesley said.
"The body parts were found a couple of weeks later by a visitor when she noticed them and got the police involved.
"That's when, I guess, the case really started."
Janet Tildesley has been involved in putting together the exhibition on the Buck Ruxton case
The initial job was simply to try to identify who had been killed.
"They thought, originally, that it was a man and a woman and gradually began to piece it together," said Ms Tildesley.
"What was important about the case was its use of forensics - it was one of the earliest cases to use forensics - the evidence in this case was almost wholly circumstantial.
"First of all, they had to prove who these body parts belonged to and then to, if you like, assign a murderer to the murder."
A team led by Prof John Glaister of the University of Glasgow - involving experts in a range of areas - worked on the investigation.
They used pioneering techniques to get fingerprints from one of the badly damaged bodies and also superimposed photographs onto one of the skulls they had found to help identify one victim.
Another significant piece of work was their use of entomology to establish the time of death "really conclusively" based on the life-cycle of maggots.
The exhibition in Moffat will also highlight the role of local police officer, Sgt Robert Sloan, which Ms Tildesley said had been "really underestimated".
He was first on the scene after the bodies were discovered.
The case provoked huge public interest when it went to court
"He did not seem to be overawed by what he saw and he secured and preserved the crime scene," said Ms Tildesley.
"Nowadays, of course, that's what people would do, police are trained and there's all kinds of tape that they have and body suits - but he had none of that."
His notes and map of the scene were vital as was the fact that he carefully handled the newspaper in which some of the remains were wrapped.
"They were really significant because later on in the process when these were dried out, they were able to identify which newspaper it was, which date it was, and the fact that this was a limited-circulation newspaper which was of great importance," she explained.
"This was a real first. The trial was all about forensic specialist evidence and the fact that it led to Buck Ruxton's conviction really engendered huge public and professional trust in the whole development of forensics."
Maid Mary Jane Rogerson is thought to have witnessed the first murder and been killed
Ruxton's version of events also fell apart while the evidence against him was being gathered.
His maid Mary Jane Rogerson had been reported missing, then he reported his wife missing as police north and south of the border worked together to make their case.
Ms Tildesley said he was, in layman's terms, "beginning to unravel."
"His story was changing and he was beginning to get quite distressed," she said.
Huge crowds gathered on the day of Buck Ruxton's execution
The evidence gathered in Moffat helped to convict Ruxton of the murder of Isabella Kerr, his common-law wife, and Ms Rogerson and he was sentenced to death.
"The story seems to be that she [Ms Kerr] came back very late one night and he was just incandescent with jealousy and rage, and he strangled her," said Ms Tildesley.
"The maid was there and she came upon it and he murdered her as well.
"I think it was a crime of passion and he then panicked.
"It's a macabre story, you know, ghastly in parts, hugely interesting in parts, hugely significant in terms of forensics - and terribly, terribly sad."
The exhibition opens at Moffat Museum on 1 April and runs until the end of October.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-64939242 |
Drought risk to England regions after dry February, scientists warn - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Parts of England could face drought conditions again without sustained rain in coming weeks. | Science & Environment | Water levels in rivers, reservoirs and groundwater levels were abnormally low in February
It might feel wet this week but experts are warning that parts of England need unseasonable rainfall to compensate for an abnormally dry winter.
Rivers in some of England and Wales ran their lowest on record for February, according to data from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
England had its driest February for 30 years, according to the Met Office.
Rivers and reservoirs that supply drinking water and feed crops rely on winter rain to top up before spring.
Without "unseasonably sustained rainfall" in the coming months, South West England and East Anglia are at risk of drought, the UKCEH explains.
"The wet weather and snow during the first two weeks of March has led to an increase in river flows and rewetting of the soils [but] some areas of England were starting March with below-average groundwater levels or below-average reservoir stocks," Steve Turner at UKCEH told BBC News.
Drought was declared in England and Wales last summer, leading to hosepipe bans, farmers losing crops and some wildlife dying.
Rain in February was also in short supply in Wales and Northern Ireland, with Wales seeing just 22% of its average for the month.
This had caused water levels to fall in reservoirs and in groundwater, which supply drinking water to millions. In Wales reservoir levels were at their lowest for February since 1996.
River flows were below-average across much of the UK. The Trent in the Midlands, Erch in north Wales and Warleggan in Cornwall all broke their records for lowest water levels in February.
River water levels were below average in most of Great Britain in February
Low river flows are a serious threat to wildlife as they concentrate pollution, reduce oxygen levels and can affect fish breeding patterns, explains Joan Edwards, director of policy for The Wildlife Trusts.
"Last summer's devastating droughts should be the wake-up call to protect the most precious of resources - water," she told BBC News.
Areas with low subsurface wetness could potentially have drought if dry conditions continue
Dry weather also poses serious problems for farming.
In East Anglia, just 2.4mm rain fell on Andrew Blenkiron's farm compared to the usual amount of around 50mm for February.
Low river levels meant he had little water to fill his reservoir. He has now been forced to cut back on plans to plant potatoes, onions, parsnips and carrots by around a fifth.
Andrew has had to reduce his crop by a fifth because he does not have enough water
"We dare not plant a crop that requires irrigation," he told BBC News.
His farm had barely recovered from the impacts of the intense heat last summer before the dry weather this year.
It is piling on the pressure in a year when energy prices have tripled his costs. He warns that if many farmers are forced to reduce their crops, it could affect food supplies in the autumn.
In the rest of Europe warnings are in place for dry conditions, including in France and Spain which could further affect supplies of tomatoes and salad.
Scientific analysis of the drought in Northern Europe in 2022 suggested that climate change made those dry conditions more likely.
Last month the chair of the National Drought Group, John Leyland, warned that England was just one dry spell away from drought this summer.
The chances of a dry spring are higher than normal, according to the Met Office three-month forecast.
The dry conditions in February highlighted "the need to remain vigilant" especially in areas that have not recovered from the drought last year, a spokesperson for Environment Agency told BBC News.
"We cannot rely on the weather alone, which is why the Environment Agency, water companies and our partners are taking action to ensure water resources are in the best possible position both for the summer and for future droughts," they added. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64966953 |
More than half of England's schools disrupted by strikes - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Teachers walked out for two days this week in their long-running dispute over a fully-funded pay rise. | Family & Education | Families joined teachers on a protest march in London on Wednesday
More than 50% of schools in England closed or restricted attendance because of this week's teachers' strikes, according to government data.
Teachers belonging to the National Education Union (NEU) walked out on 15 and 16 March.
On 15 March, junior doctors, civil servants, London Underground train drivers and some BBC staff also took strike action.
It was one of the biggest days of action since the wave of unrest began.
Data released by the Department for Education showed 47% of all schools in England were open but restricting attendance, and 6% were fully closed on both strike days this week.
Secondary schools were worst affected, with 79% restricting attendance and 5% fully closed on 15 March. On 16 March, 80% restricted attendance and 6% were shut.
London had the highest proportion of affected schools, with only 18% able to fully open on both strike days.
In Manchester, mum Alison Dickinson had to juggle work and childcare again this week, with daughter Liv's school closed because of the strikes.
It was Liv's fourth day of school missed since the first national teachers' strike on 1 February.
Single mum Alison was working from home on the strike days while looking after daughter Liv
Alison's dad Pete travelled down from Preston to their home in Sale and stayed overnight to help with childcare.
But Alison said eight-year-old Liv has been struggling with the disruption.
"I think I understand the bigger picture - but it's just super-frustrating," said Alison, who runs after-school singing and drama classes for children.
"Liv's year especially, they've only had one normal year of school with no disruption, which was last year, but now every couple of weeks there's a random day off and it's so disruptive."
Speaking on Wednesday, Alison added: "She'll be all over the place tomorrow - day two - and although they think it's a novelty and fun being off school, I think she'll be bored stiff tomorrow, missing her friends, missing school, because that's her world.
"They spend so much time there, so to have that routine broken - it's a lot."
Teachers' salaries fell by an average of 11% in real terms between 2010 and 2022, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Unions claim teacher pay has fallen by as much as 23% in that time.
In England, most teachers had a 5% rise last year.
Unions argue these are pay cuts because of inflation, but the government says it has already agreed to an extra £2bn in school funding in England.
The NEU is calling for a fully-funded pay rise, so that any rise does not have to be paid out of schools' existing budgets.
In Wales, strike action was called off this week while the NEU consults with members on a recent offer.
In Scotland, strikes have also been suspended after the Educational Institute of Scotland and the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association accepted a new pay deal. The NASUWT is still consulting its members. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-64983812 |
Budget summary: Key points from Jeremy Hunt’s 2023 Budget - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is announcing new economic measures - here's what you need to know. | UK Politics | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has unveiled the contents of his first Budget in the House of Commons.
It had a focus on prompting those who have left their jobs to return to the workforce, and boosting business investment.
Here is a summary of the main announcements.
• None Free childcare plan: 'Why do we have to wait?' | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64789405 |
John Lewis axes staff bonus and plans to cut jobs - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The department store operator and Waitrose owner reports losses in "a very tough year". | Business | John Lewis has axed its staff bonus for a second time and signalled job cuts are in the pipeline, after what it described as a "very tough year".
The department store firm, which also owns Waitrose supermarkets, reported a £234m pre-tax loss.
Partnership chair Dame Sharon White said the stores had attracted more customers, but they had spent less.
She said the losses meant bonuses could not be issued this year for the second time since it began the scheme in 1953.
Dame Sharon suggested the firm may have to reduce staff numbers, or "partners" as they are known at the company.
"As we need to become more efficient and productive, that will have an impact on our number of partners," she said.
When questioned about specific plans around job losses Dame Sharon said: "There are no numbers."
But the firm said it faced a "more challenging environment" and was tripling its target to make savings from £300m to £900m by January 2026.
It said savings would be made through the sale of assets, such as its Berkshire golf club, and by improving productivity.
Meanwhile, the plan to move into the residential property market was "working really well" Dame Sharon said.
John Lewis said its long-term aim was for almost half (40%) of profits to come from outside of shops by 2030.
But Dame Sharon said soaring prices last year had "hit us like a hurricane" and that customers had "felt the pain".
Despite Waitrose reporting more shoppers in the year to the end of January, customers spent less. It said the size of the average basket fell by 15% and people were buying cheaper items.
Consequently, full-year sales at Waitrose fell by 3% to £7.31bn.
"The big online growth of the pandemic years was partly reversed," said Dame Sharon, adding: "Shoppers shifted some of their grocery spending to the discounters."
The cost of living crisis has hit John Lewis hard, with worse-than-expected results. Customer numbers may be up but they are buying less, especially at Waitrose, which revealed a drop in volumes of 10% for the year.
The group is also grappling with its own spiralling costs, up by nearly £180m in a year, including higher energy bills and pay. It has already made £300m of savings as part of its existing plans to turnaround the business. Now the firm's chair Dame Sharon White says she wants to save another £600m by 2026. That will likely mean job losses as the business tries to become more efficient.
She has appointed the Partnership's first ever chief executive to supercharge the transformation and get profits back on track. That's not an easy job right now in the current economic environment.
Retail analyst Catherine Shuttleworth said shoppers were "cherry picking what they buy at Waitrose".
The decline in Waitrose sales was significant Ms Shuttleworth said: "Volumes are the life-blood of supermarket businesses - the more you sell, the better the prices you can offer to shoppers.
"One glimmer of hope is that shoppers are back in department stores with sales up 20% - the strategy to invest more in a reduced store network is clearly working especially at seasonal peaks particularly Christmas."
The figures come following recent upheavals within senior management after Pippa Wicks departed as executive director of the department store business.
Nish Kankiwala was appointed on Wednesday as John Lewis' first ever chief executive and will oversee the daily running of the entire business.
It is the third year of pre-tax losses for John Lewis. Last year, it reported a £27m loss, far below this most recent result. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64945767 |
Cocaine production reaches record levels as new trafficking hubs emerge - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | After Covid lockdowns hit both demand and supply, production is at record levels, the UN says. | World | Doctors have warned cocaine is often mixed with other harmful substances
Global cocaine production has reached record levels as demand rebounds following Covid lockdowns, a new report has found.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime said coca cultivation rose by 35% between 2020 and 2021 to record levels.
Findings suggest new hubs for trafficking have emerged in West and Central Africa.
The report also said traffickers were using international postal services more often to get drugs to consumers.
"Globally, the use of parcel and courier services increased significantly during the Covid-related lockdown due to restrictions on passenger flights," the Global Report on Cocaine report said.
It noted a rise in West African countries in the use of "well established, globally operating postal services as well as smaller shopping companies" used to smuggle quantities of cocaine to Europe and beyond.
Overall, the the report found Europe and North America are the largest markets for cocaine, followed by South and Central America and the Caribbean.
While the report said the markets in Africa and Asia were "still limited", the UN's Ghada Waly said the potential for the market to expand there was a dangerous reality.
Production increase was the result of an expansion in the cultivation of coca bush, as well as improvements in converting coca into powdered cocaine, the report found.
It added the outbreak of Covid-19 had a "disruptive" effect on drug markets as international travel was severely curtailed.
Demand for cocaine slumped as nightclubs and bars were shut during the pandemic lockdowns.
"However, the most recent data suggests this slump has had little impact on longer-term trends," the report says. "The global supply of cocaine is at record levels."
In the UK, the report says there has been a "significant increase" in seizures of cocaine in the "fast parcel and postal modes".
Interceptions by law enforcement have also been on the rise - at a higher speed than production, the report outlines.
Reacting to the report, UN's chief of research and trend Angela Me said the supply of cocaine has risen in South America as criminal groups have taken control of areas previously run by Colombia's largest rebel group - Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).
She said this has led to competition among groups - including some foreign groups - which has increased the production.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Nick Beake investigates how Antwerp became the cocaine gateway to Europe | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-64974346 |
ChatGPT-style tech brought to Microsoft 365 - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The tech giant reveals how AI will be embedded into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. | Technology | The technology behind the world's most talked about artificial intelligence (AI) system, ChatGPT, is being added to its most ubiquitous work software, Microsoft 365.
Microsoft is calling the system Copilot and says it will be embedded into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
Microsoft boss Satya Nadella said it would "fundamentally change the way we work."
However, the firm admitted Copilot would sometimes make mistakes.
Chat GPT has captured the world's attention with its ability to quickly provide human-like responses to questions, even very complicated or abstract ones.
However, those replies are sometimes inaccurate or provide completely invented information.
While the tech being deployed by Microsoft in Office365 is not simply ChatGPT itself, it is based on the same language-learning model.
The firm acknowledged that Copilot may also sometimes be "usefully wrong".
"We all want to focus on the 20% of our work that really matters, but 80% of our time is consumed with busy work that bogs us down. Copilot lightens the load," the tech giant said in a statement.
It has not yet revealed roll-out details.
On Tuesday, OpenAI launched GPT4, un updated version of the model which powers ChatGPT. Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in the firm.
OpenAI said GPT4 had "more advanced reasoning skills" than ChatGPT - but warned that it may still be prone to sharing disinformation.
ChatGPT is a big runner in the worldwide AI chatbot race.
Google - whose lucrative search business could be threatened by ChatGPT - has launched a rival called Bard.
Meta has its own chatbot, named Blenderbot, and in China, the tech giant Baidu has released a more advanced version of its chatbot Ernie, also known as Wenxin Yiyan.
Make no mistake, this is a significant milestone for generational AI and, more importantly, for the world of work.
Bringing the powers behind ChatGPT to the humble Word, Excel and PowerPoint programmes, quite possibly the most used work programmes in most offices, plonks it directly in the daily lives of millions of workers.
I know people have been using ChatGPT to help them do their jobs - to write computer code, speeches, website copy. Students are using it to help them with their homework.
But most of us have been having fun, getting it to write poems, songs, jokes. I asked an audience at a live event recently who had tried ChatGPT. Most hands shot up. But most went back down immediately when I asked who was using it professionally.
Putting Copilot into Office365 is a real game-changer. Imagine instead of summarising that long dull report for your client meeting, you just get a chatbot to do it for you in a few seconds. But why stop there - do you even need to be at the meeting at all? Just get Copilot to recap it for you and send you the notes of it afterwards.
Watching a demo of it creating a stylish PowerPoint presentation in moments was really quite heartwarming for anyone familiar with the phrase "death by PowerPoint".
Microsoft would argue that this frees up your time to do other jobs. But what if Copilot has one day beaten you to those things as well? | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-64970062 |
Leila Borrington: Woman jailed for killing three-year-old stepson - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Harvey Borrington was non-verbally autistic and therefore could not tell of Leila Borrington's abuse. | Nottingham | Harvey Borrington died from head injuries, including a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain
A woman who killed her disabled three-year-old stepson and filmed him as he lay dying has been given a 15-year prison sentence.
Harvey Borrington died from head injuries including a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain.
Nottingham Crown Court heard Harvey was non-verbally autistic and could not tell his mother he was being abused.
His stepmother Leila Borrington was convicted of his manslaughter following a trial but acquitted of murder.
The prosecution said the 23-year-old struck Harvey several times to the head at her home in Nottinghamshire in August 2021.
She then filmed him lying unconscious on the floor and sent the video to Harvey's father, with a text saying: "Why does this happen to me?"
She did so before she called 999 for an ambulance, and then lied to paramedics when they arrived, claiming Harvey had fallen and hit his head.
Harvey's biological mother, Katie Holroyd, cried as she told the court: "To this day I can't bear to think of him lying on that floor with him dying and her filming him, delaying getting medical help for him."
The video, shot on Borrington's phone, showed her taking Harvey's left arm, lifting it up and letting it drop loosely to the floor.
She then continued to film as he lay not moving on the living room floor.
Leila Borrington was convicted of manslaughter by a jury
Borrington assaulted Harvey at her home in Main Road, Jacksdale, which she shared with Harvey's father.
She inflicted the fatal injuries on 7 August 2021 and he died in hospital two days later.
The court heard Harvey was killed following a history of abuse by Borrington.
Jonas Hankin KC, prosecuting, said Harvey's age and disability made him vulnerable, which were aggravating features.
"He was severely non-verbally autistic," Mr Hankin said.
"His challenging behaviour demanded greater empathy and kindness from his carers. It cannot justify the defendant's offending in any way."
Borrington told the trial she had never harmed Harvey, maintaining he had fallen off a sofa and banged his head.
However, an expert witness called by the prosecution said she believed Harvey had died as a result of "direct blunt force trauma", sustained after Borrington assaulted the youngster.
Sentencing Borrington, Mr Justice Nicklin told her: "Precisely what happened to Harvey only you know, but by their verdict the jury were sure that your account of Harvey having fallen, hitting his head on the floor, was not the truth or at least not the full truth.
"The jury's verdict shows they were sure you had assaulted Harvey, causing the very serious head injuries that led to his death."
Borrington was also convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm for previously breaking Harvey's arm, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm for an incident in which she squeezed his cheeks.
She was given a two-year prison sentence and a six-month term for these offences, to be served concurrently with her manslaughter sentence.
The judge also said she would serve two-thirds of the 15-year sentence in prison before being released on licence.
Harvey's mother described him as "my world" and a "treasured grandson" to her parents.
"To have it confirmed that Harvey before his death had been assaulted by Leila Borrington will be a life-long trauma for me, a recurring nightmare which I will never be able to wake from," she told the court.
She cried as she explained that her son's disability meant he could not tell her about the abuse being inflicted by his stepmother.
"He couldn't tell me he didn't want to go [to stay with Borrington]," she said.
An NSPCC spokesperson said the case "highlighted the vulnerability of young children and those with disabilities, who are entirely dependent on those who care for them and are at increased risk of abuse".
Dona Parry-Jones, a senior crown prosecutor at CPS East Midlands, said Harvey had "died at the hands of someone who should have been there to care for him and nurture him".
Det Insp Simon Harrison, of Nottinghamshire Police, said the case had been "disturbing and upsetting" to work on.
"The death of any child is a tragedy, but there is something especially awful about cases of this nature," he said.
"As a police officer I am pleased that justice has now been done, but I am aware that no custodial sentence can adequately reflect the pain and anguish felt by Harvey's family.
"My thoughts, and the thoughts of my colleagues, remain with them today."
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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-64975538 |
France pension bill: Macron forces through pension reform without vote - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Minutes before a vote, the French government pushes through controversial plans to raise the pension age from 62 to 64. | Europe | The Place de la Concorde is sealed off by police. Protesters – a couple of thousand – are massed by the bridge across to the National Assembly, and they have lit a couple of fires. Noisy but pretty good-humoured.
It is Macron’s resort to the 49:3 that has been the trigger.
It may sound pretty abstruse but the procedure is very much part of the political vocabulary in France. Whenever a government invokes the 49:3, it can be sure it will be accused straightaway of riding roughshod over the will of the people.
In fact the 49:3 has been used precisely 100 times in the more than 60 years of the Fifth Republic, and by governments of all shades.
Obviously it tends to be used more frequently by governments that do not have an in-built majority in the Assembly – like the socialist Michel Rocard’s in the 1980s and Élisabeth Borne’s today.
She’s in fact already used it several times but those occasions were for public finance bills, which were less controversial.
The big lesson to draw from all of this is once again, I am afraid, the unreformability of France. By comparison with other countries in Europe, the change to the pension age is far from dramatic. But the bill is regularly described by opponents as “brutal”, “inhuman” and “degrading”.
Morale in France is low and getting lower. For many, retirement is the one bright spot in the future. And now this rich-man’s government is taking even that away. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-64981283 |
Cheltenham stabbing: Man charged with attempted murder after woman attacked - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A woman was attacked outside a leisure centre in Tommy Taylors Lane, Cheltenham, last week. | Gloucestershire | The woman was stabbed outside the leisure centre in Tommy Taylors Lane, Cheltenham, on Thursday night
A man has been charged with attempted murder over the stabbing of a woman outside a leisure centre in Cheltenham, the Crown Prosecution Service has said.
Joshua Bowles, 29, will also be charged with causing actual bodily harm over the incident which happened near a leisure centre in Tommy Taylors Lane at around 21:15 GMT last Thursday.
He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday.
The woman who was attacked sustained serious injuries and was taken to hospital where she remains in a stable condition.
The investigation into the incident was led by detectives from Counter Terrorism Policing South East.
Det Ch Supt Olly Wright said police believe it was an isolated incident, saying: "We would encourage people not to speculate on the specific circumstances surrounding this incident." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-64970866 |
SNP candidates predict independence in five years - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Ash Regan, Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes were speaking as they faced each other in a BBC Scotland TV debate. | Scotland politics | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan believe it is possible to achieve independence for Scotland within five years
All three SNP leadership candidates have predicted that Scotland can be an independent country within five years if they win the contest.
Ash Regan, Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes were speaking as they faced each other in a BBC Scotland TV debate.
Mr Yousaf said he believed the country "can and will be" independent by 2028 in response to a question from an audience member.
Ms Regan and Ms Forbes both said they believed the same.
The leadership contest was sparked by Nicola Sturgeon's surprise announcement that she was quitting as both SNP leader and Scotland's first minister after eight years in the roles.
Recent polls have put support for independence at broadly the same level as it was when Ms Sturgeon succeeded Alex Salmond after the referendum in 2014, which saw Scottish voters reject independence by 55% to 45%.
That is despite the turbulence in UK politics in recent years that saw the country leave the EU despite Scotland voting overwhelmingly in favour of remaining and Boris Johnson's often chaotic time as prime minister.
The Supreme Court has also ruled that the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to hold a referendum without the agreement of the UK government - which has repeatedly made clear that it has no intention of granting formal consent through a Section 30 order.
Mr Yousaf, the health secretary who is the bookies favourite to win the contest and is widely viewed as being Ms Sturgeon's preferred candidate, told the Debate Night Special that he believed he could build sustained majority support for independence that would see those political obstacles disappear.
He added: "I would want to be the one who delivers independence, but to do that you've got to stop talking about process and talk about policy.
"We have got to inspire people with a vision for independence. We have to make sure that we're not obsessing about Section 30s and de facto referendums because people just don't get inspired by that."
Who are the SNP candidates?
Ms Forbes, the finance secretary who is currently seen as being Mr Yousaf's closest challenger for the leadership, said she believed the dial could be shifted in favour of independence by building a case on the issues that people were concerned about.
Using the example of the cost of living crisis, she said: "People can't afford next month's energy bill in a country that is rich in energy in terms of oil and gas and in terms of our renewables. It doesn't stack up because the decisions are being made far, far away from those that are most affected.
"I think we should be using all democratic opportunities to campaign for and make the case for independence but in a way that is respectful of the reasons why people may not be persuaded".
Meanwhile, Ms Regan outlined her plans for what she calls a Voter Empowerment Mechanism that "just uses the ballot box to allow the people of Scotland to say when they are ready to be independent".
She added: "You can use each and every election. So you could start with the next election and then the Scottish election after that. And it's there in the background and then the people of Scotland decide when they're ready to become independent."
Ms Regan quit as the country's community safety minister over the government's controversial gender recognition plans, and is seen as being the outsider in the contest.
She clashed with Mr Yousaf - who is the only one of the three to say he would launch a legal challenge to the UK government's block on legislation - over the case of trans rapist Isla Bryson, who was initially sent to a women's prison.
When asked by Ms Regan why he had not listened to concerns about cases such as Bryson's ahead of the reforms being passed, and whether he regarded Bryson as a man or as woman, Mr Yousaf said: "Isla Bryson should not be in a woman's prison.
"Isla Bryson is a rapist who's completely at it, I don't think they're a genuine trans woman, I think they're trying to play the system."
The three candidates are seeking to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader and Scotland's first minister
The candidates also faced questions on topics including NHS waiting lists - with one audience member saying her husband has chronic health problems and is facing a six-year waiting list - as well as the state of Scotland's education system and the government's controversial Deposit Return Scheme.
Ms Regan and Ms Forbes have both said they would pause the scheme, which has faced criticism over its implementation, while Mr Yousaf has pledged to create an exemption for small businesses such as craft brewers.
Ms Regan said: "We can't be putting too many burdens on small businesses. We need to look again at this, we need to involve small business, to come and talk to us about where it needs changed, get it right and then implement it."
Ms Forbes also said small businesses needed a "bit of breathing space".
Mr Yousaf said he would not "slag off" Lorna Slater, the Scottish Green minister responsible for bringing in the initiative which is designed to boost the recycling of single-use drinks containers by adding 20p to the price which is then refunded when the consumer returns it.
He said small firms should be excluded from it for its first year but added: "I can't see any point in pausing the scheme when the big boys, the Coca Colas, the Pepsis of this world, they are already taking part in about 40 DRS schemes across the world. We can't let them off the hook".
There was less trashing of one another in this debate and some consensus between the candidates on what the SNP in government has got wrong.
None of them are happy with the current plans for a deposit return scheme and all three promised to change it in the face of strong criticism from some businesses.
Kate Forbes objected to the proposed ban on alcohol advertising and described long waits in the NHS as "unacceptable".
Humza Yousaf - the current health secretary - found himself apologising for one patient's experience and offered a "hands up" over failures to deliver new ferries on time and on budget.
Ash Regan, who resigned from the Scottish government over gender reform, also called for a review of the SNP's power sharing deal with the Greens.
The trouble with all this criticism is that all three candidates have served for years in the Scottish government and although Ash Regan has now quit and Kate Forbes has been on maternity leave, they all bear some collective responsibility for its performance.
For me, one of the stand out moments in this debate was when an audience member called them out on that, arguing that it was "ridiculous" that they had not done more before now to challenge mistakes.
Voting in the SNP leadership election, which is using the single transferable vote system, opened on Monday with the winner to be announced on 27 March.
The SNP has refused to confirm exactly how many party members will be able to take part in the vote, with its Westminster leader Stephen Flynn telling BBC Scotland earlier on Tuesday that he had "no idea" and that "I think the last time I heard it was about 100,000."
The SNP said its membership had reached 125,000 by 2019, but the Electoral Commission put the figure at 104,000 two years later.
The Mail on Sunday has reported that Southampton-based polling firm Mi-Voice, which is overseeing the leadership vote, has been given the names of just 78,000 members by the SNP.
If this is correct, it would suggest that the party may have lost nearly 50,000 members over the past four years. The newspaper also reported that Mi-Voice expected about 54,000 members to actually submit a vote.
Polling expert Prof Sir John Curtice has said Mr Yousaf currently appears to be the most popular of the three candidates among the SNP members who will be picking the new leader, with Ms Forbes second and Ms Regan third.
But Ms Forbes seems to be more popular than her rivals with both SNP voters and the public as a whole, Sir John said.
He added that it "looks as though there is plenty to play for" and that "maybe everything could turn on the unknown second preferences of Ms Regan's supporters".
Whoever wins the SNP leadership contest will face a Scottish Parliament vote on 28 March to confirm them as the new first minister, before being sworn into office the following day. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-64956321 |
Bakhmut: Russian casualties mount but tactics evolve - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The BBC has been given access to positions held by Ukrainian army brigades defending Bakhmut's southern flank. | Europe | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: The battle for Bakhmut, a city in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, rages on
Ukraine has drawn a line in the dirt, and that line is Bakhmut. It is a city that few say matters strategically, but that tens of thousands have died fighting over. It began more than seven months ago, and is the longest battle of the war so far.
Two Ukrainian army brigades defending the city's southern flank gave the BBC access to their positions last week as fierce fighting continued in and around Bakhmut. The men have spent months facing both regular Russian army forces, and prisoners recruited by the Wagner private military group who have swarmed their trenches in droves. Troops say Russian casualties far outweigh theirs, but the enemy is deploying new techniques to try to seize the city and surrounding countryside.
Ukraine's forces are outgunned and outnumbered, but on a chalk hillside to the south, there is the anti-tank group from the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade. 3Storm - as they are known - are unyielding. They've dug trenches deep into the earth. Timber props supporting the roof shudder as Russian artillery lands in the near distance, and field mice scurry along duck boards. An antiquated field telephone sits in a wooden nook; these are conditions their grandfathers would recognise.
"They cannot get to us, we can see for a kilometre in all directions," says a bearded 26-year-old soldier who goes by the call sign "Dwarf", pointing out Russian positions. "We can hit the enemy with everything we have," he says.
The 26-year-old goes by the call sign "Dwarf" as he's a big Lord of the Rings fan - although the name on the body armour actually translates as "Gnome"
Neither the Russian nor Ukrainian armies release official casualty figures for Bakhmut, or elsewhere, but the mostly abandoned city has become a slaughter house.
In a week fighting for the city, Dwarf's company faced conscripted prisoners from Russia's Wagner group. "We had battles every two hours," he says. "I guess a single company eliminated 50 people per day." In case of any doubt, he points out these numbers were confirmed by aerial reconnaissance. "The [Russian vehicle] arrives, 50 bodies come out, a day passes, 50 bodies come out again," he says. His company lost a fraction of that number, he says.
Officially, Ukraine estimates that for every one of its soldiers killed, Russia loses seven. Earlier this week, Russia said it had killed more than 220 Ukrainian service members in a 24-hour period in the battle for Bakhmut. None of these numbers can be independently verified.
In a newspaper interview, two captured Wagner conscripts told the Wall Street Journal that before they are sent forward, they receive little training beyond learning to crawl through forests in the dark. After six months serving at the front they are freed - assuming they survive.
Conditions all along the 600-mile-long eastern front have begun to change. 3Storm's chalky hilltop hideout feels like dry land compared with the surrounding territory. An early spring has turned the hard ground of winter to mud porridge - which may favour the defenders. To get there, we had to follow the Ukrainian soldiers on foot - within a few paces my boots become lumpen and heavy with thick dirt. A battlefield ambulance speeds by unsteadily, its caterpillar tracks ploughing up the ground, and spraying pools of sludge as it struggles for grip.
The villages around here - the location can't be revealed - are in ruin. Handwritten signs on gates, mostly in Russian, announce "People Live Here", a plea as much as it is a statement. But the streets are entirely empty, apart from abandoned dogs who roam the ruins of destroyed farms and homes.
For the past two months, Russian forces have steadily advanced, trying to encircle Bakhmut. The commander of Ukrainian ground forces, General Oleksandr Syrsky, says his forces will continue to resist. "Every day of steadfast resistance wins us valuable time to reduce the enemy's offensive capabilities," he says, sending more reinforcements to the area. But it isn't only Russians who have fallen into the Bakhmut trap. Ukrainians are dying there, too, in ever increasing numbers.
On the hillside, a group of soldiers have gathered around a gun position, and I ask Dwarf - given that Ukraine is losing soldiers to untrained Russian convicts - if the defence of dead city, surrounded by the enemy, makes sense.
He says, "I was wondering, myself, if we should keep defending Bakhmut. On the one hand what's happening here now is awful. There are no words to describe it. But the alternative is we give up Bakhmut and move to another settlement. What's the difference between defending Bakhmut or any other village?"
His comrade, a strongly built man with a full dark beard who goes by the call sign Holm, agrees. "It's not a strategic question for us here. We are ordinary soldiers. But this is our land. We may then retreat to Chasiv Yar, from Chasiv Yar to Slovyansk, and so we retreat up to Kyiv. Let it take a year or two, four, five - but we have to fight for every piece of our land."
The men have been fighting for more than a year now, and they say the Russians are evolving.
"They are learning, they are getting cleverer, and it really freaks me out," says Dwarf. "They send out a group - five morons taken from prison. They are shot, but the enemy sees where you are, walks around, and you are surrounded from behind."
Holm chimes in that Russia is now using drones armed with grenades more effectively. "We used to drop them and freak them out," he says. "Now they're dropping drone grenades on our positions."
Before the war, Dwarf was an outdoor youth worker and would take youngsters hiking in the Carpathian Mountains on the country's western edge. Here on Ukraine's eastern front, that is a far-off memory. He's been in many battles since then, but the horror of Bakhmut is what lives with him now.
When I ask about Wagner's convict army, he pauses to think and says, "I'll be honest. It's genius. Cruel, immoral, but effective tactics. It worked out. And it's still working in Bakhmut."
Soviet-era UAZ jeep makes it way through the mud
Days later, I'm back in the same area, crammed with four others into a Soviet-era UAZ jeep. Its steering wheel has the BMW logo - a joke says the driver, Oleg. He says little else as he grips the wheel and concentrates hard as the car whines and struggles over hills and through the shoals of muck. The automatic gunfire ahead signals we are nearing the 28th Mechanised Brigade, who are directly facing the Russians.
The landscape of war shifts in an instant - the men are holed up in a small wood, its trees shattered and split by Russian fire. In a month, the wood will offer them cover. For now, its bare branches expose them to surveillance drones. Nearby there's an exchange of gunfire, and Russian shells strike around 500m away. But Borys, a 48-year-old former architect who is serving now as a captain, seems untroubled.
"Today's war is a drone war," he says, "but we can walk around freely, because there's wind and rain today and drones are blown away. If it was quiet today, both our drones and our enemy's would be hovering over us."
On the way back, Oleg brings the jeep to a sudden halt. Lying in the dirt in front of us is a drone that has been blown off course. Its battery is quickly removed and it is brought inside - it turns out to be Ukrainian.
But today's war isn't so very different from the past.
Two nights before, the 28th Brigade was attacked by Russian infantry and tanks. In a timbered gun position below ground, the cold rain drips through the roof onto the dirt floor, and there, peering out into the bare landscape, is a Maxim belt-fed machine gun with stout iron wheels.
"It only works when there is a massive attack going on…then it really works," says Borys. "So we use it every week".
And this is how the battle for Bakhmut is being fought, as winter turns to spring in 21st Century Europe. A 19th Century weapon still mows down men by the score in the black Ukrainian earth. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64955537 |
St Patrick's Day: Thousands expected at Northern Ireland festivals - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Details of the main parades, performances and family activities planned for this year's 17 March. | Northern Ireland | Organisers of the Belfast parade will be hoping for better weather than marchers experienced last year
Towns and cities across Northern Ireland, and many other parts of the world, will host parades and other festivities on Friday to celebrate St Patrick's Day.
BBC News NI lists some of the biggest events on offer this year.
The city is hosting a 10-day festival (10-19 March) filled with concerts, traditional music sessions, dances, workshops and tours, as well as the annual parade through the city.
Custom House Square is hosting a St Patrick's Eve concert from 17:00 GMT on Thursday, headlined by Dublin singer-songwriter Lisa Hannigan.
Tickets were free and Belfast City Council has advised that all places have been allocated.
For the fittest festival-goers, St Patrick's Day itself kicks off with a 6.2 mile (10km) race from Belfast City Hall to Ormeau Park, starting at 09:00 GMT.
The main parade begins at City Hall at 13:30 GMT and will travel in a loop along Chichester Street, Victoria Street, High Street, Castle Place and Donegall Place, before returning to its starting point.
The theme for this year's event is voices of Belfast and is billed to "celebrate Belfast's music heritage from pop to punk and traditional to disco".
The parade is staged by the arts organisation Beat Carnival, which is also intending to use the event to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
It has invited people who were born around the time of the 1998 deal - those aged 24, 25 and 26 - to walk with them in the parade and share their visions and hopes for the future of the city.
Belfast City Council is also using its building at 2 Royal Avenue (the former Tesco store) to stage various events including St Patrick's Tales of Our City.
This is a sound installation through which Belfast residents share their personal stories of living in the city in the past and present, with new participants welcome to contribute tales.
The venue will also host a sold-out Celtic Storm concert on Saturday, featuring musicians and a former Riverdance lead dancer.
See the full list of Belfast events.
Derry City and Strabane Council said it expects "tens of thousands" of people to throng Derry's streets on Friday for its St Patrick's Day celebrations.
Traditional Irish musicians will take to the stage at Guildhall Square from 13:00 GMT while, at the nearby Peace Garden, children will be entertained by a drama performance of A Tale of Fairies.
The parade begins at Bishop Street at 15:00 GMT and travels to the Diamond, Shipquay Street and along Queen's Quay before ending at Strand Road car park.
The theme is recycle and renewal and the cavalcade will be staged by North West Carnival Initiative.
The mayor will also host a 24-hour charity buskathon in aid of homelessness, beginning at 18:00 GMT on the steps of the Guildhall.
See the full list of Derry events.
Children from Saval Gaelic Athletic Association club took part in Newry's 2022 parade
There will be live music and street entertainers in Hill Street from 12 noon on St Patrick's Day and free craft workshops for children in Bagenal's Castle until 16:00 GMT, although pre-booking is advised.
The parade, compered by broadcaster Julian Simmons, begins at the Albert Basin at 13:00 GMT and proceeds along Buttercrane Quay, Merchants Quay, Sugar Island to Kildare Street beside the city hall.
McClelland Park, off Edward Street, will be transformed into Newry's Family Festival Village for the day and will host family activities for a range of age groups.
See the full list of Newry events.
St Patrick is reportedly buried on the Hill of Down and is commemorated at Down Cathedral
The purported resting place of St Patrick goes all out every year to honour Ireland's patron saint and this year is no different.
The celebrations begin at noon in the aptly named St Patrick's Square, with live music and free children's activities including face painting, balloon modelling and arts and crafts.
The parade begins at Ardglass Road at 13:30 GMT and the route takes in Edward Street, John Street, Irish Street and Market Street before finishing up at Rathkeltair car park.
Down County Museum and Down Arts Centre is also hosting St Patrick's Day-themed events from 11:00 GMT, including free arts and crafts workshops, live music and dance.
See the full list of Downpatrick events.
Fermanagh's wakeboarding leprechauns will return to Enniskillen to entertain St Patrick's Day revellers
Bouncy castles, balloon modelling and face-painting are among the free children's activities on offer at Broadmeadow in Enniskillen from 13:30 to 15:30 GMT.
The County Fermanagh island town is also staging plenty of water-based entertainment in Lough Erne, including the return of its popular wakeboarding leprechauns.
Highland and Irish dancers will take to the stage on the Diamond from 13:30, followed by live music.
The main parade begins at the Lakeland Forum at 15:30 GMT.
The theme of this year's parade is back to the future and will feature both vintage and futuristic vehicles as well as a guest appearance by "T-rex the interactive dinosaur".
See the full list of Enniskillen events.
Thursday's vigil will start at Armagh's Protestant cathedral and end at the city's Catholic cathedral (above)
For those looking for a more spiritual offering, Armagh prides itself as the place where Patrick began his Christian mission, and the cathedral city is starting its commemorations early.
On the eve of St Patrick's Day, the leaders of the Catholic Church in Ireland and the Church of Ireland will lead a torchlit vigil walk between their two cathedrals.
The event aims to be a "symbolic reflection of St Patrick's own journey to unite through Christianity" and begins at 21:00 GMT at the Church of Ireland Cathedral.
A free concert featuring Celtic trad rock band More Power to Your Elbow and flautist Rioghnach Connolly takes place in the Shambles Yard from 17:30 GMT on Thursday.
Armagh's community parade begins at 14:30 GMT on Friday at the Christian Brothers' School.
It will travel towards Cathedral Road, past the Shambles Market and finish at the Cathedral Road Recreation Centre.
See the full list of Armagh events.
Hikers make an annual pilgrimage to Slemish mountain every St Patrick's Day
Thousands of pilgrims climb the County Antrim peak every 17 March in honour of St Patrick, who is believed to have worked as a shepherd on Slemish as an enslaved teenager.
The hike to the summit and back is just short of one mile (1.5km) in total and takes approximately one hour in good weather, according to Mid and East Antrim Council.
It has organised live music and children's activities at the site, but advises suitable footwear and waterproof clothing for anyone attempting the climb.
Revellers packed the streets of central Dublin on St Patrick' Day 2022
Meanwhile in the Republic of Ireland, organisers expect half a million people to line the streets of the Irish capital for a parade which begins at Parnell Square at noon on Friday.
Marchers will proceed along O'Connell Street, over O'Connell Bridge, past Trinity College, up Dame Street, past Christ Church and St Patrick's Cathedral, finishing at Kevin Street.
The guest of honour will be Irish-American actor Patrick Duffy, who played Bobby Ewing in Dallas.
The parade will be led by the Republic of Ireland women's national football team.
See the full list of Dublin events. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-64940696 |
North Korea fires long range missile ahead of Japan-South Korea talks - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The ICBM marks Pyongyang's fourth round of launches in a week as South Korea and Japan leaders meet. | Asia | People in Seoul watching news reports of the long-range missile's launch on Thursday morning
North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) just hours before the leaders of South Korea and Japan were due to meet for landmark talks.
Both Japanese and South Korean officials confirmed the long-range missile's launch on Thursday morning.
It flew about 1,000km (620 miles) landing in waters west of Japan.
It is Pyongyang's fourth missile launch in a week and comes as the US and South Korea hold joint navy drills.
The other missiles launched - last Thursday, on Saturday and on Monday - had been short-range ballistic missiles.
North Korea's ramped-up missile activity will most likely be top of the agenda when South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol meets Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo later on Thursday - the first such visit in 12 years.
Since Monday, the US and South Korea have been carrying out drills around the Korean peninsula- the allies' largest in five years. North Korea has repeatedly said it sees such exercises as provocation.
Thursday's missile was fired at 07:10 (22:10 GMT) from Pyongyang on the east coast of North Korea, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
Japan's defence ministry confirmed it as an ICBM type and said it flew higher than 6,000km for about 70 minutes. It landed at about 08:20 outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone, the ministry said.
Japan officials have not reported any damage from the missile.
Following Thursday's launch, Mr Yoon ordered his country's military to continue with the joint US exercises as planned.
Pyongyang would pay for its "reckless provocations", he said.
North Korea last fired an ICBM less than a month ago - an action that sparked a UN emergency meeting and condemnation from G7 countries.
ICBMs are particularly worrying because of their long range. Experts have said that such missiles launched from North Korea could potentially reach mainland United States.
Pyongyang is also believed to have developed ICBMs that can carry multiple warheads.
The escalation in North Korean aggression over the past year is one of the central topics to be discussed at the Tokyo meeting on Thursday.
Many hope the meeting - which has been hailed as a "milestone" in the rapprochement of South Korea and Japan - will result in closer security ties and military cooperation between the two countries.
Both countries said they would convene their national security councils following Thursday's missile launch.
In 2022, North Korea launched more than 90 missiles - the most it has ever fired in a single year to date - despite being subject to a raft of sanctions from the UN, the US, the EU and its neighbouring countries.
North Korea has become more assertive in its nuclear strategy under Kim Jong-un, who has overseen much of its recent development of its weapons programme, and four of the six nuclear tests so far. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-64972944 |
NHS 5% pay offer may end bitter dispute in England - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Unions urge nurses, ambulance staff and other members to back deal including a one-off payment. | Health | A 5% pay rise from April has been offered to NHS staff in England, including nurses and ambulance workers.
In addition, staff have been offered a one-off payment of at least £1,655 to top up the past year's pay award.
Unions are recommending members back the deal, after nearly two weeks of talks with ministers, raising hopes the bitter dispute may be coming to an end.
The offer covers all NHS staff except doctors, who are on a different contract.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said it was a "fair pay rise" that would also protect the government's commitment to halve inflation.
"I hugely admire the incredible work of NHS staff," he said. "I look forward to continuing our work together to make the NHS a better place to work."
Mr Barclay said there had been movement on both sides and praised the "constructive engagement" of the unions.
Fourteen unions were represented at the talks, covering:
The biggest three - the Royal College of Nursing, Unison and the GMB - are all backing the deal, while Unite the Union has said it cannot recommend it to members but will put it to a vote.
Unison head of health Sara Gorton said: "It's a shame it took so long to get here.
"Health workers had to take many days of strike action and thousands more had to threaten to join them to get their unions into the room and proper talks under way."
If her members accepted the deal, it would mean a "significant" boost in pay, Ms Gorton added.
RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said: "Members took the hardest of decisions to go on strike and I believe they have been vindicated today."
But Unite told BBC News that it is not advising its members on how to vote on the pay offer because "it falls short of what we were asking for".
Speaking to BBC News, Unite official Onay Kasab said members "wanted a consolidated payment... they did not want one-off non-consolidated sums".
The offer, he claims, is "not really going to help recruitment in the NHS" because "only current staff members will get it".
It comes after a winter of industrial action, with nurses, ambulance staff and physios all striking.
The unions put further action on hold, after the two sides agreed to discussions last month.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was "delighted" with the agreement over pay during a visit to a hospital in London on Thursday afternoon.
Despite weeks of criticism from opposition parties and unions about the government's "dither and delay" leading to more strikes, Mr Sunak said: "We have taken a reasonable approach throughout."
He also called the pay "affordable for the taxpayer and continues to deliver on my promise to halve inflation".
Mr Sunak and Mr Barclay visited a hospital in London on Thursday.
A Downing Street spokesperson later added the government does not believe the pay offer will be inflationary.
When asked about the fact it had said, earlier in the dispute, that giving more than a 3.5% pay award could stoke inflation, Mr Sunak's deputy spokesperson said he did not believe that would happen with this deal, adding: "We don't believe so. The two one-off payments for 22/23 we don't believe will create future inflationary pressures."
The spokesperson added the rise for the coming year would also not stoke inflation, since "5% is broadly in line with pay growth in the wider economy so we don't see it having an impact on private sector pay which ultimately leads to inflation".
And when asked whether the money to fund the rise would have to come from the existing NHS/Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) budget the spokesperson insisted frontline service would not suffer and discussions were taking place between the DHSC and the Treasury.
When asked about further money for the NHS to fund the deal, the spokesperson again said discussions would take place with the Treasury.
However, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting criticised the "last minute" nature of the offer, calling the government "incompetent" and saying Mr Barclay "doesn't know how he's going to pay for it".
"Even when they arrive at a solution it's so late that it causes a new wave of problems."
NHS staff have seen pay rise by an average of 4.75% during 2022-23 - with the lowest paid receiving the biggest rises - but unions had been asking for above-inflation rises, which at one point, would have equated to an increase of more than 14%.
The one-off payment to top up that pay award starts at £1,655 for the lowest-paid staff such as cleaners and porters and rises to just over £2,400 for the most senior front-line roles such as nurse consultants.
For staff in management positions, such as directors of nursing and chief finance officers, the one-off payment is worth up to £3,789.
The government had originally offered 3.5% from April, for the 2023-24 financial year - but during the talks, ministers agreed to 5%. The lowest paid will receive more.
Matthew Taylor, of the NHS Confederation, which represents managers, said health leaders would "breathe a sigh of relief". "We now await the decision of union members," he said.
He also urged the British Medical Association to enter talks - junior doctors staged a three-day walkout this week, in their fight for a 35% pay rise.
They say this is needed to make up for below-inflation wages rises over the past 15 years - but ministers say it is unaffordable.
Ministers have offered the BMA talks on the same basis as with the other unions - but it has declined.
Strike action has also been paused in Wales and Scotland by most unions while new offers are considered. The GMB in Scotland has accepted the Scottish offer, worth 14% over two years. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-64977269 |
Midhurst fire: Historic hotel housing refugees engulfed by blaze - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The fire is believed to have started in a property in Midhurst before spreading to the Angel Inn. | Sussex | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: The Angel Inn hotel in Sussex engulfed by a fire
A 400-year-old hotel that was housing Ukrainian refugees has been engulfed by a major blaze.
The fire started in a property in North Street, Midhurst, in the early hours, before spreading to the roof of the Angel Inn hotel next door.
More than 30 people, including "a number" of Ukrainian refugees, have been evacuated, firefighters said.
The community was praised for its "generosity and keenness to help" after an appeal for donations was inundated.
Local resident David Behan, who witnessed the fire, said the refugees spent the night in a nearby Indian restaurant before they were transported to a leisure centre, from where they have been re-homed.
Mr Behan said: "They arrived at Christmas with very little. And what little they had, they've just completely lost, which is desperate."
More than 30 people, including a number of Ukrainian refugees, were evacuated
Midhurst Town Council arranged a donation point nearby for those who have been affected by the fire.
The site became inundated with donations and closed only hours after it opened.
A council spokeswoman said: "We have been overwhelmed by people's generosity and keenness to help, and now have everything we need to provide support for those who have lost their homes and belongings."
The refugees had been very much welcomed into the community here. Some had jobs, and you'd often hear people speaking Ukrainian on the streets.
The Angel Inn has been here for about 400 years, and has been owned by the same family for at least two generations.
The firefighters have told some of the residents that the building cannot be saved. It is going to have to be demolished.
It would be a horrible thing to have to lose for Midhurst.
Another local resident, Hilton Holloway, said some children were among those evacuated from the hotel, which he said had about 15 rooms.
"I spoke to one young woman who seemed relatively calm," he added.
The cause of the fire is not yet known. Four people were treated at the scene but did not require hospital treatment.
Road closures are in place, and firefighters, police and paramedics remain at the scene.
The fire brigade said crews were called to North Street at 01:08 GMT, and 15 fire engines and two aerial ladder platforms were deployed.
A total of 15 fire engines and two aerial ladder platforms were sent to the scene
Firefighters were met with a "significant fire in the roof space" at the hotel, which spread to neighbouring properties, a spokesman said.
"More than 30 people, including a number of Ukrainian refugees, were safely evacuated from the buildings, and they are now being looked after in a local relief centre," he added.
Speaking at the scene, the brigade's area manager, Richard Abbot, said: "We are advising residents to keep their windows and doors closed as there is large amounts of smoke in the area.
"It's too early in the incident to know the cause of the fire, however we will be investigating the fire as soon as it is safe to do so."
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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-64975302 |
Cigarette prices rise but draught beer duty is frozen - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Duty for draught pints is frozen but the average price of a pack of 20 cigarettes rises to £14.39. | UK | The price of a packet of cigarettes rose hours after the Budget while drinkers will see tax on alcohol go up by 10.1% in August, in line with inflation.
The only alcohol not to see a rise was draught beer where duty will be frozen.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said this was to help "the great British pub".
The change to tobacco products came into effect at 18:00 GMT on Wednesday and sees the cost of an average pack of 20 cigarettes increase to £14.39.
In the Budget, the chancellor revealed the duty rates on all tobacco products would increase by the Retail Price Index (RPI) of 10.1%, plus 2%. This means an increase of about 12%.
The RPI is a measure of inflation which came down to 10.1% in January.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the average price for a packet of 20 cigarettes in January 2023 was £12.84.
The increase in duty rates announced in the Budget means an average packet of 20 cigarettes would increase to £14.39 at 18:00 GMT on Wednesday.
The rate on all hand-rolling tobacco products will increase by RPI, plus 6% and the minimum excise tax will increase by RPI plus 3%.
This is the first rise in tobacco duty since October 2021.
As part of a bid to help people with the rising cost of living, Mr Hunt announced a freeze on the duty tax for draught pints to help "the great British pub".
The new rule, which will also apply to Northern Ireland, will see alcohol duty 11p lower on pulled pints compared to supermarket sales from 1 August.
In the Commons, Mr Hunt said: "Madam Deputy Speaker, British ale may be warm, but the duty on a pint is frozen."
However, drinkers will see tax on other alcohol soar by 10.1% in August in line with inflation when a new system is introduced.
In December, the government extended a freeze on alcohol duty for six months, but this will end in August.
Scotland's whisky industry has accused the chancellor of delivering an "historic blow".
The Scottish Whisky Association (SWA) said the 10.1% increase was the "the wrong decision at the wrong time". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64969334 |
Budget 2023: Pensions tax cut for all is wrong, Labour leader says - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Sir Keir Starmer says tax breaks aimed at keeping doctors in work should only apply to them. | UK Politics | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Sir Keir Starmer: 'Easy to bring in tailor-made' pensions to help retain doctors.
Pension tax breaks aimed at keeping doctors in work should not have been given to all, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
It comes after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt scrapped the overall £1m lifetime limit on tax-free pensions savings in Wednesday's Budget.
The Labour leader branded the move a tax break for "the richest 1%" that showed the "wrong priorities".
He added that any pensions tweak should be "tailor-made" for doctors.
Doctors have said the current tax-free pension allowances are pushing some of them into declining overtime shifts or into early retirement.
Mr Hunt, a former health secretary, says the changes to the pension pot rules are a "very important measure to get the NHS working".
At the Budget, he announced he was abolishing the current £1.07m cap on how much individuals can build up in their private pension pots over their career without having to pay additional tax.
The annual tax-free allowance on pensions will also increase from £40,000 to £60,000.
The chancellor said the changes would stop doctors retiring early - but would also contribute to the government's wider drive to persuade retirees back into work.
"I have realised the issue goes wider than doctors. No one should be pushed out of the workforce for tax reasons," he told MPs.
The financial watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, estimated the changes to the allowance would increase overall employment by 15,000 workers.
The combined cost will be more than £1.1bn a year by 2027/8, according to official estimates.
However, the decision to opt for a wider change to pension rules has been criticised by Labour, which branded it a "one billion pound pensions bung" for the wealthy.
The party has committed to overturning the government's changes if it wins power at the next general election, and replacing it with an alternative scheme just for doctors.
It has not yet offered details of its alternative approach, but has suggested it could be based on a scheme for judges introduced in 2022, under which the tax allowances are disapplied.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has previously told the Telegraph in September he favoured "doing away with" the savings cap.
Speaking earlier, Mr Hunt said it suggested Mr Streeting had previously advocated the government's approach.
But Mr Streeting insisted his previous comments were about how the allowance affected doctors - and he had "consistently argued" they should have their own carve-out from the rules.
He told BBC News this would cost "a fraction" of the blanket change proposed by ministers, which he called "a sledgehammer to crack a nut".
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Mr Hunt defended making a rule change across the board, arguing it was the "simplest and quickest way" to resolve the issues facing doctors.
He added that the change could be introduced in two weeks, delivering help to the NHS when it "most needs support".
He pointed to Royal College of Surgeons statistics, saying the organisation had found that 69% of their members had reduced their hours because of the "way pension taxes work".
On Wednesday, Treasury Minister John Glen said a targeted scheme risked legal challenges from other highly-paid public sector workers, such as senior civil servants.
Speaking to BBC2's Politics Live, he added that a wider change to the rules would also have a "positive effect on the economy as a whole".
The announcement was welcomed by NHS Providers, which represents hospitals in England.
Chief executive Sir Julian Hartley said it would help "stem the flow of senior NHS staff either taking early retirement or not taking on extra work for fear of punitive tax bills".
But the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies said the change would "encourage a relatively small number of better-off workers to stay in the workforce a bit longer" and was "unlikely to have a big effect on overall employment".
The Resolution Foundation think tank, which focuses on people on low to middle incomes, described the policy as "hugely regressive and wasteful".
Chief executive Torsten Bell said: "It's a big victory for NHS consultants but poor value for money for Britain." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64972143 |
Credit Suisse to borrow up to $54bn from Swiss central bank - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A slump in the troubled lender's shares has intensified fears about a broader bank crisis. | Business | Troubled banking giant Credit Suisse says it will borrow up to 50bn francs ($54bn; £44.5bn) from the Swiss central bank to shore up its finances.
The lender said it was taking decisive action to strengthen its liquidity as it looked to become a simpler bank.
Shares in Credit Suisse fell 24% on Wednesday after it said it had found "weakness" in its financial reporting.
This prompted a general sell off on European markets, and fears of a wider financial crisis.
Credit Suisse said its borrowing measures demonstrated "decisive action to strengthen [the bank]".
"My team and I are resolved to move forward rapidly to deliver a simpler and more focused bank built around client needs," Credit Suisse's chief executive Ulrich Koerner said in a statement.
Problems in the banking sector surfaced in the US last week with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the country's 16th-largest bank, followed two days later by the collapse of Signature Bank.
After Credit Suisse shares plunged on Wednesday, a major investor - the Saudi National Bank - said it would not inject further funds into the Swiss lender.
The worries spread across financial markets with all major indexes falling sharply.
"The problems in Credit Suisse once more raise the question whether this is the beginning of a global crisis or just another 'idiosyncratic' case," wrote Andrew Kenningham of Capital Economics.
The Swiss National Bank, which is Switzerland's central bank, and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority sought to calm investor fears, saying they were ready to help Credit Suisse if necessary.
Strict rules apply to Swiss financial institutions to "ensure their stability" and Credit Suisse meets the requirements for banks considered systemically important, the regulators said.
"There are no indications of a direct risk of contagion for Swiss institutions due to the current turmoil in the US banking market," they said in a joint statement.
The BBC understands that the Bank of England has been in touch with Credit Suisse and the Swiss authorities to monitor the situation.
Credit Suisse, founded in 1856, has faced a string of scandals in recent years, including money laundering charges and other issues.
It lost money in 2021 and again in 2022 - its worst year since the financial crisis of 2008 - and has warned it does not expect to be profitable until 2024.
Shares in the firm had already been severely hit before this week - their value falling by roughly two-thirds last year - as customers pulled funds.
The bank's disclosure on Tuesday of "material weakness" in its financial reporting controls renewed investor concerns.
These were intensified when the chairman of the Saudi National Bank, Credit Suisse's largest shareholder, said it would not buy more shares in the Swiss bank on regulatory grounds.
At that time, Credit Suisse insisted its financial position was not a concern. But shares in the lender ended Wednesday down 24%, as other banks rushed to reduce their exposure to the firm and prime ministers in Spain and France spoke out in an attempt to ease fears.
A bank run on Silicon Valley Bank ended in its collapse last week
This comes after Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) - which specialised in lending to technology companies - was shut down on Friday by US regulators in what was the largest failure of a US bank since 2008. SVB's UK arm was snapped up for £1 by HSBC.
In the wake of the SVB collapse, New York-based Signature Bank also went bust, with the US regulators guaranteeing all deposits at both.
However, fears have persisted that other banks could face similar troubles, and trading in bank shares has been volatile this week.
In the US, shares in both small and large banks were hit, helping to push the Dow down almost 0.9%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.7%.
The UK's FTSE 100 fell by 3.8% or 293 points - the biggest one-day drop since the early days of the pandemic in 2020.
"This banking crisis came from America. And now people are watching how the whole thing could also cause problems in Europe," said Robert Halver, head of capital markets at Germany's Baader Bank.
"If a bank has had even the remotest problem in the past, if major investors say we don't want to invest any more and don't want to let new money flow into this bank, then of course a story is being told where many investors say we want to get out." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64964881 |
Immigration rules relaxed for builders and carpenters - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Construction workers are added to list but hospitality sector not included in government review. | Business | Overseas bricklayers and carpenters could be able to get work visas more easily in the UK after the government updated its shortage occupation list.
The list, which now also includes roofers and plasterers, highlights occupations that employers are struggling to fill.
However, hospitality, which has had problems recruiting, was not included.
The change on construction workers is not expected to make a major difference to overall migration figures.
Government advisors in the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) looked at 26 occupations in construction and hospitality, and recommended five for inclusion on the shortage occupations list.
The committee did not recommend any hospitality occupations be included, although it said Brexit and the pandemic had "significant effects" on both sectors.
The five occupations approved by the committee are:
People on the shortage occupation list are able to apply for a skilled worker visa to come and work in the UK.
The construction and hospitality shortage review, published on the same day as the Budget, reveals vacancies have risen strongly in both hospitality and construction, relative to pre-pandemic levels
From November 2022 to January 2023, compared with the period before the pandemic from January to March 2020, vacancies are 72% higher in hospitality and 65% higher in construction.
This compares to an increase of 42% in the overall economy.
The committee said its review was based on whether an occupation made up more than 0.5% of the sector workforce and earned below the current general threshold for migrants which stands at £26,200.
It said it also considered the "strategic importance of construction for the UK economy" and how its workforce was likely to change in the next decade, with "demand likely to increase markedly".
It said overall employment in hospitality had recovered since a large fall during the pandemic and "now comfortably" exceeded pre-pandemic levels.
The committee said it did not recommend any of the hospitality occupations for the shortlist - including chefs, restaurant or bar managers - because "the government was clear that such a recommendation should be exceptional and based on particularly strong evidence".
"Perhaps inevitably, given the shortened time frame that stakeholders had to respond to us, we do not consider any of the evidence submitted sufficiently strong to justify a recommendation", it said.
Last October, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said she wanted to get net migration down into the tens of thousands. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64969468 |
Linfield footballer Ross Larkin 'lucky to be alive' after cancer - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Northern Ireland under-21 defender Ross Larkin had a brain tumour just before Christmas 2021. | Northern Ireland | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Ross Larkin is not giving up hope of a return to action
Linfield footballer Ross Larkin has said he feels fortunate to be alive after a life-threatening brain tumour.
The 23-year-old from Newry, County Down, has undergone surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
The Northern Ireland under-21 defender hopes to make a full recovery but it is not clear whether he will be able to play top-flight football again.
However, he continues to build his fitness back up and is training for the Belfast City Marathon.
Details of his illness were not made public when the brain tumour was discovered just before Christmas in 2021.
To protect his privacy, Linfield simply put out a statement saying the centre-half was in hospital for a "procedure".
It was, in fact, brain surgery.
Ross played for Linfield 28 times before his illness
In his first interview about his illness, Larkin told BBC News NI: "Thank God I had that surgery and it was successful.
"I'd had no symptoms whatsoever and next thing I'm admitted to hospital for a brain tumour.
"I just couldn't believe it. My family couldn't believe it. It was hard to take."
Before illness struck, he was riding high in life.
By the age of 22, he had a university degree and a full-time football contract at the biggest club in Belfast.
He had played 28 times for Linfield, after previously starring for Portadown as a teenager.
At 6ft 4in (1.93m), he was making a name for himself as a defender who was good in the air as well as on the ground.
After playing for Linfield against Warrenpoint at Windsor Park on 11 December 2021, he started preparing for his winter graduation at Queen's University Belfast the following week.
He had successfully completed a course in business management.
On the day of his graduation, he started to feel unwell during the evening after the ceremony.
"I felt a pressure at the side of my eye - I lost peripheral vision," he said.
Ross - pictured with his parents - first felt ill on the day of his graduation
After being taken to hospital, he was examined and it was thought he may have had a stroke.
After a scan, the brain tumour was discovered and initially it was feared it was untreatable.
Further tests concluded that although it was cancerous, treatment might work.
After surgery on Christmas Eve, a period of daily radiotherapy began and then chemotherapy.
"It's such a rare disease and for it to happen to me was just hard to take," he said.
"But I got through it and am stronger for it now.
"I feel so thankful to everyone for being so good to me."
He is grateful to the medical staff who saved his life as well as his family and friends.
He also received constant support from Linfield and manager David Healy.
So will he be able to play football again?
"I've talked to the doctors and the brain surgeons. They're not recommending it fully.
"But I'm personally not giving up on it. I'll see how I am, maybe in a year's time and reassess.
"I'm doing the Belfast marathon and I want to focus on this at the moment and after the marathon I'll sit down and I'll see where I am."
Preparing for the marathon on 30 April has given him a new goal to work towards.
He is hoping to raise money for the Brainwaves NI charity.
The marathon training has restored his competitive spirit after a gruelling 12 months of treatment.
"I might try and win it," he says, with a wide smile. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-64966567 |
Corporation tax: Jeremy Hunt confirms rise to 25% from April - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The chancellor confirms corporation tax will go up but opposition is expected from some Tory MPs. | Business | The rate of corporation tax, paid on company profits, will rise next month, the chancellor has confirmed.
It will go up from 19% to 25% for companies with over £250,000 in profits, Jeremy Hunt told the Commons.
He also announced a new scheme to allow every pound invested by businesses in IT equipment, plants or machinery to be deducted in full from taxable profits.
The tax hike, first announced in 2021 when Rishi Sunak was chancellor, has been a source of much political debate.
Ex-PM Liz Truss attempted to scrap the policy in her mini-budget last September and some Conservative MPs still oppose it.
Delivering his Spring Budget, Mr Hunt said the UK would still have the lowest headline rate of corporation tax in the G7, a group of the world's seven richest nations, even after the rise in April.
He said only 10% of businesses would pay the full rate and anticipated that his new "full capital expensing" policy was equivalent of a corporation tax cut worth an average of £9bn a year.
He told the Commons it would lead to a 3% increase in business investment a year and without it, the UK would have "fallen down international league tables on tax competitiveness and damaged growth".
The "full capital expensing" policy will mean companies can deduct spending on investment from profits, meaning they have to pay lower amounts of corporation tax.
The policy would be in place for three years initially but the government hoped to make it permanent "as soon as we can responsibly do so", the chancellor said.
Independent analysis by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said that as a temporary measure, it provided a strong incentive for businesses to bring forward any investment that had been planned for a later date.
At its peak, the scheme could see business investment up by about 3%, the OBR report said. However it also pointed out that this was lower than the 5% rise under the super-deduction scheme which this policy replaces.
Mr Hunt made the announcement after he confirmed the OBR forecasts the British economy is to avoid a technical recession in 2023 but contract by 0.2%, before returning to growth in 2024.
Plans to hike corporation tax to 25% were first put forward by Rishi Sunak two years ago, when he was chancellor under Boris Johnson.
The rise was justified as a means to claw back some of the billions of pounds worth of public money that had been used to prop up businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Sunak deferred the rise by two years, and in the time since, the policy has been axed, reinstated and divided opinion in the Conservative Party.
Keeping corporation tax at 19% was a key plank of Liz Truss' low-tax leadership platform when she beat Mr Sunak to become prime minister.
On 23 September, then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng confirmed the move in the Commons, telling the country it would boost growth - but his Budget quickly unravelled.
Three weeks later, Mr Kwarteng was sacked and the 25% policy was readopted by Ms Truss as she sought to get investors and her own party back onside.
Some Tory MPs publicly oppose the rise, including Mr Johnson, despite the fact he signed off on it when he was PM.
During a speech earlier this month, Mr Johnson said the government should be "cutting corporation tax to Irish levels or lower". The rate is as low as 12.5% for some companies in Ireland.
Former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg echoed that view, saying the best approach to tax policy was low rates with few exclusions.
He told the Commons: "We have a rise now in corporation tax but we then sort of salami slice it a bit with some capital allowances to pretend it's not much of a rise. This is not a good approach to tax policy." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64963631 |
Chris Kaba family concerned about watchdog resignations - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Chris Kaba was shot dead by a Met Police officer and the police watchdog is investigating. | London | Chris Kaba, who was due to become a father, was shot through a car windscreen by a Met Police officer
The family of an unarmed black man who was killed by police have voiced concerns over the resignations of two watchdog staff members overseeing an investigation into what happened.
Chris Kaba, 24, was shot by a Met Police officer in Streatham Hill.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating the shooting as a potential homicide and considering whether race was a factor.
An IOPC spokesman said: "We can confirm our investigation has concluded."
He added: "We are now deciding whether to refer the matter to the Crown Prosecution Service for a charging decision.
"We will also make our decision on whether the officer involved should face disciplinary action. We will confirm our decisions once all the parties involved have been informed."
Mr Kaba's family has accused the Met of racism and said it took too long for the force to suspend the police marksman. They have called for criminal charges to be brought.
An inquest has been opened and adjourned into the construction worker's death.
The family released a statement reading: "We have concerns that two of the senior people at the IOPC who have been overseeing the homicide investigation in this case — Michael Lockwood and Sal Naseem — have resigned during the investigation."
The family said they found it "unsettling" and they were "concerned" about any potential impact on the inquiry and its timeframe.
"We have already waited too long to know if the IOPC is seeking advice on criminal charges from the CPS," they said.
Mr Lockwood resigned in December after becoming the subject of a police investigation, Home Secretary Suella Braverman previously revealed.
The reason for Mr Naseem's resignation has not been disclosed.
The IOPC said that the recent departure of Mr Naseem "will have no impact on the progress of this investigation".
It said a "decision-maker" role had been reallocated to the director of operations, Amanda Rowe.
The inquiry was due to last between six and nine months.
Mr Kaba's family speaking outside his inquest hearing in October
At the opening of Mr Kaba's inquest, Inner South London Coroner's Court heard he had been driving an Audi that had been linked by police to a firearms incident the previous day, although his name was not included in a briefing given to officers.
At 21:52 BST on 5 September, about 15 minutes before the shooting, a pursuit began by officers in an unmarked police car with no lights or sirens.
After driving the Audi down Kirkstall Gardens, Mr Kaba was blocked by a marked police car and there was contact between the Audi and police vehicles, the hearing was told.
An officer standing to the front of the Audi then fired a single shot through the windscreen, which hit Mr Kaba in the head.
He was taken to hospital but died soon after midnight.
The IOPC previously said it was waiting on an external report it required in order to conclude its investigation and finalise its report.
It could then decide whether to refer a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service for a charging decision.
Follow BBC London on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-64982978 |
Napoli v Eintracht Frankfurt: Football fans throw chairs at Naples riot police - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | null | Eintracht Frankfurt fans clash with police in Italy ahead of a Champions League match - despite a ban on their attendance. | null | Eintracht Frankfurt fans have clashed with police in Italy ahead of their club's Champions League last-16 match against Napoli.
Footage showed chairs being hurled at riot police, who had been responding with tear gas.
Naples authorities had banned residents of the German city from buying tickets for the match, after violence during the first leg in Frankfurt.
More on this story: Eintracht fans clash with police before Napoli tie | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64970977 |
World's first octopus farm proposals alarm scientists - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Methods used on the Spanish farm would be "cruel" to such intelligent animals say experts, as details emerge. | Science & Environment | A plan to build the world's first octopus farm has raised deep concerns among scientists over the welfare of the famously intelligent creatures.
The farm in Spain's Canary Islands would raise about a million octopuses annually for food, according to confidential documents seen by the BBC.
They have never been intensively farmed and some scientists call the proposed icy water slaughtering method "cruel."
The Spanish multinational behind the plans denies the octopuses will suffer.
The confidential planning proposal documents from the company, Nueva Pescanova, were given to the BBC by the campaign organisation Eurogroup for Animals.
Nueva Pescanova sent the proposal to the Canary Islands' General Directorate of Fishing, which has not responded to a BBC request for comment.
Octopuses caught in the wild using pots, lines and traps are eaten all over the world, including in the Mediterranean and in Asia and Latin America.
The race to discover the secret to breeding them in captivity has been going on for decades. It's difficult as the larvae only eat live food and need a carefully controlled environment, but Nueva Pescanova announced in 2019 that it had made a scientific breakthrough.
The prospect of intensively farming octopus has already led to opposition: Lawmakers in the US state of Washington have proposed banning the practice before it even starts.
Nueva Pescanova's plans reveal that the octopuses, which are solitary animals used to the dark, would be kept in tanks with other octopuses, at times under constant light. The creatures - the species octopus vulgaris - would be housed in around 1,000 communal tanks in a two-storey building in the port of Las Palmas in Gran Canaria.
They would be killed by being put in containers of water kept at -3C, according to the documents.
Currently there are no welfare rules in place, as octopuses have never been commercially farmed before. However studies have shown that this method of slaughtering fish using 'ice slurry' causes a slow, stressful death. The World Organisation for Animal Health says it "results in poor fish welfare" and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) - the leading farmed seafood certification scheme - is proposing a ban unless fish are stunned beforehand.
Some supermarkets have already moved away from selling fish that have been killed using ice, including Tesco and Morrisons.
Prof. Peter Tse, a cognitive neuroscientist at Dartmouth University, told the BBC that "to kill them with ice would be a slow death … it would be very cruel and should not be allowed."
Adding that they were "as intelligent as cats" he suggested that a more humane way would be to kill them as many fishermen do, by clubbing them over the head.
The global octopus trade is now estimated to be worth more than £2.2bn
To supply "premium international markets" including the US, South Korea and Japan, Nueva Pescanova wants to produce 3,000 tonnes of octopus a year. This equates to around one million animals, with some 10-15 octopuses living in each cubic metre of tank, according to campaign group Compassion in World Farming (CiWF), which has studied the plans.
Nueva Pescanova estimates in its documentation that there will be "a mortality rate of 10-15%".
Jonathan Birch, associate professor at the London School of Economics, led a review of more than 300 scientific studies which he says shows that octopuses feel pain and pleasure. It led to them being recognised as "sentient beings" in the UK's Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022. Prof Birch and his co-authors believe that high-welfare octopus farming is "impossible" and that killing in ice slurry "would not be an acceptable method of killing in a lab".
"Large numbers of octopuses should never be kept together in close proximity. Doing this leads to stress, conflict and high mortality … A figure of 10-15% mortality should not be acceptable for any kind of farming."
In a statement to the BBC, Nueva Pescanova said: "The levels of welfare requirements for the production of octopus or any other animal in our farming farms guarantee the correct handling of the animals. The slaughter, likewise, involves proper handling that avoids any pain or suffering to the animal ..."
In the wild, octopuses are fiercely territorial agile hunters. Nueva Pescanova is proposing that the farmed animals be fed with industrially produced dry feed, sourced from "discards and by-products" of already-caught fish.
The tanks would be filled with seawater piped in from an adjacent bay. The tanks would be different sizes for the different phases of the octopuses' life, with the salinity and temperature closely controlled.
The initial brood of 100 octopuses - 70 males and 30 females - would be taken from a research facility, the Pescanova Biomarine Centre, in Galicia, northern Spain.
The plans state that the company has achieved a level of "domestication" in the species and that they do not "show important signs of cannibalism or competition for food".
Elena Lara from CiWF called on the Canary Islands authorities to block construction of the farm, which she said would "inflict unnecessary suffering on these intelligent, sentient and fascinating creatures".
Reineke Hameleers, CEO at Eurogroup for Animals added that the European Commission was currently reviewing its animal welfare legislation and had a "real opportunity" to "avoid terrible suffering".
Octopuses are highly intelligent, and have been observed trying to escape from aquariums
Along with the welfare of the octopuses, CiWF has concerns around the wastewater produced by the farm, which would be pumped back into the sea. Octopuses produce nitrogen and phosphates as waste. "The water entering and leaving the plant will be filtered so that it will have no impact on the environment," Nueva Pescanova told the BBC.
Around 350,000 tonnes of octopus are caught each year - more than 10 times the number caught in 1950 - which is putting pressure on populations. Nueva Pescanova stated that "aquaculture is the solution to ensuring a sustainable yield" and that it would "repopulate the octopus species in the future." However conservationists believe farming them would lower the price, potentially creating new markets.
Nueva Pescanova emphasised to the BBC that it dedicated "great efforts to promote responsible and sustainable performance throughout the value chain to ensure that best practices are adopted."
The government of Gran Canaria has not responded to a request for information.
People in London march against octopus farming - there have been protests in other countries
• None The world's first octopus farm - should it go ahead? | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64814781 |
Maghaberry Prison: Daniel McConville's death prompts call for changes - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Daniel McConville died in 2018 shortly after he warned prison staff that he intended to self-harm. | Northern Ireland | Daniel McConville, a father of two, died in jail on 30 August 2018
A report into the death of a 22-year-old prisoner has called for improvement in how people with complex needs are assessed and managed while in jail.
Daniel McConville died in Maghaberry Prison in 2018, shortly after he warned staff that he intended to self-harm.
The prison ombudsman investigated after Mr McConville's family raised concerns about his treatment in custody.
But the ombudsman said she found no evidence to suggest Mr McConville was assaulted or bullied by prison staff.
"The care provided by the Prison Service was appropriate based on the information and knowledge available to prison officers," the report by Prisoner Ombudsman Lesley Carroll concluded.
However, she added that prison staff managing Mr McConville on a day-to-day basis were "unaware of much of his background" and she has made recommendations to improve the supervision and care of inmates with neurodevelopmental disabilities.
The prisoner, who had 80 previous convictions, had a documented history of self-harm, drug abuse and depression.
He had been prescribed anti-depressants, but was without access to this medication on three occasions in jail and it was not present in his body at the time of his death.
During his early childhood, Mr McConville was also diagnosed with a learning difficulty and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
The ombudsman's report pointed out "there is no specific service for those with ADHD" within the prison system.
"I am concerned that the needs of those who face multiple challenges in their lives, including multiple low-level health diagnoses, could be better addressed while they are in custody," Ms Carroll said.
Using prison records, her report documents the events leading up to the night of 29/30 August 2018, when Maghaberry staff found Mr McConville unresponsive in his cell.
Following a number of short stays in custody throughout his youth, he was charged with burglary and theft in June 2018 and was remanded in custody.
During a 70-day detention period, Mr McConville had several health assessments and moved cells seven times.
He also had altercations with other inmates, lost privileges after breaking prison rules and complained that he had been assaulted by prison staff.
"Based on materials examined as part of this investigation and the significant number of interviews conducted, I was not able to substantiate the allegations made of mistreatment and bullying," the ombudsman concluded.
"It seems more likely that, at least in part, Mr McConville's behaviour was challenging for prison staff who had very little understanding or knowledge of his underlying conditions."
However, her report also noted at the time of his death, the prisoner was being managed under the Supporting People At Risk (SPAR) process and was therefore considered as being at "increased risk" of self-harm and suicide.
She added that the evidence suggested that Mr McConville had not taken his prescribed anti-depressant medication for at least a week prior to his death and that this "also put him at an elevated risk of suicide".
Maghaberry Prison is a high-security men's jail which holds both sentenced and remand prisoners
On 28 August 2018 - the day before Mr McConville was found unresponsive in his cell - he alleged he was being bullied by staff on the landing of Erne House.
He threatened to cut himself if he was not moved from his cell and, as a result, a senior prison officer interviewed him and opened a SPAR.
This action required staff to observe Mr McConville every 30 minutes.
The following day, the prisoner appeared in court via video-link to apply for release on bail.
The court refused, because no bail address could be secured for him.
He returned to his cell and prison records state that checks were carried out exactly every 30 minutes from 21:05 until he was found unresponsive at 23:04.
An ambulance and fire fighters were called but Mr McConville was pronounced dead shortly after midnight on 30 August.
An inquest into the cause of his death is pending.
The ombudsman's report contains five recommendations, including a suggestion of better communication between the police and prison services about the progress of investigations into prison assaults.
She also recommended that prison staff and health workers should access training on neurodevelopmental disabilities including ADHD to "inform practice in response to behaviour and presentation of individuals in custody".
"While I have found that Mr McConville's care was within standards, I am also convinced that there is considerable work to be done to ensure that the notion of rehabilitation is a reality for young men such as Mr McConville", she concluded. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-64957131 |
Childcare costs put parents off having more children - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Parents say they are putting off having more children due to nursery and childcare fees in Wales. | Wales | Danny Carter said he and his partner have delayed having a second baby due to childcare costs
Childcare costs in Wales have priced some parents out of work and stopped them from having more children.
The Welsh government is under pressure to bring its childcare plans into line with the UK government's in England.
Parents there will get up to 30 hours a week of free childcare for children as young as nine months from 2025.
In Wales, this is for three and four-year-olds, but a minister said the Welsh government was "rolling out" an expansion to include two-year-olds.
Danny Carter, a climbing centre manager in Cardiff, said he worried "constantly" about paying for childcare.
"Our budget is a lot tighter than it's ever been, but we're earning more than we've ever earnt," he said.
The 32-year-old said he and his partner had recently got "significantly" higher paying jobs, but as it meant more days in nursery for their two-year old son, ended up much worse off.
They have gone from paying £200 a month for one day a week to £900.
"It's a lot of money, it's a lot more than our mortgage - it's our biggest expenditure by far," he said.
According to children's charity Coram, childcare prices have risen faster on average in Wales than in England and Scotland - with 50 hours a week for children under two up more than 4% since 2021.
Mr Carter said his son's nursery had recently announced that fees would go up from £63 to £70 per day from April.
"There's no treats anymore, we're living hand to mouth," he added.
"It shouldn't be the case. We're earning £60,000 between us. We shouldn't be so skint and worrying if we can afford food one week or next.
"We can't plan on having a second child now until our son is three years old and eligible for free childcare and the money worries ease up a bit.
"It's an enforced age gap, we've always wanted to have more children, but we couldn't afford to have another kid now without some more support."
Liz Jeffries has two children - Dylan, eight, and Elsie, two
Education and childcare are devolved, so any potential changes to childcare support in Wales will be a matter for the Welsh government.
Finance Minister Rebecca Evans said the Welsh government had already budgeted for an extra 4,500 families with two-year olds to receive free childcare hours next year.
The Welsh government is set to receive an additional £180m after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced plans to expand free childcare hours in England.
Ms Evans added: "Obviously we want to do more in this space. The question is, will we have enough funding to move further and over what period?"
She said ministers would need to sit down and "look at the figures" to work out if there could be any further expansion to free childcare in Wales.
Liz Jeffries, 38, has wanted to pick up more hours at work since her daughter, Elsie, turned two last year.
Liz Jeffries has had to turn down extra work because she would end up worse off
But the mother-of-two, who works part-time as an administration manager for an estate agent in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, said she would only take home about £5 a day extra after she accounted for childcare.
"I really wanted to do it, but my decision [to turn down the work] was purely based on financial reasons.
"Childcare is just so expensive. The situation irritates me because I know I can give more to my current employer but I'm being held back by the childcare system.
"I do worry it will affect my career progression because I'm not here as much."
Ms Jeffries said her daughter would qualify for the Welsh government's existing 30-hour free childcare scheme from September, but more help was needed.
She added: "From other people I've talked to about this as well, there's a lot of people out there, all parents, who are being offered more work but can't take it up because of childcare." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64964543 |
Megan Newborough: Murdered woman's family stunned by sentence decision - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The 23-year-old's family say her killer deserves a longer jail term before he is considered for release. | Leicester | The family of a young woman murdered by her boyfriend has said he should serve longer in prison before being considered for parole.
Ross McCullam was jailed for life in December for killing 23-year-old Megan Newborough and told he would serve at least 23 years before being considered for release.
The Court of Appeal rejected a bid by the solicitor general to increase his sentence on Tuesday.
Her family said they were stunned.
McCullam, 30, and Ms Newborough were colleagues who had been in a short relationship before he invited her to his home in Windsor Close, Coalville, Leicestershire, on 6 August 2021.
He strangled her and slashed her throat with a knife before driving to a remote rural location and hiding her body in undergrowth.
He then lied to police to try to cover up what he had done.
McCullam strangled Ms Newborough in the living room of his home
McCullam admitted the manslaughter of Ms Newborough, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, but denied murdering her.
He claimed he lost control of himself when he attacked her during an episode of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), triggered by abuse he suffered as a child.
The jury convicted him of murder after a six-week trial.
A judge jailed him for life beginning his sentence consideration at 15 years before parole and adding eight for aggravating factors such as McCullam's cover-up.
At Tuesday's Court of Appeal hearing, lawyers for Solicitor General Michael Tomlinson argued McCullam should serve a minimum of 30 years before parole because the murder involved sexual conduct.
They said McCullam had expressed violent sexual fantasies in messages to Ms Newborough "which she did not share" in the weeks before he killed her.
They also said McCullam searched for violent killers on the internet and watched pornography in the hours after the murder.
However the appeal judges said they were "not persuaded that there is any basis in which it can be said that the judge fell into error" and upheld the original sentence.
Ms Newborough's father Anthony told the BBC: "We had found a sense of justice when a cold, calculated killer was brought to justice for taking our daughter from us and convicted for murder in December last year.
"We went [to the Court of Appeal] optimistic that we had a hearing and some confidence that, having got that far, the sentence would be increased.
"We were left very upset, stunned and shell-shocked that the sentence remained the same.
"The sentence guidelines need to be changed as 15 years as a starting point for murder in comparison to other crimes is far too low for taking someone's life."
Ms Newborough's family said she was sensible and safety-conscious
Mr Newborough added: "We want to keep Megan's name in the public domain to ensure that other girls and young women do not suffer a similar fate and to ensure that those causing untold harm will face the punishment they deserve.
"There is not a day that goes by when we are not thinking about Megan in one way or another.
"We would like to thank our family and friends for all their continued support."
He said the family was considering options for campaigning to change the sentencing guidelines.
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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-64969016 |
Vote to be held on eradicating all Uist estate's deer - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A call for a cull in South Uist follows concerns about the spread of Lyme disease from infected deer ticks. | Highlands & Islands | A vote is to be held on whether all the red deer on a community-owned estate in the Western Isles should be culled.
Some residents of 93,000-acre South Uist Estate have raised concerns about Lyme disease, which can be spread to humans from infected deer tick bites.
South Uist has among the worst rates of the disease in the Western Isles.
The board of community company Stòras Uibhist, which manages the estate and would oversee the cull of 1,200 deer, believes the action to be unnecessary.
It said the animal's population could be reduced through targeted culls.
But about 200 members of Stòras Uibhist have signed a petition calling for the removal of all the estate's deer. The vote next week could involve up to 870 people.
As well as concerns around the disease, there have been complaints about grazing on croft land and the damage the deer do to woodland, gardens and other property.
Stòras Uibhist said it recognised deer numbers had been too high, adding that it had taken action to tackle the problem.
A spokesman said: "We believe eradication is unnecessary and would be economically damaging both to the estate directly and also to the wider community."
There have been concerns around incidence of Lyme disease for a number of years.
The bacterial infection can cause neurological problems and joint pain if left untreated.
Research carried out by several organisations, including NHS Western Isles, suggested the Western Isles had a far higher recorded incidence of Lyme disease in its population than elsewhere in Scotland.
Islander Tommy MacDonald said ticks had become a growing problem.
He said: "We have seen a huge increase in the numbers of ticks.
"When I was younger we used to only see ticks when shearing sheep or after a walk on the hills. But in recent years you could pick up a tick even in people's gardens."
Local vet David Buckland said he hoped people would understand the need for a large-scale cull, saying the risks posed by Lyme disease to islanders were "very, very real".
But among those arguing against eradication is Alasdair Moffat, who has Lyme disease and had to have a pacemaker fitted because the infection affected his heart.
Mr Moffat said deer management provided jobs for young people in South Uist.
Another islander Rory MacGillivray, a gamekeeper with 40 years experience, said the situation had come to a head because Stòras Uibhist had not managed deer numbers properly in recent years.
He said a mass cull would pose the community company with a "horrendously large task".
The Scottish Gamekeepers Association has also warned such a large-scale cull would be expensive, and has argued the deer densities on the estate were below Scottish government guidelines. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-64964575 |
SNP leader candidates call for 'robust' audit of vote system - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Teams for Kate Forbes and Ash Regan believe party members and the public need reassurance over the ballot. | Scotland | Two of the three candidates vying to be leader of the SNP want an independent auditor to oversee the leadership vote.
Kate Forbes' campaign manager, MSP Michelle Thomson, said concerns had been raised about the integrity of the ballot process.
Ash Regan said an auditor would provide transparency to party members and the public.
The SNP has so far refused to say how many party members will be able to take part in the leadership vote.
That is despite all three candidates in the contest - Ms Forbes, Ms Regan and Health Secretary Humza Yousaf - calling on it to do so.
The SNP's national secretary, Lorna Finn, has written to the candidates to address their concerns about transparency.
She said it was not clear to her what their concerns were, but she was "satisfied as to the integrity of the ballot".
The ballot, she said, is being managed by an independent company, Mi-Voice, which the SNP has used for internal contests since 2013.
"No-one in HQ has access to live data from the ballot or any Mi-Voice systems, and no-one will know the result until it is provided to me by Mi-Voice on 27 March," the national secretary wrote.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told the BBC she also had no doubts about the integrity of the voting system.
SNP president Michael Russell said he has told Ms Finn that he supports publishing the membership figures, but has said he was "disgusted by the abuse directed at SNP staff by individuals who damage our cause and aid our enemies".
The national secretary said she had asked the SNP's executive committee to release the membership figures on Thursday.
The party had previously said it would only make the figure public after the result of the vote is announced on 27 March, but senior SNP sources are understood to be confident publication will be brought forward.
The SNP said its membership had reached 125,000 by 2019, but the Electoral Commission put the figure at 104,000 two years later.
The Mail on Sunday reported that Southampton-based polling firm Mi-Voice, which is overseeing the leadership vote, had been given the names of just 78,000 members by the SNP.
Ms Regan has called for transparency in an open letter, also written on behalf of Ms Forbes, to SNP chief executive officer Peter Murrell - who is the husband of Ms Sturgeon.
Mr Murrell was urged to clarify how many "paid-up" members the party has, and the number of digital and postal voting papers that have been released.
It is widely believed that Mr Yousaf is the preferred candidate of Ms Sturgeon and the wider party hierarchy, with Ms Regan previously claiming that his supporters were being "bussed in" to hustings events by SNP HQ.
Candidate Humza Yousaf has also asked for clarity over party membership
Ms Regan told BBC Scotland she would like to see the appointment of an independent election monitor to ensure the vote is fair.
"My concern is that the membership of the SNP and the country need to have full transparency and honesty in the process," she said.
"So the fact that all the teams haven't been given something as simple as the number of members in the SNP is obviously a concern."
Ms Thomson, who is supporting Ms Forbes, said some concerns that had been raised about the ballot were "based on hearsay or are from bad faith actors".
However others had been expressed by longstanding party members, she added.
She said she had written two letters to the party's national secretary but had not yet had a response.
Michelle Thomson confirmed she had asked for the appointment of an independent auditor
In a statement Ms Thomson said: "There seems to be a perception that the third party company operating the ballot process is a) independent and b) are responsible for the entire process.
"This is not the case - they are simply a company contracted by the SNP to provide services to their client's specification. This is entirely different.
"The SNP themselves remain ultimately accountable and responsible for many of the processes, oversight and ultimate integrity of the ballot."
Ms Thomson said the fact that questions were being asked could only further undermine trust in headquarters.
"This is not a position I wish to see," she said. "We all agree that the party must unify around any newly elected leader.
"I have asked that the SNP appoint a robust, experienced, third-party auditor of both the ballot processes and the eventual tally of the vote. This third party must have full oversight of all membership numbers, data and processes.
"This should be done without delay."
However SNP MP Gavin Newlands dismissed the statement by Ms Thomson, tweeting that he could not believe "this Trumpian nonsense has now hit my own party".
He insisted the vote was being carried out by "a highly regarded and independent third party".
Humza Yousaf's team said they would be happy for the SNP to provide whatever reassurances are required but added that the way in which the ballot is being questioned would be very upsetting for party members.
This leadership contest continues to cause headaches for the SNP.
Nicola Sturgeon's resignation was a blow in the first place.
Many of the first minister's opponents were relieved that a politician who had delivered a string of landslide election victories for her party was leaving the stage.
Plenty of her supporters worried that her departure was an implicit admission that Scottish independence could not be delivered any time soon.
Now the race to succeed Ms Sturgeon is posing further problems.
Divisions on economics and social issues, as well as on tactics and the party's record in government, have been exposed for all to see and for rivals to exploit.
It's also clear that many backers of Kate Forbes and Ash Regan are deeply suspicious about the manner in which the party hierarchy appears to be swinging behind Humza Yousaf.
Their calls for transparency about the election process have already been dismissed on Twitter by one SNP MP, Gavin Newlands, as "Trumpian nonsense" and fake news.
If senior party figures join the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North in rubbishing the concerns of Ms Forbes and Ms Regan, the distrust - and the pain - for the SNP could become even worse.
Ms Sturgeon, who said she expected the party to publish figures on the number of eligible voters on Thursday, told reported she had "100% confidence in the integrity" of the voting system.
Speaking to BBC Scotland, she said: "There's been one specific issue raised by candidates that I think the NEC has been right to look at again.
"Beyond that, as far as I can tell, there are no specific concerns being raised. It's a general concern and I don't think that general concern is justified."
She said candidates to succeed her "should remember that the task is to retain the trust of the Scottish people".
An SNP spokesperson previously told BBC Scotland that the candidates had been told "responsibility for the leadership election does not rest with any member of staff".
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said he did not know how many members the party has, adding: "I quite understand why people would want to know that data at this stage rather than at the end of the process."
Westminster leader Stephen Flynn told BBC Scotland on Tuesday he had "no idea", adding: "I think the last time I heard it was about 100,000."
Earlier in the campaign, the party's national executive committee was at the centre of a row over blocking media access to party hustings events for the leadership contest - a decision that was reversed.
The ballot to find a replacement for Ms Sturgeon, which uses the single transferable vote system, opened on Monday with the winner to be announced on 27 March. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64972800 |
France pension protests: Clashes after Macron orders rise in pension age without vote - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | France's president has sidelined MPs and forced through plans to raise the pension age from 62 to 64. | Europe | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Uproar on the streets of Paris and jeers in parliament over retirement age increase
Police in Paris have clashed with protesters after the French government decided to force through pension reforms without a vote in parliament.
Crowds converged on Place de la Concorde in response to raising the retirement age from 62 to 64.
The plans had sparked two months of heated political debate and strikes.
Finally, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne invoked article 49:3 of the constitution - allowing the government to avoid a vote in the Assembly.
The decision was taken minutes before MPs were scheduled to vote on the controversial bill, because there was no guarantee of winning a majority.
The move caused fury among opposition politicians. Many jeered the prime minister, sang La Marseillaise and held up signs of protest in parliament.
A no-confidence motion was filed against President Emmanuel Macron's government on Friday by a group of opposition parties.
Leader of left-wing party La France Insoumise (LFI), Mathilde Panot, tweeted that Mr Macron had plunged the country into a government crisis, without parliamentary or popular legitimacy.
Thousands of people came out on the streets of Paris and other French cities to reject the move, singing the national anthem and waving trade union flags.
Some protesters clashed with police as evening fell. A fire was lit in the middle of the Place de la Concorde and police with shields and batons fired tear gas and moved to clear the square.
By nightfall, 120 people had been arrested, Paris police told AFP news agency.
But unions vowed to maintain their opposition to the pension changes, with the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) saying another day of strikes and demonstrations was being planned for Thursday 23 March.
The constitutional procedure that has prompted all this anger may sound obscure, but it is very much part of the political vocabulary in France.
Even though Mr Macron was re-elected last year on a platform of retirement reforms, his ruling coalition has no majority in the Assembly and would have needed support from the Republicans party to pass the pension changes.
Officials from Mr Macron's Renaissance party spent the morning desperately whipping members into line in a bid to pass their bill.
They knew some of their MPs could vote against or abstain, faced with the evident unpopularity of the bill, so they resorted to special constitutional powers.
But whenever a government invokes the 49:3, it can be sure it will be accused straight away of riding roughshod over the will of the people.
In fact, it has been used precisely 100 times in the more than 60 years of the Fifth Republic, and by governments of all shades.
Obviously, it tends to be used more frequently by governments that do not have an in-built majority in parliament, such as the socialist Michel Rocard's in the 1980s and Élisabeth Borne's today.
She has in fact already used it several times, but those occasions were for public finance bills which were less controversial.
Use of the procedure is a way to bypass a vote which might be lost, but the down side for the government is that the opposition parties can immediately table a vote of no-confidence.
If these are voted through, the government falls. That is a theoretical possibility now, but unlikely, because it would mean the far-right, the left and much of the conservative opposition all coming together.
The dispute once again makes France look unreformable. By comparison with other countries in Europe, the change to the pension age is far from dramatic.
But the bill is regularly described by opponents as "brutal", "inhuman" and "degrading".
Morale in France is low and getting lower, and people see retirement as a bright spot in the future. But many feel that this is a rich man's government taking even that away.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64984374 |
Snapchat killer found guilty of murdering Kyle Walley - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Mark Jones, 20, posted footage of his 19-year-old victim online after stabbing him with a knife. | Wales | A man who stabbed his friend in the heart and posted videos of his dead body on Snapchat has been found guilty of murder.
Kyle Walley, 19, died on his kitchen floor in Rhosymedre, Wrexham, on 11 July 2021.
A video filmed just before the fatal attack and posted on Snapchat was shown to jurors at Mold Crown Court.
Mark Jones, 20, of Chester Road, Wrexham, denied murder but was found guilty.
The Snapchat footage showed Jones drinking cider and bourbon at Mr Walley's flat and making stabbing motions towards him while his back was turned.
He also posted videos from the flat saying he was "thinking of stabbing someone up right now".
Jones also sent phone messages to Mr Walley the day before his death, which included an image of himself with a cartoon knife and the message "I'm going to stab you up tomorrow".
Mold Crown Court heard during the trial how Jones had an "obsession" with knives.
The court was also shown videos, which were posted online, of Mr Walley lying dead while the defendant kicked him.
In another, where Jones showed his bloodstained hands to the camera, he said he had "stabbed up" Mr Walley and was "going to do time".
Concerned friends who saw the videos called police.
Prosecutor John Philpotts said a friend of Kyle Walley, Attia Jones was on the phone with him just before he was attacked, heard him shouting "put the knife down".
She then heard screaming, and Mr Jones shouting that he was sorry, and "it's my ADHD".
Mr Walley had expected to watch the Euro 2020 final between England and Italy with Jones, whom he considered to be his friend.
Jones arrived at Mr Walley's flat at lunchtime but shortly before 17:00 BST, before the game had even started, Mr Walley had been stabbed to death.
Giving evidence during the trial, Jones said he had acted in self defence because Kyle Walley had come at him with the knife.
He claimed he had grabbed the knife and struck his friend to "get him away from me".
Mr Justice Stephen Eyre told Jones the sentence would be one of life imprisonment.
He will be sentenced on Friday, when the judge will determine the minimum term he will serve in custody. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64974896 |
Moody's warns of more pain for US banks as downgrades sector - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The ratings giant warns of a 'rapid deterioration in the operating environment' for US banks. | Business | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Is this the start of a financial crisis?
Ratings giant Moody's has warned of more pain ahead for the US banking system after a run on deposits led to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
Moody's cut its outlook for the sector to "negative" from stable, warning of "a rapid deterioration in the operating environment".
The downgrade came as banking shares in the US and Europe rebounded following earlier losses.
But Moody's said some other banks faced risks of customer withdrawals.
It said rising interest rates also pose a challenge, exposing banks that bought assets such as government bonds when interest rates were low, to potential losses.
"Banks with substantial unrealized securities losses and with non-retail and uninsured US depositors may still be more sensitive to depositor competition or ultimate flight," Moody's said in the report.
"We expect pressures to persist and be exacerbated by ongoing monetary policy tightening, with interest rates likely to remain higher for longer until inflation returns to within the Fed's target range."
Authorities have acted quickly to try to contain fallout after the shock collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the 16th largest in the US.
The firm, a key lender to technology firms, failed last week after a rush of customer withdrawals, sparked by the bank's disclosure that it needed to raise money and had been forced to sell a portfolio of assets, mostly government bonds, at a loss.
US regulators took over the bank and said they would guarantee deposits beyond the $250,000 level typically insured by the government. They took similar steps at smaller Signature Bank.
Officials from the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission are now investigating the collapse, US media reported.
Reports have suggested that some customers of smaller US banks have been trying to put their money into bigger institutions.
However, ratings agency S&P Global said it hadn't seen evidence of runs on banks other than at those that had collapsed.
It said emergency measures brought in by the Federal Reserve should lower the risk of bank customers losing confidence.
However, it added that "conditions remain fluid" and "some banks are showing greater signs of stress than others", including First Republic bank.
Analysts expect the turmoil in the financial system sparked by the failures to lead the Fed to slow or pause its rate rises when it meets next week.
That view gained traction on Tuesday after the latest inflation report showed prices in the US up 6% in the 12 months to February, in line with expectations, helping to boost shares.
As trading began on Tuesday, San Francisco-based First Republic Bank - which had seen its share price tank by 62% on Monday - jumped more than 50%, one of a number of firms whose shares were staging a recovery. It ultimately closed roughly 30% higher.
The three main stock indexes also climbed, with the Dow up 1%, the S&P 500 climbing 1.7% and the Nasdaq ending the day more than 2% higher.
In the UK, bank shares - which saw sharp falls on Monday - were all mostly higher by Tuesday afternoon. The FTSE 100 ended up roughly 1.2%.
The European Stoxx banking index also opened lower on Tuesday but then recovered to end nearly 3% higher.
But shares in HSBC, which rescued SVB's UK business for £1, closed down 1%, and there were steep losses overnight in Japan, where major lenders such as the country's largest bank MUFG, saw their share prices tumble by more than 8%.
An index of Japanese banking stocks, known as the Topix Banks Index, plunged by 7.4%, despite reassurances from the Bank of Japan (BoJ).
"Japanese financial institutions' direct exposure to Silicon Valley Bank is small, and thus the impact is likely limited," said a BoJ official. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64949786 |
Lineker thought he had special BBC Twitter agreement - agent - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The football presenter believed he was allowed to tweet about refugee rights, his representative says. | UK | Gary Lineker thought he had a "special agreement" with the BBC's director general to tweet about refugees and immigration, his agent has said.
In a piece in the New Statesman, Jon Holmes has described the crisis talks held with BBC bosses during last week's stand-off.
He said he warned them that suspending Lineker could be damaging, hours before a staff walk-out began.
The BBC apologised for the disruption and will review its social media rules.
On last week's row, Mr Holmes said: "Gary Lineker, with whom I've worked since 1980, had tweeted about the policy, reiterating his support for refugees.
"Gary takes a passionate interest in refugees and immigration and, as he saw it, had a special agreement with Tim Davie, the BBC's director general, to tweet about these issues."
He said social media guidelines for some BBC staff were "a bit vague", but said his client "assiduously avoids" appearing on political programmes.
Mr Holmes said Lineker asked him to "sort it out" when the row first erupted, and "initial contact with various BBC staff hadn't produced a result".
Lineker was then suspended over the tweet, in which he called the government's new asylum policy "immeasurably cruel" and said the language used around it was "not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s".
His suspension sparked a boycott by presenters which severely impacted football coverage for two days.
The BBC confirmed it had asked Lineker to step back from his TV duties in a statement last Friday.
"We have never said that Gary should be an opinion-free zone, or that he can't have a view on issues that matter to him, but we have said that he should keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies," the statement read.
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A meeting with BBC executives last Friday "didn't achieve much", Mr Holmes wrote. His warning that taking Lineker off air "would not be helpful" was not heeded, he added.
Lineker will return to screens this weekend after the row was resolved. An independent review of social media rules at the BBC was also announced.
BBC director general Tim Davie has said he is committed to looking at how the corporation's impartiality guidelines apply to freelance staff, acknowledging there are "grey areas".
After the agreement with Lineker was reached, Mr Davie apologised to licence fee payers and BBC employees, acknowledging "this has been a difficult period for staff".
He denied his deal to get the presenter back on air was a "climbdown", telling BBC News: "I've always said we needed to take proportionate action.
"For some people, by the way, we've taken too severe action... others think we're being too lenient."
Lineker won't return to Match of the Day this weekend as he was already scheduled to miss the show. Instead, he'll be presenting the BBC's live coverage of Manchester City v Burnley in the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon.
Dame Melanie Dawes, the chief executive of broadcast regulator Ofcom, said the row goes "straight to the heart" of the BBC's wider reputation.
BBC executives "need to be weighing freedom of expression alongside the wide reputation they have for impartiality," she told the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee earlier this week. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64976007 |
Lola James' injuries like those of car crash victim - court - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Doctor said head trauma Lola James had when she died was probably the result of abuse. | Wales | Lola James died at the Noah's Ark children's hospital on 21 July, 2020
Catastrophic head injuries suffered by a toddler were like those caused by high speed car crashes, a court heard.
Dr Deborah Stalker told Swansea Crown Court head trauma Lola James had when she died on 21 July 2020 was probably the result of abuse.
Kyle Bevan, 31, denies murdering the two-year-old four months after moving in with her mother Sinead James, 30.
Ms James denies causing or allowing her daughter's death at the family home in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire.
Dr Stalker, a paediatrician, said she didn't think there was a part of Lola, who had 101 external injuries, that was not bruised.
Mr Bevan, from Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, claimed the family's American bulldog, Jessie, caused Lola's injuries by pushing her down the stairs.
Dr Stalker said: "In my opinion Lola's severe and extensive injuries cannot be explained by a fall down the stairs.
"Physical abuse is the most likely cause. A stair fall does not explain the catastrophic and extensive injuries to the head with bleeding to both eyes."
She told the court such injuries were associated with physical abuse.
Lola's mother Sinead James is charged with causing or allowing her daughter's death
Dr Stalker said: "An extensive subdural haemorrhage is usually the result of a high velocity road traffic collision where a child is thrown from the collision, or a fall from a great height, such as a fall from a balcony or bedroom window of more than 10 feet."
Bruising such as Lola had to her ears was rarely the result of an accident, the court heard.
"It is usually the result of a direct blow, not one from a fall," Dr Stalker said.
She added that injuries like those on Lola's neck were rarely caused accidentally but could have resulted from strangulation.
Dr Stalker said it was unlikely Lola's bruises could have been caused accidentally and that their large size was unusual.
A lot of them were of a kind normally caused by gripping and often associated with abuse.
"Injuries to the neck are also very unlikely to be caused by accident and can be caused by strangulation," she said.
"The whole picture of Lola's head injuries led me to conclude they were caused by abusive head trauma."
The court heard shaking was the most likely cause of Lola's brain injuries.
Dr Stalker said injuries to Lola's back and legs were extensive and caused by a forceful blow.
"It looks like three or four blows with a weapon," she said.
Dr Stalker said she could find no medical reason to explain Lola's injuries. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64980577 |
TikTok: UK ministers banned from using Chinese-owned app on government phones - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Ministers fear sensitive data is at risk - but TikTok denies handing information to Chinese government. | UK Politics | British government ministers have been banned from using Chinese-owned social media app TikTok on their work phones and devices on security grounds.
The government fears sensitive data held on official phones could be accessed by the Chinese government.
Cabinet Minister Oliver Dowden said the ban was a "precautionary" move but would come into effect immediately.
TikTok has strongly denied allegations that it hands users' data to the Chinese government.
Theo Bertram, the app's vice-president of government relations and public policy in Europe, told the BBC it believed the decision was based on "more on geopolitics than anything else".
"We asked to be judged not on the fears that people have, but on the facts," he added.
The Chinese embassy in London said the move was motivated by politics "rather than facts" and would "undermine the confidence of the international community in the UK's business environment".
Mr Dowden said he would not advise the public against using TikTok, but they should always "consider each social media platform's data policies before downloading and using them".
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had been under pressure from senior MPs to follow the US and the European Union in barring the video-sharing app from official government devices.
But government departments - and individual ministers - have embraced TikTok as a way of getting their message out to younger people.
Use of the app has exploded in recent years, with 3.5 billion downloads worldwide.
Its success comes from how easy it is to record short videos with music and fun filters, but also from its algorithm which is good at serving up videos which appeal to individual users.
It is able to do this because it gathers a lot of information on users - including their age, location, device and even their typing rhythms - while its cookies track their activity elsewhere on the internet.
US-based social media sites also do this but TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance has faced claims of being influenced by Beijing.
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Downing Street - which last posted a TikTok video of Larry the Cat predicting football results - said it would continue to use TikTok to get the government's message out. It said there were exemptions to the ban under some circumstances.
Some politicians are also reluctant to give up the TikTok habit, despite the security warnings.
Cabinet minister Grant Shapps - an enthusiastic TikTokker - reacted to the ban by posting a clip from the film, Wolf Of Wall Street, in which Leonardo DiCaprio, playing a New York stockbroker, uses a series of expletives and declares: "The show goes on".
Mr Shapps called the ban "sensible", but added: "I've never used TikTok on government devices and can hereby confirm I will NOT be leaving TikTok anytime soon!"
Ministers have not been banned from using the site on their personal phones - just their work devices.
But Nadine Dorries - who experimented with TikTok videos when she was culture secretary - said she would be deleting the app from her personal phone, adding: "I think all MPs should do likewise."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Oliver Dowden and Angela Rayner on banning the use of TikTok on government devices over cyber-security fears.
Hours before the ban was announced the Ministry of Defence (MoD) uploaded a video of a Challenger 2 tank, a type being supplied to Ukraine, to its TikTok account.
The MoD said it would continue to use the app "to promote the work of the Armed Forces and to communicate our support to Ukraine". The department's sensitive data is "held on a separate system", it added.
The Welsh government has also banned TikTok from the work phones of ministers and civil servants.
In Edinburgh, a spokesperson for the Scottish government said officials were liaising with the Cabinet Office "as we consider the need for further action".
But MSPs and staff working at the Scottish Parliament have been "strongly advised" by Holyrood officials to remove the app from their devices.
Holyrood officials said the advice was precautionary but necessary on security grounds.
In a statement on Thursday, TikTok said the UK government's decision was based on "fundamental misconceptions".
"We remain committed to working with the government to address any concerns but should be judged on facts and treated equally to our competitors," a spokesman added.
The Ministry of Defence says it will continue to post on TikTok
A handful of Western journalists were found to have been tracked by ByteDance employees. ByteDance says they were fired.
A US TikTokker shared a video criticising the Chinese government's treatment of the Uighur Muslims, and it was taken down. TikTok said this was a mistake.
This has added to the nervousness of governments and security specialists - despite the firm's consistent denials.
The Chinese state demands loyalty from all businesses based in the country and nobody really knows to what extent ByteDance might be pushed to comply with demands for data.
Larry the Downing Street cat starred in the most recent No 10 TikTok video in the summer of 2021
The United States barred TikTok from official devices in December, and the European Commission followed suit last month. Canada, Belgium and India have taken similar action.
New Zealand on Friday also issued a ban on government devices.
China has accused the US of spreading disinformation and suppressing TikTok amid reports the White House wants its Chinese owners to sell their stakes in the firm.
TikTok insists it does not share data with Chinese officials, but Chinese intelligence laws requires firms to help the Communist Party when requested.
Western social media apps such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are blocked in China. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64975672 |
Budget 2023: Jeremy Hunt insists plans will get people back to work - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Jeremy Hunt tells the BBC his plans will kick start growth, but Labour says the UK economy is stagnating under the Tories. | UK Politics | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The chancellor said his first Budget will give "nearly five times more help" for parents dealing with child care costs.
Jeremy Hunt insists his Budget will get young parents and over-50s back into work - and it will not just benefit the rich who are saving for retirement.
The chancellor told the BBC he wanted to fill a million vacancies across the UK so firms can "grow faster".
He plans to expand free childcare in England and scrap the £1m cap for tax-free pension savings.
Labour has said it will reverse the pension move if elected, calling it a "tax cut for the top 1%".
It was "the wrong priority, at the wrong time", said shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves. Labour has said it would target the pensions tax cut at NHS doctors if it wins power.
In his Budget speech, Mr Hunt claimed the UK economy would avoid a recession, with inflation predicted to more than halve by the end of this year.
But he said a shortage of workers was holding back growth, and he wanted more over-50s, people with disabilities and parents of young children to get back to work.
Offering eligible working parents with children as young as nine months in England 30 hours of free childcare is a key part of the plan - but it will not be introduced fully until September 2025.
Mr Hunt said he would like to have extended childcare help sooner but it first needed a big increase in the number of childminders and nurseries.
As well as scrapping the £1m cap on the amount people can save for their pensions before it is taxed extra, he increased the annual tax-free allowance on pensions from £40,000 to £60,000.
The changes aim to encourage senior teachers and doctors to keep working.
Asked about criticism that it was a "Budget for the rich", allowing people who are already well off to save more for their pensions, he said: "Well, of course we want to help older people who want to stay in work.
"By definition, they will generally be on higher salaries, but nearly five times more help is going to young parents to help them with childcare costs, a nearly 60% reduction in childcare costs of £6,500 a child.
"That will make a huge difference to families. But also it will make a huge difference to businesses who worry - particularly smaller businesses - that they are losing valuable employees when they start a family."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Tory Budget shows 'just how out of touch they are' - Starmer
The government's independent forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), says the chancellor's policies are likely to add about 110,000 people to the UK workforce, depending on how they react to the various incentives.
Asked why after 13 years of a Conservative government a whole generation is not doing as well as their parents had, Mr Hunt said his growth plan meant "better jobs and better opportunities".
"We had half a million people who left the labour force during the lockdowns," he added. "That's an effect you haven't seen in other countries and that's why I've announced the measures I've announced today to encourage people back to work."
One senior government figure described it as "a steady-as-she-goes Budget", after the turbulence of Liz Truss's short-lived premiership.
The OBR said the UK economy would shrink by 0.2% this year, which is better than previously forecast and does not, technically, count as a recession.
Inflation is forecast to fall from 10.7% in the final quarter of last year to 2.9% by the end of 2023.
Living standards are still expected to fall by the largest amount since records began, according to the OBR, but the decline will not be as bad as it had forecast in November.
The economy is predicted to return to growth - but house prices are projected to fall by 10% by 2025.
The OBR also highlighted Rishi Sunak's April 2021 decision, when he was chancellor, to freeze tax thresholds, which it said amounted to the equivalent of a 4p increase in the basic rate of income tax.
That move, dubbed a "stealth tax" by critics, is due to come into effect next month and will increase government income by £29.3bn a year.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Thursday morning, Mr Hunt admitted "for a while the tax burden will be higher" due to costs incurred during the pandemic and on subsidising energy costs.
"These things have to be paid for", he said, adding "it's the right thing to do to get through this difficult period". He said the government wants to cut taxes "when we can".
Pressed on why childcare reforms will take years to roll out, he described the changes as "the biggest in my lifetime" and said the sector needs time to adjust to a new surge in demand.
He also defended the decision to remove the lifetime allowance on pension pots as a measure which will help the NHS retain doctors who otherwise might opt for early retirement or to cut their hours.
Labour's Rachel Reeves said the policy is a tax giveaway for the "top 1%" and should have been targeted at the health sector, rather than applied more broadly.
Some Tory MPs were disappointed by the decision to go ahead with a planned rise to corporation tax next month.
However, Mr Hunt said that businesses would be able to deduct money they invest in IT equipment and machinery from their taxable profits for the next three years.
There was no announcement in this Budget of extra money for public sector pay, as a wave of strikes by workers including junior doctors, teachers and rail staff continues.
In his speech, Mr Hunt also pledged an expansion in wraparound care at the start and finish of the school day for parents with older children and changes to staff-to-child ratios in England to expand supply of childcare, although the target date for the measure was September 2026.
And he announced plans to abolish Work Capability Assessments, which he said would "separate benefit entitlement from an individual's ability to work".
From 2026, the government will use another test, currently used to assess eligibility for Personal Independence Payments, the main disability benefit, to decide if someone is eligible for additional payments.
Other measures unveiled in the Budget include:
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: "After 13 years of his government, our economy needed major surgery, but like millions across our country, this Budget leaves us stuck in the waiting room with only a sticking plaster to hand.
"A country set on a path of managed decline, falling behind our competitors, the sick man of Europe once again."
SNP economy spokesman Stewart Hosie said: "It's truly pathetic that the chancellor has failed to cut energy bills, despite having ample resources to do so."
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: "Jeremy Hunt and Rishi Sunak had a chance to show they care about the cost-of-living crisis that's hitting millions of Britain's families and pensioners but they failed miserably."
How has the Budget affected you? You can get in touch by emailing [email protected].
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If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at [email protected]. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64964911 |
Budget 2023: Pension perks to the highest paid likely to be the next political flashpoint - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The end of the cap on tax-free pension savings could yet prove totemic, writes our political editor. | UK Politics | "A steady as she goes Budget." That's how one senior figure described it to me.
Fireworks have rather gone out of fashion after the political pyrotechnics of the last year.
The backdrop is clear: it is bleak. Just not as bleak as some thought it would be.
Wages have been stagnant for many, year after year after year, and are likely to remain so. Living standards are squeezed.
The Office for Budget Responsibility - the government's independent economic forecaster - says real household disposable income per person will fall more between last year and next year than at any time since records began in 1956.
The tax burden is high, reaching a post-war high in 2027. And for millions of people, income tax is going up.
Yes, you read that right, and no, you didn't hear the chancellor talk about it. So what's going on?
The thresholds at which people start paying income tax, or start paying the higher rates, are not changing.
But as wages tick upwards, people cross those thresholds and start paying a higher rate for every extra pound they earn.
The forecast suggests by 2027 that will mean 3.2 million new income taxpayers, paying 20p in the pound on earnings over £12,500.
There will be 2.1 million new higher rate taxpayers, starting to pay 40p in the pound on earnings over £50,000 a year and around 350,000 new additional rate taxpayers, paying 45p in the pound, on earnings over £150,000 a year.
So far, so rather hard to sell from the government's perspective.
Jeremy Hunt is seeking to present himself as a responsible and cautious economic custodian, seeking to address some of the most thorny of problems.
One of the biggest: luring people back to work, whether young parents or people in their 50s and 60s.
The provision of childcare in England is a keenly fought political space. The Conservatives want to appear competitive as Labour sets out its rival pitch.
There is deep pride within government at having settled things down after all the recent turbulence.
When I interviewed Jeremy Hunt, he sought to explain away those rising income tax levels as responsible: the pandemic and energy prices rocketing have been vastly expensive to the government and they need to be paid for.
Mr Hunt also claimed that the economic shocks of Liz Truss's brief and disastrous premiership were over. But the opinion polls suggest voters have not yet forgiven the Conservatives.
Next comes the detailed scrutiny of the Budget. And the political flashpoint looks like it will be those pension perks being offered to the very highest paid.
Necessary, argues the government, to ensure vastly experienced cancer surgeons and the like remain in operating theatres and not on golf courses.
Unfair, argue Labour, as it amounts to a massive tax cut for the already very well off. Expect the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to push it to a vote in the Commons next week.
Some on the opposition benches are comparing the idea to Liz Truss's plan to cut the rate of income tax for the very highest earners, a plan that didn't survive for long in contact with reality.
Will this feel as totemic? Let's see - Labour are determined to try to make it so. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64972934 |
Budget dresses up stagnation as stability, Keir Starmer says - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The Labour leader says the UK is "set on a path of managed decline" and "falling behind our competitors". | UK Politics | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Tory Budget shows 'just how out of touch they are' - Starmer
Sir Keir Starmer has accused the chancellor of "dressing up stagnation as stability" in his Budget.
The Labour leader also criticised plans to abolish the pensions allowance limit as "a huge giveaway" for the wealthy.
But Jeremy Hunt said the UK would avoid entering a recession and the economy was "proving the doubters wrong".
The government's independent forecaster said the economy was still likely to shrink this year, but by less than it previously thought.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is also warning of a big drop in living standards, which it says will not recover to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2027.
Sir Keir told the Commons that after 13 years of the Conservatives "our economy needed major surgery" but the government was providing "only a sticking plaster".
"A country set on a path of managed decline, falling behind our competitors, the sick man of Europe once again," he said.
He added that the country was "stuck in a doom loop of lower growth, higher taxes and broken public services".
The Labour leader also attacked the decision to abolish the cap on how much workers can accumulate in their pensions savings over their lifetime before having to pay extra tax.
Mr Hunt said the move would incentivise doctors and other experienced professionals to stay in work for longer.
But Sir Keir said it would "benefit those with the broadest shoulders when many people are struggling to save into their pension".
"We needed a fix for doctors, but the announcement today is a huge giveaway to some of the very wealthiest," he said.
"The only permanent tax cut in the budget is for the richest 1%. How can that possibly be a priority for this government?"
On the government's plans to expand free childcare for working parents in England, Sir Keir said "more money in the system is obviously a good thing".
"But we have seen the Tories expand so-called free hours before and as parents up and down the country know, it's no use having more free hours if you can't access them," he said. "And it pushes up the costs for parents outside the offer." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64967889 |
Spacesuit for return to the Moon unveiled - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | After 40 years Nasa's astronauts finally get a spacesuit upgrade for their next mission to the Moon. | Science & Environment | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
A new generation of spacesuit for humanity's return trip to the Moon has been unveiled by Nasa.
The novel design comes with specialist features to support astronauts as they conduct scientific experiments on the lunar surface.
The prototype is said to be a better fit for female space travellers.
Nasa hopes to have the updated suit ready for the Artemis III mission to the Moon in 2025.
The existing spacesuits worn by US space travellers have not been fully redesigned since 1981.
When Nasa announced that humanity would return to the moon after more than five decades, they promised to send the first woman and person of colour to the lunar surface.
But previous plans to send female astronauts to space have been scuppered by the lack of spacesuits in their size.
A well-fitting suit is crucial to prevent excessive fatigue and at worst, physical harm.
In 2019 Nasa had planned to send an entirely female team of astronauts to complete a space walk from the International Space Station.
But just days before Anne McClain and Christina Koch were due to depart on the walk, Nasa realised they didn't have two spacesuits in the correct size for both women, and McClain had to be replaced by colleague Nick Hague.
Nasa now believes the new design will overcome these problems and meet some of the challenges posed by the Artemis III mission to the moon, due to lift off in 2025.
Astronaut Anne McClain was replaced on an International Space Station walk in 2019 because of an ill-fitting spacesuit
The key requirement of a spacesuit is to provide oxygen at the right pressure to the astronauts which allow them to survive in the near-vacuum of space. This aspect requires careful design, as failure would see an astronaut's lungs rapidly expand causing death.
"We have a lot of tough requirements on this suit," said Lara Kearney, manager of Nasa's spacesuit and rovers team, at today's demonstration of the new design.
"The moon is a hostile place, and the south pole is really going to be a challenge. A lot of thermal requirements, we are looking for improved mobility so our astronauts can operate more efficiently."
Texas-based company Axiom Space won a $228 million (£190m) contract last year to design the suits, and now six months later they've revealed the first prototype.
In contrast to previous suits, the new Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit, has joints stitched in to provide the astronauts with more flexibility. It also sports inbuilt lights in the helmet.
These features are crucial as the astronauts will be required to survey geology, retrieve samples, and collect other data to further our understanding of the Moon's south polar region.
The helmet also comes with an HD video camera to allow videos from the moon to be watched in high definition back on Earth.
The new space boots should be able to withstand the freezing temperatures that are found in the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar surface.
Chief Engineer Jim Stein shows the new suit off in a live demonstration
The suits will be made using advanced manufacturing methods including 3-D printers and laser cutters to ensure exact measurements.
The prototype is part of a $1bn investment by Nasa to get two flight-ready spacesuits in time for the Moon mission.
In 2021, the space agency revealed it had already spent $420m on spacesuit development internally but was struggling to see results, so took the decision to commission the private sector to continue the work.
Buzz Aldrin on the Moon in 1969 wearing one of the original spacesuits
Mike Suffredini, Axiom Space president and CEO, said in a statement that: "Axiom Space's Artemis III spacesuit will be ready to meet the complex challenges of the lunar south pole and help grow our understanding of the moon in order to enable a long-term presence there."
The spacesuits will undergo further testing at Nasa's Johnson Space Center's Neutral Buoyancy Lab over the next year, before Artemis III launches in 2025. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64965767 |
Hillary Clinton 'hopeful' over Northern Ireland power-sharing - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | MPs are set to get a vote on the new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland, known as the Windsor Framework. | Northern Ireland | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Hillary Clinton says she is hopeful Stormont institutions will be restored by next month.
Hillary Clinton has said she is hopeful the Stormont institutions will be restored in time for the Good Friday Agreement's 25th anniversary.
The former US secretary of state was speaking in an interview with BBC NI.
Mrs Clinton said all the parties have been elected to serve the people of Northern Ireland.
She said they should either form a government or "resign and let someone from their party who is willing to be part of a new government move forward".
Northern Ireland has been without a power-sharing government since its second-largest party, the DUP, collapsed the Stormont executive over its opposition to the trade arrangements for Northern Ireland that resulted from the original Brexit deal between the UK and the EU.
Speaking in Washington, Mrs Clinton said: "Let's get the government up and going and, you know, my thought always is you never agree with somebody 100 per cent of the time, find the 60, 70 per cent of what you do agree on, get it done and then continue to talk and, you know, argue about what remains.
"So let's get the government up and going let's do the things that government is expected to do."
MPs are set to get a vote on the new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland, known as the Windsor Framework.
Commons leader Penny Mordaunt confirmed that on Wednesday there will be a vote on the Stormont Brake, an element of the new arrangements.
The Stormont Brake aims to give the NI Assembly a greater say on how EU laws apply to Northern Ireland.
The Stormont Brake aims to give the NI Assembly a greater say on how EU laws apply to Northern Ireland.
But the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) and other Stormont parties have asked the government for clarification.
Government officials have told the BBC that the intention is this vote will also be a chance for MPs to have their say on the overall UK-EU agreement in principle.
Downing Street said the vote "honours the prime minister's commitment" to give MPs a say on the revised trading arrangements for Northern Ireland.
Actually implementing the framework will require further legislation over the coming weeks and months.
The Windsor Framework was signed to alter Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol.
It will mean goods moving from Great Britain which are staying in Northern Ireland would use a 'green lane' at Northern Ireland ports, meaning they should face minimal paperwork and no routine physical checks.
Goods which are due to travel into the Republic of Ireland would use a 'red lane', meaning they face customs processes and other checks.
It is not clear how the DUP will vote next week, as its leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said he is not yet sure if the deal will match his party's seven tests before returning to the executive at Stormont.
Chuck Schumer used his speech at the Ireland Funds dinner to urge the DUP to return to Stormont
A spokesman for the prime minister said the government remained "open to speaking to the DUP and answering any questions they may have".
Asked why the vote was only on the brake, the spokesman said the government believed it was the "most significant part of our agreement".
Earlier, the US Senate leader said he hoped the new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland "clears the way" for the DUP to return to power sharing.
Chuck Schumer was speaking at a gala dinner in the US, attended by senior politicians from Northern Ireland.
He praised the "sometimes spluttering" progress made to achieve peace.
"I say to all parties in the north, but especially the DUP, let's get to the people's business," he said.
The leaders of the five main parties in Northern Ireland sat together for the dinner in Washington DC
Stormont's five party leaders and high-profile Irish politicians were among several hundred guests at the dinner in Washington DC on Wednesday night.
They are in the US for a series of events ahead of St Patrick's Day.
Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar used his speech to say he hoped the DUP would "take the path that leads towards the restoration" of devolved government at Stormont.
Asked whether he was feeling pressure to return to Stormont after the dinner, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said: "Not at all".
He added: "I think we have a very receptive audience here that understands the need to ensure there is proper balance and cross-community consensus is key to moving Northern Ireland forward," he said.
TUV leader Jim Allister said Mr Schumer's "attempts to interfere with politics" was, what he anticipates to be, "the first of many lectures" from US politicians.
"Unionist politicians would do well to remember that they answer to the voters in Northern Ireland, not New York," he added.
It was a night when Sir Jeffrey Donaldson felt the weight of Irish America on his shoulders.
Last year it was the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, who turned the heat up on his party - this time it was Senate leader Chuck Schumer.
And as the gala guests applauded Mr Schumer's remarks, the DUP leader sat with his arms folded.
Did he feel the pressure? "Not at all," was his response.
But there was defiance, too, from those sitting around him.
There is a Good Friday Agreement milestone to celebrate and no DUP boycott is going to spoil that party.
The Windsor Framework was agreed last month by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after more than a year of talks.
It aims to significantly reduce the number of checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain.
The DUP has yet to say whether it supports the deal - it has set up an eight-member panel to assess it and come to a "collective decision" on whether to back it.
The party's support for the Windsor Framework is seen as vital if the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Stormont executive are to function again.
Bill Clinton and Joe Biden have both said they will visit Northern Ireland next month
The date of Mr Biden's visit has not been confirmed but there is speculation he could attend a conference at Queen's University Belfast, which runs from 17 to 19 April.
Former US President Bill Clinton and his wife, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have both confirmed they will be attending.
Other high-profile figures are also believed to have received invites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-64971992 |
TikTok says US threatens ban if China stake not sold - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | TikTok, owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, says it has been contacted about a change in ownership. | Technology | The US government says TikTok should be sold or else face a possible ban in the country.
The video-sharing app, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is accused of posing a national security risk through data gathered from millions of users.
A request for a change in ownership, first reported in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), was confirmed to BBC News by TikTok.
The company said a forced sale would not change its data flows or access.
The White House has not yet responded to a BBC News request for comment.
For years American officials have raised concerns that data from the popular app could fall into the hands of the Chinese government.
According to the WSJ, US President Joe Biden's administration wants ByteDance to divest itself of TikTok to create a clear break from China.
The newspaper said the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS), which oversees national security risks, unanimously recommended ByteDance divest from TikTok.
A spokesperson for TikTok said it did not dispute the WSJ's reporting and confirmed it had been contacted by CFIUS.
However, the spokesperson said the reporting was overstated and it was not clear what "divestiture" meant in practice.
"If protecting national security is the objective, divestment doesn't solve the problem: a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access," the spokesperson said.
"The best way to address concerns about national security is with the transparent, US-based protection of US user data and systems."
A ban was first threatened under then-President Donald Trump in 2020.
However, Mr Biden's administration has also taken a dim view of the social network.
TikTok hoovers up huge amounts of data on its users, similar to Instagram and Twitter.
It can take biometric data from users and has access to location data. The fear is the information could be passed to the Chinese government.
TikTok says it has undertaken an effort to move all US-based data to the US as part of an initiative it calls Project Texas.
The company has told BBC News it still plans to move forward with that plan.
The development comes a week after new legislation was unveiled in the senate, which could expand the president's authority to ban TikTok nationwide.
The Restrict Act would allow the US Commerce Department to declare foreign-linked companies national security risks.
TikTok is banned on government phones in the US, Canada and the EU.
Its chief executive, Shou Zi Chew, is set to testify before the US Congress next week in a widely anticipated showdown. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-64973156 |
Free childcare expanded to try to help parents back to work - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Once a child is nine-months-old parents in England will be able to access up to 30-hours of free childcare. | UK Politics | Free childcare for working parents in England will be expanded to cover all children under five by September 2025, as the chancellor looks to get more parents back to work.
The move could allow 60,000 more parents of young children to enter the workforce, according to the government's independent forecaster.
Some 1.3 million people in the UK were unemployed in December 2022.
The new help for parents will be introduced in stages.
The plans are part of a government drive to boost economic growth.
Childcare in the UK is among the most expensive in the world and the government has been under pressure, including from some of its own MPs, to provide more help for parents.
The rising cost of childcare has been widely seen as a deterrent for some parents to go back to work or work full time.
The extension of free childcare has been lobbied for by business group the CBI, which calculates that while it will cost several billion pounds, it could raise up to £10bn in further revenue by increasing the number of parents able to work.
However, Paul Johnson, director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS), doubted it would make "a big difference".
"The childcare package is expected to only get a few tens of thousands more mothers, mostly, back into work," he told the BBC.
"We know a lot of people don't even take up what they're entitled to among the three and four-year-olds."
While the chancellor has increased the amount of free childcare available for pre-school children, nurseries have been calling for more money to pay for those children who already get government-funded provision.
Jeremy Hunt said he would increase that funding "by £204m from this September rising to £288m next year. This is an average of a 30% increase in the two-year-old rate this year".
We got in touch with the Treasury to ask for more details and they told us that the amount paid for two-year-olds is going up from £6 to £8 an hour, which is what the chancellor was referring to.
But funding for three and four-year-olds is going up from £5.29 to £5.50 an hour, which is only about 4%.
The IFS estimated this afternoon that the extra £288m is about a 7.5% increase in the current budget.
The government will also introduce changes to the staff-to-child ratios - moving from one carer for every four children to 1:5 to align with Scotland.
Supporters of the idea say it could help cut costs for parents.
However, the Early Years Alliance, which represents around 14,000 childcare providers in England, said relaxing ratios was a "shameful decision" which risked compromising safety and quality of care, as well as putting more pressure on the workforce during "a severe staffing crisis".
The organisation's chief executive, Neil Leitch, also raised concerns about whether there would be enough childcare places to meet increased demand.
"At a time when settings are closing at record levels and early educators are leaving the sector in their droves, unless the proper infrastructure is put in place by the time the extended offers are rolled out, many parents of younger children expecting funded places to be readily available to them are likely to be left sorely disappointed," he said.
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If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at [email protected]. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64959611 |
Budget 2023 live: Impact of Hunt's childcare plan is highly uncertain, IFS says - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The chancellor hopes expanding free childcare to include younger children will make it easier for more parents to work. | UK | 'From the most competitive to the middle of the pack'
Delestre now moves on to talking about corporation tax. He says there has been a long-term pattern of rate cutting in the UK over the years, but with the planned rise from 19% to 25%, the country is now moving from being one of the most competitive in the world to the "middle of the pack" - though still lower than any other G7 country. He says the revenue corporation tax will create as a percentage of GDP will reach the "highest ever level" by the end of the forecast period. He notes that with planned rises to corporation tax there will be concerns that it could dampen investment in the UK. Delestre adds Hunt has countered this by introducing a temporary increase to tax allowance on investments for the largest companies. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-64831837 |
Cheltenham stab suspect 'believed woman worked at GCHQ' - court told - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Joshua Bowles, 29, is accused of attempted murder and causing actual bodily harm. | Gloucestershire | Joshua Bowles is charged with attempted murder and causing actual bodily harm
A man allegedly stabbed a woman who he believed worked for intelligence agency GCHQ, a court has heard.
Joshua Bowles, 29, of Welwyn Mews in Cheltenham, is charged with attempted murder and causing actual bodily harm.
He was remanded in custody after a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on Thursday.
A woman sustained serious injuries after the attack and is in a stable condition, police had said.
The victim, who was not named in court, was stabbed outside a leisure centre on Tommy Taylors Lane in Cheltenham at about 21:15 GMT on 9 March.
A woman sustained serious injuries after the alleged attack
The court heard Mr Bowles is alleged to have punched and stabbed the woman with a knife in the car park, before attacking her in the leisure centre where she had gone to try to escape.
Prosecutor Kathryn Selby alleged Mr Bowles believed "she is a worker for GCHQ and he holds views on the work he believes they conduct. In his mind she represents the state".
Mr Bowles has also been charged with causing actual bodily harm to Alex Fuentes.
The court was told it is alleged Mr Fuentes was repeatedly punched by the defendant when he tried to intervene.
Mr Bowles is due to appear at the Old Bailey on 31 March.
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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-64975022 |
Budget back to work plan 'to cost £70,000 per job' - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The chancellor's schemes will only recruit small numbers at a high cost per job, a think tank forecasts. | Business | Budget plans to encourage people back to work will have limited impact and cost £70,000 a job, a think tank says.
The changes are expected to bring 110,000 back to work, which the Institute for Fiscal Studies said was "just a fraction" of the those who'd left work over the past two years.
The government will spend billions to boost labour supply via tax breaks on pensions and expanded free childcare.
It said the plans would help to grow the economy and raise living standards.
Paul Johnson, director of the IFS, said the government's forecaster had calculated the overall plan to boost workforce numbers will cost around £7bn a year and increase employment by around 110,000.
"That's a cost of nearly £70,000 per job," he says.
While the chancellor "might have some success" it was likely to be modest given the large number of people "lost from the workforce in the last couple of years", he added.
UK economic growth has flatlined in recent months and the economy is expected to shrink his year. About a quarter of people of working-age - around 10 million people - do not have jobs.
Persuading workers to work for longer is part of UK plans to boost growth, with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's Wednesday announcement on tax and spending being dubbed the "Back to work Budget".
Mr Johnson said the impact of annual net immigration numbers - assumed at 245,000 - would be far more significant for boosting employment.
The government said its independent finances watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had revised its outlook for economic growth upwards "by the largest amount ever in their forecasts" as a result of the Budget's measures.
A spokesman added: "[The OBR] also says extending 30 hours of free childcare to parents of nine months to two year olds... will lead to many more increasing their hours - helping to grow the economy and raise living standards for everyone."
The Budget also included measures to support disabled people who want to work, programmes to encourage retirees to take on jobs or apprenticeships, and changes to the rules around health-related benefits and universal credit.
On Wednesday, the OBR, noted that the impact of the back to work policies was uncertain, saying the final figure for the number of extra people in work could be half (or double) the main estimate of 110,000 workers.
That could, in turn, double or halve the cost-per-worker of the policy.
The OBR further estimate that extra workers will boost the size of the economy by 0.2% - equivalent to about £4.5bn, some of which the government will get back in extra taxes and a smaller benefits bill.
The pension tax changes, removing any limit to the amount that workers can accumulate in their pension savings over a lifetime before paying extra tax, have come in for particular criticism.
They are designed to encourage pension savers not to retire early - in particular senior doctors.
But the Resolution Foundation think tank, which focuses on low and middle income earners, described them as "poor value for money" and said they may not work as hoped.
Under the plans announced in Wednesday's Budget, the tax-free limit for pension savings during a lifetime will be abolished in April.
At present, people can save just over £1m before an extra tax charge is levied.
The annual allowance will remain in place, but will go up from £40,000 to £60,000, after being frozen for nine years. Those who are already drawing a pension, but want to save more will be able to put in £10,000 a year, up from £4,000.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt insisted the abolition of the lifetime allowance was the quickest and simplest way to solve issues with NHS doctors and consultants, who have been retiring early, reducing hours or turning down overtime for tax reasons.
But the Resolution Foundation said giving pension savers "very large wealth boosts will actually encourage some people to retire earlier than they otherwise would have done".
"It's a big victory for NHS consultants but poor value for money for Britain," said Torsten Bell, chief executive of the think tank.
Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the party would reverse the policy if it wins the next general election and replace it with one targeted at doctors rather than a "free-for-all for the wealthy few".
The move comes as the government is freezing general tax thresholds, which will drive up many people's tax bills.
The move is expected to raise more than £30bn by 2028, the bulk of this coming from taxes on employees' income.
It will also create 3.2 million new income taxpayers and 169,000 more will have to pay VAT. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-your-money-64975682 |
Watch: A fast forward look at Budget Day - BBC News | 2023-03-16T00:00:00 | null | The Chancellor delivered his first budget and presented the government's plans for spending and taxation. | null | Unveiling his Budget, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said parents of one and two-year-olds in England would get 30 hours a week of free childcare by September 2025 and scrapped the lifetime allowance on tax-free pension contributions.
Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer told the Commons that after 13 years of the Conservatives "our economy needed major surgery" but the government was providing "only a sticking plaster". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64971760 |
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