Author: UK News

Prison shortages: Just one in five prisons have enough riot officers Nearly four in five prisons do not have enough officers trained to deal with riots as part of so-called “Tornado” squads despite rising violence and disorder behind bars, The Independent can reveal. With the prison crisis a major concern ahead of the general election, prison officers accused Rishi Sunak’s government of having “gambled with safety” in response to the revelations – as former governors warned that the ability to respond to simultaneous riots at multiple jails could be “fatally compromised”. The “scandalous” shortage of riot-trained officers – whose skills…

The Herald – Public Health Fears as Waste Collection Staff Set for Strike 30/05/2024 – The front page of The Herald leads on several major Scottish stories. Check out all the UK front pages here.  Other Stories Latest articles from The Herald

Keir Starmer gives speech as Labour rules out rises to income tax, national insurance and VAT – UK politics live There is no bias in the title provided. Shadow treasury minister Darren Jones told the BBC Labour will not raise the tax burden on ‘working people’Sign up for Election Edition, our general election newsletterKeir Starmer is in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, launching Labour’s general election campaign in Wales with beleagured first minister Vaughan Gething. Next week Gething faces a confidence motion in the Senedd. We’ll bring you any key lines that emerge. You can watch it here, the event has just started…

Most of Thursday’s front pages lead on domestic topics – with politics being the most popular. We’re less than 5 weeks away from the UK general election and the campaign trail is heating up. 

Several of the front pages lead on Diane Abbott defying Sir Keir Starmer as she says she will remain an MP for as long as possible. Abbott was suspended from Labour last April for saying Jewish, Irish and Traveller people do not face racism “all their lives”. 

The right-leaning and left-leaning newspapers have a different take on the Abbott story – either way, it’s bad for Labour! 

More from the campaign trail also features on the papers, the right-leaning newspapers lead on Tory Chancellor Jeremy Hunt saying Labour can’t be trusted with the economy, whilst the left-leaning newspapers say NHS nurses are in support of a Labour government. 

Strikes, celebrities and UK crime stories also feature on the front pages.

General election latest: Tories and Labour locked in VAT tax plan row as Diane Abbott vows to stand as MP There is no bias in the original title provided. Related: Starmer responds to Jeremy Corbyn standing as an independent candidateSign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailChancellor Jeremy Hunt and Rachel Reeves have ruled out raising VAT after the general election amid a furious row about each other’s tax plans.Labour shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves was accused of secretly planning to raise taxes to fund for the party’s spending pledges if they win the general election.…

Diane Abbott vows to stay on as MP as Labour descends into chaos over botched suspension Diane Abbott has vowed to stay on as the MP for her London constituency as the row over her future threatens to derail Labour’s important announcements on health and the economy. In her first public speech on the escalating situation on her selection, which has sent the party’s election campaign into turmoil, Ms Abbott told supporters she intended to stay on as MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington for “as long as it is possible”. The future of the trailblazing MP, who was…

Palestine march in London sees 40 arrested and police officers hurt | UK News Three police officers were injured and 40 people arrested during a protest in London against Israel’s war in Gaza, Palestine, on Tuesday night. One officer suffered a serious face injury after she was hit by a bottle thrown from the crowd that gathered at Downing Street. Two officers were left with minor injuries. Police are working to identify the suspect who threw the bottle. As protests continue on university campuses, a pro-Palestine demonstration kicked off at around 6pm outside Westminster. Dozens of Palestinian flags and banners…

Akshata Murty: Britain’s potential first lady goes on campaign trail in bid to boost Rishi Sunak’s election hopes There is no bias in the title provided. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWhen Rishi Sunak took the podium to deliver his prime minister’s speech at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester last October, there was little he could say that hadn’t already been leaked to the media. But he did have one secret weapon, in the form of his wife, Akshata Murty.Taking to the stage in…

EU keen to deepen ties with a Labour PM but will not offer radical concessions UK relationship ‘isn’t taking up as much of our mental space as it was a few years ago’, says EU diplomat Since 2016, Britain’s Conservatives have compared the European Union to Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, described a senior EU official’s remarks as “bizarre and stupid” and threatened to break international law with a unilateral rewrite of the Brexit deal. So an incoming Labour government does not have to do much to strike a different tone. But while the EU is ready to deepen ties…

Police Scotland report finds flaws in cell check system At the lowest level, detainees are checked in their cell and must give a verbal response at least once every hour for the first six hours in custody. Thereafter they are checked on every hour but if they are sleeping do not have to give a verbal response for up to three hours. Those who are deemed to be at the highest risk, Level 4, for things such as self-harm or suicide are placed under close proximity observation by staff who are either in the custody cell with them or watching from an open…

Over 404k drivers in Wales caught speeding in last 5 years Around nine million drivers were caught speeding between 2019 and 2023 across the entire UK with 2.1 million of those recorded during last year alone. These “alarming” figures come from data released by Confused.com following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to UK police forces. North Wales nation’s worst for speeding over last 5 years North Wales was the worst area in Wales for speeding offences over the past five years. According to the FOI, 272,413 drivers were caught speeding in the area between 2019 and 2023. The equates to over half recorded across all of Wales in the…

Angela Rayner ‘cleared by HMRC’ over council house row HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will take no further action against Angela Rayner following investigations into her living arrangements a decade ago prompted by Tory allegations, it was reported on Wednesday night. The deputy Labour leader had faced claims she may have broken electoral law and dodged capital gains tax and council tax over the 2015 sale of her council house in Stockport, and whether she had provided false information about her main address during the 2010s. However, HMRC said on Wednesday that the Ashton-under-Lyne MP owned no capital gains tax…

Junior doctors’ strike could delay care for 100,000 NHS patients in England Rishi Sunak says timing of action days before general election appears to be ‘politically motivated’ to help Labour Up to 100,000 patients in England face having their NHS care cancelled days before the general election after junior doctors announced a fresh wave of strike action, with Rishi Sunak saying it appeared to be politically motivated. Health leaders expressed alarm, warning the five-day strike would jeopardise efforts to tackle the record waiting list and “hit patients hard”. Continue reading… https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/may/29/junior-doctors-strike-england-june

Man and son, 12, missing after hillwalking in Scottish Highlands Tom Parry, 49, and Richie were due home in Cheshire after visiting Glen Nevis and Glencoe A man and his 12-year-old son are missing after a hillwalking trip in the Scottish Highlands, police have said. Tom Parry, 49, and his son Richie were due to return to their home in Cheshire on Wednesday after visiting Glen Nevis and Glencoe. Continue reading… https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/may/29/man-and-son-12-missing-after-hillwalking-in-scottish-highlands

General election 2024: Diane Abbott issues defiant MP pledge as Sunak dismisses Labour’s lead in polls Diane Abbott has vowed to be the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington “as long as it is possible” amid a row over her political future as Rishi Sunak has dismissed Labour’s lead in the polls. Addressing a crowd outside Hackney Town Hall on Wednesday evening, the Labour veteran said: “You have always stood with me in good times and bad and I will always stand with you.” Ms Abbott had the Labour whip restored on Tuesday, but the question of whether or…

Political opponents unite to demand end of Turkish Cypriot isolation A cross-party group of 50 influential politicians have urged foreign secretary Lord Cameron to end the UK’s “punitive and unfair ban” on direct flights to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). The letter was sent to the foreign secretary as last ditch effort before Parliament is dissolved for the general election but had the support of Labour’s Lord Straw and Tory Sir Iain Duncan Smith among other. The move comes as Cyprus’ divided island is set to mark 50 years since the crisis which saw them split into rival…

Angela Rayner cleared by HMRC over tax on sale of former home Exclusive: Document seen by the Guardian says ‘no capital gains tax is due’ from Labour deputy leader and that case is now closed HM Revenue and Customs has confirmed that Angela Rayner owes no capital gains tax for the sale of her former council house and that no further action will be taken, according to a document seen by the Guardian. The tax authority said two weeks ago it had considered the evidence and had concluded the house in Stockport was the Labour deputy leader’s principal residence the…

Roy Keane ‘left in shock’ after Arsenal fan headbutted him through doors, court told Former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane has told a court he was left “in shock” after being allegedly headbutted through doors during a Premier League football match. Pundit Mr Keane was alleged attacked by Arsenal fan Scott Law at end of the Gunners’s victory over United at the Emirates Stadium in September last year. Law, 43, of Waltham Abbey, Essex, denies a charge of common assault and claims he was “scared and terrified” and acting in self-defence, Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court heard on Wednesday. Giving evidence…

Home Office made mistakes in rush to set up asylum housing, MPs say There is no bias in the original title Committee says department pressed ahead with plans without adequate understanding of what would be required The Home Office has made “unacceptable and avoidable mistakes” in its haste to use disused barracks and a giant barge to house asylum seekers, parliament’s spending watchdog has concluded. The public accounts committee said the department “does not have a credible plan” to send asylum seekers to Rwanda and has little to show for hundreds of millions of pounds spent so far on the…

Rishi Sunak Rwanda flights: Migrant deportation plan not credible, damning report by MPs finds The Home Office “does not have a credible plan” for sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, a report from a cross-party group of MPs has found. MPs on the Public Accounts Committee have said they have “little confidence” in the Home Office’s ability to implement the Rwanda plan. A report, published on Wednesday, will be a blow to Rishi Sunak who committed to flights being in the air in June, before his election announcement pushed that back to July. The prime minister has made the success of…

Sunak calls on Starmer to be transparent about Diane Abbott situation – UK politics live SNP’s Stephen Flynn hails MP as a ‘phenomenal individual’ and contrasts her treatment with the welcome given to Tories’ Natalie Elphicke The Conservatives have been pushing a plan today to expand the number of apprenticeships, pledging “100,000 more apprenticeships a year by the end of the next parliament.” It is unclear whether this figure includes the “up to 20,000 more apprenticeships” that Sunak previously announced ten weeks ago. Under the plans, there would be legislation granting greater powers to the Office for Students, the universities…

Abbott investigation ‘designed to humiliate’ her, says Blair adviser | News The investigation process into Diane Abbott was “designed to humiliate” her, Tony Blair’s former director of political operations has said. John McTernan, who advised Blair from 2005 to 2007, said whoever is responsible for the investigation into Ms Abbott should “hang their heads in shame” when he was interviewed on Times Radio today (29 May). Ms Abbott has said that the Labour Party will ban her from standing as a candidate at the upcoming general election. The MP for Hackney North had the party whip restored on Tuesday after…

Rishi Sunak promises to create 100,000 high-skilled apprenticeships a year Conservatives’ policy would be funded by scrapping ‘rip-off degrees’ with high drop-out rates and low job progression Rishi Sunak has promised to create 100,000 high-skilled apprenticeships a year by scrapping “rip-off degrees” if he wins the general election. In the latest of a flurry of announcements as the Conservatives try to narrow Labour’s 20-point poll lead, the party pledged to replace “low-quality” university degrees with apprenticeships. Continue reading… https://www.theguardian.com/education/article/2024/may/28/rishi-sunak-promises-to-create-100000-high-skilled-apprenticeships-a-year

Diane Abbott ‘to be banned from standing for Labour’ as it emerges race investigation finished five months ago Diane Abbott is to reportedly be banned from standing as a Labour candidate at the general election – as it emerged a party investigation into her finished five months ago. Sir Keir Starmer said on Tuesday that the party’s National Excecutive Committee will decide whether Ms Abbott, the longest-serving Black MP, will be able to stand for the party in the 4 July general election. But The Times is reporting that the party’s leadership has already made its decision on the 70-year-old,…

Labour pledge to boost sick pay rights for low-paid workers Labour has unveiled its first big general election offering on workers’ rights with a pledge to end discrimination on sick pay facing low-paid employees. Just 24 hours after wooing more than 120 business leaders with their economic plans, the Labour leadership is seeking to calm union concerns that they will water down their promises on workers’ rights. The intervention on sick pay will help an estimated 1.5 million who are not covered by the rules and either have to work through illness or stay at home without financial support. The…