Author: David Pike

Call for UK crackdown on plastic packaging to drive green economy FTSE 100 firm DS Smith, which works with firms over alternatives, urges next government to match global standards Whoever wins the UK general election must tighten regulations to slash the use of plastic packaging, match global standards and drive “green consumption”, the boss of one of the sector’s biggest manufacturers has urged. Miles Roberts, the chief executive of the packaging firm DS Smith, made…

Tories taunt Keir Starmer over Diane Abbott fiasco Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has ruthlessly seized on the chaos in the Labour Party over the future of Diane Abbott which has sparked a revolt on the left of the party. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was accused on Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning of “dithering” over the trail-blazing MP and first black woman to be elected to Parliament in Britain. She has vowed to stand again…

Urgent hunt for girl, 9, missing for two days Police are urgently appealing for information about a schoolgirl who has been missing for two days. Soraya, nine, was last seen in Canning Town in London on Tuesday, and is believed to be in the company of her mother. A spokesperson for Hertfordshire Police said: “Police are appealing for the public’s help to trace a young girl who has gone missing from Hemel Hempstead. “Soraya, aged…

Murder investigation after man and woman found dead in quiet village A murder probe has been launched after a woman and young man were found dead at a home near Bishop’s Stortford. Emergency services were called to an address on Cambridge Road, in Ugley, on Tuesday evening after reports two people were seriously injured at an address. Officers found a woman in her fifties and a man in his twenties with injuries. They were pronounced…

Faiza Shaheen speaks out after Labour blocks candidacy Faiza Shaheen has spoken out after Labour did not endorse her for the Chingford and Woodford Green seat in northeast London. Reports suggested the economist would be suspended by the party after she allegedly liked a series of posts on X that downplayed antisemitism accusations. Ms Shaheen says she was informed of the decision shortly before appearing on Newsnight on Wednesday, 29 May. “They briefed the press…

Diane Abbott: Timeline of her suspension from racism comments to Labour ‘election ban’ The Labour party has become embroiled in a political row following the fallout around veteran MP Diane Abbott’s readmission to the party – and lack of clarity over whether she can still stand for it. After being suspended from Labour for just over a year, Ms Abbott was readmitted to the party in late May, once again becoming a Labour MP. Ms…

Family pays tribute to football coach killed with one punch: ‘I’ve lost my compass, my guide’ The family of a football coach killed after suffering a single but fatal punch outside a pub have mourned losing their “heart and soul” after his attacker was jailed. Scott Hendy, 46, fell and suffered a critical head injury after being struck by George Baylis in pub car park in Redwick Road, Pilning, at about 12.10am on 2 March.…

Worker pulls faces as Rishi Sunak gives election speech in Devon A worker was caught on camera pulling faces as she listened to Rishi Sunak deliver a Conservative General election campaign speech during his tour of Devon. The prime minister was delivering a speech to workers at a defence firm on Wednesday (29 May). As Mr Sunak said “It’s been difficult the last few years”, the woman in the shot of the camera can be…

Jon Stewart calls rejection of UK candidate for liking one of his sketches ‘dumbest thing since Boris Johnson’ The US late-night satirist Jon Stewart has responded after Britain’s Labour Party blocked left-wing academic Faiza Shaheen from standing as a candidate in the upcoming General election for liking a number of potentially offensive social media posts, one of which featured a clip from The Daily Show. “This is the dumbest thing The UK has done since…

Angela Rayner defies Keir Starmer to back Diane Abbott as Labour election candidate Angela Rayner has given Diane Abbott her full backing to run for Parliament in the General election in a dramatic intervention. It comes as Sir Keir Starmer was forced to deny that he is trying to “purge” the left of the party as the row over Ms Abbott and candidate selections threaten to derail his campaign. The row appears to have left…

Mortgage crisis deepens as one in four face missing payments this year A quarter of Britain’s mortgage holders face missing their payments by the end of this year as interest rates continue to soar, analysis shows – with thousands told already that they could lose their homes. Some 1.6 million homeowners will come to the end of their fixed-rate deals this year, with an average hike of about £1,800 annually on their repayments as they…

General election live news: Angela Rayner backs Diane Abbott as Faiza Shaheen calls in lawyers over Labour row There is no bias in the 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 emailLabour deputy leader Angela Rayner says she backs Diane Abbott to stand as a Labour candidate for Hackney North…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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.…

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…

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…

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…

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…