Author: News Desk

Blind man ‘feels like scum’ after being illegally refused taxis due to guide dog | UK News A visually impaired man who uses private hire vehicles to get to and from work successfully prosecuted a taxi driver who refused the trip due to ‘having a dog’. Stephen Anderson, 33, who works as a public servant, told Metro he has had 82 refusals by taxi drivers for having his guide dog with him. It is a criminal offence for private hire drivers to refuse access to a guide dog and its owner under section 170 of the Equality Act. Anderson, from…

Public inquiries should be shorter and recommendations tracked, Lords says Committee says major overhaul required to restore public confidence among victims and survivorsPublic inquiries should be shortened and the progress of their recommendations tracked, according to a House of Lords committee, which says a major overhaul is required to restore public confidence among victims and survivors. The committee’s report, published in the wake of the Grenfell Tower public inquiry, which took almost seven years, warns there is a perception that inquiries are frequently “too long and expensive”, undermining their credibility and prolonging trauma for those affected. Continue reading… https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/sep/16/public-inquiries-should-be-shorter-and-recommendations-tracked-lords-says

More than half of women fleeing domestic abuse turned away from safe refuge due to chronic shortages More than half of domestic abuse survivors face homelessness after being turned away from refuges due to a chronic national shortage of spaces. The latest figures show around six in 10 women fleeing domestic violence who sought a space in a refuge in England over a year were denied a place. Data from the Office for National Statistics shows 27,754 women were referred to a refuge between April 2022 and March 2023 but only 10,824 were accepted, with 16,930 women left with nowhere…

Nigel Farage accused of abusing MP role to make money by the Liberal Democrat chief whip has accused Nigel Farage and Lee Anderson of using their seats in parliament to boost their own profiles in a stinging rebuke. At the party’s autumn conference in Brighton, Wendy Chamberlain said constituency work appeared not to be the priority for the Reform UK MPs, both of whom host shows on GB News. Nigel Farage accused of abusing MP role to make money Months after it was revealed Mr Farage was the highest-paid MP outside of parliament, with a £98,000-a-month for his GB News…

Ministers accused of ‘rookie errors’ over early release scheme as freed prisoner allegedly commits assault Shadow home secretary James Cleverly has led concerns over the government’s early release scheme after a prisoner was accused of sexually assaulting a woman on the same day he was freed. Around 1,750 inmates were released early from jails in England and Wales on Tuesday to alleviate the overcrowding crisis which is overwhelming prisons. But following the move, it emerged a prisoner was accused of assaulting a woman on the same day he was freed. He has since been charged and recalled to prison ahead of a court date. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/early-release-scheme-sexual-assault-b2612915.html