Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, run by Gareth Swarbrick, received multiple complaints about fungi from Awaab Ishak’s parents A housing boss responsible for the flat where two-year-old Awaab Ishak died due to mould has refused to resign, claiming that conversations about his position have “begun to overshadow” the tragedy. Under chief executive Gareth Swarbrick, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) received multiple complaints about fungi from Awaab’s parents before he died from a respiratory condition in December 2020. Continue

‘Danger to life’ warning issued for parts of Scotland, with some areas braced for a month’s worth of rain in 36 hours The UK is braced for more heavy winds, rain and flooding on Thursday night after being hit by half a month’s worth of rain in 24 hours following a period of unseasonably warm weather, as the Met Office issued a “possible danger to life” warning for parts of Scotland. The amber warning, which

Austerity is pushed back until after the next election amid evidence of higher energy bills and a protracted recession Britain faces the biggest hit to living standards on record as Jeremy Hunt set out £30bn of delayed spending cuts and £25bn of backdated tax increases in an autumn statement that laid bare the country’s dire economic predicament. Underlining the fragility of the economy, the chancellor pushed back the fresh austerity measures until after the next

Hollywood actor criticised by South Africans after saying controversial apartheid-era language ‘not very helpful’ Charlize Theron has prompted anger in her native South Africa after suggesting that Afrikaans, a language descended from Dutch colonial settlers, was heading for oblivion. “There’s about 44 people still speaking it … it’s definitely a dying language, it’s not a very helpful language,” the 47-year-old Oscar-winning actor said this week on a US podcast “Smartless.” Continue reading… ​Hollywood actor criticised

Sir Michael Barber will help with skills programme while Patricia Hewitt will work on NHS administration Politics live: latest news and reaction on UK budget plans Jeremy Hunt has called on political heavyweights linked to Tony Blair’s government to help him reform public services. Delivering his autumn statement to the Commons, the chancellor announced that former Labour adviser Sir Michael Barber had been asked to help with the government’s skills reform programme, and that former

The activist’s mother was allowed to visit her son for the first time in nearly a month on Thursday The family of the British-Egyptian political prisoner Alaa Abd el-Fattah say his health has visibly deteriorated due to the escalation of his hunger strike, after being allowed to visit him on Thursday. It was the first time the activist’s mother, Laila Soueif, had been allowed to visit him in nearly a month. Prison authorities repeatedly denied