Advertisers trim budgets amid jitters over World Cup host’s human rights record and appearing ‘tone-deaf’ to austerity There will be no Christmas TV advertising boom this year as jitters over associating with the World Cup host Qatar’s human rights record and the cost of living crisis put paid to the annual battle of the big-budget extravaganzas that traditionally bombard the public over the festive season. UK companies will still spend a record £9.5bn in the

Findings based on current rate of improvement in proportion of judges from under-represented groups It will take more than 125 years before Black people are properly represented within the England and Wales judiciary at the current rate of progress, the Law Society has found. Analysis by the professional body for solicitors found that with Black judges making up just 1.09% of the judiciary, compared with 1.02% in 2014, it would take until 2149 for their

Equality watchdog says appearance policies should include exceptions on racial and religious grounds Schools are being warned not to penalise or exclude pupils for wearing their hair in natural afro styles, as well as braids, cornrows and plaits, in new guidance intended to prevent hair discrimination. Britain’s equality watchdog has said school uniform and appearance policies that ban certain hairstyles without allowing for exceptions on racial and religious grounds are likely to be unlawful. Continue

Loopholes in legislation turning sector into ‘a licence to print money’ for unscrupulous providers in England England’s supported housing sector is a “complete mess” that is failing communities at the expense of the taxpayer and making residents “victims of terrible crimes at the hands of staff”, according to a scathing select committee report. The report found loopholes had turned the sector into “a licence to print money” for unscrupulous providers and that there has been

‘Playground bully’ Lee Anderson’s remarks described as ‘vile and disgusting’ by MPs from his own party A Conservative MP has been criticised for making transphobic comments that questioned whether female representation in parliament would “increase or decrease” if Eddie Izzard was elected as an MP. Lee Anderson, MP for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, told Talk TV he “would not follow him into the toilets” if she came to parliament, and even said Keir Starmer “is not

Prime minister abandons fracking and refuses to guarantee pensions triple lock or defence spending rise Rishi Sunak has dismantled what was left of Liz Truss’s legacy on his first full day as prime minister, abandoning fracking and refusing to guarantee the pensions triple lock or a defence spending rise. Any change to pensions or a decision not to uprate benefits in line with inflation would draw new battle lines between Sunak and Conservative MPs, a