In this issue

December 05, 2022

Tories are going backwards on green growth, says CBI

The head of Britain’s biggest business organisation has warned that the government is “going backwards” on the green growth agenda that provides the best opportunity to lift the country out of recession over the coming years.

4 mins

Braverman wants migrants to be detained indefinitely

Extreme plans backed by home secretary Suella Braverman to stop asylum seekers crossing the Channel have been criticised as unworkable” and completely out of step with British values”.

4 mins

Labour promises to replace Lords with elected chamber

Labour will move quickly to replace the \"indefensible\" House of Lords with an elected chamber as part of a package to distribute power and wealth more widely, Sir Keir Starmer will pledge when he delivers a major speech promising to give people \"democratic control over their lives\" if the party wins the next election.

2 mins

Children in domestic abuse households to be treated as victims and offered support

Children who grow up amid domestic abuse will be treated as victims and given specialist support even if they were not present during violent attacks.

2 mins

Rail strikes set to go ahead after RMT rejects pay offer

The main rail union has rejected a last-ditch offer from train operators.

2 mins

Pregnant migrants struggle to get adequate healthcare

The health of pregnant asylum seekers living in a Home Office hotel is at risk because of the difficulty they face accessing medical services, campaigners and local midwives have warned.

4 mins

Zahawi suggests nurses' pay demands are helping Putin

Nurses and ambulance drivers are helping Vladimir Putin in his assault on Ukraine by demanding big pay rises, a cabinet minister has said. The comments triggered widespread ridicule. Nadhim Zahawi switched tack in the battle to avert pre Christmas NHS strikes by claiming that the industrial action would expose a \"divided\" UK when a united front is needed over Russia's \"illegal war\".

2 mins

Flexible working request open from first day of job

Millions of workers will be able to request flexible working from day one of their employment, under new government plans. Ministers have spelt out a range of flexible working options, including job-sharing, flexitime, and working compressed, annualised, or staggered hours. Workers were promised that new measures will give them greater access to flexibility over where, when, and how they work.

1 min

Rape claim Tory MP avoids suspension 'on legal advice'

The Tory party chair has defended a decision not to suspend an MP accused of sexual assault and rape, arguing it is based on independent legal advice”. The unnamed MP was reported to the Metropolitan Police by fellow Conservatives concerned about his behaviour but retains the whip, despite suggestions the party has been aware of the fears for two years.

2 mins

Secondary school pupil dies from Strep A-related illness

A 12-year-old boy is the latest child to die after contracting Strep A, according to reports. The boy, believed to be a Year 8 pupil from Colfe’s School in Lewisham, is understood to be the first secondary school student to fall victim to an infection caused by the bacteria after a spike in cases in recent weeks.

2 mins

EU laws 'bonfire' over toy safety and work accidents

Safety rules to protect children from dangerous toys and in vehicles, as well as to prevent exposure to asbestos, are set to be scrapped as part of a bonfire of EU laws, campaigners are warning.

3 mins

Rising price of Christmas dinner dampens festive joy

Turkey, pigs in blankets and roast potatoes have all increased in price by an average of 18%, reports Jonathan Kanengoni

2 mins

Pubs And Breweries 'Face Closure' Over Energy Bills

Pubs and breweries are set to be the latest casualties of the cost of living crisis, with many forced to close for good without energy support, bosses have warned.

2 mins

Iran rejects claims morality police are to be abolished

State media quick to dismiss attorney general’s misreported’ remark as activist says episode shows the fear of the regime’

4 mins

Iran executes four accused of being spies for Mossad

Authorities in Iran have executed four people accused of working for Mossad. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency identified the executed prisoners as Hossein Ordoukhanzadeh, Shahin Imani Mahmoudabadi, Milad Ashrafi and Manouchehr Shahbandi.

1 min

Ukraine's prospects rising as Russia's war slows down

US director of national intelligence optimistic’ about future direction of the conflict, now running at a reduced tempo’

2 mins

Xi Jinping blocking Covid vaccine from West, says US

Xi Jinping will not allow Western vaccines to be used in China, according to US director of national intelligence Avril Haines.

2 mins

Emmett Till's relatives lead protests at accuser's home

Relatives of Emmett Till were among a dozen protesters who gathered to demand justice on Saturday at the Kentucky home of a woman whose accusations led to his murder.

1 min

Trump's 2024 election bid is struggling to get into gear

From controversies to legal cases and social media rants, the former president has not started his re-election campaign in the way his team would have hoped, writes Chris Stevenson

2 mins

Thousands flee as highest volcano in Indonesia erupts

Indonesia’s highest volcano erupted yesterday, prompting evacuation orders and raising the country’s volcanic activity threat level to its highest after the release of searing gas clouds, rivers of lava and thick plumes of ash that reached nearly 50,000 feet into the sky.

1 min

There's no reason for faith to be kept separate from politics

This week, new data from the 2021 census showed that for the first time ever - the majority of people in England and Wales do not describe themselves as Christian. The proportion of the public who identify as Christian fell 13 per cent from 2011. Most of that vote share - 12 per cent - flipped to \"no religion\".

2 mins

Starmer is the reason why I tore up my party membership

I have torn up my Labour Party membership, having joined in 1964 when I came to London for university. I decided to leave in August after Sir Keir Starmer, as party leader, announced what I think are destructive Brexit policies.

3 mins

Martin Luther King's quote needs amending in 2022

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from Cop27 may not have been the breakthrough agreements hammered out at the end, or the pledges to finance vulnerable countries hit hard by climate disasters. Aside from these achievements, it was the first time where human rights and climate rights were really spoken about on a global stage as being inextricably intertwined.

3 mins

Has The Modern Royal Family Reinvented The Royal Family?

There's a photo taken a few years ago, in slightly happier times, of the then Prince Charles, Camilla, Harry and Meghan, Wills and Kate, and the grandchildren. Camilla is pointing at the camera, and little Princess Caroline is giggling. Prince George is on his grandad's knee. It's all very sweet, and falls cosily into a long line of such portraiture.

7 mins

Stranded this Christmas

The festive period is already going to be difficult for a lot of travellers, writes Simon Calder. If the rail disputes aren't solved there'll be plenty of resolutions to stay clear of trains

6 mins

Why Taking Antidepressants Isn't Always An Easy Solution

Robyn Morris was prescribed sertraline for depression and anxiety. It worked, but soon other problems began to emerge

3 mins

'I think he was really proud'

How did one of cinema’s weirdest mavericks end up father to one of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars? Louis Chilton talks to the maker of Sr., a film about Robert Downey Jr’s father

5 mins

New minister for disabled people must work harder to close the employment gap

It’s a while since I’ve looked at the disability employment gap DEG), which represents the gulf between the rates of employment enjoyed by able-bodied Britons when compared with those of their disabled peers. When I called Scope to get the latest figures, I was not expecting good news. We are, after all, in quite the economic pickle. On the other hand, employment rates are a lagging indicator. Unemployment is usually the result, not the cause, of economic trauma.

3 mins

Emphatic victory sets up quarter-final France clash

England make a straight line for the quarter-finals. And then another. And another. That is perhaps the best way to describe this coruscating 3-0 win over Senegal, driven by Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden, as Gareth Southgate's side reached a third successive quarter-final in major tournaments.

3 mins

Sterling returns to UK after armed robbery at his home

Raheem Sterling left England's World Cup camp yesterday after armed robbers broke into his London home on Saturday night while his family were there.

1 min

The teenager making this World Cup look so easy

There was a moment during the build-up to England’s second goal that you stopped and realised a 19-year-old from Stourbridge was already becoming one of the most feared midfielders in world football.

3 mins

England's wide men hold the key to beating France

A willing tool of the Fifa machine in recent years, it is tempting to write off many of the things Arsene Wenger now says. Fresh from suggesting that the teams who made political statements at this World Cup were cosmically punished by exiting it, that temptation only grew. But his eye for the game itself, the one that so expertly guided Arsenal for so many years, remains as shrewd as it ever was.

3 mins

Giroud revels as unlikely legend to dispatch Poland

It was a day to celebrate a record-breaking No 9. Just not Robert Lewandowski. Now at Barcelona, Poland's highest scorer, a serial marksman in the Bundesliga, standing second only to Gerd Muller in the history of the German top flight and Bayern Munich alike, bowed out of the World Cup, perhaps forever, by doubling his tally at this level.

4 mins

Fury's savage win is brutal reminder of boxing's nature

More than 60,000 showed up for Dereck Del Boy” Chisora’s boxing wake on Saturday night in north London.

3 mins

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