Health minister says it's clear NHS is broken and government is going to be honest about challenges'An independent investigation will be held into the performance of the NHS, the health secretary has announced.Writing in the Sun, Wes Streeting said the investigation would be aimed at diagnosing the problem" so the government can write the prescription". Continue reading...
In first international trip since entering No 10, PM visits Washington for alliance's 75th-anniversary summitKeir Starmer will call on Nato countries to increase defence spending in response to rising global threats as he launches a major review setting out UK plans to spend tens of billions of pounds extra on the military.The prime minister will use Nato's 75th-anniversary summit in Washington, his first international trip since winning power, to underline Britain's cast-iron" commitment to the defence alliance. Continue reading...
by Peter Walker Senior political correspondent on (#6P3AJ)
Nandy says her department will prioritise celebrating British culture and a less divisive vision of the UKThe era of culture wars is over", Lisa Nandy has promised in her first speech as culture secretary, saying her department will be at the heart of efforts to reflect a more positive and less divisive vision of the UK.For too long, for too many people, the story we tell ourselves, about ourselves as a nation, has not reflected them, their communities or their lives," Nandy told staff at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Continue reading...
Officials say 43-year-old man left his vehicle to take pictures of a breeding herd at Pilanesberg national parkA Spanish tourist has been trampled to death by elephants in a South African national park after apparently trying to take pictures of a breeding herd that included three calves.The 43-year-old man was killed on Sunday morning at Pilanesberg national park about 130 miles (210km) north-west of Johannesburg. Continue reading...
MoD accepts death of Sqn Ldr Kai Macnaughton, who was exposed to toxic fumes as helicopter pilot, was service related', Times reportsThe Ministry of Defence has reportedly conceded that the death of an RAF pilot who lost his life to cancer was related to his service as it awarded his widow a pension.Sqn Ldr Kai Macnaughton was 52 and still serving in the military when he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of blood vessel cancer and died three weeks later aged 53, the Times reported. Continue reading...
One ex-employee describes Nursing and Midwifery Council as hotbed of bullying, racism and toxic behaviour'A dysfunctional" culture at the UK nursing regulator is threatening public safety, according to a damning report that found the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) took seven years to strike off a nurse who had been accused of rape and sexual assault.Staff at the regulator broke down in tears as they recounted their frustrations over safeguarding decisions that put the public at risk", according to the authors of an independent review of the regulator. Continue reading...
The archbishop of Canterbury urged traditionalists not to abandon the church over the moveSpecial church services to bless same-sex couples have inched closer after the Church of England's ruling body backed a proposal by bishops that could see a three-year trial starting in 2025.The General Synod, meeting in York, voted by 216 to 191 to back the move, which is the latest incremental step in the C of E's long journey towards welcoming the civil marriages of same-sex couples. Continue reading...
Refuge raises concerns over measures to ease overcrowding in England and Wales after mistakes made under ToriesKeir Starmer's plan to ease the overcrowding crisis in prisons must not allow high-risk offenders to walk free again, a domestic abuse charity has warned.Labour's new government is expected to authorise emergency measures this week under which criminals could be automatically freed after serving between 40% and 45% of their sentence. Continue reading...
by Peter Walker, Ben Quinn and Rowena Mason on (#6P2EW)
Doubt raised about election hopefuls who stood without providing photos, biographies or contact detailsReform UK are coming under pressure to provide evidence its candidates at the general election were all real people after doubts were raised about a series of hopefuls who stood without providing any photos, biographies or contact details.Reform insists every one of its 609 candidates on 4 July were real, while accepting that some were in effect paper candidates" who did no campaigning, and were there simply to help increase the party's vote share. Continue reading...
by Sally Weale Education correspondent on (#6P2EX)
Oasis St Martin's Village will offer mentoring and other help for at-risk young people and is intended to be first of manyOne of the UK's first girls' schools is to reopen in September as the first of a series of youth hubs for young people at risk of falling out of education and into crime.St Martin-in-the-Fields high school for girls in Tulse Hill, south London, will be reinvented as Oasis St Martin's Village, offering mentoring and one-to-one therapeutic care for vulnerable young people who are in danger of being excluded. Continue reading...
Andreas Wuchner suffered traumatic brain injury after hurrying to his flight from Heathrow to Zurich in 2017A passenger who suffered a traumatic brain injury after slipping in a puddle of Baileys while heading for a flight could receive up to 4m in compensation.Andreas Wuchner, who was 35 at the time of the incident at Heathrow airport in November 2017, was due to fly home to Zurich after he and his business partner had to rebook flights as a result of missing a previous plane due to traffic. Continue reading...
by Pjotr Sauer and Artem Mazhulin in Kyiv on (#6P2EZ)
Rescuers search through rubble of country's largest children's hospital, as Zelenskiy vows to retaliateWestern and UN leaders have condemned a daylight Russian missile barrage that hit Ukraine's largest children's hospital, leaving an unknown number trapped under the rubble, as strikes across the country killed 36 people in one of the deadliest attacks this year.Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed retaliation as he said Kyiv's Okhmatdyt hospital, the main treatment centre in the country for children with cancer, had taken a direct missile hit. The strike was part of one of the heaviest attacks on the capital since Russia's February 2022 invasion. Continue reading...
Surprise result restores hope' but politicians urged to heed warning after far-right National Rally falls shortAgainst the backdrop of Lyon's emblematic Bartholdi fountain, much of which was sculpted by the artist behind New York's Statue of Liberty, the same word was on seemingly everyone's lips on Monday after the French election result: soulagement, or relief.It's great that the far right didn't win," said Stephane, 47. But he, like everyone else the Guardian spoke to, was swift to add a caveat given the political uncertainty that now looms over the nation. It's going to be a mess. They're not going to agree on a lot of things." Continue reading...
Exclusive: Whitehall warns firm's deteriorating infrastructure and 15.6bn debt pose urgent problemThe prime minister and chancellor have been briefed by Whitehall officials that the poor state of Thames Water presents a critical risk" to the country, the Guardian understands.Fears about the company go beyond its precarious financial position and include the management of sites that provide drinking water and sewage treatment for millions of customers across the capital and the Thames valley. Continue reading...
by Lorenzo Tondo and Quique Kierszenbaum in Jerusalem on (#6P28X)
Civil emergency service says dozens killed in strikes launched after Israeli military issued evacuation ordersPeople in Gaza City have reported one of the heaviest attacks by Israeli forces since 7 October, sending thousands of Palestinians fleeing from an area already ravaged in the early weeks of the nine-month-old war.The latest Israeli incursion into the eastern sector of Gaza City came as Israel's far-right coalition parties threatened again to stop ongoing negotiations in Qatar for a ceasefire, arguing that halting the fighting now would be a huge mistake. Continue reading...
Scarlett Vickers, daughter of Simon Vickers and Sarah Hall, was killed by a single knife wound to the chest, court toldA mother and father have appeared in court accused of murdering their 14-year-old daughter who, the court heard, was fatally stabbed.Simon Vickers, 49, and Sarah Hall, 44, of Darlington, who have been charged with murder, appeared at Newton Aycliffe magistrates court in County Durham on Monday. Continue reading...
Downgraded hurricane strengthens, bringing torrential rain, strong winds and floodingAfter Tropical Storm Beryl broke records last week for being the earliest recorded category 5 Atlantic hurricane, the system has been barrelling towards the Texas coast where it made landfall on Monday.Beryl was downgraded to a tropical storm crossing the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico on Friday, but was forecast to restructure and intensify as it moved into favourable conditions. Continue reading...
Doctors deplore decision and point to country's high neonatal mortality rate as bank, which opened in June, forced to close without taking a single depositWhen he heard a hospital in Karachi was setting up a milk bank for babies, the news was a huge relief" to Mohammad Munawwar.With his wife very sick and their premature son Ayan in hospital, the 52-year-old father had had to collect milk five or six times a day from different female relatives who were breastfeeding their own babies. Continue reading...
The Guardian's political editor in 1997 recalls the optimism then and what went wrong in Labour's last transition from opposition to powerVeterans of Labour's 1997 victory party at the Royal Festival Hall - by the end, the dancefloor looked like a war zone strewn with dozing bodies - will remember the sense of disbelief and excitement as the scale of the landslide started to materialise.David Hill, the less self-publicity-prone of the hugely effective Labour press team, gave out a deep-throated what?!" as he reeled away in disbelief at the sight of a startled Stephen Twigg defeating Michael Portillo in Enfield Southgate. That night, unexpected seat after unexpected seat fell into Labour hands. Continue reading...
by Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor on (#6P203)
Labour has emphasised its commitment to national security and also its historical connection with NatoKeir Starmer flies out this week to a turbulent Washington DC for a Nato summit aiming to emphasise the UK's commitment to Ukraine at a time when the forthcoming US election puts the medium-term American position in question.It is the new prime minister's first international visit, four days after the election, and Starmer can expect to be feted by fellow leaders who are facing either, in the case of Joe Biden, an uncertain future or, in the case of France's Emmanuel Macron or Germany's Olaf Scholz, unpopularity at home. Continue reading...
Campaigners for electoral reform say outcome has renewed pressure for proportional representationThe push for electoral reform in the UK has received a shot in the arm after the most disproportionate election in history", according to campaigners and academics.Longstanding reform campaigners have become uneasy bedfellows with Reform UK's Nigel Farage in recent days after Labour secured a 174-seat majority with just 34% of the popular vote. Continue reading...
Top places go to smaller and independent parks, with Potters Resorts taking the no. 1 spotThe long-established Pontins has been rated the worst UK holiday park brand in a survey by the consumer organisation Which?, with smaller and independent resorts taking the top honours.Top of the table was Potters Resorts, which has a base in the Essex countryside and another on the Norfolk coast. Continue reading...
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#6P206)
Exclusive: South Cambridgeshire experiment led to fewer refuse collectors quitting and faster planning decisionsIn the largest public sector trial of the four-day week in Britain, fewer refuse collectors quit and there were faster planning decisions, more rapid benefits processing and quicker call answering, independent research has found.South Cambridgeshire district council's controversial experiment with a shorter working week resulted in improvements in performance in 11 out of 24 areas, little or no change in 11 areas and worsening of performance in two areas, according to analysis of productivity before and during the 15-month trial by academics at the universities of Cambridge and Salford.Staff turnover fell by 39%, helping save 371,500 in a year, mostly on agency staff costs.Regular household planning applications were decided about a week and a half earlier.Approximately 15% more major planning application decisions were completed within the correct timescale, compared with before.The time taken to process changes to housing benefit and council tax benefit claims fell. Continue reading...
Andrea Robin Skinner says her stepfather sexually assaulted her when she was nine, but her mother said she loved him too much' to leave himThe daughter of Nobel prize winner Alice Munro, Andrea Robin Skinner, has alleged that her stepfather sexually abused her as a child, and that her mother stayed with him even after he admitted to the abuse.Skinner revealed the allegations in an essay and a news article in Canada's Toronto Star on the weekend, writing about how her stepfather, Gerald Fremlin, began sexually assaulting her in 1976 when she was nine years old and he was in his 50s. Continue reading...
by Helen Livingstone (now); Lili Bayer, Vivian Ho and on (#6P1NZ)
This blog has now closed but you can read our full report on the French election results hereHello from Paris.I spent time this afternoon outside a polling station in the city's 16th district. Continue reading...
Napoleon said to have tried to use the guns after defeat of French campaign, but grand squire removed the gunpowder, so French ruler tried poison insteadTwo pistols that Napoleon Bonaparte once intended to use to kill himself were sold in France on Sunday for 1.69m (US$1.8m), the auction house said, with the government banning their export so that they stay in the country as national treasures.The identity of the buyer at the auction in Fontainebleau south of Paris of the finely adorned objects was not made public but the final sale price, with fees, was above the estimates of 1.2-1.5m. Continue reading...
Mossad chief gave mediators list of new demands and it was not clear whether Hamas would accede to them, reports sayThe Israeli government has been accused of attempting to sabotage a US-backed ceasefire proposal, according to Israeli media, by introducing new demands despite previously accepting the plan.Hopes for a ceasefire in Gaza had risen in recent days following reports that Hamas had given initial approval for a new proposal for a phased deal, after ninth months of war since the attack on 7 October. Continue reading...
Early election predictions of far-right majority were proved wrong but questions remain over futureA nervous energy rippled through the crowd gathered at Lyon's Place de la Republique. As the final polls closed in the most momentous election in recent memory, hundreds of people milled about, waiting to find out what would lie in store for France.Just after 8pm, Florent Martins came running through the plaza, mobile phone in hand. We won," the 23-year-old yelled out, his voice shaking with disbelief as those around him exploded into cheers and hearty applause. The left won!" Continue reading...
by Jessica Elgot Deputy political editor on (#6P1RY)
Robert Jenrick, Priti Patel and Kemi Badenoch, who have all ruled out deal with Reform, seen as more viable candidatesConservatives have suggested that the former home secretary Suella Braverman is losing support as a potential party leader, as some who lost votes across southern England privately urged colleagues to resist a lurch to the right.A number of MPs now see Robert Jenrick, Priti Patel and Kemi Badenoch, all of whom have ruled out a deal with the hard-right Reform leader Nigel Farage, as more viable candidates. Continue reading...
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