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Government has promised not to enrich uranium or reprocess spent fuel as part of the nuclear-powered submarine program

Former Labor prime minister attacks Aukus, the media, post-Brexit Britain and his own side of politics

Over-50s who dropped out of work since pandemic say better and quicker NHS treatment is neededWhen chancellor Jeremy Hunt urged people over 50 who have dropped out of the workforce since the pandemic to get off the golf course, Julie*, 52, from Hertfordshire, “laughed out loud”.Julie has been waiting over a year for a knee replacement operation so she can get back into employment. She is one of many unable to work due to long-term illness who will be looking to the chancellor to provide much needed funding to tackle NHS waiting lists in his budget speech on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Dominic Perrottet and Chris Minns correctly name their children in order of age, a welcome moment of clarity in a muted campaign

National Education Union going ahead with two more days of industrial action that will disrupt schoolsPay negotiations between teachers and the government could start in earnest as early as next week, after strikes that are expected to disrupt schools across England on Wednesday and Thursday.The National Education Union (NEU) is going ahead with its final planned two days of strikes in England, which will mean many pupils missing school or working from home, despite an offer by Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, to open talks if it called them off. Continue reading...

About 42% of men reported experiencing physical violence since the age of 15, report finds

The battle to replace Nicola Sturgeon is dividing the SNP and growing increasingly bitter, reports Libby BrooksWhen Nicola Sturgeon announced her imminent departure from the leadership of the Scottish National party, she assured her supporters that there was a wealth of talent vying to take her place.As Scotland correspondent Libby Brooks tells Hannah Moore, the resulting leadership contest has been a period of cold realisation for many supporters of Scottish independence. Not only do they not have a successor with anything like the stature of Sturgeon, the candidates are divided on economic as well as social policies and even the best route to independence. Continue reading...

British citizen Jagtar Singh Johal was detained and says he was tortured after alleged tipoff by UK intelligenceThe Foreign Office has asked for claims to be examined in a secret court that a British citizen was detained and tortured after the security services passed intelligence to the Indian government, newly filed court papers show.The government department is refusing to confirm or deny claims that Jagtar Singh Johal, a British Sikh activist, was detained in India in 4 November 2017 after an alleged tipoff to the Indian security services. Continue reading...

Labor backs the Coalition’s energy roadmap but accelerated coal plant closures and renewable project delays are raising concerns

Joshua Alan James Wootton, 32, admits one count of intimidation and one of accessing restricted data

TikTok clip shows PM’s pet near Serpentine in Hyde Park, where dogs must be kept on a lead to protect wildlifeRishi Sunak’s family have been spoken to by police after letting their dog roam free in Hyde Park.It came after the prime minister and his family were filmed apparently breaking the rules of the park in central London. Continue reading...

Internal study was commissioned in 2019 over concerns that sanctions have negative effect on claimants’ health and financesThe Department for Work and Pensions has been ordered to release “sensitive” research into whether fining benefit claimants is effective in getting them to take a job or work more hours.The internal DWP study was commissioned in 2019 after a cross party committee of MPs concluded that while there was no evidence benefit sanctions incentivised people to get work, they did have a negative effect on claimants’ health and finances. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Chancellor will promise to provide extra 30 hours a week to parents of one- and two-year oldsA £4bn expansion of free childcare for one- and two-year-olds in England is expected to be announced in the budget on Wednesday as part of a wider drive to help people into work and boost growth.The plan would provide an extra 30 hours a week to parents of one- and two-year olds, and increase funding for the existing programme of free childcare for three year-olds. Continue reading...

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Malicious communications sent to two people against ex-Top Gear host’s Diddly Squat farm expansionDeath threats have been made against two people who opposed Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat farm expansion, the local council has revealed.West Oxfordshire district council has said it is aware of malicious communications against an unnamed councillor and a member of the public who spoke out against the 62-year-old former Top Gear presenter’s plans. Continue reading...

Defence claims Beal had been in a coercive relationship with Nicholas Billingham, who she stabbed and buried in back gardenA primary school teacher on trial accused of the murder of her long-term partner was mentally “broken” by the time of the killing, after being subjected to coercive behaviour, her barrister has claimed.Defence KC Andrew Wheeler told Northampton crown court there was no dispute that Fiona Beal unlawfully killed Nicholas Billingham, whose body was found buried in the back garden of their home in March last year. Continue reading...

Psychiatrist speculated she had PTSD from childhood trauma but trial offered few other clues

Jockey Club says relaxed code makes racing more accessible but some are unimpressed by the less well-dressedLooking across the packed stands of Cheltenham Racecourse on day one of this year’s festival, it is fair to say the usual mix of tweed suits, blazers, flat caps and feather-topped country hats dominated.But after the Jockey Club’s decision to ease dress restrictions across its courses, there was also a noticeable increase in denim jeans and leather jackets – and even the odd tracksuit on show. Continue reading...

Aslef and RMT members to stop work for 24 hours on budget day in dispute over pensions and staffing changesA strike by Tube drivers and station staff will shut the London underground on Wednesday, bringing widespread disruption to the capital.Trains will continue to run as normal on the Elizabeth line and London Overground, but Transport for London warned that those services, as well as buses, would be much busier and could have some disruption and delay. Continue reading...

Head of Great Britain’s energy regulator tells MPs installations will not resume until suppliers found to be adhering to code of practiceA ban on the forced installation of prepayment meters by energy companies has been extended beyond the end of March, Ofgem has said.The energy regulator’s chief executive, Jonathan Brearley, told MPs that suppliers would not resume the installations until a code of practice was published and Ofgem was satisfied it was being adhered to. Continue reading...

WhatsApp messages disclosed showing actor discussed pretending she had been hospitalisedEva Green was so concerned she would have to make what she had described as a career-wrecking B-movie that she discussed pretending she had been hospitalised in order to avoid turning up, a court has heard.New detail of Green’s antipathy towards a failed multimillion-pound sci-fi film, A Patriot, at the centre of a legal battle between her and a production company emerged in freshly disclosed WhatsApp messages from the actor. Continue reading...

MoD refuses to say whether it has looked into claims civilians were injured in December strikeBritain’s Ministry of Defence is refusing to say whether it conducted an investigation into reports of civilian casualties after an RAF drone strike conducted against a terrorist target in northern Syria last December.Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, told MPs on Monday that a Reaper drone was used to attack “a leading Daesh [Islamic State] member in al-Bab, northern Syria” on 20 December, the latest strike in controversial policy of attempted targeted killing. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Leeds University research reports desperation, hair loss and intrusive thoughts as medics struggle with staff shortagesNHS junior doctors suffer panic attacks and feelings of desperation because they get so stressed from the pressure they are under at work, research has found.Some also experience intrusive thoughts, migraines and hair loss as a direct result of trying to give patients high-quality treatment in hospitals struggling with serious staff shortages. Continue reading...

Analysis by Local Data Company also says closures in the most affected categories have been offset by new openings in othersHairdressers, dry cleaners and fish and chip shops were among the independent retailers hardest hit by surging energy bills and a consumer spending squeeze last year, but overall indies fared better.A jump in shop closures among those categories was offset by new openings led by beauty salons, convenience stores and takeaways, according to the latest report by analysts at the Local Data Company. As a result, the overall number of independent retailers across the UK remained flat year on year in 2022, compared with a jump in closures of more than 2,000 in 2021. Continue reading...

One man died in fire on 5 March in two-bedroom flat where at least 18 people were livingA criminal investigation has been launched into a fatal fire in a two-bedroom flat in which at least 18 people were living, with some sleeping on the kitchen floor.The privately owned flat in a Tower Hamlets council block was rented to mostly Bangladeshi couriers and students paying £100 a week, according to one resident. A fire started in the early hours of 5 March, possibly sparked by a faulty e-bike battery. Most of those people squeezed into bunk beds and sleeping on the floor escaped, but Mizanur Rahman had to be rescued by firefighters and later died in hospital. Continue reading...

Greg Hands says sorry through cabinet secretary for attack on civil service over Channel crossingsThe Conservative party chair has been forced to apologise to the civil service after an email sent out in Suella Braverman’s name said public servants had frustrated plans to curb small boats crossings.The home secretary distanced herself from the email sent to thousands of Tory supporters, in which she blamed “an activist blob of leftwing lawyers, civil servants and the Labour party” for the government’s failure to stop Channel crossings. Continue reading...

Twenty-two-year-old from Barrow posted photos on Facebook falsely claiming she had been abusedA woman has been jailed for eight and a half years after being found guilty of lying about being raped and trafficked by an Asian grooming gang, and making false rape claims against a series of other men.Eleanor Williams, 22, from Barrow-in-Furness was convicted in January of nine counts of perverting the course of justice. Sentencing her at Preston crown court on Tuesday, the judge, Mr Justice Altham, said her allegations were “complete fiction” and criticised her for showing “no significant signs of remorse”. Continue reading...

Interim report shows significant evidence former PM misled MPs over lockdown parties

DfT document appears to undermine ministers’ claims, saying jobs are likely to go and construction firms could be at riskAn internal Department for Transport briefing on the HS2 project has admitted delays to the high-speed railway will increase costs, appearing to undermine ministers’ claims.The document seen by the Guardian says the decision to delay the project is also likely to cost jobs, put construction firms at risk of going into administration and that the department could face compensation claims. Continue reading...

Governor says foreigners will only be allowed to rent cars, after series of road traffic offencesThe Indonesian island of Bali plans to ban tourists from renting motorbikes after a series of incidents in which foreigners have violated traffic rules.Bali’s governor, Wayan Koster, said that underchanges to be imposed this year, foreigners would only be allowed to drive cars rented from travel agents. Continue reading...

Authorities will resume issuing all visas after closing borders to international holidaymakers in 2020China will reopen its borders to foreign tourists for the first time in the three years since the Covid pandemic erupted by allowing all categories of visas to be issued.The removal of this last cross-border control measure on Wednesday comes after authorities declared victory over the virus last month. Continue reading...

This year’s Academy Awards with Jimmy Kimmel at the helm drew an average TV audience of 18.7m – and a bigger share of younger viewersThe audience for the 2023 Academy Awards broadcast improved substantially on last year’s unimpressive figures, with a 12% jump on what was the second worst ratings performance in history.Early ratings from Nielsen, supplied to the Hollywood Reporter, said that the show on ABC attracted an average of 18.7m viewers, compared to 16.6m in 2022. The audience share in the key 18-49 age demographic also improved, from 3.76 last year to 4.0. Continue reading...

Beijing accuses US, UK and Australia of disregarding global concerns with plan to build nuclear-powered vesselsChina has accused the US, UK and Australia of embarking on a “path of error and danger” in response to the Aukus partners’ announcement of a deal on nuclear-powered submarines.“The latest joint statement from the US, UK and Australia demonstrates that the three countries, for the sake of their own geopolitical interests, completely disregard the concerns of the international communities and are walking further and further down the path of error and danger,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said during a regular press briefing on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Aimed at finding ‘lively, unusual, original’ writing by those aged between 11 and 14, the prize is inspired by the ‘imagination and curiosity’ of Martha, who died in 2021 aged 13The London Review Bookshop has launched a prize for “lively, unusual or otherwise original” writing by 11-14 year olds, offering young people the chance to have their work published.The Martha Mills Young Writers’ prize has been set up in memory of the daughter of Merope Mills, editor of the Guardian’s Saturday magazine, and Paul Laity, an editor at the London Review of Books (LRB). Martha died in 2021. Her parents said that it was Martha’s “great curiosity and imagination” that inspired the new award.​Every book starts with nothing,

Exclusive: State government does not have an overarching policy on the app’s use, but it is understood that is now being reviewed

The action, lodged in the Victorian supreme court against the AFL, alleges loss, pain and suffering to more than 60 former players

Opposition leader offers broader bipartisan support for Aukus project, but criticises other defence spending cuts

Special set with UK’s favourite flowers including the sunflower and purple iris to feature on collection of 10 stamps

Crowd demonstrate in Westminster as MPs debate government’s controversial immigration reformsHundreds of people have gathered in Parliament Square to protest against the government’s controversial new asylum and migration law as MPs debated the measures in the Commons.The crowd, which first congregated around the Winston Churchill statue, chanted “What do we want? Safe passage. When do we want it? Now”, and “Who built the NHS? Migrants built the NHS.” Many held placards, which read “migrants and refugees welcome here: blame austerity, not migrants”. Continue reading...

US president said he intended to visit Northern Ireland and Irish Republic in meeting with Rishi SunakJoe Biden has confirmed he plans to visit Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement.He was told by Rishi Sunak “we’d love to have you” when the pair held a face-to-face bilateral meeting on the fringes of the Aukus summit. Continue reading...

First of new vessels expected to be seaworthy by the end of 2030s, with Australia receiving theirs in early 2040sThe UK’s nuclear-powered submarine fleet could double in size as plans were revealed for the new “Aukus” vessels to be based on a British design.In a bid to counter the growing threat from China, the UK’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, vowed alongside his US and Australian counterparts to stand “shoulder to shoulder” to protect peace in the Indo-Pacific given its implications for security across the world. Continue reading...

Reworking of policy marks Britain’s changed view of its position in light of tilt to authoritarianism and volatilityBritain’s refresh of its defence and foreign policy may mark the moment when the UK sobers up about its place in a world that it now describes as “defined by danger, disorder and division”, and increasingly tilting to authoritarianism.Gone is the optimistic Global Britain bombast of the Boris Johnson era, set out in the original integrated review only two years ago. That version championed the UK as “a beacon of democratic sovereignty” and one of the most influential countries in the world, and hailed its ability to draw on its post-Brexit status to “do things differently, economically and politically”.“What has changed is that our collective security now is intrinsically linked to the outcome of the conflict in Ukraine.”“The transition into a multipolar, fragmented and contested world has happened more quickly and definitively than anticipated. We are now in a period of heightened risk and volatility that is likely to last beyond the 2030s.”“A growing convergence of authoritarian states are challenging the basic conditions for an open, stable and peaceful international order, working together to undermine the international system or remake it in their image.” Continue reading...

Police find body of man who was unaccounted for after blast in Morriston that left three injuredA man has died and three people have been taken to hospital after a suspected gas explosion in south Wales.A search of the scene uncovered the body of a man who had been unaccounted for after the blast in Swansea on Monday, South Wales police said. Two properties were extensively damaged and other neighbouring properties were also damaged. Continue reading...

Silicon Valley Bank UK has been sold to HSBC for £1, in a deal that protects depositors’ money, says Treasury and Bank of England after weekend talks

William Loyd-Hughes is alleged to have posted images promoting the loyalist paramilitary group last yearA police officer has been charged with a terrorism offence after posting on social media in support of the Ulster Defence Association.William Loyd-Hughes, 26, is alleged to have posted images promoting the loyalist paramilitary group last year while employed by West Yorkshire police. Continue reading...

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Eighteen people implicated in death of Sanda Dia after brutal initiation that included standing in an icy wellEighteen former members of an elite university fraternity in Belgium are back on trial over the death of a black student following a brutal initiation ritual.Prosecutors have asked for sentences ranging from 18 to 50 months in jail for the 18 people implicated in the death of Sanda Dia, a 20-year old engineering student, who died in December 2018 after being forced to drink excessive alcohol, eat large amounts of fish sauce, and stand in an icy well for hours. Continue reading...

Campaign coordinated by Labour MP, Zarah Sultana, calls for every child to have access to a daily hot mealThe chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has been urged to use his spring budget to extend free school meals for all primary pupils to tackle “the child poverty endemic”.The Scottish government has committed to providing free school meals for all primary schoolchildren, while in Wales the rollout of universal primary free school meals began in September. Continue reading...

Humza Yousef, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan vying to succeed Nicola Sturgeon who quit last monthTens of thousands of Scottish National party members will cast their votes from Monday to select their party leader and Scotland’s next first minister, after a snap election forced by Nicola Sturgeon’s shock resignation.Polling began at noon on Monday with Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s health secretary, vying to become the country’s first minority ethnic first minister, against Kate Forbes, the finance secretary, and Ash Regan, a former community safety minister and the outlier candidate. Continue reading...

Ireland wins just two awards, for best special effects and best live-action short, after being nominated for 14Ireland had hoped for Oscar glory but instead ended up the butt of jokes about drinking, fighting and incomprehensible accents as it claimed just a couple of the coveted golden statuettes.Just two awards out of 14 nominations was disappointment enough but Hollywood added insult to injury with national tropes that elicited eye rolls in Ireland. Continue reading...