Jithender Ballepu says more staff and funding would be needed and has concerns about passing antibiotics over the counterThere is no plaque outside Bassett Pharmacy in Southampton to indicate this was once run by the prime minister’s mother but there is a sign round the back that gives the game away: “Parking for Sunak Pharmacy customers.”Inside, the pharmacist Jithender Ballepu was expressing reservations about Rishi Sunak’s plans for chemist shops to provide prescriptions for millions of patients in England. Continue reading...
Exclusive: John Allan, a prominent business leader and former CBI president, denies all but one of the allegationsOne of the UK’s most prominent business leaders, the Tesco chair John Allan, faces claims of inappropriate and unprofessional behaviour from four women, the Guardian can reveal.Allan allegedly touched the bottom of a senior member of Tesco staff in June 2022, at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM). It is also claimed that he touched the bottom of a member of staff at the business lobbying group the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), at its annual dinner in May 2019, when he was the organisation’s president. Continue reading...
by Harry Taylor, Tom Ambrose and Helen Sullivan on (#6BJVJ)
UK foreign secretary and US secretary of state have urged Russia not to use global hunger as a tool of war. This live blog is closedThe North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, said Russia “will prevail” in its fight against what he described as “imperialists”, the state news agency KCNA said on Tuesday, in remarks seen to be aimed at Ukraine and its western supporters such as the US.North Korea has forged closer ties with the Kremlin and backed Moscow after it invaded Ukraine last year, including its proclamation later of having annexed parts of Ukraine, which most UN members condemned as illegal. Continue reading...
by Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent on (#6BK92)
Multibillion-dollar deal for 737-Max-10s could double capacity at budget airline and create 10,000 jobsRyanair has announced an order for a further 300 aircraft from Boeing, a deal worth $40bn (£32bn) at list prices, which could allow the budget carrier to nearly double passenger capacity over the next decade.The new Boeing 737-Max-10 aircraft are 10% larger again than the newest fleet of Max planes the Irish carrier has recently introduced from Boeing, which Ryanair called “gamechangers” for their fuel burn and costs per passenger. Continue reading...
Chair of health committee did not properly declare work for health recruitment firm Remedium PartnersA leading Conservative MP and former health minister did not properly declare his second job for a health recruitment firm when lobbying Matt Hancock and Michael Gove during the pandemic, the standards watchdog has found.Steve Brine, the chair of the Commons health committee, was found to have breached the rules twice by failing to declare in his approaches to cabinet ministers in early 2021 that he was a paid strategic adviser to Remedium Partners, a recruitment firm offering doctors for free to the NHS. Continue reading...
by Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor on (#6BKJY)
UK opens tender for rockets akin to those denied by US, which could enable strikes deep into CrimeaBritain and a group of European allies are hoping to supply long-distance cruise missiles to Ukraine, similar in range to those the US has so far refused to supply Kyiv, which could allow its army to strike deep into Russian-occupied Crimea.A tender document quietly released by the UK calls for western arms makers to offer “missiles or rockets with a range 100-300km” (62 to 186 miles) to the International Fund for Ukraine, run jointly with Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Continue reading...
Six anti-monarchy protesters were detained on day of coronation but Met later admitted they ‘regretted’ their arrestsRishi Sunak has recorded a clip for broadcasters in Southampton. Asked about the arrest of some anti-monarchy protesters at the coronation, for which the Met has now apologised, Sunak refused to criticise police for what they did.Asked if the arrests made him feel uncomfortable, Sunak said the police were “operationally independent of government”. He went on:They make the decisions on the ground in the way they see fit.It wouldn’t be right for me to interfere with their operational decisions, but it is right for the government to give the police the powers to tackle serious disruption.With regard to protest, of course people have the right to protest freely but peacefully, but it is also right that people have the ability to go about their day-to-day lives without facing serious disruption.What the government has done is give the police the powers that they need to tackle instances of serious disruption to people’s lives.Pharmacies in Wales have been able to prescribe certain medicines for a year now, so this is just the government stealing a Labour policy again. Why does the media happily report everyone Tory slur on the Welsh NHS but never point out the positives? As another example, there have been several stories in the Guardian recently about pregnant women being chased for prescription charges because they didn’t do the correct paperwork, but no mention that this would not have happened in Wales, where all prescriptions are free! Continue reading...
Labour leader does rule out deal with SNP but dodges speculation on general election outcomes after local election winsKeir Starmer has repeatedly refused to rule out a deal with the Liberal Democrats if Labour fails to win a majority at the next general election during an interview after last week’s local elections.The Labour leader has said he is focused on securing a Labour majority government “with a workable majority”, which he believes is achievable based on the party’s performance in that vote. Continue reading...
by Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent on (#6BKFW)
Northamptonshire force failed to pass on warning that abusive ex was outside woman’s home before he stabbed her repeatedlyA police force breached its duty of care to a woman by failing to warn her that her abusive ex-partner was outside her house minutes before he stabbed her seven times in front of her children, the high court has found.Esengul Woodcock’s neighbour made a 999 call to Northamptonshire police approximately 13 minutes before the attack, on 19 March 2015, informing officers that Riza Guzelyurt was loitering outside Woodcock’s house, but the force did not pass on the warning. Continue reading...
Xu Zaozao’s case is widely followed in a country where women’s rights have become increasingly prominentA single Chinese woman has begun an appeal in her legal battle for the right to freeze her eggs, a procedure only available in China to married couples.Xu Zaozao took legal action in 2019 after a Beijing hospital refused to freeze her eggs but a Beijing court dismissed her case in July 2022. Continue reading...
Watchdog’s decision follows criticism of Lancashire force after it made public details about missing woman’s private lifeLancashire police will not face any action after releasing personal information about Nicola Bulley to the public, including problems with alcohol brought on by “struggles with the menopause”.They were labelled “misogynist” and “as sexist as it comes”, by MPs and campaigners during the three-week search for the missing 45-year-old woman whose body was found on 19 February. Continue reading...
Financial Reporting Council to look at group’s 2021 accounts, a year before it went into administrationOne of the UK’s biggest advisory firms, Deloitte, is under investigation by the UK’s accountancy watchdog in relation to its audit of fashion group Joules’ 2021 accounts.Joules, best known for its colourful wellies and waterproof coats, called in administrators in November, putting 1,600 jobs and the future of its 132 shops at risk, after failing to secure emergency funding. Continue reading...
Welfare group claims two forensic reports show that culprit was male, while captive bear is femaleAnimal rights activists are calling for the immediate release of a female bear captured on suspicion of killing a jogger in northern Italy after they claimed tests showed the culprit was male.The 17-year-old bear, identified as JJ4, is suspected of killing Andrea Papi, 26, who was mauled to death while jogging along a mountain path close to his village of Caldes in Trentino on 5 April. Continue reading...
Harare high court quashes suspended sentence and fine handed down to Booker-longlisted writer last yearZimbabwean author and activist Tsitsi Dangarembga has had her conviction for inciting violence by staging a peaceful protest overturned.The critically acclaimed writer was given a six-month suspended sentence and fined 70,000 Zimbabwean dollars (£170) in September 2022 for staging a protest calling for political reform. During the 2020 protest, alongside fellow activist Julie Barnes, Dangarembga held a placard inscribed: “We want better. Reform our institutions.” Continue reading...
by Michael Savage, Observer Policy Editor on (#6BK6B)
Former Labour PM, writing in the Observer, calls for action as charities increasingly take over role of social security systemFood banks are increasingly “taking over from the welfare state”, former Labour PM Gordon Brown has warned, amid growing concerns that lack of state support is forcing them into a permanent role in fighting poverty.With food banks increasingly warning that even working people are seeking help, a new “multibank” model is now emerging to help families with everything from hygiene products to furniture. However, concerns are growing within the food aid movement that their services are becoming so widespread that they are now a crucial fixture, rather than a last resort. Continue reading...
Pirc and Church of England back calls for investors to vote against Sir Andrew Mackenzie at AGMAn influential investment adviser has added its weight to a move to oust the Shell chair, Sir Andrew Mackenzie, at next week’s annual shareholder meeting as a row over the energy company’s climate goals intensifies.Pirc, which advises shareholders on how to vote at annual meetings, has recommended that investors vote against Mackenzie’s re-election and oppose its annual report to “hold board members to account”. Continue reading...
Passengers faced average 30-minute wait, slightly worse than Manchester during 2022’s travel chaosPassengers flying from Birmingham airport experienced the longest delays in the UK last year, official figures show.Flight departures from Birmingham were on average half an hour behind schedule in 2022, marginally worse than Manchester, in a year marked by chaos for travellers. Continue reading...
Major Australian sporting organisations expected to play a significant role in the yes campaign, with AFL and Cricket Australia yet to announce a stance
Author says paparazzi and reporters began to follow him in his car and snoop around his homePrince Harry’s ghostwriter has said he bonded with his subject over the “callousness” of paparazzi and media after the “frenzied mob” around the book Spare led to photographers and journalists invading his own privacy.In a first-person piece for the New Yorker, JR Moehringer, the celebrated ghostwriter behind Spare said he agreed to write Harry’s memoir because he “just liked the dude” and had recently lost his own mother. Continue reading...
Pair disagreed over reports King Charles called deportation plan ‘appalling’, says ex-prime minister’s communications directorBoris Johnson confronted King Charles, “essentially squaring up” to him for describing the Rwanda asylum policy as “appalling”, according to No 10’s former director of communications Guto Harri.The pair are said to have had a disagreement at a Commonwealth summit in the east African country in June 2022 after reports that the monarch, who was then Prince of Wales, described the plan to deport people travelling across the Channel to Rwanda as “appalling”. Continue reading...
Protesters condemn gun culture and call for officials to resign after 17 people were killed in under 48 hoursTens of thousands of Serbians have rallied in the capital, Belgrade, with the protesters calling for the resignation of top officials and the curtailing of violence in the media, after back-to-back shootings stunned the Balkan country.The “Serbia against violence” demonstration saw members from across the country’s political divide come together after last week’s shootings in which 17 people were killed in less than 48 hours – including nine at an elementary school in the capital. Continue reading...
Mohamed Ahmed and Mohamed Jamal went missing last week while working to reopen a hospital in BahriActivists in Sudan have expressed outrage after two medical volunteers were seized from the ambulance they were driving in northern Khartoum and detained for days by army intelligence officers, as airstrikes and clashes continued across the capital.Mohamed Ahmed and Mohamed Jamal went missing last week while working with other volunteers to reopen the Haj al-Safi hospital in Bahri, which had been forced to close amid heavy fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Continue reading...
Helicopter pilot Babis Anagnostopoulos given 27 years in jail after killing Caroline Crouch in Athens in 2021A helicopter pilot who murdered his British wife and tried to blame her death on burglars in a crime that outraged Greece has launched an appeal, saying he regretted it and it was committed in the heat of the moment.Nearly two years to the day after the death of Caroline Crouch, her Greek husband’s attempt to reduce his 27-year life sentence started at an appeals court trial in Athens. Babis Anagnostopoulos, 35, told the tribunal on Monday that although the murder had filled him with shame, it had not been premeditated. Continue reading...
A wildflower planting operation is under way in Green Park, near Buckingham Palace, as part of The Big Help OutAfter two days of playing host to thousands of flag-waving royal supporters, visitors were invited back to Green Park on Monday – this time to do some gardening.As the machinery moved in and the clean-up effort got under way around Buckingham Palace, a few metres away, along a meandering line marked out in white through the park, volunteers got down on their hands and knees to plant wildflowers. Continue reading...
Police searching for four suspects after ‘targeted attack’ on Sunday in which another boy was also hurtA 17-year-old boy has been stabbed to death in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, in what police described as a “targeted attack”.Officers said they were searching for four suspects, all of whom had their faces covered during the attack, which took place between 7pm and 7.30pm on Sunday. No arrests have been made yet. Continue reading...
Skipton building society aims product at renters who cannot save enough for a depositA leading lender plans to launch a 100% mortgage aimed at would-be first-time buyers who cannot save for a deposit, the first since the 2008 financial crisis.Standard home loans where the borrower does not have to put down a deposit used to be fairly commonplace but the last one was axed in the wake of the financial crisis.
More than 1,000 people gather at Caernarfon Castle to demand new law to regulate market and protect communitiesMore than 1,000 people gathered outside Caernarfon Castle in north Wales for a rally protesting against second homes, which they say are “destroying” Welsh language strongholds.Members of Cymdeithas yr Iaith (the Welsh Language Society) are calling for a new Property Act to protect communities in language heartlands such as Gwynedd in the north and Pembrokeshire in the south-west. Continue reading...
by Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent on (#6BJ5S)
‘Earthquake in Chilean politics’ as ultra-conservative Republican party wins 22 of 50 seats on body to rewrite Pinochet-era documentChile’s far right has won an emphatic victory in a vote to select the committee that will rewrite its dictatorship-era constitution, after José Antonio Kast’s Republican party secured 22 of its 50 seats in a major blow to the progressive president Gabriel Boric.Boric beat Kast, an ultra-conservative lawyer often compared to Brazil’s former leader Jair Bolsonaro, in the 2021 presidential election. Continue reading...
Under proposed ‘chat controls’ regulation, any encrypted service provider could be forced to screen for ‘identifiers’An EU plan under which all WhatsApp, iMessage and Snapchat accounts could be screened for child abuse content has hit a significant obstacle after internal legal advice said it would probably be annulled by the courts for breaching users’ rights.Under the proposed “chat controls” regulation, any encrypted service provider could be forced to survey billions of messages, videos and photos for “identifiers” of certain types of content where it was suspected a service was being used to disseminate harmful material. Continue reading...
Royals appear on live stream with show judges Lionel Richie and Katy Perry after coronation concertJust caught up in the moment, or a cunning ploy to reclaim the US?Whatever King Charles and Queen Camilla’s motive, fans of the US talent show American Idol were in for a surprise when the couple appeared on the live stream of the show’s judges, Lionel Richie and Katy Perry, from Windsor Castle shortly after the two performed at the coronation concert. Continue reading...
Charities say British government not doing enough to facilitate family reunions through available safe and legal routeLone child refugees stranded in Sudan could be forced to travel to the UK in small boats because British ministers are not helping those entitled to family reunion to escape the fighting, charities have warned.Asylum seekers granted refugee status in the UK are able to apply to bring their spouse, children or younger siblings – one of the few safe and legal routes open to refugees. Continue reading...
Vessel capsized because it was overcrowded, authorities say, with most of the victims children on school holidaysAt least 22 people drowned after a double-decker tourist boat capsized in India’s southern state of Kerala, police have said.The boat overturned off the coastal town of Tanur because it was overcrowded, said Abdul Nazar, Malappuram district’s junior superintendent of police. Continue reading...
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