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Boris Johnson: Tories to face third by-election as ally of former PM resigns - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Nigel Adams is the third Conservative MP in 24 hours to announce they are quitting the Commons. | UK Politics | So what happens next? Some MPs are actually cock-a-hoop despite the colossal mess. One tells me: "The man-baby has gone - so pleased!"
But allies talk up his chances of running for another seat some time. One former senior minister tells me "the question is does he plan to get another seat or even Mid-Beds?" - the constituency his close ally and former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has just left.
Another former cabinet minister says: "It would be very unwise for him to run again. He has a vociferous 20% in the party who like him but 80% don't. If he ran in a by-election the Lib Dems would murder him."
Would party HQ even let that happen? Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has changed the personnel in charge there. One senior figure pours a bucket of freezing water over the idea telling me: "Boris died today."
What is not clear yet is whether as that MP suggests the manner of his departure could "generate so much unrest I fear there will be an election much sooner than thought".
Johnson has thrown grenades at No 10 - not just the committee that has judged him - suggesting Sunak is not running a "proper Conservative" government.
One former ally says the ex-PM has "gone full circle, returning to his political home - a hut across the water where he can now lob rocks without any sense of responsibility or accountability - and that is ultimately very dangerous for his party and Sunak".
Read more from Laura here | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-65860705 |
Boris Johnson resignation: Former PM's political career... in 72 seconds - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | null | A look back on the former prime minister's political career as he announces as a resignation as an MP. | null | Former prime minister Boris Johnson has resigned as an MP and announced he is stepping down with immediate effect.
In a lengthy statement the ex-PM accused a Commons investigation of attempting to "drive me out".
Mr Johnson first became and MP in 2001, representing the constituency of Henley in Oxfordshire, since then he went on to become the Mayor of London, MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip and then the prime minister.
Here's a look back at his political career. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-65860805 |
France stabbing: Toddlers stable after Annecy attack, Macron says - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The French president has visited Annecy, where four children were wounded in a knife attack. | Europe | The French president met rescuers in Annecy on Friday afternoon
French President Emmanuel Macron said he has heard "positive" news about the condition of child victims of Thursday's knife attack in Annecy.
Mr Macron was visiting the town where four children were attacked.
He said a young British girl had "woken up" after surgery. A Dutch toddler is also reportedly recovering.
The suspect - a Syrian man with refugee status in Sweden - remains in custody and is due to undergo a psychiatric assessment.
The 31-year-old is thought to have been living homeless in Annecy and recently had an asylum claim rejected. No terrorist motive is suspected.
Four children in all - aged between 22 and 36 months - and two pensioners were wounded during the assault.
In a speech in the Alpine town, Mr Macron said that attacking children was "the most barbaric act".
He visited a local hospital, where he met a man who was stabbed by the assailant during the attack. He also met Henri, the so-called "backpack hero" who used his backpack to stop the attacker.
Mr Macron said the young British girl who was attacked and received surgery had "woken up".
"She is watching TV and [the attack] is just a bad memory already," he said, according to the AFP news agency.
"Doctors are optimistic," the president said, adding that caution was still required.
Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said he was "relieved" to hear that the Dutch girl who fell victim to the attack "is out of danger".
Many in Annecy have been paying tribute to the victims
The playground where the attack took place, by the lake in Annecy, was full on Friday. But there was not a child in sight - the glare of television cameras kept parents away.
Their place was taken by a crowd of journalists, as well as local people coming to leave tributes along the playground wall: white flowers for the innocence of the victims - messages that hint at the outrage in France.
"We must not fear the evil that sometimes resides in people," said another.
Matic William, a 40-year-old shopkeeper from the area, said he often brought his three-year-old son to the playground.
"It feels like we're in another world," he told the BBC. "You can feel this very heavy atmosphere, this tension."
Prosecutors are trying to work out the motive for the attack.
They have said that the suspect - a Syrian man with refugee status in Sweden - has no recorded history of psychiatric illness, but there are growing questions about his current mental state.
He is thought to have been living as a homeless person in Annecy since last autumn, after leaving his ex-wife and three year old son in Sweden.
France's interior minister says his claim for asylum in France was rejected a few days ago. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65858926 |
Plaid Cymru: Rhun ap Iorwerth set to be new leader - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The last two Senedd members who could have run in the contest confirm they will not challenge him. | Wales | As things stand Rhun ap Iorwerth will become leader next Friday
Rhun ap Iorwerth is set to become the new Plaid Cymru leader.
The last two members of Plaid's Senedd group who had not ruled out standing against him have now confirmed they will not be entering the contest.
Deputy leader Sian Gwenllian and Sioned Williams made the announcement in a joint statement on Friday morning.
Only Senedd members (MSs) can lead Plaid Cymru and, unless there is a U-turn from a Plaid MS, Mr ap Iorwerth will become leader next week.
Nominations are due to close on 16 June.
Plaid Cymru has been looking for a new leader since Adam Price stood down in May.
It followed reports that a toxic culture of harassment, bullying and misogyny had become worse under his leadership.
In their joint statement, Ms Gwenllian and Ms Williams said: "We are not putting our names forward as candidates for the leadership of Plaid Cymru, although we agree with comments made by former leader Leanne Wood in an interview this week that a woman would have been the best choice to lead Plaid Cymru at this time.
"We will campaign to introduce a new model of joint leadership in the future which would be more inclusive and ensure equality."
The Green Party of England and Wales has a joint leadership structure, meaning a man and a woman share the responsibility of leading the party.
The other Plaid Senedd members who were eligible to run for Plaid Cymru leader were Mabon ap Gwynfor, Cefin Campbell, Luke Fletcher, Heledd Fychan, Llŷr Huws Gruffydd, Delyth Jewell, Elin Jones, and Peredur Owen Griffiths.
But they have all ruled themselves out of the race.
Adam Price quit as leader after a report found misogyny, harassment and bullying in Plaid Cymru
Ynys Môn Senedd member Mr ap Iorwerth announced he would be standing in a video published on Twitter.
In the video he said he was looking forward to playing his part in uniting the party.
He said previously it must offer a vision of Wales as "confident, fair, green, prosperous", and on a "journey to independence".
Mr ap Iorwerth is currently the party's joint deputy leader, alongside Ms Gwenllian, and has been Plaid health spokesman in recent years.
He has been a vocal critic of the Welsh government's record on the troubled Betsi Cadwaladr health board in north Wales.
He also ran for the leadership in 2018, when Mr Price replaced Leanne Wood.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Former Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood would like to see a woman as the party's new head
On Friday, former Plaid Cymru chairman Alun Ffred Jones told BBC Radio Cymru he believed "a contest within a party is a good thing in almost all circumstances, but if the more experienced people didn't want to stand for various reasons, there we are".
"And if there is to be only one candidate, it's important that the party unites behind Rhun," he said.
He added: "I don't see much of an argument in just putting your name forward, it's not the same as applying for a job just to get an interview and seeing how it goes.
"Anyone who stands for the leadership has to be in a position where they're confident they can deliver in the role."
He said Rhun ap Iorwerth needed to "put his own stamp on things" and "turn our attention back to things that matter to the majority of people, and not on internal matters and things that are of marginal concern to most people."
Plaid Cymru said there were "no plans" to change the closing date for nominations.
It added: "Plaid Cymru members will have the opportunity over the next week to nominate candidates for the party leadership through their local constituencies."
"The next leader of Plaid Cymru will be announced on Friday 16 June."
For a leadership contest with only one candidate, this has been a far from straightforward process for Plaid Cymru.
Adam Price stepped down as leader in the wake of a report identifying a culture of misogyny within the party, so it isn't surprising that calls for a woman to take charge have gained a lot of support.
But the final two MSs to declare their intentions, Sian Gwenllian and Sioned Williams, have decided the leadership isn't for them - leaving the way clear for Ynys Môn MS Rhun ap Iorwerth.
The suggestion by Ms Williams for a "co-leader" muddies the waters further. A co-leader needs someone else to get involved - but who?
Plaid Cymru say the official timetable, with nominations closing in a week, hasn't changed - so Mr ap Iorwerth still has seven days to wait - unless someone changes their mind at the last minute. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-65850741 |
Climate activist Greta Thunberg graduates from 'school strikes' - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The global climate activist says she will keep protesting despite graduating from school | Science & Environment | Greta Thunberg at this Friday's climate 'school strike' outside the Swedish parliament. She says it will be her last
Greta Thunberg has said she has taken part in her final Friday climate "school strike" after graduating, but vowed to keep protesting.
"Today, I graduate from school, which means I'll no longer be able to school strike for the climate," Thunberg, 20, said on Twitter.
Swedish students usually complete their upper secondary studies at 19 but Greta took a year off to campaign.
She was 15 when she began protesting outside Sweden's parliament in 2018.
Carrying a "school strike for climate change" sign, she said she would only attend when politicians took action.
This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post by Greta Thunberg This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Her solo protest led to various movements across Europe, the US and Australia, known as Fridays for Future or School Strike for Climate.
Greta at a 'school strike' in 2018. She was 15 when she began the protests
Greta has come to symbolise young people's fight for the world to wean itself of the fossil fuels that are warming the planet.
Referring to herself simply as an "Autistic climate justice activist" on her Twitter bio, she's frequently berated world leaders on the international stage and sparred with them on Twitter, and was once nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Earlier this year she was briefly detained at a protest against coal in Germany and she made it clear in a Twitter feed on Friday she had no intention of stopping protesting.
"We who can speak up have a duty to do so. In order to change everything, we need everyone," she said.
"I'll continue to protest on Fridays, even though it's not technically "school striking". We simply have no other option than to do everything we possibly can. The fight has only just begun." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-65858186 |
Canada wildfires: US East Coast sees worst air quality in years - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | US President Joe Biden says the dense cloak of smoke is a "stark reminder" of climate change. | US & Canada | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: How to keep safe from wildfire smoke
Washington DC and Philadelphia experienced their worst air quality in years as intense wildfires in Canada continue to impact millions.
The poor conditions have forced event cancellations and grounded flights across the US.
Nearly 100 million people are experiencing very poor air quality in North America.
US President Joe Biden described the fires as a "stark reminder of the impacts of climate change".
Data from the US Environmental Protection Agency's Air Quality Index (AQI) shows that cities in North America had the worst air quality in the world on Thursday morning.
Cities including Washington DC, Philadelphia and New York had significantly worse air quality than cities abroad such as Lahore, Dhaka and Hanoi.
The smoke has caused the cancellation of school outings and sporting events, and, in the capitol, the White House's planned pride celebrations.
The National Zoo was also closed, with its animals, including three giant pandas, taken indoors to shelter.
In nearby Baltimore, residents were wearing masks as they went about their day-to-day activities. One local, Sean Montague, said people "have to put your health first and be cautious".
At the city's Inner Harbour, friends Sharifah and Sheila disembarked from a water taxi, eager to hurry indoors.
They said they originally planned to spend the day in Baltimore's Fells Point, a waterside neighbourhood known for its galleries, shops and outdoor seafood restaurants.
But once on the water, their eyes stung and the smoke was so thick, so they agreed the ride was "miserable" and decided to return home.
Much of the smoke is coming from Quebec, where 150 fires are burning. It is already Quebec's worst fire season on record.
Some areas of Canada continued to experience very high levels of contamination on Thursday. The city of Janvier in Alberta, for example, had an AQI of 338, far above Washington DC's 293.
Mr Biden said he spoke to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday and deployed more than 600 firefighters to help battle the blazes in Canada.
On a typical Thursday, Washington DC's Union Market would usually be packed with customers, dining al fresco in the afternoon sun.
But with smoke thick in the air, dozens of tables and chairs sat empty. A nearby rooftop bar was completely deserted except for a small group of Canadian tourists, who jokingly apologised for the disruption.
One customer, Tori, sat back in a lone Adirondack chair, with a mask tied around her wrist having just travelled from West Virginia.
"As I was driving, I noticed it was more hazy, and I just feel a little bit different too. I had a headache," she said. "It's very scary, if you think about it."
Environment Canada said conditions were worsening in Toronto on Thursday, as more smoke poured in. The agency has recommended that anyone outdoors wear a mask.
"These fine particles generally pose the greatest risk to health. However, respirators do not reduce exposure to the gases in wildfire smoke," the Environment Canada statement said.
In New York, an orange haze blanketed the city's skyline and shrouded landmarks including the Statue of Liberty.
Public health officials have cautioned people not to exercise outside and to minimise their exposure to the smoke as much as possible, as the air poses immediate and long-term health risks.
Canadian officials say the country is shaping up for its worst wildfire season on record.
Experts have pointed to a warmer and drier spring than normal as the reason behind the trend. These conditions are projected to continue throughout the summer.
Fires across Canada have already burned an area that's 12 times the 10-year average for this time of year.
Climate change increases the risk of the hot, dry weather that is likely to fuel wildfires.
The world has already warmed by about 1.2C since the industrial era began, and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.
Experts say exposure to wildfire smoke can cause a litany of health issues, such as an elevated pulse, chest pain, and inflammation in the eyes, nose and throat.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. BBC Weather forecaster Chris Fawkes looks at when the wildfire smoke might clear
How have you been affected by the wildfires or air quality? What precautions are you taking? Share your experiences by emailing [email protected].
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at [email protected]. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-65828469 |
Nadine Dorries: Best-selling author, nurse, reality star and, now, cabinet minister - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Mistrusted by some in the arts, the new culture secretary is said by a colleague to be "up for the fight". | UK Politics | "All day long housewives complained about their lot but they got on with it," wrote Nadine Dorries in a novel about 1950s Liverpool inspired by her own upbringing. "No-one ever thought it would alter. Their way of life was constant and familiar, as it had been as long as anyone could remember."
Growing up in a council house in that city, and enduring a sometimes hungry childhood, the Conservative MP might once have felt life's riches were beyond her reach. But from nursing, via a best-selling writing career and a stint in the Australian jungle for reality TV, she has risen to the cabinet.
Appointed culture secretary by Boris Johnson on Wednesday, Dorries has taken responsibility for setting strategy and policy across huge industries such as broadcasting, sport, museums and tourism. Among the big decisions ahead of her are setting the level of the BBC licence fee, whether to privatise Channel 4, and picking a new head of the broadcast watchdog Ofcom.
Since landing the job, many in entertainment have been scathing of a politician who once claimed "left-wing snowflakes" were "killing comedy, tearing down historic statues, removing books from universities, dumbing down panto, removing Christ from Christmas and suppressing free speech".
Critics argue she is too divorced from the arts, citing her opposition to the gay marriage bill - though she has since said this was her "biggest regret" - and her statement that Boris Johnson "didn't go far enough" when, in 2018, he compared Muslim women who wear burqas to "postboxes" and "bankrobbers". Supporters believe she is herself a victim of snobbery within the artistic establishment.
"Some people were a bit taken back in terms of her suitability for the role," one Tory MP tells the BBC, but adds: "We're going to have fun."
Another admits there "was a bit of surprise that she would get such a big job", while another still says: "She's feisty. I'm sure she'll be up for the fight."
I'm 5ft 3in and need every inch of my Louboutin heels to look my male colleagues in the eye
Whatever your opinion of Dorries, her background is far from the norm for a Conservative MP. Born Nadine Bargery in Liverpool in 1957 to a Protestant mother, Sylvia, and an Irish immigrant Catholic father, George, she has described her childhood as warm and loving. But, the mother of three says she remembers a downside to working-class life in the '60s and '70s. "We used to hide from the rent man, as we couldn't pay him," she told the Guardian. "Some days there would be no food."
Brought up an Anglican, Dorries was abused by a priest and family friend at the age of nine, but never reported this to the police. "My childhood was stolen from me," she told the Mail on Sunday. "I was not an innocent girl enjoying things in the way other children were."
Her parents divorced during her early teens, and her father, a bus driver, became ill. He died when she was in her early 20s. Her younger brother, John, also died in a car accident, aged 26.
After school, Dorries trained as a nurse. Her profession gave her an ongoing concern with one of the political issues she has spoken about most passionately - abortion. She has frequently pushed for the time limit for terminations to be reduced.
In 1984, she married financial adviser Paul Dorries. She came late to active politics, and until 1997, had considered joining Labour. However, she disliked Tony Blair's attitude to the Right to Buy scheme. Set up by Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, it allowed council tenants to buy their flat or house.
It was something that Dorries's own mother had used. "Suddenly, the packing cases that divided people's fronts were replaced with handmade fences, and all the green front doors were lovingly painted different colours," she recalls. "People were fighting to express their individualism, because suddenly they weren't part of this great mass. Now they were homeowners and they had something to shout about."
Once involved in politics and convinced of her Conservatism, Dorries ran unsuccessfully to be an MP in the 2001 general election. She found work instead as a special adviser to Sir Oliver Letwin, then the shadow chancellor, running his communications.
This is likely to be a spectacle worth watching
"It isn't often that someone with Nadine's energy and chutzpah arrives on the political scene," Sir Oliver, now retired from the House of Commons, tells the BBC. "When they do, one can expect all sorts of fireworks. And now she is in charge of a department that will give her every chance to light up the sky. This is likely to be a spectacle worth watching."
In 2005, Dorries was elected MP for Mid Bedfordshire, a seat she has retained since, enjoying a majority of more than 24,000 at the last general election. But it is her exploits outside Westminster which have gained her exposure far beyond that of most backbenchers.
Nadine Dorries loses control during an event to mark Red Tractor Week at Covent Garden, London 2007
In 2010, she appeared on the Channel 4 documentary series Tower Block of Commons, which challenged politicians to live on a council estate and get by on jobseeker's allowance. Two years later she signed up for the ITV reality show I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.
She camped in the Australian jungle with darts player Eric Bristow, TV's Birds of a Feather star Linda Robson, and 1980s pop vocalist Limahl, among others. One challenge saw Dorries having to eat a camel's toe and an ostrich's anus.
The thought of her appearing 12,000 miles (19,300 km) away on peak-time TV while other MPs were at work was almost as unappetising to senior Conservatives, who suspended her from the parliamentary party. But she returned to the Tory fold within a few months.
In 2013, Dorries signed a contract to write the Four Streets series of novels based on her experience of growing up in Liverpool. Savaged by the critics, they went on to become best-sellers, as did the Lovely Lane series, about a group of young nurses in the city.
"I've worked with quite a few celebrities in the past and sometimes it's not always very easy," says Rosie de Courcy, senior editor at Dorries's publisher, Head of Zeus. "But I found her an absolute delight. She's hardworking. She's easy to get along with. She's humble. She listens. She's very quick on the uptake."
Dorries did not enjoy such cordial relations with Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne, once describing them as "a pair of posh boys who don't know the price of a pint of milk". Neither Cameron nor successor Theresa May made her a minister.
Boris Johnson greets Nadine Dorries and supporters before the Conservative leadership hustings, Wyboston 2019
But Dorries expressed her admiration for Mr Cameron's fellow Old Etonian Boris Johnson and they became firm allies. She was a strong supporter of Leave in the Brexit referendum and, when Johnson entered Downing Street in 2019, he made her a health minister.
A few months later, she became one of the first few hundred people in the UK to be diagnosed with Covid, but recovered from what she called a "very severe dose". She was promoted to a more senior position in the Department of Health and Social Care, with responsibility for suicide prevention and mental health.
In a Times column, she revealed that her own cousin had taken his own life, writing: "I know the sadness, the blame, the anger and the grief."
There was surprise and considerable scorn in the media and among politicians and celebrities when Johnson made Dorries culture secretary.
"Of course, she has extensive TV experience," one Conservative MP notes, archly referring to her time on I'm a Celebrity.
The reaction elsewhere was more severe. "Nadine Dorries… Culture… this is like the result of some drunk bet," tweeted comedian Dom Joly, while Green Party MP Caroline Lucas wrote: "Nadine Dorries as culture secretary? Satire is dead."
But Doctor Who scriptwriter Gareth Roberts has called such comments "unhinged", arguing: "Dorries may not win plaudits from the arts world. But as her book sales show, she has a quality her detractors, and let's face it, her peers and predecessors, will never have: an understanding of what people actually enjoy."
Whatever her reception, Dorries takes on the culture brief at a challenging time. As well as those decisions on the BBC, Channel 4 and Ofcom, she will oversee cyber security and the prevention of online harm to young people. A review of the way football in England is run is due out this autumn, too.
Then there's the task helping sports and the arts recover from the pandemic.
"She's not filling big shoes following [her predecessor] Oliver Dowden," says Paul Fleming, general secretary of Equity, the union for actors and entertainment workers. "She's inherited some small flip-flops from someone who didn't have good relations with the industry. We'll work with her and hope that she listens to everyone, at all levels."
On a previous occasion, Dorries defended the right of women to wear high heels, saying: "I'm 5ft 3ins and need every inch of my Louboutin heels to look my male colleagues in the eye."
But she chose not to wear them - or flip-flops - when she left her first cabinet meeting, instead opting for a pair of white trainers as she hurried back to her new office. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58594042 |
Is this what a future Hampden could look like? - BBC Sport | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | null | Designs for a new Hampden, which were commissioned before the Covid-19 pandemic, have emerged. | null | Last updated on .From the section Scottish
It's one of the longest-running debates in Scottish football - what to do with the national stadium?
Hampden was redeveloped in the 1990s from a mostly terraced ground to an all-seated arena with a capacity of more than 50,000.
Despite the facelift, for decades supporters have complained about the ground's shortcomings compared to more contemporary stadiums, most notably the distance from the pitch in the East and West stands behind the goals.
That's why the Tartan Army will be excited at images of a proposed new Hampden Park obtained by BBC Scotland.
In 2020, architects Holmes Miller, who were involved with recent upgrades to the stadium as well as Lesser Hampden, were commissioned to come up with a redesign by the Scottish FA.
However, funding for the project at the time was at least partly predicated on an eventually abandoned UK World Cup 2030 bid. It also came just before the Covid-19 pandemic took a financial toll on the world.
Coupled with rising costs and a squeeze on government funding, it is unclear if the grand design will ever become a reality, but it is likely to whet the appetite among fans used to a more traditional experience in Glasgow's south side.
Plans show a new arena within the current footprint, consisting of a partly two-tier bowl design with stands tight to the pitch.
Computer illustrations have the stadium's facade - similar to that of Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena - illuminated with 'Scotland Bluebell Thistle', while the grounds outside the arena are also changed to reflect the country's coastline.
The design process continued up until last year, with other features of the aspirational concept including:
• None A retractable roof so the stadium could be used as an indoor arena in winter
• None An increased capacity of 65,000 to make Hampden Scotland's largest football stadium
• None The facility to curtain off the top tier if attendances were below 30,000
• None A 'translucent external envelope' that could change colour depending on who was playing
• None Remodelled elements of the existing main stand being kept
"We were approached by the SFA in 2020 to provide a vision for Hampden - the art of the possible," Holmes Miller project director Ian Cooney told BBC Scotland.
"Our vision was to capture the essence of Hampden - the atmosphere - and wrap a world class stadium around it. Better views, better facilities, a better experience… while retaining the magic.
"The discussions continued with the potential of a World Cup 2030 bid, and Euro 2028 bid - of which we all await the outcome.
"As a football fan and frequent visitor to Hampden throughout my life, it was great to imagine what a new Hampden could be."
In 2018, the SFA began a £5m deal to purchase the national stadium from Queen's Park, with chief executive Ian Maxwell declaring it "the start of the journey" to make Hampden "the best it can be".
The ground hosted athletics at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, five games at Euro 2020 and has been included as part of a joint-UK bid to host the European Championship in 2028, which could bring in a portion of funding.
Scotland fans are renowned for having a dream. It may be this design has to remain there for now. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65828702 |
HSBC reopens mortgage offers after criticism from brokers - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The bank said on Thursday it would temporarily pull new deals, indicating mortgage market pressures. | Business | HSBC reopened channels for new mortgage deals temporarily on Friday after swiftly pulling down the shutters a day earlier.
The bank had said it would remove its "new business" residential and buy-to-let products on Thursday, with deals available again on Monday.
However, it temporarily allowed applications via brokers again for a short period on Friday.
The mortgage market has been in a state of some turbulence.
Mortgage rates have been rising since recent data showed that inflation was not coming down as quickly as expected.
There have been predictions that the Bank of England will raise rates higher than previously thought, from their current 4.5% to as high as 5.5%.
It has prompted many lenders to raise mortgage rates and also to remove deals.
HSBC said on Thursday that it was withdrawing new deals "to ensure that we can stay within our operational capacity and meet our customer service commitments".
Brokers had expressed surprise at the speed of the withdrawal, which came initially with about four hours' notice, only for them to be pulled after less than three hours.
However, on Friday, it opened the channel again.
"We remain open to new mortgage business, however to help ensure that new customers get the best possible service, we occasionally need to limit the amount of new business we can take each day via broker services," an HSBC spokesman said.
Products and rates for existing customers were still available.
How have mortgage rate rises been affecting you? You can share your experiences via:
Mohamed El-Erian, former deputy director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and president of Queens' College at Cambridge University, said HSBC had made the "very dramatic move" on Thursday because it judged its sustainability was threatened.
"People expect that the cost of mortgages will go up and you will accelerate your demand for getting that mortgage. Why pay more tomorrow when you can pay less today?
"If you're HSBC, you see lots of people turn up wanting mortgages and you worry about two things. One is: will I make money on those mortgages? Two is: can I operationally handle these?" he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
Nationwide, Britain's biggest building society, also said it would raise some of its fixed mortgage rates for new borrowing from Friday, which it said would ensure they "remain sustainable."
Financial data firm Moneyfacts said it has seen several mortgage providers hiking rates on deals over the past week.
On Thursday, the average two-year-fixed-rate mortgage rate on the market was 5.82%, according to Moneyfacts, up from 5.49% at the start of June.
Meanwhile, the average five-year deal was 5.49%, up from 5.17% since the start of the month.
Some brokers criticised the change by HSBC, with one saying lenders should give notice of a "minimum of 24 hours".
Riz Malik, founder and director at R3 Mortgages in Southend-on-Sea, said the move "really underscored the turbulent times we're currently facing in the mortgage market".
Mr El-Erian said as a result "people are getting more anxious", which would probably contribute to a slowdown in economic activity.
He said the only way to deal with the growing unease was for the government to tackle underlying inflationary pressures in the economy.
"Most central banks made the mistake in 2021 of calling inflation transitory, and transitory is a very dangerous word. If I tell you something is transitory, I'm telling you it's temporary, reversible, don't worry about it, don't change your behaviour.
"But it turned out inflation was persistent and therefore central banks were late and society as a whole was late to adjust to higher inflation," he told the BBC. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65850366 |
Blundell's School students seriously injured in assault - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | One of two students injured is in a critical condition after a "serious incident" at Blundell's School. | Devon | There is a police presence at Petergate boarding house at Blundell's School in Tiverton, Devon
Weapons have been found by police following an assault at a private school on Friday morning which has left two students in hospital.
One boy is in a critical condition after the incident at Blundell's School in Tiverton, Devon.
A 16-year-old boy from the town has been arrested on suspicion of three counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Devon and Cornwall Police said "some weapons were located at the scene".
The second injured boy also remains in hospital in a stable condition, and a male staff member has been discharged after also receiving serious injuries.
Supt Antony Hart said this was "a very traumatic incident for those involved".
He added on Friday afternoon: "We are still establishing what happened in the early hours of this morning and an extensive investigation continues."
Supt Hart added: "While we can confirm some weapons were located at the scene, it would not be appropriate to speculate on how these may have been involved while our enquiries continue.
"Our priority is to fully investigate this incident and support the victims, their families and the school community."
In a letter to parents and guardians of students - seen by the BBC - school head Bart Wielenga said he was "confident that this was an isolated incident".
He said there would be a police presence around Petergate, one of the school's boarding houses, for "some time".
Mr Wielenga said in the letter that the school was working closely with police, adding he would be addressing pupils and support would be available.
He urged parents not to engage in speculation or post on social media.
There will be a police presence for "some time", the school's head told parents
South Western Ambulance Service said it was called at 00:57 BST.
A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) said: "We sent three double-crewed land ambulances, an air ambulance, a rapid response vehicle and hazardous area response teams.
"Three individuals were conveyed by land ambulance to hospital."
Alison Hernandez, Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said she was liaising with Victim Support to be on hand at the school to provide specialist support for anyone who needs it.
The commissioner said: "Incidents of this nature are always shocking, but when they take place in a school setting they are particularly distressing and my thoughts are with everyone involved."
Blundell's School - which has fees of £41,325 a school year for a boarder - told the BBC it would not be commenting on the matter at this time.
Follow BBC News South West on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-65856111 |
Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden announce green funding agreement - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The UK-US Atlantic Declaration "sets a new standard for economic cooperation", Rishi Sunak says. | UK Politics | UK firms could gain access to US green funding as part of plans to boost UK and US ties announced by Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden.
The pair unveiled the Atlantic Declaration, to strengthen economic ties between the two countries, at a White House press conference.
The PM said the agreement, which falls short of a full trade deal would bring benefits "as quickly as possible".
UK electric car firms may get access to US green tax credits and subsidies.
As the pair unveiled their partnership to bolster economic security, Mr Sunak said the UK-US relationship was an "indispensable alliance".
The Atlantic Declaration, includes commitments on easing trade barriers, closer defence industry ties and a data protection deal and steps up co-operation on AI.
Asked by BBC Political Editor Chris Mason whether the new deal was an "acknowledgement of the failure" to strike a broader trade agreement between the UK and US, Mr Sunak said today's deal "responds to particular challenges and opportunities we face right now".
A UK-US free trade agreement was a key pledge in the Conservative Party's 2019 general election manifesto.
Mr Sunak insisted the more targeted approach of the declaration was about "what can do the most benefit to our citizens as quickly as possible".
"Be in no doubt, the economic relationship between our two countries has never been stronger," Mr Sunak said.
Plans for a full free trade agreement were abandoned months ago. On the plane ride over to Washington Mr Sunak said: "For a while now, that has not been a priority for either the US or UK."
However, Labour's shadow foreign secretary David Lammy criticised Mr Sunak, saying the government has left "Britain's cupboards bare" by not securing a trade deal.
"This statement shows the government has failed to deliver the comprehensive trade deal they promised in the 2019 manifesto, or to secure the ally status under the Inflation Reduction Act that is so important for the automotive sector and for the green transition," Mr Lammy said.
Mr Biden said the special relationship with the UK was in "real good shape", referring to their co-operation on Ukraine.
"Together we are providing economic and humanitarian aid and security systems to Ukraine in their fight against a brutal invasion from Russia," he said.
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The Atlantic Declaration includes plans to mitigate some of the impact of the US flagship Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on the UK economy, with proposals to remove barriers which affected trade in electric vehicle batteries.
Under current policy, the IRA provides tax credit worth $3,750 (£3,000) for each electric vehicle (EV) manufactured in the US, or which use components mined, processed or manufactured in the country.
The UK is already a net exporter of raw materials for EV batteries to the US. But nations without a US trade deal are barred from accessing IRA subsidies.
The Atlantic Declaration commits the UK and US to working on a new critical minerals agreement - which would give buyers of vehicles made using critical minerals processed, recycled or mined by UK companies access to tax credits.
The declaration says the agreement would be launched after consultation with US Congress.
Japan already has a similar deal, which allows Japanese firms to also swerve export duties on minerals used in producing EV batteries.
The declaration also includes a commitment to a "new UK-US Data Bridge" which would allow UK firms to transfer data freely to certified US organisations without paying a levy.
Downing Street estimate the change will affect around 55,000 UK businesses - translating into £92.4m in direct savings per year.
Mr Biden also supported Mr Sunak's plans to set up an international summit on AI safety which will be hosted in the UK later this year.
The prime minister said: "The UK and US have always pushed the boundaries of what two countries can achieve together.
"So it is natural that, when faced with the greatest transformation in our economies since the industrial revolution, we would look to each other to build a stronger economic future together.
"The Atlantic Declaration sets a new standard for economic cooperation, propelling our economies into the future so we can protect our people, create jobs and grow our economies together."
Both Mr Biden and Mr Sunak agreed to carry out work to improve the resilience of supply chains and efforts will be stepped up to shut Vladimir Putin's Russia out of the global civil nuclear market. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-65846871 |
Trump indictment live updates: Details of dozens of charges unsealed - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Nuclear secrets, classified documents stored in a ballroom, and aides ordered to hide files - the charges against Donald Trump revealed. | US & Canada | A US Navy veteran and aide to Trump, Walt Nauta, has also been charged as part of the documents probe.
According to the charges, Nauta made several false and misleading statements to prosecutors about where the documents were stored and how they were transported.
On 17 January 2022 Nauta and another unnamed Trump employee gathered 15 boxes from Trump's residence, loaded them into Nauta's car, and then took them to a commercial truck for delivery to the National Archives.
In an interview with FBI agents in May 2022, he allegedly lied three times about his knowledge of the documents.
Prosecutors say he falsely stated that he was not aware that boxes of documents had been brought to Trump's home for review, that he did not know how they had arrived at his residence and that he did not know how they had been stored before being handed over to the National Archives.
Asked about whether they were stored in a locked location, he responded: "I wish, I wish I could tell you. I don’t know. I don’t — I honestly just don’t know.”
The charges against Nauta include conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document and concealing a document in a federal investigation, all of which carry maximum prison sentences of 20 years.
Two other charges - scheme to conceal and false statements and representations - carry maximum sentences of five years in prison.
Read more: Who is Walt Nauta? | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-65852074 |
Puberty blockers to be given only in clinical research - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | NHS England says the drugs will only be prescribed for those signed up to a clinical research programme. | UK | The controversial Tavistock Centre was earmarked for closure in 2022
Puberty blockers will only be prescribed to children attending gender identity services as part of clinical research, NHS England has announced.
The move comes after an interim report into children's gender services said there were "gaps in evidence" around the drugs.
Blockers are used to "pause puberty" and work by supressing hormone release.
Dr Hilary Cass's report called for a transformation in the model of care for children with gender-related distress.
Currently, if a child seeks medical help, the drugs are one of the options a doctor could offer to help delay the onset of physical changes that do not match a child's gender identity.
This change will come into effect when new clinics replacing the Gender Identity and Development Service (Gids) begin to open later this year. No patients being treated by the current Gids service will be affected.
Children and their families will also be "strongly discouraged" from obtaining gender-affirming drugs such as hormones, from "unregulated sources" or online providers.
A clinical study, run by the new Children and Young People's Gender Dysphoria Research and Oversight Board, will look at the impact of drugs which delay puberty.
Further details on how the study will run will be released in the coming weeks, but only those signed up to take part in the research will be prescribed puberty blockers, except in exceptional circumstances on a case-by-case basis.
It is expected that the study will mostly involve looking at patient data and records.
Recent data from Gids looked at a random selection of 312 patients in one year and found 47 of them accessed hormone suppressants.
An NHS spokesperson said: "The NHS is today publishing an interim specification for gender services for children and young people in line with advice and recommendations from the Independent Cass Review - this will allow the new centres to finalise their preparation for service provision later this year.
"The NHS is now engaging on the proposal that puberty blockers will not be made routinely available outside of research. We will develop a study into the impact of puberty blockers on gender dysphoria in children and young people with early-onset gender dysphoria, which aims to be up and running in 2024."
More than 5,000 people responded to a consultation on the new service specification last year, and the new model will be implemented when the first of the new clinics opens in the south of England this autumn in partnerships with children's hospitals.
The current service, run by the Tavistock and Portman Trust, is to close in March 2024 following an independent review carried out by Dr Cass - the paediatrician found the service is "unsustainable" and said a new model of care is needed.
Dr Cass said many children referred to Gids have complex needs that can be sometimes overlooked and around a third have autism or other types of neurodiversity.
The NHS says a "significant proportion" of young people with concerns related to their gender can also experience other complexities related to mental health, neuro-development and family or social matters.
The new service will take a new "holistic" approach, focusing on the needs of each child individually with "careful therapeutic exploration".
It will be updated further after the final report by Dr Cass is published.
In order to be prescribed puberty blockers on the NHS, a patient would currently need to first be assessed by Gids and referred to an endocrinologist.
More than 7,000 young people under the age of 18 are awaiting their first appointment, with the waiting list thought to be more than three and a half years long. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65860272 |
Donald Trump indictment: Seven charges over classified documents case - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | He "never thought it possible that such a thing could happen" to a former US president, he says. | US & Canada | The charges include conspiracy, false statements and illegally retaining classified documents, says Mr Trump's attorney
Former US President Donald Trump has been charged over his handling of classified documents after he left the White House.
Mr Trump, 76, faces seven counts, including mishandling classified documents and obstructing efforts to investigate the storage of the files at his Florida home, his lawyer said.
Both are federal crimes which can carry a prison sentence on conviction.
Mr Trump is campaigning to make a return to the White House in 2024.
Legal experts say the indictment does not prevent him running for the presidency again.
It is the second time Mr Trump has been charged with a crime, but now he is facing a federal case. These typically carry harsher sentences.
He is the first former president ever to be criminally prosecuted by the government he once headed.
In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Mr Trump said he had been summoned to appear on Tuesday afternoon at a federal court in Miami, Florida, where the charges against him will be read.
"I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former president of the United States," Mr Trump wrote.
He added: "This is indeed a dark day for the United States of America. We are a country in serious and rapid decline, but together we will Make America Great Again!"
The charges have not yet been made public, but the details were laid out by his lawyer Jim Trusty. He told CNN they include conspiracy, false statements, obstruction of justice, and illegally retaining classified documents under the Espionage Act.
Mr Trump was at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Thursday when news of the indictment broke.
On Friday, the US Secret Service will meet Mr Trump's staff and security officers to plan his journey to the Miami court next week.
Prosecutors had also presented evidence in court in Washington DC, but a decision to file the indictment in southern Florida instead may offer some consolation for the Trump team.
Legal experts say the state - where the former Republican president is popular - is likely to produce a less Democratic-leaning jury pool than if the case had been prosecuted in the US capital.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: How much do you know about classified documents?
The investigation into Mr Trump's handling of classified documents has been overseen by special prosecutor Jack Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November.
Mr Smith, a former war crimes investigator, is also overseeing a separate probe into Mr Trump's role in the storming of the US Capitol.
In the documents case, prosecutors have said that Mr Trump took about 300 classified files to his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, after leaving the White House.
About 100 of those - some labelled top secret - were seized when the FBI searched the Palm Beach mansion last August.
Reports surfaced last week that prosecutors had obtained an audio recording of Mr Trump acknowledging he kept a classified document after leaving the White House in January 2021. Transcripts of that tape circulated in US media on Friday.
It is against US law for federal officials - including a president - to remove or keep classified documents at an unauthorised location.
Legal experts say Mr Trump will still be able to enter the White House race.
"He can be indicted any number of times and it won't stop his ability to stand for office," says David Super, a professor at Georgetown University Law Centre.
Opinion polls show Mr Trump is currently the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination. He could continue running even if convicted in the documents case.
As Mr Trump issued a fundraising email with the subject line "BREAKING: INDICTED" on Thursday, several leading Republicans voiced their support for him.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, said it was "unconscionable for a president to indict the leading candidate opposing him".
"House Republicans will hold this brazen weaponisation of power accountable," he wrote on Twitter.
An itemised list of property seized in the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago
Mr Trump's rival for the 2024 nomination, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, said: "We have for years witnessed an uneven application of the law depending upon political affiliation.
"The DeSantis administration will bring accountability to the DOJ, excise political bias and end weaponisation once and for all."
Mr Trump became the first former president to be charged with a crime in April, after he pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records over a hush-money payment to a porn star.
He faces a trial in that case in New York next year.
Adding to his legal jeopardy, a prosecutor in Georgia is expected to announce this summer whether Mr Trump will be charged over alleged efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in that state. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-65852062 |
What's in the Trump indictment: US nuclear secrets and files kept in shower - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Donald Trump is accused of keeping classified documents in a ballroom and bathroom at his Florida home. | US & Canada | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: 'Violations of those laws put our country at risk'
Former President Donald Trump has been charged with mishandling hundreds of classified documents, including about US nuclear secrets and military plans.
The 37-count indictment accuses him of keeping the files at his Florida estate, including in a ballroom and a shower, and lying to investigators.
It alleges he then tried to obstruct the investigation into the handling of the documents.
Mr Trump, who is running for president again in 2024, denies any wrongdoing.
But legal experts say that the criminal charges against Mr Trump could lead to substantial prison time if he is convicted.
Charges have also been filed against Walt Nauta, a personal aide to Mr Trump. The former White House military valet is accused of moving files to hide them from the FBI.
The 49-page indictment contains the first-ever federal charges against a former US president. It says the classified documents Mr Trump stored in his boxes contained information about:
Prosecutors say that when Mr Trump left office, he took about 300 classified files to Mar-a-Lago - his oceanfront home in Palm Beach, which is also an expansive private members' club.
The charge sheet notes that Mar-a-Lago hosted events for tens of thousands of members and guests, including in a ballroom where documents were found.
Prosecutors say Mr Trump tried to obstruct the FBI inquiry into the missing documents by suggesting that his lawyer "hide or destroy" them, or tell investigators he did not have them.
"Wouldn't it be better if we just told them we don't have anything here?" Mr Trump said to one of his attorneys, according to the indictment.
Mr Trump's first court appearance in the case will be in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday - the eve of his 77th birthday.
Files were allegedly stored in a ballroom at Donald Trump's Florida property, Mar-a-Lago
Mar-a-Lago "was not an authorised location" for classified documents to be kept or discussed, the indictment says.
Some files were allegedly stored on stage in the ballroom, where events and gatherings took place - and later in a bathroom and a shower, an office space, and in Mr Trump's bedroom.
On two occasions in 2021, the former president allegedly showed classified documents to people without security clearance, including a writer and two members of staff.
At his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, which was also an "unauthorised location", he is said to have displayed and described a "plan of attack" that he told others had been prepared for him by the Department of Defense.
"As president I could have declassified it. Now I can't, you know, but this is still a secret," Mr Trump allegedly said, according to an audio recording.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: 'I did nothing wrong. We'll fight this out.'
Prosecutors say Mr Trump then showed off classified documents again in August or September 2021 at the Bedminster club.
The former US president allegedly "showed a representative of his political action committee who did not possess a security clearance a classified map".
This map "related to a military operation" and Mr Trump told the person "he should not be showing it" to them and they "should not get too close", the indictment says.
Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the investigation, said on Friday that laws protecting national defence information were critical and must be enforced.
"We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone," he said in a brief statement in Washington.
The indictment included images of files allegedly stored in a shower
"He is a Trump hater - a deranged 'psycho' that shouldn't be involved in any case having to do with 'Justice,'" he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Mr Trump pointed out that classified files were also found in President Joe Biden's former office and Delaware home, including in his garage.
The White House has previously said it immediately co-operated with officials as soon as those files were discovered, contrasting with Mr Trump's alleged efforts to obstruct investigators.
A federal investigation into Mr Biden's handling of classified documents is being led by Special Counsel Robert Hur and is still under way.
Shortly before the Department of Justice made the criminal charges public, two of Mr Trump's lawyers suddenly quit the case without much explanation, saying this was a "logical moment" to resign.
This is the second criminal case for Mr Trump, who is due to go on trial in New York next year in a state case involving a hush-money payment to a porn star. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-65852286 |
Trust in police hanging by a thread, inspectorate says - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Police forces are facing one of their biggest crises in living memory, a report finds. | UK | Time is running out if the police and the government are to restore public trust in policing, the Chief Inspector of Constabulary has warned.
In his annual report, Andy Cooke said police forces were experiencing "one of their biggest crises in living memory".
"Atrocious" crimes committed by serving police officers had fuelled distrust, while too few criminals were being caught, he added.
Mr Cooke has called for new powers to enforce improvements.
In his annual assessment of policing in England and Wales, Mr Cooke's first since his appointment last year, he said police were failing to keep up with rising demand from the public and too often were not doing the basics right.
Charge rates had fallen by two-thirds since 2014, the report stated, while victims were increasingly dissatisfied with the police and wider criminal justice system.
"I can't recall a time when the relationship between the police and the public was more strained than it is now," Mr Cooke said.
"The public expectation of policing is that they prevent crime, they investigate crime properly, that they're in the communities, they're visible, that they answer 999 calls quickly. These are all the basics of policing.
"We've seen too many occasions where opportunities are being missed to catch offenders who are causing misery in our communities."
Mr Cooke says the police are often "picking up the slack" for other parts of public services.
"Mental health is a great example," he said. "Last year policing attended 600,000 mental health incidents. Most of those incidents there was no requirement for police to attend."
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley wrote to health and social care services in Greater London in May, informing them the service would stop attending mental health incidents from September, except where there is an "immediate threat to life".
Humberside Police introduced the Right Care, Right Person scheme in 2020 to ensure mental health calls are dealt with by relevant professionals.
Mr Cooke welcomed investment that had seen more than 20,000 police officers added in England and Wales since 2020.
However, he noted difficulties in vetting new recruits and the inexperience of a workforce which lost many established officers during David Cameron's time as prime minister.
Furthermore, where failings have been identified, some forces have been too slow to implement improvements, he said.
Mr Cooke called on Home Secretary Suella Braverman to grant new enforcement powers to enforce compliance with the Inspectorate of Constabulary's recommendations by the end of this year.
Forces had taken too long to respond to recommendations in the 2016 State of Policing report relating to officers abusing their positions for sexual purposes, he said.
"Two forces did from the start what they should have done," Mr Cooke said. "That should have been 43 forces.
"In those seven years, we have seen some truly horrendous acts by officers.
"The chances of these things happening would have been lessened had we had those powers at an earlier time.
"It would ensure police chiefs across the country would have to make the changes that are required to keep the public safe."
Labour shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper called the report "truly damning" and backed major reforms. She blamed successive Conservative home secretaries for a series of failings.
"These include systemic failings in policing and a totally dysfunctional criminal justice system, with more criminals getting away with crimes, victims let down, vital neighbourhood policing devastated, record numbers of forces in special measures, and confidence in policing falling," she said.
Ms Braverman said the report acknowledged a fall in crime rates but conceded "there is lots more to do".
She added: "This is why I've been calling for common-sense policing. With the highest number of police officers than ever before, the police must deliver for victims.
"It has always been my priority to reduce burdens on policing and ensure they have the resources they need."
Baroness Louise Casey, who authored a damning report on the Met earlier this year, told the BBC's Political Thinking podcast that for people to consent to policing, officers need to be seen as "beyond reproach" on issues like violence against women.
She said: "The thing I still feel is fairly unforgivable is that misconduct in a police officer is totally undermining of the fact that they can arrest me, they can cuff me, they can strip search me, they can literally take my clothes off and strip search me.
"They can put me in a police cell for 24 hours, all on the basis of that officer's word."
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• None How did the government meet its police pledge? | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65845463 |
Nadine Dorries writing book about downfall of Boris Johnson - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The MP has begun work on what is being called "a political whodunnit: murder on the Downing Street express". | UK Politics | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries is writing a book about the political downfall of former PM Boris Johnson.
Mr Johnson was forced to quit in July by the resignation of dozens of his ministers after a series of scandals.
One of the first to go was then-Chancellor Rishi Sunak, whom some Conservative MPs accused of betraying the prime minister.
Ms Dorries' literary agent told the BBC the book would be published next autumn and its working title was The Plot.
He said she had already begun writing it.
He described it as "a political whodunnit: murder on the Downing Street express".
Those "who want to know whose fingerprints are on the knife will have to buy the book", he added.
A former nurse, born in Liverpool, the MP for Mid Bedfordshire is already a successful author of romantic historical novels set in Liverpool and Ireland.
During the Conservative leadership contest, which followed Mr Johnson's resignation, she was repeatedly critical of Mr Sunak, accusing him of leading a "ruthless coup".
When Mr Sunak resigned as chancellor, he blamed divisions over economic policy and the government's integrity.
He lost the contest to Liz Truss, but then replaced her when she quit just over six weeks later amid the economic and political turmoil which followed the September mini-budget.
Mr Johnson had indicated he would run in a leadership contest, opening the way to a return to Downing Street, but pulled out, clearing the way for Mr Sunak to take over.
Boris Johnson and Nadine Dorries promote rural broadband days before he was ejected as PM
Despite her criticisms of Mr Sunak, the Evening Standard reported that Ms Dorries was playing down suggestions her book would point the finger at the new prime minister for forcing Mr Johnson out.
She has frequently argued Mr Johnson is the only Tory leader who can beat Labour at the next general election.
She recently told The House magazine: "He will be back. I don't know when, I don't know how, I don't know whether it will be 10 years or 10 months."
Ms Dorries is thought to have been nominated for a peerage in Mr Johnson's resignation honours list, though her appointment is believed to have been delayed to avoid triggering a by-election.
Conservative MP Julian Knight, who chairs the digital, culture, media and sport select committee, told the Evening Standard: "I'm sure the book may give Rishi some sleepless nights. Nadine is not known for her forgiving streak, and I imagine she won't pull any punches when naming names and pointing the finger.
"It's all part of a thread of covert asides at the new regime… you have a rump of Johnsonites and then those sacked by Liz Truss. There's a lot of discontented people around." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63654000 |
What Sunak’s Atlantic Declaration is – and isn’t - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | There's an economic elephant in the diplomatic corridors so big it has turned heads in boardrooms globally. | UK Politics | Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met US President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday
The Conservative manifesto in 2019 read like this: "Our goals for British trade are… ambitious. We aim to have 80% of UK trade covered by free trade agreements within the next three years, starting with the USA."
In truth the likelihood of such a full fat agreement, on that timeframe in particular, was probably pretty small, and it's been very small for as long as President Joe Biden has been in the White House - a reality acknowledged by Boris Johnson and Liz Truss as well as Rishi Sunak.
And three years on from 2019 was 2022, last year - and there is no such deal.
This is why I asked the prime minister and the president about it: given they are unveiling something of an alternative - the Atlantic Declaration - it is important to scrutinise and highlight the gap between what was in the prospectus for government that gives Mr Sunak his mandate to govern, and what he is now talking up.
Not least because trade deals have been done with others, possible once the UK was outside the European Union.
From Mr Sunak's perspective, the politics of this is straightforward: attempting a free trade agreement, even if President Biden wanted to deliver one and could deliver one, would take longer than either man has between now and facing their electorates in the next 18 months.
So better to work up an arrangement now, even if chunks of it require further negotiation before they happen.
Downing Street argues, in explaining why there has been no such deal with the US, that the world has changed since 2019. And it has.
It is worth exploring how it has changed, how that is remoulding international relations and the consequences for the UK.
Covid, the threat posed by China, and the war in Ukraine have been catalysts for a collective fretting from many of the relatively rich democracies over economic security.
Translated: how to get hold of components or energy without relying on now hostile states.
This Declaration, at least partially, attempts to address this.
There is concern about military security too, which prompted the AUKUS pact between the UK, the US and Australia.
But the economic elephant in the diplomatic corridors is America's Inflation Reduction Act - a massive stimulus to address economic security and base green industries of the future in previously left behind American areas.
It is so big it has turned heads in boardrooms globally.
The Biden Administration's motivation is this: the economy needs to adapt given climate change, China and Russia - so let's make America less dependent on others and ensure those jobs of the future are in America.
Labour say they'd do something similar. The Conservatives won't - but No10 point to elements in this deal that mitigate against some of its downsides to British businesses.
Downing Street are upbeat about how the last few days have panned out.
Rishi Sunak and his delegation stayed at Blair House, the President's official guesthouse.
Talk to those who have been there and it's a reminder the accommodation on these trips is part of the diplomacy.
The political history at every turn. The portraits on the walls. The giant strawberry dipped in chocolate left in a guest's room.
Oh, and it turns out the chef in Blair House is from Warrington.
He keeps fish and chips on the menu as a nod to his British heritage. But hasn't yet persuaded his bosses of the merits of shepherd's pie.
The prime minister appears to relish the international element of his job: the methodical building of alliances and personal relationships, the deal making.
But the domestic fray beckons again, as he swaps the Oval Office of the White House for a gathering of his northern English MPs in South Yorkshire. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-65852054 |
Salford e-bike rider, 15, killed in ambulance crash was kindest boy, mum says - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Saul Cookson died when his e-bike collided with an ambulance after he was followed by police. | Manchester | Ms Frendo said Saul "always had the biggest infectious smile and was full of love"
A teenager who died when his e-bike collided with an ambulance after he was followed by police was "the most sweetest, kindest boy ever", his mother has said.
Saul Cookson, 15, was being followed by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) traffic officers in Salford on Thursday until bollards blocked their vehicle's path.
His e-bike then collided with the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) vehicle.
Emma Frendo said her son had been "loved by all that met him".
"He was the sweetest, most kindest boy ever, and always had the biggest infectious smile and was full of love," she said.
"Saul was a much-loved son, brother, grandson, and nephew, loved by all that met him."
The Independent Office for Police Conduct has begun an investigation into Thursday's collision
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said an investigation into the collision.
It said Saul had been riding a black off-road Sur-Ron e-bike and was followed by officers along Fitzwarren Street and on to Lower Seedley Road at about 14:00 BST before the crash on Langworthy Road.
While not on an active call at the time of the crash, NWAS said its vehicle was being driven back to a nearby ambulance station.
Its crew were immediately able to treat the boy before taking him to hospital, where he later died.
Police and independent investigators have been examining the scene of the crash
Writing on Facebook, Taylor-Jade Cookson paid tribute to her brother and said "words cannot describe my feelings at the moment".
"Rest in peace Saul I love you," she added.
Dozens of people have been leaving flowers and cards at the scene.
Two sapphire blue, heart-shaped balloons have been tied at the foot of a lamppost, along with flowers, candles, cards and a large white banner full of handwritten messages.
Another, circled with red hearts, simply reads "Gone but not forgotten".
One of Saul's relatives who attended the scene to lay flowers said the family was "a mess" following their loss.
Saul's friend, 21-year-old Mitchell Murden, said he had been due to meet him on the day he died.
He described Saul as "a good lad" who "kept himself to himself".
Family friend Jacob Bailey said "no-one had a bad word to say" about Saul
Family friend Jacob Bailey, 19, told BBC Newsbeat he came to lay some flowers and pay his respects as he had "known Saul since I was about five".
"He was just one of those proper nice kids," he said.
"He never ever caused anyone any harm.
"No-one had a bad word to say about Saul."
Neighbour Karen Cosgrove said she had passed the scene at about 14:30 BST on Thursday and saw Saul lying on the ground.
"I walked away, I could barely look at it," she said.
"His mum was there, she was screaming.
Heartfelt messages have been left at the crash scene
Some concerns have been expressed by local people about the availability and use of high-powered e-bikes.
Mr Murden said "the majority" of young people in the area had them.
Mike McCusker, lead member for transport at Salford City Council, said there was "growing concern" in the community about e-bikes, particularly "very young men riding round without helmets on".
"The ones we have on our loan schemes are limited to about 15mph, but there are unregulated ones that can go up to speeds of 60mph.
"We don't think regulation is keeping track with the technological advancements around e-bikes."
Flowers and candles have also been left at the scene
In a statement, GMP said: "Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the boy who tragically died."
The IOPC said it had begun gathering evidence, including dashcam footage from the police vehicle, and had taken initial statements from two police officers, who were being treated as witnesses.
A representative said there was "no indication at this early time... of direct physical contact between the police vehicle and the e-bike", but examinations of both were "continuing".
IOPC regional director Catherine Bates said it was "important we understand the events leading up to this incident and will be looking at the actions and decision-making of police prior to the collision, including the reason for the decision to follow the bike".
She asked anyone who witnessed or had dashcam footage of the collision or "events leading up to it" to get in touch.
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• None Teen on e-bike dies after being followed by police | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-65854332 |
Nurse Lucy Letby deliberately misled jury, prosecutor says - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Lucy Letby is a "calculating woman" who lied "to try and get sympathy", a prosecutor tells her trial. | Liverpool | Lucy Letby, 33, is accused of murdering babies on a neo-natal ward
Nurse Lucy Letby has "deliberately misled" the jury on a number of occasions throughout her murder trial, a prosecutor has told a court.
On the final day of cross-examination, prosecutor Nick Johnson KC said Ms Letby was a "very calculating woman" who had lied "to try and get sympathy".
The 33-year-old is charged with murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 others at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016.
She has denied all charges against her.
Questioning the former nurse for a tenth day at Manchester Crown Court, Mr Johnson focused on the events following Ms Letby's removal from the neonatal unit in July 2016.
Jurors have previously heard that Ms Letby was moved to the Countess of Chester Hospital's "risk and patient safety office" after doctors raised concerns over her alleged involvement in baby deaths.
Senior doctors at the hospital requested Ms Letby be taken off front-line duties after the deaths of triplet brothers, known to the court as Child O and P for legal reasons, in June 2016.
Ms Letby was placed on a three-month "secondment" to the office and told she would be placed under "clinical supervision".
When she was arrested in July 2018, she told police she felt "panicked" and "overwhelmed" and had suicidal thoughts following the move.
She also previously told her trial she was only permitted to speak to a select few members of staff at the hospital during the period.
Mr Johnson said that claim was not correct and showed the court Facebook and phone records that were "peppered with [Ms Letby] socialising with lots of different people from that unit".
She agreed with his assertion that she had had "a very active social life", but denied his subsequent claim that she had "deliberately misled the jury about this background".
Lucy Letby is charged with murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 others at the Countess of Chester Hospital
He then asked her about her arrest, which he said she had claimed saw her being led away from her home in a nightgown.
He said Ms Letby was actually wearing a blue Lee Cooper leisure suit at the time.
She said she did not know why she had lied about that detail.
"You're a very calculating woman, aren't you, Lucy Letby?" Mr Johnson said.
"You tell lies deliberately and the reason you tell lies is to get sympathy and attention from people."
The prosecutor then asked Ms Letby about various notes which were found in her home when police searched it in 2018 and in particular, about one on which she had written that she would never marry or have children.
He asked her why she wrote this when she had "a house, a car [and] a boyfriend".
She agreed had those things, but added: "That's how I felt at the time."
"You felt like this because you knew you had killed and grievously injured these children," Mr Johnson said.
"That is the truth, you have murdered these children."
"I have never murdered a child or harmed any of them," she replied.
Lucy Letby claimed that hospital bosses had conspired against her to cover up shortcomings on the neonatal unit
He also asked the former nurse about social media searches which were made to find the parents of the children involved in the case.
She has previously said searching for people on Facebook was "a normal pattern of behaviour for me" and was not confined to those parents.
Mr Johnson repeatedly pressed Ms Letby to explain why she had searched for certain parents, adding that she was "a killer who was looking at your victims".
She denied that accusation, adding that the people had been "on my mind".
The former nurse was also asked about her claim that hospital bosses had conspired against her to cover up shortcomings on the neonatal unit.
She has previously told her trial that a "gang of four" doctors apportioned "blame" on to her "to cover up failings at the hospital".
Mr Johnson asked what the conspiracy between the four was.
"I believe there were shortcomings from the medical team and they put that on me," she said.
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The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-65854106 |
Ukraine latest: Civilians plead for help after Kakhovka dam breach - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | People in Kherson have been left trapped on roofs without food and water after the Kakhovka dam breach. | Europe | The flooded town of Hola Prystan, Kherson region on 8 June Image caption: The flooded town of Hola Prystan, Kherson region on 8 June
UN aid officials appeared to hit back at criticism from Ukraine that there had been no humanitarian response to the destruction of the Kakhovka dam earlier this week.
Speaking from flooded areas of Ukraine, the UN’s humanitarian co-ordinator Denise Brown told journalists in Geneva that UN aid agencies had arrived very quickly and said a convoy of five lorries of emergency supplies would be arriving today.
The UN says 17,000 people in Ukrainian-held territory are known to be affected, but warned the figure could be much higher.
Brown said immediate concerns were landmines dislodged by the flood water, adding that the entire flood zone could be considered a mine-contaminated area.
In addition, hundreds of thousands of people now lack access to safe drinking water. Water supplies have been contaminated by sewage, pesticides, and other chemicals.
The UN is also warning of serious long-term consequences, with huge areas of agricultural land contaminated.
As throughout the conflict, the UN has no access to civilians in Russian-held areas, but acknowledged that many people there have also been affected. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-65851660 |
Why has Labour U-turned on its green investment pledge? - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | With the cost of borrowing up, the £28bn of investment is more expensive to deliver, says the BBC's Iain Watson. | UK Politics | The promise was clear. And it was prominent.
At Labour's 2021 conference, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves announced her ambition to be the UK's first "green" chancellor.
To stress her bona fides, she pledged to invest £28bn a year, every year to 2030 to "green" the economy.
Labour's Green Prosperity Plan was one of its defining policies. It gave the party a clear dividing line with government.
Ms Reeves said there would be "no dither, and no delay" in tackling the climate crisis.
It was also an answer to the government's "levelling up" pledge.
The borrowed cash would underpin well-paid jobs in every corner of the UK in the energy sector.
So why has Ms Reeves kicked the pledge into the second half of the next Parliament, if Labour wins?
The first reason is obvious.
Ms Reeves now says she was "green" - in a different sense of the word - in 2021, in that she hadn't foreseen what then-Prime Minister Liz Truss would do to the economy.
With interest rates up, the cost of borrowing rises too, making the £28bn pledge more expensive to deliver.
And Ms Reeves wants to emphasise that if any spending commitments clash with her fiscal rules, the rules would win every time.
But did the £28bn green pledge really clash with her rules?
In their own detailed briefing on their fiscal rules, Labour said: "It is essential that for our future prosperity that we retain the ability to borrow for investing in capital projects which over time will pay for themselves.
"And that is why our target for eliminating the deficit excludes investment."
So borrowing to invest in the future technology and jobs shouldn't fall foul of that fiscal rule.
But there is another rule which Ms Reeves cited this morning - to have debt falling as a percentage of GDP or Gross Domestic Product, a measure of economic activity.
Meeting that rule may have contributed to putting the £28bn on the backburner - though I remember at the 2021 conference some senior Labour figures questioning the wisdom of borrowing the equivalent of half the defence budget every year even then.
And some senior figures in Labour are far less convinced that £28bn would necessarily bust the debt rule - economic forecasts can change by far greater margins.
One of the other justifications for the change of position is that £28bn shouldn't be poured in to the economy straight away.
That's because it will take time to train workers, to create and bolster supply chains. Hence "ramping up" to £28bn.
One shadow minister said that while today's announcement felt like a bit of a handbrake turn, it was nonetheless inevitable and sensible.
The scale of the ambition remained the same, but pragmatically the shadow chancellor was simply not committing to spending which would be difficult to deliver.
But all this must have been known in 2021, too.
So why announce the U-turn today?
The change of position was discussed within Labour's Treasury team for some time.
Engagement with investors convinced them the government itself may not need to pump in a huge amount of cash straight away - the private sector would provide green jobs without state help.
And while Ms Reeves has ditched the £28bn pledge in the first half of the Parliament, this doesn't mean that a Labour government would spend nothing on its Green Prosperity Plan.
I understand cash will be prioritised for projects where the private sector would not commit without state assistance - nuclear and hydrogen for example.
But it seems clear that politics and not just economics played a role in today's announcement.
There have been grumbles and growls over how the policy has landed over the past two years within Labour's ranks and internal criticism has increased, not receded.
One concern was that the amount to be borrowed - the £28bn - was better known than what the money would buy - from home insulation and heat pumps to new carbon capture technology.
But it was crystal clear this week that the Conservatives felt that they had seen a vulnerability that could be exploited.
The front page of the Daily Mail blared this week about the alleged dangers of the policy - the extra borrowing would put up interest and therefore mortgage costs.
The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies was also being cited by Conservative ministers.
Its director Paul Johnson had warned that while additional borrowing would pump money in to the economy, it also drives up interest rates.
As Labour has been attacking the Conservatives for their handling of the economy, and the "mortgage premium" they claim the government has caused, it was understandable that they did not want the same attack to be aimed at them, and Ms Reeves this morning sought to eliminate a potential negative.
As one Labour shadow minister put it: "They [the Conservatives] will be pulling their hair out that one of their attack lines has failed."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Rachel Reeves says Labour will now "ramp up" its plan to spend £28bn a year on green industries
Some in Labour's ranks, though, believe the party should have insulated (no pun intended) itself from attack by making the case more stridently that borrowing to invest is different from borrowing to meet day-to-day spending.
Labour's opinion poll lead is wide but pessimists in their ranks fear it is shallow.
Establishing economic credibility is seen as key.
But while it may have been the lesser of two evils, today's change of tack isn't cost-free.
The party has committed to achieve a net-zero power system by 2030.
But with potentially significantly less investment, is this target in danger too?
And unlike many of the left-wing commitments that have been ditched - where the leadership don't really mind the backlash - this was the shadow chancellor watering down her own highest-profile pledge.
That in itself has allowed the Conservatives to shout about Labour's economic plans being "in tatters".
As Labour is still committed to its Green Prosperity Plan - just not the original timescale - they will still claim they have clear dividing lines with the government.
But one of their key arguments has been this: With the US pouring subsidies in to domestic green industries, the UK will get left behind if it doesn't follow suit. And fast.
A delay doesn't destroy - but it does potentially weaken - the Labour case.
But there is another concern amongst those who are most certainly not on the Corbyn left.
Emphasising competence and fiscal credibility over climate change commitments could leave some target voters cold. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-65857109 |
Chloe Mitchell: Brother of missing Ballymena woman makes appeal - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A 26-year-old man is being questioned after the disappearance of Chloe Mitchell, 21, in Ballymena. | Northern Ireland | Search and rescue teams have been assisting in the hunt for 21-year-old Chloe Mitchell
The brother of a missing 21-year-old woman has appealed for information about her disappearance.
Chloe Mitchell, who is described as a "high-risk missing person", was last seen in Ballymena last Friday night into the early hours of Saturday.
Phillip Mitchell said he was "broken" by his sister's disappearance and appealed for privacy for his family.
Police have said they are continuing their searches but are "increasingly concerned" for her safety.
A 26-year-old man who was arrested in Lurgan in County Armagh is still being questioned.
Chloe Mitchell's brother Phillip said he is "broken" after her disappearance
The Community Rescue Service has conducted searches along the Braid River in the County Antrim town.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said Ms Mitchell was seen on CCTV walking in the direction of James Street at the weekend.
PSNI Supt Gillian Kearney says Chloe's family are very worried
"It's out of character for her not to have contacted her family or friends," PSNI Supt Gillian Kearney said on Friday afternoon.
"Her family are being supported by specialists but it's a very worrying time.
"I hope she is safe and well and that's why we are appealing for information and for the public to look at her photo and contact us if they have seen her."
A police cordon has been set up near homes on James Street
"Chloe was wearing a green and black The North Face-style jacket, a white t-shirt, leggings and Nike trainers," said Ch Insp Arnie O'Neill.
The Harryville Partnership Initiative, a community group for the area, said Ms Mitchell's family "want left in peace".
"It's a very hard time at present," the group said.
As well as searches along the river, there are also other areas involved in this investigation, including a house on James Street.
The house is cordoned off and forensic enquires were taking place inside it earlier today.
As we head towards a full week from when Chloe Mitchell was last seen heading towards James Street, the thoughts of this community are with her family.
Community Rescue Service searching through dense shrubbery near James Street in Ballymena
On Thursday night, Community Rescue Service teams gathered along the banks of the Braid River while others searched in the river itself.
Spokesperson Darren Harper said it was a "pretty significant operation".
Darren Harper said the search area is significant in size and the terrain is difficult
Mr Harper said the river was not the only area being searched by at least 25 people.
"We do have the water technical team in the water and [on] the river banks and we also have ground teams searching other areas," he added.
He said difficult terrain, with dense shrubbery, brambles and steep river banks made the search difficult.
The hot weather also added to the challenge faced by personnel wearing waterproof gear, flotation devices and dry suits, he said.
Searches are being carried out along the river Braid and near James Street in Ballymena
Asked if the Community Rescue Service had found anything significant, Mr Harper said: "We wouldn't be doing our job right if we didn't have some sort of finds. That's then passed on to the police to find out if it's relevant or not."
One of the search sites on Friday evening was close to the ECOS centre near Ballymena
Another voluntary search and rescue group, K9 Search and Rescue, said in a social media post that its team had assisted in the search for Ms Mitchell in the Harryville area of Ballymena.
The PSNI appealed for anyone with information to contact them by phoning 101. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-65849788 |
West Ham trophy parade draws huge east London crowds - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | null | Crowds in east London celebrate West Ham football club's first major trophy for 43 years. | null | Crowds have lined the streets to celebrate West Ham football club's Europa Conference League final victory over Fiorentina.
The win meant that West Ham achieved the club's first major trophy for 43 years.
Fans of David Moyes' team gathered to watch the trophy parade through the streets of London. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65851408 |
Covid inquiry: Families unhappy with Welsh government - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Bereaved relative Miranda Evans says the government has not helped families get their voices heard. | Wales | Craig Court says families are concerned by the Welsh government's handling of the Covid public inquiry
A woman who lost three relatives to Covid says there is "great concern" over the Welsh government's participation in a public inquiry.
Miranda Evans, from Bridgend, said documents should have been shared "a lot quicker" to ensure Welsh stories were heard at the Covid public inquiry.
Solicitor Craig Court claimed the Welsh government failed to deliver crucial paperwork as soon as it should have.
The Welsh government said it would not comment as proceedings were under way.
A UK-wide inquiry, which will start on Tuesday, could go on as long as three years, and will predominantly look at the UK government's approach to the pandemic.
A Wales-specific inquiry was blocked by Labour members of the Senedd, with First Minster Mark Drakeford saying it should wait until after the UK-wide investigation had been completed.
Ms Evans, whose grandmother, uncle and aunt died from the virus in hospitals, told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast that people were awaiting the inquiry with "great interest" and a desire to have their voices heard.
"We missed out a huge amount of time with our families when they needed us the most," she said.
"People have been sharing stories across the country so we really hope they will have a significant impact and help to change policy and practice for the future."
Mr Court, who represents the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru group, said there was "a great concern over the duty of candour" displayed by the Welsh government, which had not participated "as well as it should have".
He said the worries stemmed from the "very late disclosure" of documents from the government, which made preparations for the Tuesday inquiry difficult.
Mr Court said it had not produced all their documents "as soon as they should have".
"We are still getting documents [and], as of today, we're still not in receipt of some key Welsh evidence. We have been told we will continue to get documents up to and including the hearing," he said.
Ms Evans, who is not part of the group represented by Mr Court, added: "I would have expected papers to be forwarded a lot quicker than that to ensure that evidence from Wales is actually fed into the inquiry."
Mr Court represents families who lost loved ones during the pandemic
Mr Court conceded some delays were to be expected due to a "demanding schedule" set by the head of the inquiry.
But he said: "This is something they have been aware of for 18 months."
Mr Court, of Harding Evans solicitors, said he and his team are working to process "the tens of thousands of documents", to be "as best prepared for the weeks to follow".
He said "there might not be as much of a focus on Wales as families would like" in the UK-wide inquiry, but there was hope more answers would emerge for families from a Wales-specific portion of the investigation due in spring 2024.
"The inquiry is going to go on for a number of years yet," he said.
"Undoubtedly it's going to be a very emotional and difficult time for [the families]."
Mr Court said the Welsh government was underprepared for the pandemic, with exercises carried out in the years prior "often not heeded".
"The NHS in Wales was significantly underprepared for these sort of instances," he said.
"There was an ageing NHS estate, buildings that weren't fit for purpose, lots of recommendations made over the years for things to improve and change that just simply weren't done.
"So what the families are really hoping for is that the issues that have been identified are acted upon, so that there is a better system in place should we be in the unfortunate position of the having the same sort of thing again in the future."
Ms Evans said proper scrutiny of decisions made at both Welsh and UK level was paramount for families.
Welsh Conservative shadow health minister, Russell George MS said: "A lack of candour, late disclosures and a failure to deliver crucial paperwork by the Labour government in Wales - that isn't my testimony, that is the assessment of the bereaved families' solicitor.
"The Labour government worked to block an independent Wales-specific Covid inquiry, but have now agreed to a halfway house committee thanks to Welsh Conservative pressure."
The Welsh government said: "We will not be commenting on any matters relating to the inquiry as proceedings are now under way.
"We have made it clear that we continue to engage fully with the inquiry to ensure all actions and decisions are fully and properly scrutinised." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-65849690 |
Agutaya archipelago doctor who cared for 13,000 people on her own - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The pandemic was far from Dr Alena's only challenge on a far-flung archipelago in the Philippines. | Asia | Dr Alena Yap is the only doctor available to Eleuthera Abus on an archipelago of 13,000 people
When 99-year-old Eleuthera Abus lifts her right arm, she winces as the broken bones move. It's been six months since her fall.
"All I can do is manage her pain," says Alena Yap, the 28-year-old doctor who is examining her on her porch. "She really needs to have the bone pinned. But the family is refusing to take her to hospital."
Eleuthera's daughters are not heartless. They are poor.
The nearest surgical facility is hundreds of miles away across the sea from the tiny island of Diit where they live. It's one of a cluster of islands that make up the Agutaya archipelago, stranded in the middle of the Philippines' Sulu Sea.
For the 13,000 or so people who live here, Dr Alena, as they call her, is the only doctor. Petite, with glasses and long hair tied back in a ponytail, she always wears a broad smile that masks quiet determination.
There is only one island in the archipelago she does not visit - Amanpulo, named after the luxury resort on it, which has reportedly hosted Tom Cruise and Beyoncé. On a clear day, it's visible from the beaches of Diit, just 20km (12 miles) away.
Dr Alena arrived just before the coronavirus - and learned to live with the death threats that came when she insisted people isolate. But the pandemic that swallowed the world was far from her only challenge in this oft-forgotten corner of the Philippines. She battled new diseases and old, and came up against her country's biggest challenges. She says she came to Agutaya to make "real changes" - but she left deeply disillusioned.
These remote, volcanic islands are not where you expect to find a graduate of the country's top medical school, who had spent all her life in Manila, the teeming Philippine capital. Unlike so many of her peers who have left to seek careers in Australia, America and Britain, Dr Alena volunteered to join a government programme that sent her here, to one of the poorest municipalities in the country.
The main island of Agutaya is a two-and-half day journey from Manila. It includes one flight, followed by a sleepless 15-hour night crossing on an open-deck ferry from the port city of Iloilo to a bigger island called Cuyo. Then the only way in and out of Agutaya is a drenching, two-hour roller coaster ride in an outrigger canoe.
These islands, floating in startlingly clear waters over white sands, look like they are straight out of paradise
As the skilled boatman guides the outrigger across the reef and into the shallows, Agutaya looks like a piece of paradise. Below the palm-fringed shoreline, a broad swathe of white sand stretches in each direction. Colourful outrigger canoes bob around on water so clear they could be floating in mid-air.
But geography is both a blessing and a curse. Scattered over hundreds of square kilometres of sea, the dozen or so islands that make up the archipelago are cut off for days, even weeks, when the monsoon comes, winds in tow. Covered with dense forest, the hillsides sit atop large fields of basalt boulders. There is little tillable soil. The islanders rely almost entirely on the ocean.
Dr Alena made her first crossing to Agutaya in February 2020. "When I started here, I was 26 and a lot of people would mistake me for a high school student," she says with a chuckle. "People wouldn't believe I was a doctor."
Her first challenge arrived within a month when the coronavirus sent the Philippines into a lockdown. The islands were sealed off.
"The first year wasn't too bad," Dr Alena says. "There weren't any local cases. But the second year [2021], that is when the government allowed everyone to travel back to their hometowns. Suddenly we had people coming back from as far away as Manila."
Dr Alena was in charge of enforcing their quarantine. "When people learned they would be quarantined they reacted violently," she says. "I received death threats. People said they wanted to shoot me."
She understood why. People here live day to day. What they catch in the morning they eat for dinner. If they couldn't leave their homes to fish, they would go hungry.
So far from being embraced by the local community, Dr Alena, who had left her fiancé in far-away Manila, was now resented as a government enforcer. "There were days when I couldn't do anything but cry. There were a lot of tears," she says.
To ease the loneliness she began adopting dogs. Bruno is large with a big tail that never stops wagging, while Vigly is small and shy. They follow her everywhere.
"I spent a lot of time going to the beach with them and watching the sunset. I also started to draw. My pictures aren't any good, but it's a type of art therapy."
The pandemic, and the loneliness it bought, was especially trying for the 28-year-old
The next challenge emerged when the vaccines started to arrive in the summer of 2021.
"We had to go house to house to every island barangay [village]," Dr Alena says. "The farthest island is nearly three hours away by boat, and many people can't afford the fare [to come to the clinic]. So they wouldn't come."
Gruelling as it was, the distance wasn't the only problem: "There was a lot of hesitancy, a lot of fake news about the vaccines being bad or that they can kill people. A lot of people get their news from social media here, and they were not getting the facts."
By autumn 2022, the threat from Covid had begun to abate. Despite the resistance, the vaccine rollout was successful. Only eight islanders across the archipelago had died of the virus.
But that brought little respite.
A line starts to form on every weekday morning outside the main clinic on Agutaya while the daily meeting between Dr Alena and her team is still under way.
On that day, first in line is a man in his 50s who has had a suspected stroke.
"Before I came here, I thought everything would be fresh and organic," Dr Alena says, laughing at her own naivete. "But it's very difficult to get a nutritious diet here."
For one, locals salt and dry their fish, leading to high blood pressure. Diabetes is also common because it's easier to find soft drinks than clean water.
A boy walks to school on the island of Diit
A sign at the entrance to the clinic announces the other major health problem: "sputum sampling" for tuberculosis or TB.
Dr Alens says they recorded 45 cases in 2022, but many more go undiagnosed.
A bacterial infection, TB is fatal if left untreated. It kills millions yearly, although a combination of vaccines and antibiotics eradicated it from some parts of the world before the middle of the last century.
But the Philippines is still estimated to have more than a million cases. "The long-term plan is to eradicate it," Dr Alena says, adding it's "impossible in the near future". She says because of poor access to healthcare people often relapse, and have even begun to develop drug-resistant strains.
Later that morning, a woman brings her young son to the clinic. Pale and listless, the boy slumps on a chair. Dr Alena suspects he has dengue. A few minutes later, it's confirmed. She prescribes paracetamol, and tells his mother to keep him hydrated.
Dengue is new here. The one case in January turned to 10 by March even as Dr Alena and her team sprayed school grounds to kill the mosquitoes that spread it, and handed out treated nets.
By 11:00 the doctor is extricating herself from the growing line of patients. They will have to be dealt with by her capable nursing staff because she has to get across to Diit, 40 minutes away by boat.
It is more beautiful than Agutaya, but poorer. It has no electricity or a mobile phone tower, and only one concrete road that runs out after a few hundred metres.
The arrival of the "medicine lady" as Dr Alena is fondly called is greeted with much excitement. Dozens of school children come running down the beach. They've been given the day off so Dr Alena's dengue control team can spray their school grounds with insecticide. As she walks through the village, she's like the pied piper, with a long stream of laughing children following.
She visits an elderly couple sitting outside their house along the beach in wheelchairs. Both have had strokes and are partially paralysed. She checks his blood pressure - 150 over 90. "It's high, but acceptable for his age," she says.
On these islands, a hernia, like the one this boy has, can bankrupt a family
A woman in her 40s pushes her way through the crowd that has gathered around. She is carrying a boy, who is perhaps five or six years old. Dr Alena tells her to sit down on a chair and begins to examine the child. He has a hugely enlarged left testicle. The torch reveals a hernia in his lower abdomen. A part of his intestine has penetrated the bowel wall, pushing into his testicles.
"He will need surgery," Dr Alena tells the mother. The hope in the woman's eyes turns to anxiety.
Dr Alena asks her if she knows anyone who she can stay with on one of the bigger islands. Yes, the woman says - in Culion, a 12-hour boat ride away.
"Once I tell them they need to have an operation, you see in their faces the fear and the sadness because they realise there isn't any medicine I can give them to cure this," Dr Alena says. "You see in their minds [the thought] how are they going to afford this? It's hard being the one to deliver the news."
In another part of the world, a hernia is a minor medical procedure. But here it can wipe out a family's savings, leaving them in debt for years.
"If we could make travel easier that would make a lot of difference," she adds. "But that's hard because it will take a lot of resources."
After three years on the island, Dr Alena's optimism and ambition have given way to the disheartening realisation that resources - or money - will always be the biggest challenge.
A concrete all-weather road runs along the base of the rocky hills that circle the main island of Agutaya. Construction began alongside campaigning for the local election last year. One lane was finished before election day, but islanders say work stopped after that. There is no second lane yet.
"We'll have to wait for the next elections to get the road finished," quips one local.
Agutaya and the islands around it are too tiny to matter to Manila, locals say
On the other end of the island, rusting steel bars stick out of an incomplete concrete structure that is gradually being overrun by vegetation.
It was supposed to be the new rural health unit, Dr Alena says. Work stopped last year because the local government ran out of money. "But they haven't completed their part of the deal," she says, her frustration palpable.
Philippine politics is not driven by parties, but personalities, and dominated by large, powerful clans whose chiefs promise resources from Manila in return for votes. As one local woman put it, Agutaya is too small a community: "There aren't enough votes here that make it worth the money."
Local politicians have little incentive to change and come election time, vote-buying is common enough that it now seems to have a well-worn price: 500 pesos, or $9 (£7). Corruption runs deep, and the money pouring in doesn't seem to reach its destination.
"I came here very idealistic," Dr Alena says, sighing. "I was very aggressive to try and change the way the local health system worked. But then as time goes on you realise that three years is far too short to make any big changes."
As her time on Agutaya - a three-year-contract - drew to an end, many islanders told her they would be sad to see her go. "Time flies fast," said Ricardo, one of the senior nursing assistants, who described her as "selfless and hardworking".
As much as she helped, Dr Alena says she feels deeply frustrated at the end of her stint
But in the weeks since returning to Manila, Dr Alena says she has felt disappointed and even cynical about her experience working for local government. She was offered a job at the provincial health administration in Palawan but turned it down. Instead she wants to work in a medical charity or NGO.
Last week, she returned to Agutaya as part of an NGO-run programme. For decades, the NGO, with the help of local and international donors, has been regularly sending specialist doctors to the islands to do minor surgeries.
But this time Dr Alena's journey didn't last two and half days. She, along with other doctors, arrived there three hours after taking off from Manila - they touched down on a runway on the luxury island of Amanpulo. | https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64948453 |
Tom Holland: Spider-Man star to take a year-long break from acting - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The English Spider-Man star says his "tough" latest project had left him feeling broken. | Entertainment & Arts | Holland said working on his latest TV series The Crowded Room left him feeling broken
Tom Holland has said he will take a year-long break from acting in order to look after his mental health.
The English Spider-Man star admitted he had a "tough time" while working on his latest project, The Crowded Room, and had been left feeling broken by it.
Holland, 27, both stars in and produced the Apple TV+ thriller series.
It sees him play a character loosely based on "the campus rapist" Billy Milligan, a US man who claimed to have 24 alternate personalities.
Milligan was the first person to be found not guilty of his crimes by reason of insanity - on the basis of dissociative identity disorder - and instead of going to prison he spent a decade in psychiatric hospitals.
Holland, pictured on set during the filming of his new series, The Crowded Room, in New York last year
In an interview with Extra TV on Wednesday, Holland said the role found him "exploring certain emotions that I have definitely never experienced before", while the off-camera responsibilities had added an "extra level of pressure".
"I'm no stranger to hard work," he said. "I've lived by the idea that hard work is good work. Then again, the show did break me.
"There did come a time where I needed a break and disappeared and went to Mexico for a week and had time on a beach and laid low.
"I'm now taking a year off, and that is a result of how difficult this show was. I am excited to see how it turns out. I feel like our hard work wasn't in vain."
"It was a tough time, for sure," he added.
In a separate interview with Entertainment Weekly last month, the Bafta-winner revealed he'd had a "a bit of a meltdown" after being unable to switch the character off, and wanted to shake his head just to be rid of him.
"I was seeing myself in him, but in my personal life," he said "I remember having a bit of a meltdown at home and thinking, like, 'I'm going to shave my head. I need to shave my head because I need to get rid of this character.'
"And, obviously, we were mid-shooting, so I decided not to… It was unlike anything I've ever experienced before."
It is not the first time the London-born actor has addressed such concerns. As last year, he announced he was stepping back from social media, saying he finds it can be "detrimental" to his mental health.
The year before Holland said he was considering giving up acting, which he began aged 11, altogether in order to be able to "go and do other things".
You may also be interested in: | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-65854793 |
John Finucane: Celebrating terrorism a disgrace, MP told - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Relative of IRA bomb atrocity victim criticises MP's planned attendance at an IRA commemoration event. | Northern Ireland | John Finucane is the MP for North Belfast
A relative of one of the victims of an IRA bomb atrocity in Coleraine nearly 50 years ago has criticised a Sinn Féin MP's planned attendance at a "South Armagh Volunteers commemoration".
North Belfast MP John Finucane is billed as the main speaker at the event in Mullaghbawn on Sunday.
The move has been condemned by victims and unionist politicians.
Sinn Féin has said everyone has the right "to remember their dead with dignity and respect".
Nan Davis was among six Protestants killed in the Coleraine attack on 12 June 1973.
Her granddaughter Lesley Magee said celebrating terrorism is "a disgrace".
"I don't think we should be commemorating terrorism on any level, whether it be Protestant, whether it be Catholic," she told BBC News NI.
"I have equal animosity towards both. I have no issue with anyone's religion, whether it be Protestant, Catholic, Judaism - whatever; I don't care.
"All I am interested in is the person that I know. But when we are celebrating terrorism, I think it is a disgrace."
Ms Magee said she did not think Mr Finucane should be at the event on Sunday.
"I don't think any MP should be at some kind of commemoration to celebrate a terrorist," she added.
"I mean what did that bomb in Coleraine achieve, by killing six pensioners? What did it achieve, other than it robbed families of their loved ones?"
An event to remember those killed in the Coleraine atrocity is due to take place on Monday, and a permanent memorial to the victims will be unveiled.
Ms Magee was 10 at the time of her grandmother's death and described the impact on the family.
"I remember vividly my mum being hysterical," she added.
"It was just an awful time for the family.
"There were three siblings and the youngest one lived in England and he was very, very close to his mother.
"He's still alive. He's 80-odd now and if you were to speak to him about it now, at 80-odd he would still cry."
Six people were killed when the bomb exploded in Coleraine in 1973
Mr Finucane's father, solicitor Pat Finucane, was shot dead by loyalist gunmen at his home in Belfast in 1989.
A woman whose husband was shot dead by loyalists in Kennedy Way in west Belfast in January 1973 called BBC Radio Ulster's The Nolan Show on Friday.
Mary from Lurgan, County Armagh, said Mr Finucane should "think strongly" about what he was planning to do.
"John should know exactly how I feel. I always thought at the time of his father, when we lose someone like that we have a bond with each other, we all have a bond as a victim," she added.
"So I would love to see what John is going to say to that commemoration.
"If he has a heart at all, he should know how we feel."
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said Mr Finucane's plan to go to the IRA commemoration is "wrong" and reopens wounds for victims
Democratic Unionist Party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said Mr Finucane's plan to go to the IRA commemoration is "wrong" and reopens wounds for victims.
"The scars are still there, the broken homes remain, the broken lives are still there," he said.
"I would simply say to John Finucane, do you believe that your attendance and participation in that event is conducive towards what we are trying to build for Northern Ireland in the future, a shared future?"
Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie has said he thought the commemoration was "scandalous", while Tánaiste Micheál Martin urged Mr Finucane not to address the commemoration, saying any attempt to "celebrate or glorify horrible deeds from the past" was not the correct way forward.
However, earlier this week Sinn Féin assembly member Conor Murphy dismissed the row as a diversionary tactic by the DUP.
"I think what we are in here is distraction politics," Mr Murphy said.
"The real issue is here is the fact that public services are crashing round our ears."
Conor Murphy said the row over Mr Finucane's attendance at a republican event in south Armagh was a DUP diversionary tactic
BBC News NI has made a number of attempts to speak to Mr Finucane about Sunday's IRA commemoration event, but to no avail.
In a statement to BBC News NI previously, Sinn Féin said: "Everyone has the right to remember their dead with dignity and respect.
"We will continue to stand with families who have lost loved ones in the conflict."
Last year in a BBC interview, Sinn Féin's vice-president Michelle O'Neill said "the only way that we're ever going to build a better future is to understand that it's OK to have a different take on the past".
"My narrative is a very different one to someone who has perhaps lost a loved one at the hands of republicans," she continued.
"So I think that we need to be mature enough to say, that's OK, we'll have to agree to differ on that one, but let's make sure the conditions never exist again that we find ourselves in that scenario."
• None Finucane urged to 'step away' from commemoration | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-65854549 |
Man carries barbell up Ben Nevis for Doddie Weir charity - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Mountain rescuer David Dooher's challenge was in aid of a cause set up by the late Doddie Weir. | Highlands & Islands | A mountain rescuer has carried a 100kg (220lb) barbell on his shoulders up Ben Nevis to raise money for motor neurone disease (MND) research.
David Dooher, from Uddingston, spent six months training for the Guinness World Record attempt.
The challenge was in aid of My Name'5 Doddie Foundation, a charity set up by former Scotland rugby international Doddie Weir.
The 52-year-old died last year, six years after being diagnosed with MND.
Ben Nevis is Britain's highest mountain at 1,345m (4,413 ft). It took Mr Dooher 16 and a half hours to complete his walk.
Mr Dooher said: "It feels amazing to be finished - very sore and tiring - but amazing.
"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't tougher than expected, but this wasn't meant to be easy, and there was no greater motivator than who I'm doing this for: Doddie's memory and everyone affected by MND."
The 37-year-old completed several mountain climbs to prepare for the challenge.
He carried a 95kg (209lb) weight up Ben Vorlich and 75kg (165lb) up Ben Lomond.
Paul Thompson, director of fundraising at My Name'5 Doddie Foundation, said: "We are blown away by David's efforts. His training alone is unthinkable."
• None Doddie Weir was 'a hero and a force of nature' | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-65845186 |
Rent: Wales to consult on controls for private tenants - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The move is welcomed by a tenants' group but landlords warn it would be a "disaster". | Wales politics | Restrictions on the rent private landlords can charge tenants are being considered by the Welsh government.
There are no firm plans but officials want to hear from the public and landlords on a range of ideas, including price ceilings and freezes.
Tenants have told the BBC they have faced rent hikes in recent months and have struggled to find alternative accommodation.
But landlords warned such controls would be a "disaster".
Although controls exist in the social housing sector, there has been no law regulating rent increases on homes in Wales rented from private landlords for decades.
The Welsh government is consulting on the issue as part of a wider "green paper" on housing, looking at how ministers can help both landlords and tenants.
Another consultation will take place next year on what a new law might be - part of the Welsh government's co-operation deal with Plaid Cymru.
The Welsh Conservatives accused Labour and Plaid of proposing "socialist and nationalist red tape".
Plaid Cymru, which has backed rent controls in the past, said the green paper was a "welcome step" and the free market in housing was "failing our communities".
Ministers resisted calls for a rent freeze last year, saying they did not want to drive landlords away from the sector.
Penny, a PhD student who is currently renting a one-bed property in Cathays, Cardiff, said rent controls would be welcomed.
"There is nothing keeping rent level in check at the moment," they said.
The 26-year-old said they were forced to search for a new property on the rental market at the beginning of the year after their landlord "arbitrarily" suggested a rent increase of £25 per month.
Penny, 26, says there is "nothing" keeping rent controlled at the moment
Penny was unable to adjust their budget due to their salary, and said their rent takes up half their monthly income.
Penny said the more affordable places on the market "are not very nice," adding: "Some of the cheaper places I've seen have mould in the property, or the energy is not very efficient.
"For a long time, I thought I was going to be homeless.
"It's always about security for the landlord, and never security for me."
Ade Zion says he thinks landlords are taking advantage
Another Cardiff renter, Ade Zion, said he would "fully support" a rental cap.
The project support officer's rent recently increased by £125 a month, but he was unable to find anywhere else to live.
"I had no choice. Some landlords have taken advantage of the interest rates going up and bumped up the rent prices.
"It's unfair to us if you consider the inflation rate, the cost of living and everything."
Ellen Knight, 22, says she thinks landlords charge more than what the houses are worth
Ellen Knight, a 22-year-old student at Cardiff University, said this proposal would help in student areas.
"Landlords charge so much more than the house is really worth," she said. "My house has black mould growing underneath the window and we're still paying £400 a month each."
She added that controls on rental properties may also help local communities.
"The houses around here, if they go up for sale, are just snapped up by landlords. It means that the local people can't even live in the city that they were maybe born in," she said.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said private rental prices increased by 4.8% in the year to April 2023.
It is the highest figure since the ONS started gathering the information in January 2010.
The green paper asks for views on a range of models for rent control, including strict price ceilings or rent freezes.
It gives the example of Scotland, which sets a percentage by which rents could increase. This was initially set at zero and later moved to 3%.
Could rent price increases be capped in Wales?
Other proposals include allowing a "reset" at or around market levels between tenancies, such as in Ireland.
There, the first rent that a tenant pays must not be set at more than market rent.
The document calls for evidence from the public and organisations.
Climate Change Minister Julie James said the Welsh government wanted to "better understand the rental market in Wales, in particular what factors influence landlord behaviour in setting rents and taking on tenants and what do tenants consider is an affordable and adequate property".
She wrote: "I am committed to using all the levers we have to ensure we maintain a viable private rented sector here in Wales... where landlords have confidence to invest in making improvements and tenants have greater certainty that longer term costs of moving into or staying in a rental property will be affordable."
Acorn, a union for tenants, said "big money is being made off the backs of Wales' struggling communities".
In a statement, its Cardiff branch said: "We're pleased the Welsh government is exploring the idea of rent controls; in this current crisis, with wages declining against inflation, they're the bare minimum response."
The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has encouraged its members to take part in the consultation.
Ben Beadle, the NRLA's chief executive, said: "Rent controls would serve only to decimate the sector further and would be a disaster for tenants, when so many are already struggling to find a place to rent.
Janet Finch Saunders of the Welsh Conservatives said: "More socialist and nationalist red tape and consultations are not going to reduce rents and deliver more affordable housing."
She accused Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru of trying to drive "private landlords out of Wales".
Plaid Cymru's Mabon ap Gwynfor said the co-operation deal included a commitment for proposals to establish "fair rents in the private rental market and new approaches to making homes affordable for those on local incomes".
"It's been clear for decades that the free market is failing our communities when it comes to housing. The system is rigged against the majority of people who cannot afford to compete for what is a limited commodity, land," he said. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-65845952 |
School devastated by boy's death after 'isolated incident' - BBC News | 2023-06-09T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The 14-year-old pupil from St Kentigern's Academy in West Lothian died in hospital on Tuesday. | Edinburgh, Fife & East Scotland | Police Scotland said they were trying to establish the full circumstances of the death at St Kentigern's Academy
A school says it has been devastated by the death of a 14-year-old boy after an "isolated incident" on its grounds.
Emergency services were called to St Kentigern's Academy in Blackburn, West Lothian, on Tuesday afternoon.
Police officers were sent to the school at about 13:20. The S3 pupil, who has not been named, was taken to hospital but died a short time later.
Police Scotland said inquiries were ongoing to establish the full circumstances of the death.
In a statement, St Kentigern's Academy said it was an "isolated incident within the school grounds".
It added: "All parents of pupils directly affected have been contacted and we are assisting the relevant authorities with their ongoing inquiries.
Head teacher Andrew Sharkey said the school community was "devastated to learn of the tragic death of one of our pupils".
He said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with their family and friends and we extend our deepest condolences and offers of support.
"We would like to respect the family's privacy at this incredibly painful time."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Head teacher Andrew Sharkey said "thoughts and prayers" are with the pupil's family and friends
Mr Sharkey told BBC Scotland that the school - where singers Lewis Capaldi and Susan Boyle are former pupils - remained open and pupils were being supported.
He said: "We deal with it as a community, we provide support, we look after them and we make sure they are always as safe as we can make them."
Scotland's Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said: "My heartfelt sympathies go out to the family and friends of this pupil, and all of the students and staff at the school affected by this terrible news."
Linlithgow and East Falkirk MP Martyn Day offered his "deepest condolences" to the boy's family and friends.
He added: "I would ask everyone to respect the family's privacy whilst a full investigation takes place into this tragic incident." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-65831563 |
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