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Category: UK news

  • Employment rights bill will cost firms £5bn per year but benefits will justify costs, government says – as it happened

    Analysis from business and trade department says bill will significantly strengthen workers’ right. This live blog is closed

    In the past the weirdest budget tradition was the convention that the chancellor is allowed to drink alcohol while delivering the budget speech. But since no chancellor has taken advantage of the rule since the 1990s (and no one expects Rachel Reeves to be quaffing on Wednesday week), this tradition is probably best viewed as lapsed.

    But Sam Coates from Sky News has discovered another weird budget ritual. On his Politics at Jack and Sam’s podcast, he says:

    Someone messaged me to say: ‘Did you know that over in the Treasury as they’ve been going over all these spending settlements, in one of the offices, its full of balloons. And every time an individual department finalises its settlements, one of the balloons is popped.’

    There couldn’t be a more important time for us to have this conversation.

    The NHS is going through what is objectively the worst crisis in its history, whether it’s people struggling to get access to their GP, dialling 999 and an ambulance not arriving in time, turning up to A&E departments and waiting far too long, sometimes on trolleys in corridors, or going through the ordeal of knowing that you’re waiting for a diagnosis that could be the difference between life and death.

    We feel really strongly that the best ideas aren’t going to come from politicians in Whitehall.

    They’re going to come from staff working right across the country and, crucially, patients, because our experiences as patients are also really important to understanding what the future of the NHS needs to be and what it could be with the right ideas.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • David Lammy raises human rights and Ukraine in Beijing talks

    Foreign secretary discussed China’s treatment of Uyghurs and support of Russia as well as ‘areas of cooperation’

    David Lammy pressed his Chinese counterpart on human rights concerns and China’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during talks in Beijing, the Foreign Office has said.

    The foreign secretary had been under pressure to take a tough line on a range of human rights issues with the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, when the pair met on Friday during Lammy’s first visit to China since taking office.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Labour backtracks on push for genocide ruling on China’s treatment of Uyghurs

    Exclusive: Party drops plan for formal recognition laid out last year by David Lammy, who will visit Beijing on Friday

    Labour has backtracked on plans to push for formal recognition of China’s treatment of the Uyghurs as genocide in the run-up to David Lammy’s trip to the country this weekend.

    The foreign secretary is expected to arrive in Beijing on Friday for high-level meetings before travelling to Shanghai on Saturday.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Jenrick denies privately telling Tory MPs he would pivot back to centre if he became leader – as it happened

    Tory leadership also suggests it was a mistake for him to order murals at a children’s asylum centre to be painted over

    Keir Starmer was “appalled” by reports that Israel deliberately fired on peacekeepers in Lebanon, Downing Street said this morning.

    Asked about the prime minister’s reaction to the story, a Downing Street spokesperson said:

    We were appalled to hear those reports and it is vital that peacekeepers and civilians are protected.

    As you know, we continue to call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to suffering and bloodshed. This is a reminder of the importance of us all renewing our diplomatic efforts.

    All parties must always do everything possible to protect civilians and comply with international law. But we continue to reiterate that and call for an immediate ceasefire.

    The very hard Brexit forced through by Boris Johnson means that we are for now driving with the economic handbrake on – we can’t let that handbrake off. It is what is, It is difficult to see this being reversed within the next decade.

    The truth is it could be a conversation that starts in 10 years’ time. It could be longer, but the beginning of a conversation is not the end of that; it’s not the resolution of our relationship to the European Union.

    I think it’ll be very hard to persuade people in the European Union to revisit, to reengage and start getting into another negotiation about Britain’s membership of the European Union, for a long time to come. I’m sorry to say that but they have had up to here with us.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Boris Johnson calls for referendum on leaving ECHR

    Move over European convention on human rights likely to put pressure on Tory leadership candidates to follow suit

    Boris Johnson has called for a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European convention on human rights, a move likely to increase pressure on those vying for the Conservative leadership to follow suit.

    The former prime minister told the Daily Telegraph there was a “strong case” for a vote on the ECHR, which some Tories blame for hampering their efforts to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.

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  • Badenoch says 10% of civil servants are ‘very bad’ and jokes they are ‘should be in prison bad’ – as it happened

    This live blog is closed

    Popular Conservatism, or PopCon, has released the results of a survey of party members suggesting more than half of them favour a merger with Reform UK. Some 30% of the respondents said they tended to support the idea, and 23% were strongly in favour. The survey covered 470 members.

    Annunziata Rees-Mogg, PopCon’s head of communications and a former Brexit party MEP, said:

    Every Conservative activist and canvasser knows people who had been Tories, but voted Reform UK in July. It is no surprise our panellists understand that the next leader of the party needs to take action to bring many like-minded voters back to the Tories. Almost three-quarters want a relationship with Reform in order to unite the right.

    The answer I was often given by people in government at the time was that lockdowns were very popular.

    They were getting 60, 70, 80% popularity ratings in the opinion polls. But you mustn’t believe those opinion polls, they’re basically nonsense.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Tugendhat condemns Tory rival over claim UK special forces ‘kill rather than capture terrorists’

    Party leadership contender says Robert Jenrick’s remarks show ‘fundamental misunderstanding’ of law of war

    The former security minister Tom Tugendhat has criticised the claim by one of his Conservative leadership rivals that UK special forces are “killing rather than capturing” terrorism suspects, saying they were a “fundamental misunderstanding” of the law of war.

    Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister, has defended his claim on Tuesday, and said it echoed those of the former defence secretary Ben Wallace because of fears that European laws would free any detained assailants.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Jenrick faces scrutiny over claim UK special forces ‘kill rather than capture terrorists’

    The Tory leadership candidate made the claim in a campaign video calling for the UK to leave the European convention on human rights

    Robert Jenrick is facing condemnation for claiming that UK special forces are “killing rather than capturing” terrorists because of fears that European laws would free any detained assailants.

    In a campaign video launched on X, the Conservative leadership candidate made the statement while listing reasons for leaving the European convention on human rights.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Kemi Badenoch’s maternity pay comments show how ‘hopelessly out of touch’ Tories are, TUC says – UK politics live

    Leadership rivals Jenrick, Cleverly and Tugendhat reject her comments, as row over her ‘excessive’ claim escalates

    Q: Do you agree with Kemi Badenoch that some cultures are less valid than others?

    Jenrick says culture matters. But he says he disagres with Badenoch on immigration numbers. He says he thinks you have to have a cap on numbers. And he also says he believes the UK has to leave the European convention on human rights. He says Badenoch is just talking about developing a plan in a few years time, and that’s “a recipe for infighting and for losing the public’s trust”.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • The brutal truth behind Italy’s migrant reduction: beatings and rape by EU-funded forces in Tunisia

    Keir Starmer says he wants to learn from Italy’s ‘dramatic’ statistics. But a Guardian investigation reveals that EU money goes to officers who are involved in shocking abuse, leaving people to die in the desert and colluding with smugglers

    When she saw them, lined up at the road checkpoint, Marie sensed the situation might turn ugly. Four officers, each wearing the combat green of Tunisia’s national guard. They asked to look inside her bag.

    “There was nothing, just some clothes.” For weeks Marie had traversed the Sahara, travelling 3,000 miles from home. Now, minutes from her destination – the north coast of Africa – she feared she might not make it.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • ‘Inhumane’ treatment of migrants rounded up in UK’s failed Rwanda plan revealed

    Testimonies from Home Office and security staff show repeated use of force on distressed detainees

    The “inhumane” treatment of migrants rounded up in a “futile” operation for the now scrapped Rwanda scheme, has been laid bare in testimonies from Home Office staff that reveal force was used against distressed detainees.

    Internal documents disclosed to the Observer and Liberty Investigates under the Freedom of Information Act also reveal four recorded instances of migrants attempting to harm themselves after being apprehended.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Home Office ‘mostly consulted Rwandan officials’ in asylum plan safety report

    Review finds research did not meet ‘minimum standards’ for assessing whether Rwanda was safe place to send people

    The last Conservative government relied largely on evidence from Rwandan officials in its assessment of the country as a safe place to send asylum seekers, an official report has found.

    The independent chief inspector of borders and immigration (ICIBI) looked at the Home Office’s assessment of whether or not Rwanda was a safe place to send refused asylum seekers, a document known as “country of origin information”.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Pontins says sorry to Gypsy and Traveller communities over discrimination

    EHRC investigation found 11 unlawful acts aimed at barring Irish Travellers from Pontins’ holiday parks

    Pontins has issued an apology to Gypsy and Traveller communities after an investigation by the equality watchdog uncovered discriminatory practices by the holiday park operator.

    The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) served Pontins with an unlawful act notice in February after an investigation found practices aimed at barring Irish Travellers from its holiday parks between 2013 and 2018.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Starmer rejects Badenoch’s claim Labour is ‘clueless’ and urges Tories to apologise for the ‘mess they made’ – as it happened

    PM says he will not take lectures from previous government as Kemi Badenoch launches Tory leadership campaign

    Kemi Badenoch is speaking now. She says she wants to talk about the future.

    She was born in the UK, but “grew up under socialism”, she says (referring to her childhood in Nigeria).

    Labour have no ideas. At best, they are announcing things we have already done, and at their worst, they are clueless, irresponsible and dishonest.

    They are trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the public about the state of Britain’s finances, placing political donors into civil service jobs, pretending that they have no plans to cut pensioner benefits before the election and then doing exactly that to cover the cost of pay rises for the unions with no promise of reform, But their model of spend, spend, spend is broken, and they don’t know what to do, and this will only lead to even more cynicism in politics.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Labour’s plan to reopen immigrant detention centres will be disastrous | Letter

    Gee Manoharan says the government should pivot towards community-based alternatives that uphold British values of humanity and justice

    Your report on the escalating violence and deteriorating conditions at Gatwick immigration removal centre should send shockwaves through anyone with a conscience (Gatwick immigration removal centre getting less safe for detainees, says watchdog, 29 August). The fact that nearly a year after the Brook House inquiry revealed a culture of abuse, the government has allowed these horrors to persist – and worsen – is beyond appalling.

    As someone who has survived the nightmare of immigration detention, I know first-hand the toll that it takes on the human soul. The government’s response? To expand this inhumane system by planning to reopen the Haslar and Campsfield House centres in Hampshire and Oxfordshire respectively, ignoring the mountain of evidence that detention inflicts profound harm. This isn’t just a misstep, it’s a blatant betrayal of human dignity.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Academic free speech is too crucial to be used as a political football by left or right | Sonia Sodha

    Labour is wrong to put on hold a law that aims to protect staff from external pressures

    Michelle Shipworth, an associate professor at University College London (UCL), has for several years taught a “data detectives” masters module on research methods that teaches students to critically appraise the use of data. One exercise involves discussing a Global Slavery Index finding that China has the second highest prevalence of modern slavery in the world, to help students understand the flawed nature of the data on which it is based.

    Last October, one Chinese student complained that the example was a “horrible provocation”. Shipworth was asked by her head of department to remove the example from her course. A few weeks later, she was told complaints had been raised about her “bias” against students from China, based on the fact that two Chinese students had been expelled from the university after she discovered they had been cheating; she was told she could no longer teach her module and she should not post on social media about “educational issues about only one country”. The email expressed concern that if there was perception or misperception of bias, this could threaten the commercial viability of UCL courses.

    Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Funeral of refugee activist Viraj Mendis to draw mourners from all over Europe

    Mendis, who stayed in Manchester church for two years in 1980s to fight deportation, has died aged 68 in Germany

    Refugees and human rights activists are making their way to Bremen in north-west Germany for the funeral of a man who fought for freedom and safety for asylum seekers.

    Viraj Mendis came to prominence after seeking sanctuary in a Manchester church where he spent two years in the 1980s. He died aged 68 on 16 August in Bremen, which offered him sanctuary after he was deported from the UK.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Thousands of women abused as children may be unable to get justice due to legal anomaly

    Exclusive: ‘Loophole’ in England and Wales from Sexual Offences Act is being challenged in human rights court

    Thousands of women who were sexually abused as children could be unable to obtain justice because of an anomaly in the law of England and Wales that is being challenged at the European court of human rights.

    The case has been brought by Lucy (not her real name), who was 13 when a man 22 years her senior began having sex with her. Despite him admitting it, police told her charges could not be brought because she did not report the alleged offence in time.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • ‘We need to assert our power – or we’ll get trampled on’: the cleaner sacked for eating a tuna sandwich

    Gabriela Rodriguez was fired from her job over a minor misdemeanour. Now she and others like her are fighting back

    At the moment when Gabriela Rodriguez discovered she had been sacked for eating a tuna sandwich, she was carrying the bins out. Removing rubbish bags from the office in Finsbury Circus – an elegant, towering ring of neoclassical buildings that sits at the heart of London’s financial district – formed a key part of Rodriguez’s daily duties. So did wiping surfaces, scrubbing dishes in the kitchen, restocking basic supplies and all the other quietly essential activities that enable a busy workplace to function. “I’m proud of my job: it’s honest, and important, and I take it very seriously,” she says. Which is why, when the call from her manager flashed up unexpectedly on her mobile last November, nothing about it seemed to make any sense.

    “He ordered me to come back inside and hand over my security pass immediately,” she says. Rodriguez was at a loss, until the words “theft of property” were mentioned – an act of gross misconduct, and a criminal offence under English law. “That’s when it began to dawn on me,” she says, shaking her head. “This was about a leftover piece of bread. And I was going to be dismissed for it.”

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Serial killer Levi Bellfield blocked from having civil partnership

    New law comes into force stopping most serious offenders getting married or entering into civil partnerships behind bars

    The serial killer Levi Bellfield has been blocked from having a civil partnership, after a new law came into force stopping the most serious offenders getting married behind bars.

    Bellfield is serving two whole-life orders for killing Milly Dowler, Marsha McDonnell and Amélie Delagrange, as well as the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Portrait of Peter Tatchell hung in National Portrait Gallery

    LGBTQ+ and human rights campaigner ‘delighted and honoured’ to have painting by Sarah Jane Moon on display

    A vibrant portrait of the LGBTQ+ and human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has been hung in the National Portrait Gallery’s History Makers gallery as part of a drive to better reflect the diversity of the UK.

    The painting by Sarah Jane Moon shows Tatchell in a casual pose, seated with his hands clasping his left calf. The 72-year-old activist is sporting a rainbow tie to celebrate almost six decades of fighting for LGBTQ+ rights.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Campaign groups call on Home Office to stop ‘steady erosion’ of protest rights

    Civil society organisations demand home secretary protects the ‘safety valve’ of democracy

    Environmental groups are among 92 civil society organisations who have warned Yvette Cooper against “the steady erosion of the right to protest” in the UK, and called on her to reverse the previous government’s crackdown on peaceful protest.

    “The right to protest is a vital safety valve for our democracy and an engine of social progress,” the letter, delivered on Friday, said. “The achievements of peaceful protest are written on the labour movement’s own birth certificate.”

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK ‘turning a blind eye’ to threats to kill Saudi activists living in exile

    Saudis living in the UK claim Riyadh is targeting them for speaking out on human rights and jailing of female activists

    Saudi exiles living in the UK have spoken of threats to their lives and harassment over their support for improvements in human rights in their home country.

    Saudi Arabia has been attempting to present itself as a reformed state since the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi by a Saudi hit squad at its consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

    It has spent billions on sporting deals and promoting tourism in the country and was recently named host of a UN commission on women’s rights, despite what Amnesty International called its “abysmal” record on women’s rights.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Purgatory in paradise: how a shipwreck off Diego Garcia led to three years of hell and horror

    In 2021, dozens of Tamils were fleeing Sri Lanka for Canada when their boat sprang a leak. They were taken to Diego Garcia by the British navy. Three years later, they remain there in desperate, dangerous limbo

    It was 10 days into the journey when the boat sprang a leak. Dozens of men, women and children were crowded on to a fishing boat, all Tamils fleeing persecution in their home country, Sri Lanka. They had hoped to reach sanctuary in Canada.

    Instead, on 3 October 2021, as their vessel began to sink, they were spotted and rescued by British navy ships, then taken to the secretive US-UK military base on the remote island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Civil servants obliged to carry out Tory Rwanda deportations, court rules

    Union for civil servants claimed Home Office staff could be open to prosecution if Strasbourg rulings on Rwanda ignored

    • General election 2024: live news

    Guidance drawn up by Conservative ministers which told civil servants to ignore Strasbourg rulings and remove asylum seekers to Rwanda is lawful, the high court has ruled.

    The FDA trade union, which represents senior civil servants, brought legal action claiming senior Home Office staff could be in breach of international law if they implement the government’s Rwanda deportation bill.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • NCA failure to investigate imports linked to forced Uyghur labour unlawful, court rules

    Decision could result in retailers being prosecuted if they import goods made through forced labour, campaigners say

    The UK National Crime Agency’s decision not to launch an investigation into the importation of cotton products manufactured by forced labour in China’s Xinjiang province was unlawful, the court of appeal has found.

    Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), which brought the action, said Thursday’s decision was a landmark win that could lead to high street retailers being prosecuted under the Proceeds of Crime Act (Poca) if they import goods made through forced labour.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • NCA failure to investigate imports linked to forced Uyghur labour unlawful, court rules

    Decision could result in retailers being prosecuted if they import goods made through forced labour, campaigners say

    The UK National Crime Agency’s decision not to launch an investigation into the importation of cotton products manufactured by forced labour in China’s Xinjiang province was unlawful, the court of appeal has found.

    Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), which brought the action, said Thursday’s decision was a landmark win that could lead to high street retailers being prosecuted under the Proceeds of Crime Act (Poca) if they import goods made through forced labour.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK politics: Anas Sarwar says election is about ‘getting rid of Tories’, not Scottish independence – as it happened

    Leaders of Scotland’s five main political parties clash during live TV debate

    Momentum, the leftwing Labour group set up when Jeremy Corbyn was leader, is not happy about Keir Starmer’s jibe about Corbyn’s manifesto.

    Labour’s 2019 manifesto was fully costed.

    Keir should know, he stood on it as a member of the shadow cabinet.

    How about stopping attacking your own side during an election @Keir_Starmer?

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK system for wrongful conviction payouts is lawful, European court rules

    Most miscarriage of justice victims will still be denied compensation after two men lose test case in Strasbourg

    Most victims of miscarriages of justice will still be denied compensation in Britain after the European court of human rights ruled the government’s test for payouts was lawful.

    A test case was brought by Sam Hallam and Victor Nealon, two men who between them served 24 years in prison for crimes they were later exonerated of. Neither was paid any compensation by the government despite new evidence being enough to overturn their convictions.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda admission sparks legal action from detained asylum seekers

    Migrants seek redress for ‘immense distress’ from deportations now thrown into chaos by election announcement

    Asylum seekers detained by the Home Office and threatened with deportation to Rwanda are set to take legal action against the government after Rishi Sunak admitted that no flights will take place before the general election.

    The Home Office started raiding accommodation and detaining people who arrived at routine immigration-reporting appointments on 29 April in a nationwide push codenamed Operation Vector.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.