Uk news

As the nation collectively grieves following the third terror attack to hit the country in three months, a minute's silence was observed across the UK at 11am in memory of the victims. Members of the public stood near the scene of the atrocity in London Bridge and Borough Market, uniting in silence to remember the seven victims who were tragically killed. Emotions ran high as people reflected on the devastating events, and people were seen comforting each other at the scene. London Mayor Sadiq Khan was at the London Ambulance Service HQ, joining staff members to pay tribute this morning. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted: "At 11am we stopped to remember the victims of the dreadful terrorist attack on Saturday. Our thoughts are with their families and loved ones." People have been continuing to lay flowers at the scene of Saturday's attack. Police officers joined members of the community at the scene, while armed police also gathered at St Ann's Square, Manchester, in honour of the … [Read more...] about Minute of silence held across the UK to honour victims of the London Bridge terror attack

Eric Morecambe's widow Joan Bartholomew stole the show yesterday when she went to the seaside town whose name her late husband borrowed to see the Queen unveil a statue erected in his honour on the prom. A big crowd had perhaps secretly hoped that Her Majesty would do an Angela Rippon, leap out of her Roller, throw off her sky blue coat and matching hat, and join with her consort in a Liz and Phil (the one with the short, fat hairy legs) routine in honour of Eric and Ern. "Bring me sunshine, bring me laughter, bring me love ..." It was not to be. The Queen pulled the gold cord on the green drape and seemed bemused to be confronted by a 6ft 7in bronze image of a man in big glasses standing with one hand behind his head and one leg half raised. Perhaps she is unused to unveiling tributes to popular heroes: this statue weighs a third of a tonne, cost £40,000, and was paid for by public subscription by the people of Morecambe who wanted to honour a local lad, born not far away in … [Read more...] about Eric gets his place in the sunshine

Boris Johnson has placed himself at the head of cross-party group, including a former Tory attorney general and a Labour leadership contender, who are calling on Barack Obama to secure the release of Shaker Aamer, the last British resident held in Guantánamo Bay. In an intervention timed to coincide with US Independence Day, six former cabinet ministers have joined leading writers, actors, directors, musicians to warn the White House that the continued detention of Aamer is undermining US standing in the world. The Saudi-born Aamer was seized by bounty hunters in Afghanistan and handed over to US forces in December 2001. Two months later, he was rendered to the US military prison on Cuba. US authorities have made it clear that they have no intention of charging him. David Cameron has raised the case of Aamer with Obama on two occasions this year – at their meeting in the White House in January and at the G7 summit in Bavaria earlier this summer. Ministers are privately … [Read more...] about Former UK ministers urge Obama to free Shaker Aamer from Guantánamo Bay

Free housing, food, transport and access to the internet should be given to British citizens in a massive expansion of the welfare state, according to a report warning the rapid advance of technology will lead to job losses. Former senior government official Jonathan Portes and Professor Henrietta Moore, director of University College London’s Institute for Global Prosperity make the call for a raft of new “universal basic services” using the same principles as the NHS. They estimate it would cost about £42bn, which could be funded by changes to the tax system. The recommendations include doubling Britain’s existing social housing stock with funding to build 1.5m new homes, which would be offered for free to those in most need. A food service would provide one third of meals for 2.2m households deemed to experience food insecurity each year, while free bus passes would be made available to everyone, rather than just the over-60s. The proposals also include … [Read more...] about UK state should pay for housing, food, transport and internet, says report

The UK has the highest inflation rate among the world’s top economies, in the latest sign the Brexit vote is contributing to a squeeze on living standards. The increased cost of importing food and fuel is pushing prices to rise at a faster rate than anywhere in the G7 group of leading global economies, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The UK is only behind Turkey, Mexico and the eastern European states of Latvia and Estonia in the club of 35 developed nations. The annual growth in prices in the UK jumped to 2.9% in August from 2.6% in July, equalling a four-year high in the consumer price index (CPI) reached in May earlier this year. That outstrips the average 2.2% growth in prices across the OECD for the same month. The UK ranked top for inflation among the G7, whose other members are the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. The rise in prices was also above the averages for the euro area, the wider European Union and the G20 … [Read more...] about UK has highest inflation rate among world’s top economies, says OECD

Britain’s public sector spending deficit dropped to its lowest August total since 2007 after an increase in VAT revenues and a squeeze on local authority borrowing. The deficit in August stood at £5.7bn, down 18% compared with the same month last year, beating forecasts of £7.1bn in a Reuters poll of economists. August’s strong performance, after a better than expected July, is likely to be welcomed in the Treasury where the chancellor, Philip Hammond. has come under pressure to relax planned austerity measures and give ground to lobbying for higher public sector pay. Value-added tax receipts rose 5.6% on the year to £11.6bn in August, the highest for that month on record, and stood 3.1% higher in the April to August period at £56.5bn. But the boost from VAT made only a modest dent in the shortfall for the financial year since April, leaving the public debt still rising as a proportion of GDP. The government’s spending deficit for the full … [Read more...] about UK budget deficit narrows as shoppers boost VAT receipts