Month: March 2019

    The home secretary is facing criticism after the baby son of Islamic State (IS) bride Shamima Begum died in Syria just weeks after the teenager was stripped of her British citizenship. Syrian Democratic Forces confirmed on Friday night that the boy, named Jarrah, had passed away two days after being taken to hospital with breathing difficulties. He was born in mid-February at the refugee camp where his 19-year-old mother has been staying, and had already been unwell in the weeks leading up to his death. But Shamima who has previously lost two children told Sky News last month that she would not allow him to go to the UK alone as she pleaded to be allowed to return. The decision by Sajid Javid to strip her of her British citizenship sparked a national debate over w...

    Labour has admitted it will not support a new referendum on Brexit in all circumstances, in a major blow to those in the party campaigning for one. Sources close to the Labour leadership confirmed that the party is not advocating a referendum on anything other than a damaging Tory Brexit and will not support one if Britain leaves the EU on terms that Labour backs. As it dawned on Labour Remainers today, a prominent MP who backs the People’s Vote campaign warned that a failure of the party to follow through on the pledge to back a new referendum would be seen as a betrayal. It comes as deputy leader Tom Watson is in the process of forming a new social democrat group within the party, while eight MPs have quit the party, in large part over Brexit policy, to form the ...

    Theresa May will make a last-ditch attempt to persuade the EU to give her a better Brexit deal on Friday, as she struggles to hold her crumbling government together following a day of cabinet embarrassments in Westminster. The prime minister will plead with EU leaders to offer further concessions, as it became clear that talks in Brussels have stalled and hardline Eurosceptics in her party are likely to vote down the deal for a second time in parliament next week. Senior Tory critics of May expressed astonishment that her strategy was a refusal to change course in the face of defeat, with one cabinet source saying No 10 realised it was about to lose the meaningful vote but seemed unable to make a coherent case to MPs why they should vote for it. Instead, May will t...

    An analysis of ten major lakes and rivers found high levels of tiny microplastics, which, once in the water, go on to permeate every level of the food chain and can even end up on the dinner plate. The study, conducted by Bangor University for Friends of the Earth, found varying degrees of microplastics in every stretch of water examined. The highest of which was in the River Tame, where more than 1,000 pieces were recorded per litre, while even the remote Loch Lomond had 2.4 tiny plastic fragments a litre. The Ullswater lake in the Lake District contained 29.5 pieces per litre. The key sources of plastic pollution are car tire dust, clothing fibres, paint, road markings and nurdles the tiny plastic pellets that are glued together to make products that have escaped...

    Frustrated EU officials have urged UK Brexit negotiators to table a workable solution to the Irish backstop by Friday if they want a breakthrough in talks. The UK is currently seeking changes to the withdrawal agreement to make it more palatable to Brexiteer MPs ahead of a crunch vote next week. But speaking on Thursday morning French Europe minister Natalie Loiseau said there had been no precise proposals from the UK and that the EU side was still waiting. A European Commission spokesperson had gone on the record in Wednesday to say talks so far had been difficult and that no solution was in sight. I'm not working on ifs and when's, I'm working on the positions or the proposals of the British government. We are waiting for a proposal from the British government, ...

    The UK's cash payments system could collapse in two years, the industry has warned, as the Treasury is being urged to step in to save it. Companies which circulate, sort and distribute coins and notes say the rapid trend towards digital payments will soon render their businesses unprofitable, sources told the Daily Telegraph. At present just over a third of payments made in the UK are cash but this is set to plunge in the coming years. It is understood that most businesses involved in the cash system have given it between two and five years before it will become commercially unviable in its current form. Link's Access to Cash review published today warned that the system was on "the verge of collapse with bank branch and ATM closures leaving entire communities wit...

    Police are probing whether the New IRA could have sent the improvised parcel bombs which caused a terror alarm at three of London's major transport hubs yesterday. Irish security chiefs and counter terror police from Scotland Yard are examining links to dissident republicans after explosive devices were sent to Heathrow Airport, London City Airport and Waterloo station in A4 envelopes with Irish stamps. The three 'linked' packages which were discovered within hours of each other, prompted a terror scare, as one of them burst into flames at Heathrow when an airport worker tried to open it, and the others had to be defused by bomb squad officers. Last night Ireland's Gardai police force confirmed they were assisting the Metropolitan Police with their inquiries, as it...

    Intelligence services are understood to have investigated increased and unusual activity at the Russian embassy in London in the days before and after the Novichok poisoning. MI5, MI6 and GCHQ looked into frantic comings and goings at the building in Kensington in the days leading up to the moment former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia came into contact with the nerve agent and after they were found unconscious, according to a source. In the wake of the attack, which took place in Salisbury a year ago on Monday, the observations were deemed to be significant and of interest, it is understood. A security source told the Press Association: The intelligence agencies have been investigating unusual and increased activity at the Russian embassy in Kens...

    Theresa May is being accused of bribing MPs in a desperate measure to buy votes as she launches a £1.6bn fund for pro-Brexit towns. The new Stronger Towns Fund, with cash handouts for constituencies that voted Leave, is being unveiled just days before MPs are due to vote again on the prime minister's deal. The government claims it will boost growth and give communities a greater say in their future after Brexit and will be targeted at less prosperous parts of the country. But opponents claim the handouts are aimed at persuading Labour MPs representing constituencies that voted Leave in the EU referendum to vote for the PM's deal next week. According to ministers, the fund will be used to create new jobs, help train local people and boost economic activity - with c...