United Kingdom

    More than 60 backbench Conservative MPs have sent Theresa May a list of hard Brexit demands ahead of a crunch meeting, triggering a furious reaction from colleagues who branded the letter a ransom note. As dozens of members of the party’s European Research Group added their names to the correspondence setting out their expectations for Brexit with “full regulatory autonomy, other Tory politicians hit back. Nicky Morgan, an advocate for a soft Brexit who chairs the Treasury select committee, said: This isn’t a letter, it is a ransom note. The ERG clearly think they have the prime minister as their hostage. Letter from European Research Group to May The letter was sent to the prime minister as well as Brexit secretary David Davis, international trade secretary Liam ...

    A section of the M20 will be closed until at least midday after police found a body on the road. Officers were called at 6.05pm on Tuesday to the London-bound carriageway between junctions 10 and nine near Ashford. A body was found on the road and the person was pronounced dead at the scene, Kent Police said. The death is being treated as unexplained and the force is appealing for anyone who saw a pedestrian in the area to come forward. Highways England tweeted that the road will likely remain closed for ongoing investigations following a very serious incident, with drivers initially told to remain in their vehicles until police officers directed them to turn around. The motorway provides a link from the capital to the Channel Tunnel and ports of Dover. P&O F...

    The Hero’s Welcome editorial cartoon by Canadian artist Pia Guerra. As news of the deadly mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., unfolded last week, Pia Guerra, a 46 year old Vancouver-based artist, felt helpless. She couldn’t bring herself to go to sleep, so she began to draw. About 6 a.m., she came up with an idea. One of the first victims identified among the 17 people killed was Aaron Feis, an assistant football coach and security guard. Feis was shot after reportedly throwing himself in front of students during the rampage. Guerra was moved by the thought of this heroic man, the father of a young child, standing in front of bullets for students. It’s not often that an image pops in your brain and you feel a lump in your throat...

    Campaigners have called for urgent changes to the law to make upskirting criminalised alongside other sexual offences, as the first official figures on the craze show complainants as young as 10. Victims, politicians and equality groups have urged the Government to provide an effective criminal law for upskirting, which often sees perpetrators escape punishment for taking photographs or videos of a victim’s groin area from beneath their clothing. There is currently no law banning upskirting, with victims left to pursue voyeurism or indecency claims in a handful of cases. Campaigners say the situation echoes that of image-based sexual abuse often referred to as revenge porn which lingered in a legal grey area until a law was introduced in April 2015 following a nati...

    On Friday, the 35-year-old attended the Cantrepoint Awards at Kensington Palace, an event which is designed to celebrate the achievements of young people who have overcome homelessness. During the ceremony, the Duke of Cambridge spoke candidly about family life. He told guests Our third child is due in April, I'm getting as much sleep as I can. Raymond Stoner, head of Anston Properties, quickly suggested that the royal couple save time by having twins, to which the Duke of Cambridge joked, Twins? I think my mental health would be tested with twins. The evening marked 50 years since the charity which Princess Diana was a patron of was first established. He said, I feel immense pride in all Centrepoint has accomplished in that time, but with it, disappointment and f...

A Conservative MP has deleted a tweet making unsubstantiated claims about Jeremy Corbyn’s links to communist spies after the Labour leader threatened to sue him. Ben Bradley, a Conservative Party Vice Chair, had tweeted that Corbyn had “sold British secrets” to foreign agents following a series of tabloid allegations about meetings the Labour leader and other MPs attended in the 1980s. But a spokesperson for Corbyn said on Monday: “Jeremy has instructed solicitors to contact [Tory MP] Ben Bradley to delete his libelous tweet or face legal action.” The tweet has since been deleted, but was captured by Corbyn supporter Owen Jones - who urged the Labour MP to take legal action. The party’s youth spokesman posted: “Corbyn sold British secrets to communist spies... get some perspectiv...

    Office workers, farmers and radio hosts are taking on new nationalities, relocating their businesses or looking forward to lucrative alternative trade deals, as politicians struggle to come up with a plan. "Other people my age, they are starting settling down, they make more long-term plans with their lives," said 32-year-old Matt Davies, a British expat in Madrid. "It's very difficult for me to plan anything beyond March 2019 because you just have no idea what is going to happen," the call centre worker said. British and EU diplomats resumed negotiations in Brussels last week and are hoping to agree next month on a post-Brexit transition period. But the shape of future relations between Britain and the EU is far from certain and the British government is deeply d...

    A senior Irish politician has hit out at Boris Johnson after he failed to mention Ireland in a key Brexit speech. Fianna Fail TD Stephen Donnelly slammed the Foreign Secretary for speaking about stag parties and the eye-popping activities of those living abroad but did not address the pressing issue of the border in his “road to Brexit” speech in London last week. He said: “It was an extraordinary speech. It was insulting. It was reckless.” Mr Johnson was speaking at the Policy Exchange think tank in London on Wednesday. He urged people to unite around Brexit, adding the UK’s departure from the EU should not be seen as a great V sign from the cliffs of Dover. However, Mr Donnelly told RTE’s The Week In Politics programme: “In his 4,600 word speech he never mentio...

    Every morning, at 9am, a bagpipe player stands outside the Queen's window and blows. Before Her Majesty the Queen sits down to her favourite breakfast cereal – Special K – she's woken up by the Piper to the Sovereign. He plays every morning for 15 minutes. The Queen likes it, and the role is one of the most sought after in the windbag world. Since 2015, the position has been held by PM Scott Methven of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. The post was established in 1843, when Queen Victoria reigned. She first heard bagpipe music in 1842 when she and Prince Albert first visited the Highlands. There was a gap in players between 1941-45, during World War Two. Pipers are personally interviewed by the Queen before she makes her appointment. Her decision is made on ...