United Kingdom

    When the Road Traffic Act 1988 was drawn up, the idea of smartphones and sat nav being commonplace in everyone’s car was still the stuff of science-fiction films. By 2003, things had already changed significantly, requiring an amendment to the Act stating: No person shall drive a motor vehicle on the road if he is using a hand-held mobile telephone to address the growing issue. The changes also made it an offence to send text messages, pictures or use the internet while driving, but using a phone as a sat nav wasn’t specifically outlawed, leaving a legal grey area. Motorists concerned with their use of a smartphone sat-nav app in the car and where best to position a phone or portable sat-nav device while driving need to do even more investigating and may find mixed...

    Drivers in West Yorkshire received the highest number of speeding tickets in Britain during 2017, according to the latest official data. Leasing company UK Carline submitted freedom of information requests to the UK’s police forces and the results revealed which areas have the most instances of speeding, as well as the top speeds people were caught travelling at. West Yorkshire police issued the most speeding tickets during 2017, racking up more than 142,000 offences, just under 80,000 more than Surrey which registered the second highest number of offences, at 62,623. Top 10 police forces issuing speeding tickets in 2017 10) Dorset – 45,344 9) Norfolk – 49,730 8) Humberside – 49,982 7) Lancashire – 51,455 6) Kent – 53,590 5) North Wales – 57,224 4) Dundee – ...

    Although the UK would still be the biggest loser from crashing out of the EU single market and customs union without a new trade deal with a cost to the economy of £125bn by 2020 the EU would also suffer a bigger economic hit than previously thought by the end of the decade, according to the consultancy Oxford Economics. The analysis spells out the negative implications of Brexit for the largest European economies, as ministers prepare for complex negotiations with Brussels over the UK’s future trading relationship with the single market bloc. Although the focus has so far been on the impact for the UK, the report shows the risks for both parties in the event Britain falls back to trading on World Trade Organisation rules, which would lead to greater costs from tra...

    The Queen revealed her brilliant sense of humour in a rare interview for the BBC documentary The Coronation, where she handled her crown without wearing protective gloves, joked about the horribly uncomfortable golden carriage that took her from Westminster Abbey back to Buckingham Palace, and spoke about just how heavy the crown really was. Speaking about the weight of the crown, she agreed with her interviewer, Alastair Bruce, that she had to keep her head up for the risk of breaking her neck. She said: You can't look down to read the speech you have to take the speech up. Because if you did your neck would break, it would fall off. So there are some disadvantages to crowns, but otherwise they’re quite important things. She added that her gown for the ceremony als...

    UKIP leader Henry Bolton is reported to have broken up with girlfriend Jo Marney over reports she made racist remarks about Meghan Markle. He told ITV's Good Morning Britain programme on Monday that his relationship was obviously quite incompatible with his position as party chief. He went on to say that while the romantic side of their relationship had ended, he would continue to support Ms Marney's family who he described as "distraught" over the revelations. In a series of text messages sent to a friend, Ms Marney said that the Prince's black American fiancee will taint the Royal family with "her seed" and pave the way for a "black king", according to a report by the Mail on Sunday. Undated handout photo issued by Henry Bolton, who has been elected as the new l...

    Theresa May has humiliated the Queen with the controversy over inviting US president Donald Trump to the UK, Labour has said. The party’s shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry branded Mr Trump a danger and a racist, saying she did not want him in Britain. Ms Thornberry told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show: I don’t want him to come to the country. I don’t think that he should have been given an invitation in the way that he was. That it was wrong for Theresa May to so prematurely give him a state visit. I think that it embarrasses the Queen. I think that it is humiliation for her. I think it is wrong to have brought her into this in this way. It is very difficult once an invitation for a state visit has been made to withdraw it. Only the Queen can withdraw it and I don...

    Tenants will be able to take legal action against landlords who fail to maintain rented homes to a safe standard after the Government announced it would back new laws proposed by a Labour MP. Housing Secretary Sajid Javid said he supports the draft legislation which will protect tenants in both the social and private rented sectors. The measures come amid a crackdown on rogue landlords who now face heavy fines or being banned from letting properties altogether if they provide unsafe or substandard homes for their tenants. Local authorities can fine failing landlords up to £30,000 and, from April, will be able to issue banning orders or expel them from the market altogether. Labour MP Karen Buck, who called for tenants powers to be increased in a private memb...

    It was a moment considered so sacred that television cameras were turned away out of respect, as the young Queen was anointed before God under a Westminster Abbey canopy. Tonight, for the first time, that mysterious process will be revealed to the general public, as the Dean of Westminster allows the sight of the the anointing oil and its ornate bottle to be broadcast. The solid gold ampulla, shaped like an eagle, is usually hidden carefully in Westminster Abbey, and with the moment of anointing deliberately cut from the Queen’s 1953 Coronation. For the first time in history, the bottle will be permitted to be filmed for a BBC documentary about the Coronation, in a programme starring the Queen sharing her own memories of the day. The Queen, in conversation with ex...

    UKIP leader Henry Bolton is facing fresh scandal after his girlfriend's racist texts about Meghan Markle surfaced online. The 54-year-old was already in hot water after he left his wife and two young children for 25-year-old Jo Marney, whom he met in December. Ms Marney has now been found to have send text messages remarking that Prince Harry's fiancee, actress Meghan Markle, will taint the royal family with her seed. Just a dumb little commoner. Tiny brain, one text read. She's a black American. Pushing their way to the top slowly. Next will be a Muslim PM and a black king. Ms Marney also wrote she would never have sex with a negro because they're ugly. She was suspended from UKIP after The Mail brought her messages to her party superiors. The incident comes j...

    A Britain First supporter who chased an Asian man around a shopping centre and shouted white power before driving at a curry house owner during a drunken rampage has been jailed for 33 weeks. Polish-born window fitter Marek Zakrocki told a police officer he was going to kill a Muslim before driving his van at 5mph in the direction of the owner of the Spicy Night restaurant in Alexandra Parade, Harrow, northwest London. The drunken episode, which also saw him assault his wife, took place on the first anniversary of the Brexit vote on 23 June last year. The 48-year-old, who was initially charged with attempted murder, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, battering his wife and admitted drink-driving as he appeared at the Old Bailey via a video link from Wormwood Scru...