Business secretary plays down Cameron Greensill links

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has played down former prime minister David Cameron's dealings with Greensill Capital saying "he's allowed to pursue another career" after leaving office.

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  • Prime suspect charged with murder of California student - 25 years after she disappeared

    A long-time suspect in the disappearance of California student Kristin Smart almost 25 years ago has been charged with her murder, while his father is accused of helping to conceal her body. Paul Flores, 44, was the last person seen with Ms Smart when she vanished on 25 May 1996. Flores has spent years refusing to comment under his right not to incriminate himself.

  • Heathrow airport queues: ‘What’s the hurry? Can you be late for quarantine?’

    Good old British inefficiency: in the shakiest of times, it’s nice to know some solid ground. Travellers landing into Heathrow are reportedly queuing at the border for as long as six hours while their Covid forms are processed, a situation the airport’s chief solutions officer Chris Garton dubbed “untenable”. Or maybe I’m just relieved by the borders being manned by disorganised moaners.

  • Ivanka Trump causes MAGA meltdown after sharing photograph getting vaccine

    Trump supporters called Ivanka a ‘disappointment’ for getting the jab

  • Justin Trudeau claims UK is facing ‘very serious’ third Covid wave amid Canada’s slow vaccine rollout

    Downing Street says UK’s case data ‘speaks for itself’ as infections continue to fall

  • COVID-19 having 'catastrophic' impact on NHS as 4.7 million wait to start hospital treatment

    Charities and health organisations have warned the COVID-19 pandemic is having a "catastrophic" impact on NHS services - as the number of people in England waiting to start hospital treatment hits a new record high. A total of 4.7 million were waiting to begin treatment at the end of February 2021 - the largest figure since records began in August 2007, according to NHS England data. The number of people admitted for routine hospital treatment was down by 47% in February compared with a year earlier - with 152,642 admitted in February 2021 and 285,918 in February 2020, which had an extra day as it was a leap year.

  • Prince Philip's custom-made Land Rover hearse unveiled for first time

    He is said to have remarked to the Queen when discussing his desire for a frill-free funeral: "Just stick me in the back of a Land Rover and drive me to Windsor." During Saturday’s ceremony, the Duke of Edinburgh will get his wish. The custom-made Land Rover that will carry the Duke’s body to its final resting place in St George’s Chapel has been unveiled for the first time. For the past eighteen years, it can now be revealed, the Duke had been quietly modifying the Land Rover Defender TD5 130, requesting a repaint in military green and designing the open top rear and special "stops" to secure his coffin in place. He made the final adjustments in 2019, the year he turned 98. The Land Rover's original role would also have been to transport the Duke 22 miles from Wellington Arch in central London to Windsor, but the pandemic curtailed the long-held plans for military parades in honour of Prince Philip through the streets of both the capital and the Berkshire town. The Duke first began the long-lasting venture to create his own bespoke hearse in collaboration with Land Rover in 2003, the year he turned 82.

  • Quiz! How well do you know the UK’s longest running TV shows?

    Can you answer these questions about the nation's most well-established programmes?

  • Locking down whole streets could be way to stop new Covid variants, says expert

    Locking down entire streets could be an important way of keeping outbreaks of new Covid variants under control, an expert has suggested. Dr Jeffrey Barrett, director of the Covid-19 Genomics Initiative at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said using interventions to minimise asymptomatic transmission could be crucial. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Dr Barrett said it was important to deploy “the most effective measures possible” to contain these outbreaks. When questioned if shutting down entire streets would have a medical impact on clusters of cases, he responded: “Well it certainly could, because one of the trickiest parts of this virus overall is, of course, some individuals who are infected don't have symptoms and so they can transmit. “Trying to use interventions that might stop asymptomatic transmission may well be an important part of keeping outbreaks of these new variants to be as absolutely small as possible." He added there could be a “chance” new variants will be “less well neutralised” by vaccines, so “it's really important to be able to try to keep that number as close to zero as possible”. Restrictions have so far kept the number of new variants “very small”, he said, adding: “And as the restrictions are lifted the key thing to watch will be, does that number ever go up sort of week by week, and if so it's really important to deploy the most effective measures possible to contain those outbreaks." One effective measure to contain outbreaks is deploying surge testing, he added. Surge testing has now been expanded in south London boroughs after cases of the South African variant, B.1.351, were discovered. Three boroughs have set up additional testing facilities to process thousands of residents who are eligible for tests. More than half a million adults living in south London boroughs have been offered tests, including 264,000 in Lambeth, 265,000 in Wandsworth, and 14,800 in the Rotherhithe ward of Southwark. A case of the variant was also detected in Barnet, north London, and home testing kits were delivered door-to-door in the N3 postcode on Thursday. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) confirmed the case in Barnet was unrelated to other clusters, but it had been isolated and the person's contacts traced. The extra testing comes as new analysis revealed that Covid-19 rates dropped below 100 cases per 100,000 people in all local areas of the UK for the first time since September. A total of 19,196 people tested positive for Covid-19 in England at least once in the week to April 7, according to the latest Test and Trace figures. This is down 34 per cent on the previous week and is the lowest number since the week to September 2, 2020.

  • Idris Elba says ‘we must not pull ourselves backwards’ as BBC diversity chief claims Luther isn’t an ‘authentic’ Black lead

    Miranda Wayland said the character didn’t ‘feel authentic’ because he didn’t have Black friends or eat Caribbean food

  • EU states believe MEPs have handed UK leverage in Brexit talks over Northern Ireland

    Britain’s hand in negotiations over the Northern Ireland Protocol has been strengthened by the European Parliament’s refusal to set a date to ratify the Brexit trade deal, EU governments have warned. Lord Frost is in Brussels for talks over the implementation of new customs arrangements in Northern Ireland with his European Commission opposite number Maros Sefcovic. Brussels has begun legal action against the UK, which it accuses of breaking international law by unilaterally extending grace periods on some customs checks in the Withdrawal Agreement. Britain argues the measures are lawful and in good faith. MEPs refused to name the date for the plenary vote on the trade deal for a second time on Tuesday in a bid to heap pressure on Britain over the agreement that introduced a customs border in the Irish Sea to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland. The threat infuriated European capitals, which are worried it could backfire and believe it weakens the EU’s negotiating position in the talks over Northern Ireland. “There is serious incredulity around the table,” an EU diplomat said, “The irresponsible actions by the UK government have been bemoaned by MEPs for months only for them to act exactly the same way.” “It will impact the EU’s negotiations over Northern Ireland and call into question certainty for citizens and companies on both sides of the Channel.“ The UK-EU trade deal, which is separate from the Withdrawal Agreement, was provisionally applied at the end of last year. If the European Parliament does not ratify the deal by the end of April the EU would have to ask the UK for an extension or face a damaging no deal because the provisional deal would fall away.

  • Why did Prince Andrew think he should go to the funeral as an Admiral?

    When Prince Andrew suddenly re-appeared in public last weekend, giving an interview outside the Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor, the public could understand his grief at losing a father. Yet his appearance also raised an unfortunate question mark. It was 512 days after having last spoken publicly, and it seemed that on Sunday the Duke of York had returned to the frontline of the monarchy – and was speaking on its behalf. Within a day an unceremonious controversy erupted. Prince Andrew had reportedly demanded to wear the uniform of an Admiral at his father’s funeral on Saturday and had gone so far as instructing his tailor to style it with the distinctive three rows of lace and four stars, crossed baton and sword of that rank. The prince was, like his father, tested in war – no doubt a unique bond and a source of pride for the Duke of Edinburgh. As the only one of the generation of royals younger than his father to serve in battle, Prince Andrew certainly deserved to wear a uniform, as Prince Philip did his as honorary Admiral of the Fleet, the navy’s highest rank. But his current rank is Vice-Admiral, not Admiral.

  • The shocking figure that shows the severity of Europe’s third COVID wave, according to the WHO

    Dr Hans Kluge, the regional director of WHO Europe, set out stark figures as he referred to the ongoing third wave of infections on the continent.

  • Hong Kong students invited to handle rocket launchers during day of pro-Beijing activities

    Hong Kong school-children were on Thursday invited to handle rocket launchers and sing the Chinese national anthem during a day of activities designed to boost loyalty to Beijing. In classrooms across the city, students as young as six were given lessons on the draconian security law imposed last year as part of the first ‘National Security Education Day’. Pupils were told to write messages in praise of China on billboards as they took part in flag-raising ceremonies as well as pro-Beijing puzzles and games. At an open day at Hong Kong’s Police College, students were shown how to handle mock rocket-launchers as officers rappelled down from helicopters and took down 'terrorists' in mock-drills. Police also demonstrated a new goose-stepping march that mimics the style used by Chinese troops on the mainland. On the sidelines, guests wearing “I love police” t-shirts posed for selfies with a bear mascot dressed in a tactical uniform.

  • U-turn on register for serial domestic abuse and stalking perpetrators will leave ‘gaping hole’, government warned

    Exclusive: Yvette Cooper warns not introducing register will result in a gap in resources for tackling violence against women and girls

  • SNP offers Scots up to £50,000 to move to the islands

    Nicola Sturgeon’s party plans bond scheme to stop rural depopulation

  • Prince Philip’s personalised Land Rover hearse is unveiled

    The Duke of Edinburgh’s modified Land Rover Defender TD5 130 chassis cab vehicle has been unveiled for the first time, two days before his final farewell in St George’s Chapel.

  • Prince Philip would be exasperated by this debate about the Duke of York and his admiral’s outfit

    Sense, thankfully, seems to have prevailed and the royal family has decided collectively to ‘level down’ to lounge suits

  • 'If surge testing doesn't work, England may see local COVID restrictions', expert warns

    Professor Johns Edmunds believes the government may have to enforce tougher restrictions in south London.

  • European Parliament gives initial backing to UK trade deal

    The European Parliament's committees on relations with Britain on Thursday voted overwhelmingly in favour of the post-Brexit trade and cooperation agreement, clearing the path to its final ratification. They had suspended voting in March in protest over British changes to trading arrangements in Northern Ireland, which Brussels says breach the terms of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. The United Kingdom left the European Union on Jan. 31 after years of tortuous negotiations over their future relations but many details remain unclear, leading to acrimony.

  • ‘It’s impossible to get any whiter than that’: Team USA Olympic uniforms mocked online

    Unveiling of outfits for Team USA and Canada attract controversy — for different reasons