Month: September 2024

New Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay has declared his party will change in order to “win back public trust”. Mr Findlay pledged that under his leadership the Scottish Conservatives will seek to represent those who are “scunnered” with the “fringe obsessions of the Scottish Parliament” and feel that politicians do not understand the concerns of ordinary voters. He made the commitment after winning the contest to succeed Douglas Ross, who […]

Coldplay have been named as the most played British group of the 21st century by music licensing company PPL. The London pop rockers – made up of frontman Chris Martin as well as Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland and Will Champion – were aired 40,000 more times across UK radio and TV than classic rockers Queen, who came in at number two, according to the company. Coldplay’s biggest track was 2008’s […]

Parents are being urged to get their children vaccinated as experts launch a campaign to boost uptake in the UK amid rising cases of whooping cough and measles. Researchers at the Oxford Vaccine Group, which is part of the University of Oxford, have developed an animation that, they say, focuses on the “critical role” whooping cough jabs play in protecting against infection, which can cause serious complications such as pneumonia. […]

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has the potential to spill into a wider war “that no one can control”, Sir Keir Starmer warned at the United Nations. In his speech to the UN General Assembly in New York, Sir Keir pleaded with both sides to step back from the brink and agree a ceasefire following escalating clashes across the Lebanon border. Stressing the need to prevent a regional conflict in […]

A statue has been unveiled in tribute to a duck who became an online sensation due to his unusually tall stature. Long Boi arrived the University of York in 2019 and went viral after a social media post incorrectly described him as “the tallest mallard duck to have ever lived …over 1m tall”. It was later confirmed the duck stood at around 70cm. But in May 2023, the university said […]

Parts of Britain have been struck by more flash floods as the Met Office warns of more heavy rain throughout the evening and into Friday morning. The forecaster has issued an amber warning for areas of the Midlands and south of the country, which came into force at 6pm on Thursday and will last for 12 hours. Yellow rain warnings had already been in place for large parts of England […]

Chancellor Rachel Reeves could be willing to change the plans for Labour’s crackdown on non-doms, according to reports. The Financial Times reported on Thursday evening that Government officials had said Ms Reeves could change the policy if the numbers are not satisfactory. A Treasury spokesperson called the report “speculation, not Government policy” and pledged to remove “the outdated non-dom tax regime”. It comes after a report in the Guardian suggested […]

The nephew of a man who was brutally murdered 41 years ago has said he remembered his uncle fondly. Alex McKay, 67, is the nephew of George “Dod” Murdoch who was garroted with a cheese wire in Aberdeen in 1983 while working as a taxi driver. The murderer has not been caught and his DNA was never added to the database. Despite having taken 8,000 statements from the public, leads […]

The Metropolitan Police are investigating a number of new allegations made against late Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed on top of reports previously made by 19 separate women. The force said it will carry out “full reviews of all existing allegations” of incidents which are said to have taken place between 1979 and 2013 to ensure there are “no new lines of inquiry based on new information which has emerged”. […]