Month: January 2025

The former chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) has criticised the recent “weaponisation” of child sexual abuse, as she told of her relief at news her report’s recommendations will finally be implemented. Professor Alexis Jay led the multimillion-pound long-running inquiry, which published its final report in October 2022. She said what followed was almost two years of inaction by the former Conservative government, describing their official […]

The Prime Minister has said the failure of state institutions in the case of child-killer Axel Rudakubana “frankly leaps off the page”. The 18-year-old pleaded guilty on Monday to murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July. Despite contact with state agencies such as Prevent, authorities failed to stop the attack which claimed the lives of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot […]

Britain’s jobless rate has risen unexpectedly and the number of workers on payrolls has fallen by the most since the height of the pandemic, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the rate of unemployment increased to 4.4% in the three months to November, up from 4.3% in the three months to October. The number of payrolled employees was estimated to have tumbled by 47,000 during […]

The UK is “long overdue a reckoning with Government spending”, a senior Treasury minister will say as Labour faces the prospect of making further cuts. Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, is expected to use a speech at the Institute for Government’s annual conference on Tuesday to argue that ministers need a different approach to ensure taxpayers’ money is spent effectively. He will say the Government “will not […]

The Chancellor will attend the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting Rachel Reeves will bid for more investment in Britain as she travels to the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos this week. The Chancellor is expected to meet the heads of major international banks during her two-day visit to the Swiss town on Wednesday and Thursday in an effort to tout the UK as an investment opportunity. In what […]

It's after ministers announce inquiry into Southport attack The Prime Minister will address the nation on Tuesday morning after the Government announced an inquiry into how the state failed to identify the risk posed by the Southport killer. Axel Rudakubana, who pleaded guilty on Monday to murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July, was referred three times to anti-extremism programme Prevent amid concerns over his fixation […]

He was sworn in at the US Capitol Rotunda Donald Trump has been sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, promising a “revolution of common sense” and taking charge as Republicans assume unified control of Washington and set out to reshape the country’s institutions. Mr Trump, who overcame impeachments, criminal indictments and two assassination attempts to win another term in the White House, will act swiftly after […]

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper must appear in Parliament and account for why Axel Rudakubana’s terror links were not revealed sooner, Nigel Farage has signalled. The Reform UK leader was among the politicians critical of how the Government responded to the attack, as Patrick Hurley, the Labour MP for Southport, said Rudakubana’s guilty plea would spare the families of the three murder victims a lengthy trial. On Monday – the first […]

Three men have appeared in court charged with rape and other offences following an investigation into the abuse of two teenage girls in Rotherham. Basharat Dad, 40, Nasser Dad, 44, and Reza Tavakoli, 54, were arrested as part of the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) Operation Stovewood, which is investigating child sexual exploitation in the South Yorkshire town between 1997 and 2013. The NCA said the trio appeared at Sheffield Magistrates’ […]