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Rachel Reeves suggested the full Cabinet must back any potential expansion of Heathrow Airport despite previous opposition from senior Government figures, as she all but confirmed plans to endorse a third runway. The Chancellor refused to be drawn on “speculation” over an upcoming announcement she is expected to make about the project but said decisions would be subject to “full collective ministerial responsibility”. Facing questions from Sunday broadcasters about how […]

More than 100,000 remain without power in Northern Ireland in the aftermath of Storm Eowyn. Additional engineers have been brought to the region from Great Britain to help NIE Networks with the task of restoring power. Some 52 engineers from England were scheduled to arrive on Saturday, with 30 to be utilised by NIE and 22 to assist ESB Networks in the Irish Republic, and further resources to follow. The storm has […]

Environmental assessments for building homes and infrastructure will be replaced with a new system as the Government seeks to cut red tape and speed up planning application approvals. Chancellor Rachel Reeves said Environmental Impact Assessments would be replaced by Environmental Outcome Reports as she turns to “avenues that others have shied away from” to “kick-start” the economy. The Treasury described the current assessments as “voluminous and costly documents” and said […]

Nearly one in five senior mental health roles in Scotland are either vacant or filled by locums, figures show. Freedom of information requests by the Scottish Liberal Democrats found 19% of permanent consultant psychiatrist roles are vacant or filled on a temporary basis, although it varies widely by area. Smaller health boards such as NHS Shetland and NHS Western Isles have no permanent consultant psychiatrists, the data shows. Across the […]

That’s despite being ready to be discharged A patient deemed fit enough by doctors to be discharged has been stuck in hospital for more than seven years, according to new figures. A series of freedom of information requests by the Scottish Conservatives revealed many patients are waiting years to leave hospital after being told it is safe to do so. NHS Fife confirmed one of its patients has been experiencing […]

12-year-old Leo Ross was stabbed to death in Birmingham A 14-year-old has been charged with the murder of Birmingham schoolboy Leo Ross, who was stabbed in the stomach in a country park. West Midlands Police arrested the youth, who cannot be named because of his age, on Tuesday, about four hours after Leo, 12, suffered fatal injuries on a riverside path in the Hall Green area. In a statement on […]

Union leaders say the tax increase threatens UK food security Farmers are gathering at protests across the UK as they step up their campaign against the Government’s inheritance tax reforms – which they say would “decimate” the country’s agricultural sector. The National Farmers Union (NFU) is staging a series of events on Saturday as part of a so-called National Day of Unity, with farmers bringing food, tractors and livestock to […]

WH Smith is in talks to sell its high street arm. The company’s hight street operation is made up of about 500 stores, the first of which was opened 230 years ago. “WH Smith confirms that it is exploring potential strategic options for this profitable and cash generative part of the group, including a possible sale,” a statement said. Over the past decade, the firm has focused on its more […]

Sunday brings a new set of weather warnings Storm Eowyn has been “pretty exceptional” and was “probably the strongest storm” to hit the UK in at least 10 years, the Met Office has said. It was the most intense in “more like 20 or 30 years” for some parts of the country, forecasters added. Parts of Ireland saw the highest windspeeds since records began after they reached 114mph in Mace […]