News – World and UK

Thousands of people are having NHS funding for their care withdrawn after living longer than expected, new research suggests. People given fast-track NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) to provide support at the end of their lives can have it removed following a review, leaving them needing to find the money for their own care. A report from Age UK found huge variation in who can access CHC, even for longer-term conditions, […]

The Government has unveiled a clean power action plan to decarbonise the electricity grid by the end of the decade to protect households from future energy price spikes, boost growth and tackle the climate crisis. The extensive plan released on Friday sets out how Labour intends to lay the foundation for achieving its target of 95% clean power across the UK by 2030. Developed over the last few months in […]

Documents offering insight into the break-up of The Beatles have sold at auction for £9,000, without buyer’s premium, beating their estimate of between £4,000 and £8,000. The typescript copy documents, which include more than 300 pages, were bought by a private buyer online on Thursday. They were compiled by the advisors and legal representatives of The Beatles and discovered in a cupboard, where they had been stored since the 1970s, […]

Idris Elba has said tackling serious youth violence is a marathon, not a sprint but feels progress is “moving in the right direction”. The 52-year-old Luther actor launched a campaign earlier this year calling for an immediate ban on machetes and so-called zombie knives and met Sir Keir Starmer in September to launch a new anti-knife crime coalition. To celebrate the progress made this year, Elba has opened a Christmas […]

Lucy Letby was not referred to the nursing regulator after concerns about her were raised to hospital bosses because there was a “lack of evidence” she may be killing babies, a public inquiry has heard. Consultant paediatricians on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital flagged up their increasing worries over Letby in late June 2016 following the deaths of two triplet boys. Senior managers opted to commission […]

Specialist officers searching for missing former England rugby player Tom Voyce have found a body close to where he was swept away while trying to drive across a flood-swollen river, police have said. Concerns were raised for the 43-year-old ex-wing on Sunday after he failed to return home after being out with friends on Saturday. His Toyota Hilux was recovered downstream from Abberwick Ford on the River Aln outside Alnwick, […]

Questions must be answered over the “awful” case of 10-year-old Sara Sharif who was murdered by her father and stepmother, Sir Keir Starmer has said. The Prime Minister said there need to be safeguards for children, especially those being home-schooled like Sara. On Wednesday, Sara’s father Urfan Sharif, 42, and stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, were found guilty of her murder. Her uncle Faisal Malik, 29, who lived with them, was […]

Energy firms will have to offer household tariffs free of standing charges as an alternative to existing ones under plans by regulator Ofgem. The regulator wants suppliers to have to offer “zero standing charge” tariffs alongside other tariffs by next winter as part of plans to address ballooning household energy debt. It is also proposing new standards for suppliers to make it easier for customers who are struggling to pay […]

Veterans who suffered mistreatment in the armed forces under the “gay ban” will receive up to £70,000 each as part of a £75 million scheme being launched by the Government. Defence Secretary John Healey described the historic wrongs faced by LGBT+ service personnel as a “moral stain on our nation”, ahead of applications for the financial redress programme opening on Friday. The total amount available will be £75 million, exceeding […]