News – World and UK

A senior adviser to the Duke of York told an alleged Chinese spy later banned from the UK that Andrew’s Newsnight interview had been “ill advised”, newly released documents show. Tribunal documents made available on Friday show that aide Dominic Hampshire thanked Yang Tengbo for standing by Andrew following the 2019 interview over his relationship with late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “We have dealt with the aftermath of a […]

Kemi Badenoch has dismissed Reform UK as a “protest party” as Nigel Farage prepares to hold a rally in her constituency. The Conservative leader told broadcasters she was “not at all” worried about Reform’s presence in her North West Essex constituency, adding that talking about Labour’s farming policy was “much more important than having a rally about myself”. The rally, which is expected to see speeches from all five of […]

Consumers will see the price of alcohol rise from Saturday when a hike in tax and duties comes into effect. The alcohol tax itself will rise in line with the Retail Price Index at 3.6%, but a new system to tax wines and spirits based on strength will be introduced at the same time. This means the duty on a bottle of gin will rise by 32p, while wine at […]

A body has been recovered from a river near where two missing sisters were last seen in Aberdeen. Henrietta and Eliza Huszti, 32, part of a set of triplets who moved to Scotland from Hungary, were last seen at 2am near the River Dee in the city on January 7. A huge missing persons search was launched, amid fears for their safety in freezing weather conditions. On Friday just before […]

Government efforts in recent years to address violence against women and girls (VAWG) have not improved outcomes for victims, according to the spending watchdog. VAWG is a “significant and growing problem” affecting one in 12 women, the National Audit Office (NAO) said. But it added that the Home Office – the main department in charge of work to tackle it – “is not currently leading an effective cross-government response”. A […]

Manchester United booked their place in the last-16 of the Europa League to end the league phase unbeaten, while Tottenham struck three times in the second half to follow them through with a win over Elfsborg. Rangers completed a clean sweep of British teams to avoid the play-offs after they beat Union Saint-Gilloise and results elsewhere meant the Scottish side pinched eighth spot. Arsenal landed themselves in hot water for […]

Britain will mark five years since Brexit on Friday with little fanfare as the Government pursues closer relations with the bloc. The UK officially left the EU at 11pm – midnight in Brussels – on January 31 2020, after three-and-a-half years of political wrangling that followed the 2016 Brexit referendum. The Conservatives have celebrated the anniversary, with shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel saying it marked five years since her […]

Online shopping fraud cost consumers more than £56 million last year, marking a rise of 20%. Consumers reported 68,000 cases of online shopping fraud in the 2023-24 financial year, with losses totalling more than £56.3 million, according to data from Action Fraud obtained by the Lib Dems through a Freedom of Information request. This is compared to £46.6 million of losses in the previous year to fraudulent online shopping scams […]

Some children as young as four are waiting up to 18 months to access NHS physiotherapy services, according to a survey of professionals in the sector. Respondents spoke of “severe understaffing”, with one physiotherapist claiming some families whose children have suffered “devastating injuries” are forced to travel hundreds of miles for support. Experts said the distress caused to youngsters by these delays could last a lifetime, and warned that long […]