Written by Millions of tourists to the UK could soon be asked to pay a local visitor levy as cash-strapped councils try to raise money to fund services. Nearly half of Scotland’s local councils are considering a mandatory levy on overnight stays, known as a tourist tax, to help cope with a surge in visitors that has […]
Gurpreet Singh Johal is sitting in a London hotel lobby the night before he is due to meet David Lammy. He recalls in his soft Scottish burr that this will be the fifth UK foreign secretary he will have seen in his quest to secure the release of his brother, Jagtar, who has been detained […]
An unprecedented year of elections around the world has underscored a sobering trend – in many countries the commitment to act on the climate crisis has either stalled or is eroding, even as disasters and record temperatures continue to mount. So far 2024, called the “biggest election year in human history” by the United Nations […]
Weather warnings and 16 flood alerts come into effect across the UK Weather warnings and 16 flood alerts have come into effect across the UK. Here are all the details we have so far on them, via the PA news agency: Yorkshire and northern England National Highways issued a “severe weather alert” for snow affecting […]
England’s special education system is failing, causing thousands of children to have their development put back by months or even years, according to a damning report by the local government ombudsman. Amerdeep Somal, the local government and social care ombudsman, said her caseload was now dominated by complaints from families involving special educational needs (Sen) […]
Hungary’s illiberal prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has said he will invite his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, to visit in defiance of an international criminal court arrest warrant, as world leaders split over the ICC’s momentous decision. The world’s highest criminal court issued warrants on Thursday for Netanyahu, his former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the […]
Labour’s first budget in 14 years has been given the “thumbs down” by private sector businesses as it was blamed for the end to a 12-month run of expansion and a fall in retail sales. Many businesses said the first fall in business activity in November since the same month last year was a result […]
Primary school pupils in England should not face compulsory tests on phonics, times tables or grammar and punctuation, an influential headteachers’ union has advised the government. The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) told the government’s national curriculum and assessment review that there was an “urgent need” to reconsider the phonics check of reading ability, […]
Gordon Brown pays tribute to Prescott Andrew Sparrow Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Caroline Davies. The former prime minister Gordon Brown has just been on the Today programme paying tribute to John Prescott. He said: John was a friend of mine, he was a colleague, but when you think of him, he […]
PMQs – snap verdict That was very missable. Alex Burghart, who was standing in for Kemi Badenoch, started well, with a very short, direct question, but after that it rapidly got worse. He used his first three questions to focus on inflation, trying to make an argument about Labour letting price rises get out of […]