Quality of care dropped as staff were replaced with less experienced nurses, researchers at the University of Surrey say

Food safety watchdog issues alert over Asda recalling hot and spicy chicken breast slices

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/33584974

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British firms working for the UK’s military or intelligence services are advising staff not to connect their mobile phones to Chinese-made electric cars over fears that Beijing could steal sensitive national security data.

Executives at two of the nation’s leading defence giants have told The i Paper that the entire sector is taking a “cautious” and “belt and braces” approach to the possibility of the Chinese state spying on staff via the country’s electric vehicles (EVs).

The security clampdown within the UK’s highly secretive defence sector follows revelations from The i Paper that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has banned cars relying on Chinese technology from sensitive military sites across the country. In some cases,

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Working with the anti-racism group Hope Not Hate, the Guardian found more than 150 posts from 29 accounts on three days in August 2024 that sought to draw the attention of anti-immigrant groups and the far right to [exiled dissident Finn] Lau and other Hong Kong exiles. Cybersecurity experts who have reviewed the posts say they exhibited some similarities to a major online influence operation that a Chinese security agency is suspected of orchestrating.

[...]

Lau and his fellow activists have been called traitors, with bounties on their heads that are three times what the authorities offer for murderers. Relatives back home have been arrested and intimidated. As he read the posts, Lau suspected a chilling new tactic: an attempt to harness far-right violence.

[...]

Posts on X inciting attacks on Lau and

I usually don’t like to share content behind paywalls, because quality journalism must be supported. But the Financial Times is doing well and this article is important.

The benefits and limits of privatisation

Some 40 years ago, the United Kingdom became a pioneer in the privatisation of publicly owned industries.

Initially the focus was upon a few large businesses.

But over time this changed, as the government privatised monopolies or quasi-monopolies and then went on to contract with private suppliers of a wide range of sensitive public services.

The experience has now been lengthy and varied enough to learn some important lessons, the most important of which is that the basic principles of economics matter.

If a number of suppliers compete in the market for a good or service, consumers are properly informed about what they are buying and able to switch easily to other suppliers, and business owners bear the cost of failure, then private profit-motivated

The UK Foreign Office has warned senior British lawyers they are at risk of sanctions by the United States because of advice they provided to the International Criminal Court on Israel’s conduct in Gaza.

Senior lawyers involved in the ICC’s war crimes case against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant have received the warnings from Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, according to people familiar with the matter.

They include a former senior British judge, Lord Justice Adrian Fulford, Labour peer Baroness Helena Kennedy of the Shaws, and Danny Friedman, a barrister at Matrix Chambers, the people said.

https://www.ft.com/content/18f25482-3c7f-4fb2-b069-0a758fb4dd73

Speaking to the BBC, she said: "I understand why there's so much focus on our trading relationship with the US but actually our trading relationship with Europe is arguably even more important, because they're our nearest neighbours and trading partners.

https://archive.ph/oxPY3

The Environment Department (Defra) said that no prison sentences had been handed to water company executives since privatisation, despite widespread illegal sewage discharges, and that the tougher penalties were essential because some firms had obstructed investigations.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband will introduce an amendment to legislation to ensure there is no slavery in GB Energy's supply chains.

It comes after ministers rejected an amendment to a bill last month that would have prevented that state-owned GB Energy spending money on solar panels where supply chains had "credible evidence of modern slavery".

The production of solar panels in China's Xinjiang region has been linked to the alleged exploitation of Uyghur Muslims.

[...]

A government source told the BBC since then "there has been an acknowledgement of the argument that GB Energy should be an industry leader".

There has already been praise from the international community for the U-turn. Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, told the BBC: "I really salute the UK government's decision."

He said that the materials for green technology are important but "should really be produced in a socially and environmentally acceptable way".

Labour MPs who have been calling fo

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In February 2025, a London neighborhood council and the London Metropolitan Police withdrew their opposition to the Chinese government’s plans to construct a huge “super embassy” on the grounds of the old Royal Mint, only days after thousands of people had participated in a protest against the project. Embassies and consulates are meant to provide useful services to citizens from the home country and promote comity and understanding between nations. However, the London authorities’ about-face in favor of construction of the 5.5-acre Chinese facility has sparked fears among United Kingdom residents from China—some of whom are the targets of bounties imposed by Beijing—that it could be used to enable acts of transnational repression. Their worries are not unfounded, especially considering the involvement of Chinese consul-general Zheng Xiyuan in the beati

Ministers are considering whether to join such a scheme, which would allow young British people to work and study on the continent and Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, is believed to be in favour of signing up in an attempt to boost the struggling economy.

Robert Jenrick has ruled out a pact with Reform UK and has said he wants to send its leader, Nigel Farage, “back to retirement” despite leaked comments suggesting he wanted to join forces with the rightwing party.