Tony Blair has called for the government to change course on climate, suggesting a strategy that limits fossil fuels in the short term or encourages people to limit consumption is “doomed to fail”.

In comments that have prompted a backlash within Labour, the former prime minister suggested the UK government should focus less on renewables and more on technological solutions such as carbon capture.

Blair said people were “being asked to make financial sacrifices and changes in lifestyle when they know that their impact on global emissions is minimal”. He said “any strategy based on either ‘phasing out’ fossil fuels in the short term or limiting consumption is a strategy doomed to fail”.

Writing the foreword for a report from the Tony Blair Institute (TBI), he said the current climate debate was “riven with irrationality” and suggested net zero was losing public support.

His comments echo similar criticism of net zero by the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch.

The paper itself, writ

Donald Trump has made a trade deal with the UK a second-order priority, sources have told the Guardian, hampering British attempts to meet their mid-May deadline.

US officials have decided to split their negotiations with more than a dozen other countries into three phases, with the UK being placed in either phase two or three, according to people who have been briefed on the talks.

A trade deal with the US would be the biggest prize for British negotiators, who made major strides toward separate agreements with the EU and India on Tuesday.

But UK officials fear that a deal with the EU, which they hope to agree at a summit on 19 May, could make it more difficult to negotiate with a Trump administration that repeatedly criticises European trade policies.

One person with knowledge of the US talks said: “The US has now decided to negotiate its trade deals in three phases. The government has been told it will not be in phase one – though that leaves the door open to be in either phase

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/28854294

The UK government shared contact details of counter-terrorism police and prosecutors with the Israeli embassy during an investigation into protests at an arms factory, official documents suggest, raising concerns about foreign interference.

An email was sent on 9 September last year by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) to Daniela Grudsky Ekstein, Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK, with the subject matter “CPS/SO15 [Crown Prosecution Service/counterterrorism police] contact details”.

Last August, 10 Palestine Action activists were arrested under the Terrorism Act after a protest at an Israeli weapons factory, and in November a further eight were arrested under the act in relation to the same incident. The email sent by Nicola Smith, the head of international law at the AGO, and obtained through a freedom of information (FoI) request, was sent 11 days after she had met Grudsky Ekstein. It was redacted apart from the s

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/28854294

The UK government shared contact details of counter-terrorism police and prosecutors with the Israeli embassy during an investigation into protests at an arms factory, official documents suggest, raising concerns about foreign interference.

An email was sent on 9 September last year by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) to Daniela Grudsky Ekstein, Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK, with the subject matter “CPS/SO15 [Crown Prosecution Service/counterterrorism police] contact details”.

Last August, 10 Palestine Action activists were arrested under the Terrorism Act after a protest at an Israeli weapons factory, and in November a further eight were arrested under the act in relation to the same incident. The email sent by Nicola Smith, the head of international law at the AGO, and obtained through a freedom of information (FoI) request, was sent 11 days after she had met Grudsky Ekstein. It was redacted apart from the s

The UK government shared contact details of counter-terrorism police and prosecutors with the Israeli embassy during an investigation into protests at an arms factory, official documents suggest, raising concerns about foreign interference.

An email was sent on 9 September last year by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) to Daniela Grudsky Ekstein, Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK, with the subject matter “CPS/SO15 [Crown Prosecution Service/counterterrorism police] contact details”.

Last August, 10 Palestine Action activists were arrested under the Terrorism Act after a protest at an Israeli weapons factory, and in November a further eight were arrested under the act in relation to the same incident. The email sent by Nicola Smith, the head of international law at the AGO, and obtained through a freedom of information (FoI) request, was sent 11 days after she had met Grudsky Ekstein. It was redacted apart from the subject matter.

Lydia​ Dagostino, from Kellys Solicitors, who re

Senior Whitehall officials have asked golf bosses whether they can host the 2028 Open championship at Donald Trump’s Turnberry course after repeated requests from the US president, sources have said.

Officials had asked senior people at the R&A, which organises the world’s oldest major golf championship, what the hurdles would be to hosting the 2028 Open at Turnberry.

One source described the talks as direct lobbying from the government, although others said officials had asked about hypothetical problems with the idea, rather than insisting that it happen.

One person with knowledge of the discussions said: “The government is doing everything it can to get close to Trump. One concrete thing is that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) have been involved in pushing for the Open to return to Trump-owned Turnberry.”

Both the DCMS and Trump Turnberry declined to comment.

Two other people briefed on conversations between the US president and Keir Starmer said Trump had as

Keir Starmer is facing a rebellion over his plan to use direct deductions from people’s bank accounts and the cancellation of driving licences as part of a government crackdown on welfare fraud and over-claiming.

In an attempt to claw back the annual £9.7bn in benefit overpayments made by the Department for Work and Pensions due to fraud or error, the government has adopted Conservative plans for debt recovery.

A fraud, error and recovery bill would give the DWP the power to require banks to provide data to help identify when an applicant is not meeting the eligibility criteria for a benefit for which they have applied.

The bill would allow the government to demand bank statements to identify debtors who have sufficient funds to repay what they owe through fraud or error in a claim. The DWP would then have the power to recover money directly from bank accounts of those not on benefits or in PAYE employment who are identified as having the means to pay.

Those who repeatedly fail to

Wood-burning stoves will be allowed to heat new-build homes in England despite growing evidence showing their significant contribution to air pollution and carbon emissions.

The government is writing its future homes standard, a set of rules for developers, aimed at decarbonising England’s housing stock. Heating the UK’s 28m homes accounts for about 18% of greenhouse gas emissions.

However, there are fears that after intense lobbying, these standards will be weakened. The Guardian recently reported that the Labour party is considering making solar panels optional on new homes in England after pressure from housebuilders.

The Stove Industry Association (SIA) has released a letter it received from the government confirming the appliances will be allowed in new homes.

It reads: “A full technical consultation on the future homes standard was launched in December 2023 and closed in March 2024. Under the standards proposed in the consultation, a wood-burning stove would be permitted as a

Sharon Osbourne has urged US authorities to revoke work visas for Kneecap after the Irish language rap group used a performance at Coachella to denounce Israeli attacks on Gaza.

The TV presenter accused the band of hate speech and supporting terrorist organisations and said it should not be allowed to perform in the US. “I urge you to join me in advocating for the revocation of Kneecap’s work visa,” she exhorted followers on X on Tuesday.

Fox News commentators also condemned the band and accused it of bringing “Nazi Germany” sentiments to America.

Kneecap scorned the Fox News comments and posted supportive messages from fans, saying it had received thousands of such endorsements as well as “hundreds of violent Zionist threats”. Almost all the concerts of a US tour scheduled for October have sold out, it added.

The trio, Móglaí Bap and Mo Chara from Belfast and DJ Próvaí from Derry, have built a following in the US with a mix of Irish republican totems, punk spirit and a film that s

Keir Starmer has welcomed what he termed the “real clarity” of last week’s supreme court ruling on gender recognition, saying it was important now to draft guidance to help organisations deal with the repercussions.

In his first comments since the court’s definitive ruling that “woman” in the Equality Act refers only to a biological woman, the prime minister called it “a welcome step forward”.

Starmer has in the past taken a different view on the subject. As a Labour leadership candidate he signed up to a pledge “that trans women are women”, and he later criticised the then Labour MP Rosie Duffield, who now sits as an independent, for saying only women could have a cervix.

Asked by ITV West Country if he would repeat that trans women are women, Starmer replied: “I think the supreme court has answered that question.” Pressed on his view, he said: “A woman is an adult female, and the court has made that absolutely clear. I actually welcome the judgment because I think it gives real cl

Migrant charities and MPs have accused Yvette Cooper of pandering to racism and stoking the possibility of riots after the Home Office said it would publish the nationalities of foreign criminals in the UK for the first time.

The home secretary has ordered officials to publish the data, including the crimes that have been committed, by the end of the year. It is expected to lead to “league tables” of foreign nationals showing which nationalities are more associated with particular crimes.

The move comes as Labour attempts to quell the threat from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party at next week’s local elections.

Fizza Qureshi, the chief executive of the Migrants’ Rights Network, said publicising foreign national offenders’ nationalities was a “blatant exercise in scapegoating”.

She said: “The criminal justice system, policing and immigration systems are infamously racist and disproportionately impact racialised people.

“Attempts to manufacture a link between nationalities and criminal

Ministers are privately ruling out scrapping the two-child benefit cap despite warnings from charities that a failure to do so could result in the highest levels of child poverty since records began.

Government sources said charities and Labour MPs who were concerned that wider benefit cuts would push more families into poverty should “read the tea leaves” over Labour’s plans.

“If they still think we’re going to scrap the cap then they’re listening to the wrong people. We’re simply not going to find a way to do that. The cap is popular with key voters, who see it as a matter of fairness,” one source said.

In a letter to Keir Starmer on Tuesday, groups including Barnardo’s, Save the Children UK and Citizens Advice said scrapping the two-child benefit limit would be the most cost-effective way to reduce child poverty.

The Child Poverty Action Group, which signed the letter, estimated the number of children in poverty would increase from 4.5 million to 4.8 million by 2029 unless urgen

British cancer patients are being denied life-saving drugs and trials of revolutionary treatments are being derailed by the red tape and extra costs brought on by Brexit, a leaked report warns.

Soaring numbers are being diagnosed with the disease amid a growing and ageing population, improved diagnosis initiatives and wider public awareness – making global collaborations to find new medicines essential.

But five years after the UK’s exit from the EU, the most comprehensive analysis of its kind concludes that while patients across Europe are benefiting from a golden age of pioneering research and novel treatments, Britons with cancer have “lost out” thanks to rising prices and red tape.

Brexit has “damaged the practical ability” of doctors to offer NHS patients life-saving new drugs via international clinical trials, according to the 54-page report obtained by the Guardian.

In some cases, the cost of importing new cancer drugs for Britons has nearly quadrupled as a result of post-Br

A rise in misogyny and racism is flooding UK schools as pupils ape the behaviour of figures such as Donald Trump and Andrew Tate after exposure through social media and online gaming, teachers have warned.

A survey by the NASUWT union found most teachers identified social media as “the number one cause” of pupil misbehaviour, with female staff bearing the brunt. Teachers also raised concerns about parents who refuse to accept school rules or take responsibility for their children’s behaviour.

One teacher told the union: “A lot of the students are influenced by Tate and Trump, they spout racist, homophobic, transphobic and sexist comments in every conversation and don’t believe there will be consequences.”

The NASUWT’s general secretary, Patrick Roach, told the union’s annual conference on Friday: “Two in three teachers tell us that social media is now a critical factor contributing to bullying and poor pupil behaviour.

“Pupils who believe it is their inalienable right to access the

As the bells rang out across the courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the priests began to sing a deep, low prayer. Heads bowed over candles, and escorted by people bearing aloft large gold crosses, they made their way to a platform at the heart of the ancient square.

The ceremony on Holy Thursday, in which the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem washes the feet of 12 monastic priests to commemorate the Last Supper, is one of many Easter rituals that have taken place in the Old City of Jerusalem for hundreds of years. For Christians, there is no holier place to commemorate Easter than here, the site where they believe Jesus Christ was crucified, buried and resurrected.

Yet the crowd that assembled outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Thursday morning was small and muted. International pilgrims jostled with dark-robed Greek Orthodox monks, but one group of native worshippers was noticeably absent.

For generations, the tens of thousands of Palestinian Christians liv

Donald Trump has said he is expecting to travel to to the UK in September for his second state visit.

King Charles is preparing to host the US president and first lady as the UK government tries to bolster transatlantic ties after Trump imposed a series of tariffs on trading partners.

The venue is expected to be Windsor Castle, with Keir Starmer and the US president understood to have discussed the visit during a phone call.

Trump on Thursday appeared to suggest Buckingham Palace was “setting a date for September”.

He told reporters in the Oval Office: “I was invited by the king and the country – great country.

“They’re going to do a second, as you know, a second fest … that’s what it is: a fest, and it’s beautiful, and it’s the first time it’s ever happened to one person.

“And the reason is we have two separate terms, and it’s an honour … I’m a friend of Charles, I have great respect for King Charles and the family, William, we have really just a great respect for the family.

“