UK

BBC presenter Jay Blades – who appears on The Repair Shop – has been charged with engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour against his estranged wife, police have said. The 54-year-old appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court earlier today and was bailed to appear again at Worcester Crown Court on 11 October. The alleged coercive behaviour

Sharing revenge porn will be upgraded to the most serious type of offence in a change to the Online Safety Act. It means social media firms must proactively remove such images and take steps to stop them appearing in the first place. There will large fines for companies that don’t comply. The government hopes the

A 17-year-old male has been arrested as part of the investigation into a cyber security incident affecting Transport for London (TfL). The teenager was detained in Walsall on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences in relation to the attack, which was launched on TfL on 1 September. He has been questioned by officers from the

A major report on the health service has been published in which it is described as being “in serious trouble”. The rapid review by Lord Darzi was completed in just nine weeks and sets out the problems in the NHS and themes for the government to incorporate into a 10-year plan for reforming the health

Presenter and author Carol Vorderman has called on the prime minister to apologise over cutting winter fuel payments for pensioners. The controversial policy was approved by parliament today, despite a number of Labour MPs abstaining from the vote, with ministers saying “tough decisions” were needed to fix the public finances. But it was widely criticised

A mum who decided to go to Ibiza rather than attend the sentencing of her 12-year-old son involved in the summer’s riots has been ordered to pay compensation amounting to the cost of her holiday. The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons because of his age, was previously due to be sentenced on

MPs have voted to cut the winter fuel payment for all but the country’s poorest pensioners. A Tory move to block the measure was defeated by 348 to 228 votes – a majority of 120. Labour has a working majority in the Commons of 167. The division list showed Labour MP Jon Trickett supported the

The chief inspector of prisons for England and Wales has warned that today’s early release of around 1,750 offenders is going to be “risky”. It is being done to create space in the country’s overcrowded prisons and the government insists the alternative was “unthinkable” and would have led to a “total collapse of the criminal

A man who admitted the rape and murder of a woman he stabbed 60 times during sex 27 years ago should be freed from prison, the Parole Board has said. Steven Ling was jailed for life in December 1998 after admitting an attack on Joanne Tulip, 29, in Stamfordham, Northumberland. He has been recommended for

A loud crash jolts Paul Wheeler into waking up in the middle of the night. As he peers out of his bedroom window, which overlooks the park at the back of his home in a quiet, suburban part of Kent, he sees a shadowy figure setting fire to something. It’s a warm summer night, Labour

The health secretary has said he is “not remotely happy” about having to vote to cut the winter fuel allowance for some pensioners. Wes Streeting said he has apologised to his elderly constituents who it will affect, but said cutting the payment from those not on pension credit is essential to balance public finances. He

The deaths of around 2,000 mental health patients will be investigated as a long-awaited new public inquiry begins on Monday. Warning: The following article contains details some readers may find distressing Families of the patients who died in Essex have been campaigning for years, claiming they have not been told the truth about what happened

Police searching for a British man in a mountainous area of Majorca where a British woman was found dead earlier this week have found a body. Both are believed to have been swept away in a flash flood. Spain’s Civil Guard said both people were on a trail that leads through a small canyon to

England interim manager Lee Carsley has said he will not be singing the British national anthem before his side take on the Republic of Ireland on Saturday. The 50-year-old was born in Birmingham in the UK but represented Ireland during his playing career through his grandmother, who is from County Cork. Speaking in a news

An arsonist who stoked a fire outside a Rotherham hotel hosting asylum seekers during last month’s riots has been jailed for nine years. It is the longest sentence handed down so far over last month’s violence, which erupted across the UK following the killing of three children in a stabbing at a dance class in

A member of the Royal Navy has died after a helicopter ditched while conducting night-flying exercises with HMS Queen Elizabeth. In a statement the Navy said: “It is with great sadness that we must report a member of the Royal Navy has died following a training incident last night. “Our thoughts are with the family

Indecent assault charges in the UK against disgraced Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein have been discontinued. In June 2022 the Metropolitan Police force announced they had been authorised to charge Weinstein with two counts of indecent assault against a woman in London between July and August 1996. It followed a review of evidence into the

Bereaved and survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire have criticised the calling of an inquiry, describing it as a “seven-year delay to justice”. Their comments come on the day the report into the disaster was published. It delivered a damning verdict on the failures of government, building companies, contractors, fire safety experts and council staff

The government was “well aware” of the deadly risks posed by combustible cladding and insulation a year before the Grenfell Tower fire, but “failed to act on what it knew”, a landmark report has found. The report also said “systemic dishonesty” from cladding and insulation companies and a “toxic” relationship between the tower’s residents and

Baby P’s mother is back in prison after breaching her licence conditions. Tracey Connelly was freed from jail in July 2022 after the Parole Board ruled she was suitable for release. But she has now been recalled to prison in a move authorised by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Connelly was jailed in 2009 for causing