Joanna Lumley urges govt to meet with Gurkhas as hunger strike outside Downing Street enters ninth day August 16, 2021 A group of Gurkha veterans outside Number 10 is calling for equal pensions for Gurkhas who retired before 1997 and are not eligible for a full UK armed forces pension. As of Sunday, the Support Our Gurkhas protesters had reached their ninth day of not eating. Today, actress and campaigner Joanna Lumley has urged the [...]
Canada snap election: Justin Trudeau’s massive political gamble August 16, 2021 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday called an early election for 20 September, saying he needed a new mandate to ensure voters approved of his Liberal government’s plan to recover from the global health crisis. Is he taking a massive political gamble? Watch the full report.
Boris Johnson to chair Cobra meeting today as UK tries to get nationals out of Afghanistan August 16, 2021 Boris Johnson will hold a Cobra meeting at 12.30pm today as the government tries to get thousands of UK nationals and foreign visa holders out of Afghanistan. Number 10 said the current focus was on getting hundreds of people out of Kabul each day as the security situation becomes more dangerous in the Afghani capital. [...]
Government to review energy firms that exaggerate their green credentials August 16, 2021 The government is set to launch a review into energy tariffs that falsely claim to be green amid concerns that some firms are exaggerating their environmental credentials. Energy minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said 9m households are on energy tariffs that are branded as 100 per cent renewable or green, but industry figures have warned the claims may [...]
Group behind Hong Kong mass protests disbands amid police suppression August 16, 2021 Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), the pro-democracy group that organises some of Hong Kong’s biggest protests, will disband amid threats of police probe. Founded in 2002, the group organised its first rally on 1 July 2003, when half a million people took to the streets to protest against a draft national security law, known as [...]
Boris Johnson: Afghanistan must not become ‘breeding ground for terror’ again August 15, 2021 Boris Johnson has said western countries must work together to stop Afghanistan from becoming a terrorist breeding ground again as the Taliban is set to take the capital of Kabul. The Taliban is expected to soon declare a new Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from the Presidential Palace, after democratically elected leader Ashraf Ghani fled the country [...]
Boris Johnson to recall parliament to discuss Afghanistan crisis August 15, 2021 Boris Johnson is set to recall parliament during summer recess to discuss the developing crisis in Afghanistan. He is also set to hold an emergency Cobra meeting today to discuss the UK’s potential actions as the Taliban prepare to take over the capital of Kabul. The Prime Minister will tell MPs to come back to [...]
Sajid Javid cuts cost of NHS Covid test for travel to £68 August 14, 2021 In a bid to help holidaymakers and drive down the market rate for Covid tests for travel, the health secretary has cut the cost of the travel tests that the NHS provides from £88 to £68 each. Travellers returning from green and amber list countries to England will now pay £20 less per PCR test, [...]
Afghanistan: First troops begin deploying to evacuate British nationals August 14, 2021 The first British troops have begun deploying to Afghanistan to help evacuate UK nationals as the Taliban continues its rapid advance through the country. It comes after Afghan lawmakers confirmed that the Taliban had seized the Logar province, just south of the capital Kabul, on Saturday. Britain’s Ministry of Defence has confirmed that Operation Pitting, [...]
Plymouth shooting: Killer had shotgun license returned by police weeks before attack August 14, 2021 The UK’s police watchdog has launched a probe into why the man who shot dead five people in Plymouth on Thursday had his confiscated gun and permit returned by police just weeks before the attack. Jake Davison, 22, shot his mother Maxine Davison and four members of the public – including a three-year-old girl Sophie [...]