ou can tell that British farmers will be betrayed by Boris Johnson by the way he promises to look after them. The prime minister has pledged support equivalent to forfeited European subsidies. He says the sector will be safe from cut-price competition when new free trade deals are signed. He has told Minette Batters, president of the...
Hundreds of UK women demand formal apology for forced adoptions
Hundreds of women who were forced to give up babies for adoption in the 1950s, 60s and 70s are demanding a formal government apology. Many of the women were unmarried teenagers when they became pregnant, and gave birth in church-run “mother and baby homes” in the UK. An estimated quarter of a million women were...
Value of UK house sales forecast to leap 46% this year as boom continues
The total value of homes sold in the UK is expected to reach £461bn this year, a jump of 46% on 2020, indicating the current housing market boom is likely to continue, according to a new prediction. The property website Zoopla said its projections indicated the property market in 2021 was on course to be...
Controversial £763m plan to build 4 tower blocks across one of London’s best views
A huge £763 million plan could see four tower blocks built across one of Lodnon’s best views. Cathedral (Greenwich Beach) Ltd and Morden College have revealed plans to redevelop a six-acre site on the Greenwich peninsula into a mixed residential and business area. The proposed development branded ‘Morden Wharf’ will see the erection of four towers...
Canadian soldier faces mutiny charges for trying to block vaccine distribution
A Canadian soldier is facing rare mutiny charges after allegedly urging fellow members of the armed forces not to help with the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines. The Department of National Defence has announced charges against officer cadet Ladislas Kenderesi, a reservist in Ontario. Kenderesi has been charged with “endeavoring to persuade another person to join...
Belarus president accuses west of launching ‘hybrid modern war’
Alexander Lukashenko has given his first public remarks defending his grounding of a Ryanair flight last week, accusing the west of launching a “hybrid modern war” against Minsk and calling the backlash over the incident a “planned provocation”. Addressing a session of parliament, Lukashenko also appeared to suggest the plane could have been shot down because...
Britain has promised net zero – but it’s on track to achieve absolutely nothing
Every week governments make headline announcements about saving the planet, and every week their small print unsaves it. The latest puff by the G7 is a classic of this genre. Apparently, all seven governments have committed “to conserve or protect at least 30% of the world’s land and at least 30% of the world’s ocean by 2030”....
‘Time to buy’ bitcoin adverts banned in UK for being irresponsible
An ad campaign telling the public that “it’s time to buy” bitcoin has been banned after the advertising watchdog ruled that it was irresponsible and misleading. The high-profile campaign, which has featured heavily across the London underground and the capital’s bus network since December, ran with the strapline “If you’re seeing bitcoin on the underground,...
‘Please save him’: Belarus blogger’s parents urge action as Biden mulls sanctions
The parents of Raman Pratasevich have pleaded for international help to free the Belarusian journalist as US president Joe Biden said sanctions against Alexander Lukashenko’s regime were “in play”, without revealing further details. From their new home in Poland, Natalia Pratasevich, the blogger’s mother, told Agence France-Presse: “I’m asking, I’m begging, I’m calling on the whole international community...
UK pharmaceutical firm Ventura agrees to £958m takeover deal
The British pharmaceutical company Vectura Group, which is developing a pioneering inhaled treatment for Covid-19, has agreed a £958m takeover by Carlyle Group as it looks set to become the latest in a long line of UK businesses snapped up by private equity during the pandemic. The board is unanimously recommending that shareholders in the London-listed company...