PC Mason O’Connor dismissed following Panorama film showing misogyny and racism at London police station A 13th serving Metropolitan police officer has been dismissed in relation to an undercover BBC investigation into misogyny and racism at Charing Cross police station. PC Mason O’Connor was found to have committed discreditable conduct and breached professional behaviour standards, linked to a comment he made towards a female colleague, according to the Met. Continue reading...

Nearly half of minority ethnic respondents in a poll say they have faced prejudice over the past year Many Britons feel inequality is worsening and that discrimination has become more common, according to a thinktank study. The report by British Future has found that people across ethnic groups believe racial equality is worsening in Britain. One in six people are from minority ethnic backgrounds. Continue reading...

More than 100 people reported to have joined search for Noah, who is autistic, non-verbal and has partial hearing loss Police are urging people to check their gardens and sheds for a three-year-old boy who went missing on Tuesday during a visit to a playground near the Suffolk-Essex border. The boy, named Noah, was last seen at 3pm in Merriam Close in Brantham, near Manningtree, before being separated from a relative. Officers from Suffolk constabulary said Noah was reported to have run down an alleyway near the playground towards a housing estate. Continue reading...

Analysis of 29 studies highlights potentially heightened danger from small particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide Air pollution is associated with an increased risk of suicide and suicidal thoughts, according to research. Environmental pollution is known to be associated with poorer mental health but its role in suicide risk is less well understood. Scientists at Queen’s University Belfast examined whether air, noise, light, and water pollution could influence the risk of death by suicide and suicidal behaviours. Continue reading...

Under new workers’ rights, employers will have to ‘properly consider’ proposed shift changes and explain decisions Company bosses will have to sit down with workers who request flexible working and justify their reasons for any refusals under new rights announced by Louise Haigh on Tuesday. The first secretary of state told the TUC conference that employers would have to “properly consider” requests for flexibility and offer a face-to-face meeting under new rights for workers. Continue reading...

Decision not to pause proceedings means £18m report does not engage with concerns over former nurse’s conviction Just two months before Lady Justice Kathryn Thirlwall opened her inquiry into events at the Countess of Chester hospital and the crimes of Lucy Letby, a report by Chris Henley KC was published into the “atrocious” wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson for rape. Henley prefaced that report with a plea for the legal establishment to recognise that the criminal courts produce miscarriages of justice. Right up to top judges in the court of appeal, Henley wrote, the system has “a deep-seated … cultural reluctance” to accept it “will on occasion make mistakes” and that “entirely innocent defendants will sometimes be convicted”. Continue reading...

Home secretary defends cost, saying it is about the same or cheaper than putting someone up in a hotel for a year The government’s “one in, one out” deal is costing about £56,000 for every person sent back to France, Shabana Mahmood has told MPs. The home secretary disclosed the figure as she was questioned by the home affairs select committee over whether the scheme was delivering value for taxpayers. Continue reading...

Dan Thomas, elected in May, says he does not wish to be a ‘distraction’ on same day Reform MS defects to Plaid Cymru The leader of Reform UK in Wales is standing down after he was arrested and bailed on suspicion of assault and controlling or coercive behaviour. Dan Thomas, a former Tory councillor, had only been announced as Reform’s Welsh leader by Nigel Farage in February. Continue reading...

Bodycam footage released on 15 September shows former England footballer Raheem Sterling's arrest on 28 May, after he admitted to driving dangerously on the motorway. Sterling pleaded guilty at Basingstoke magistrates court on Tuesday to driving a Lamborghini Urus dangerously on the M25, the M3, the A327 and Minley Road before he crashed. The 31-year-old admitted possession of six nitrous oxide canisters for wrongful inhalation, a class C drug, and failing to provide a specimen Raheem Sterling could face prison for reckless driving while using nitrous oxide Continue reading...

US president insists that fears expressed by top experts are a hoax – and that humanity can sleep easy while he’s at the wheel We can all sleep easy. In a post on his Truth Social account, Donald Trump has declared that fears over artificial intelligence were all a hoax dreamed up by conspiracy theorists. Obviously that includes the top bods at Anthropic and its competitors, who all called for a coordinated global slowdown while the industry works out how to mitigate the risks. Still, good to know the tech bros are just fantasists and space cadets at heart. All that was needed to keep humanity safe and well, The Donald insisted, was a president with a very high IQ. Someone very like him. The only man alive who could out-think the combined power of the world’s supercomputers. He could tell them where to draw the line and they would reprogram themselves to back off. Inside every AI network is a default off switch that kneels before the US president. Trump can rewire the world with the power of his mind. Continue reading...

First secretary warns of ‘huge risks’ of technology as PM is urged to use next year’s G20 to drive global regulation Ministers must “heed the warnings” from industry leaders about the threat posed by AI, Louise Haigh has said, amid calls for Andy Burnham to use the G20 to drive global regulation. The first secretary said that while AI had enormous potential to improve lives, and the government wanted to capitalise on the technology, there were “clearly huge risks to our national security and society if the right guardrails are not put in place”. Continue reading...

Not enough evidence to explain circumstances of Noah Donohoe’s death, partly due to police mistakes, inquest finds An inquest into the death of a teenager whose body was found in a Belfast storm drain has found there is not enough evidence to explain the puzzling circumstances of how he died, partly because of mistakes by police investigators. Noah Donohoe, 14, was last seen on 21 June 2020 when he left his south Belfast home on his bicycle, telling his mother he was going to visit friends. His naked body was found six days later, deep inside an underground water tunnel in the north of the city. Continue reading...

Lady Justice Thirlwall’s report concludes three babies might have survived if hospital had acted on concerns about nurse Ministers have promised sweeping changes to the NHS after a “devastating” official review concluded that three babies might have survived if hospital bosses and doctors had acted on concerns about the nurse Lucy Letby. A public inquiry found a “complete failure” to protect babies on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester hospital in north-west England. Continue reading...

Recent instances of Nigel Farage’s party trying to gain sympathetic coverage lead to debate over reporting practices The Telegraph and Reform UK are facing claims of undermining public interest journalism and eroding trust between reporters and politicians, after Nigel Farage’s party gave the newspaper stories first uncovered by other outlets. It is understood there is unease among editorial staff at the Telegraph about Reform’s repeated use of the outlet for “spoilers”: a media tactic designed to pre-empt a problematic story by placing it with a title seen as more sympathetic. Continue reading...

Court hears that two officers did not deal properly with allegation Jaysley Beck made against a superior Two army officers “let down” a teenage soldier who went on to kill herself when they did not deal properly with a sexual assault allegation she made against a superior, a court martial has heard. Jaysley Beck, 19, told Col Samantha Shepherd that she had been touched on the leg by a warrant officer during a social event at an adventure training exercise, the court was told. Continue reading...

Sarah Cooper-Lesadd says party is ‘far more interested in division, opposition and headlines than finding solutions’ Leader of Reform UK in Wales stands down after arrest on suspicion of assault The Liberal Democrats have said that they will try to introduce a cap on the amount people donate to political parties by amending the representation of the people bill as it goes through the Lords. Lisa Smart , the Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokesperson, said: We can’t keep playing whack-a-mole with each new attempt by Farage to sell out our democracy. Labour’s residency requirements aren’t good enough and the Conservatives simply sat on their hands whilst in power. For decades governments of both colours have stood by and done nothing. The scale of donations made to Reform in recent days is unprecedented in British politics and should deeply concern anyone who cares about the health and integrity of our democracy. We cannot afford to see the Americanisation of our politics, with out of control political spending, funded by stratospheric sums of crypto and corporate cash. These donations show clearly whose side Reform are on, with crypto billionaires, foreign and powerful corporate interests lining up to pour in eye-watering sums of money to advance their agendas. Continue reading...

Green-run council also curbing ads for airlines, cruises, fossil fuels and SUVs on its billboards and bus shelters Bristol has become the first British city to impose a ban on the advertising of fast fashion, in new restrictions that will also curb ads for SUVs and airlines. The ban is part of moves by the West Country city, known for its radical political scene , to impose sweeping bans on advertising for polluting industries. Continue reading...

Consumer group says online shops routinely failed to reimburse delivery costs of unwanted purchases or cost of items Leading retailers are breaking the law by failing to properly refund customers for returned goods, a Which? investigation has found. Some of the UK’s biggest online shops routinely failed to reimburse delivery costs when customers returned unwanted purchases, while others failed to refund the cost of the goods themselves. Continue reading...

Yvette Cooper says this must ‘be a turning point for the NHS’ and tells the Commons she is ‘profoundly sorry’ for mistakes highlighted in Thirlwall report Three babies may have survived if hospital had acted over Lucy Letby concerns, inquiry finds Lady Justice Thirlwall said that senior nurses at the hospital refused to accept the consultant’s concerns could be justified, and criticised the “prolonged delay by senior managers in calling the police”. The police were eventually contacted in May 2017, around a year after the death of baby P in June 2016, and despite the fact Letby had been removed from neonatal unit. There was also complete failure at all levels to invoke safeguarding procedures at any point. Looking for clinical or other explanations for deaths and collapses was not wrong, but once there was suspicion that Letby may be causing harm deliberately safeguarding steps should have been taken. Continue reading...