UK News and Discussions

[Time_Traveller]

UK economy shrinks as cost of living crisis bites

Mon 13 Jun 2022

The UK economy unexpectedly shrank in April as soaring energy costs and supply chain disruption dragged down manufacturing amid the cost of living crisis, while the winding-down of the NHS test-and-trace service dragged on growth.

In figures highlighting the growing risk of recession, the Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.3% on the month, after a 0.1% decline in March as consumers reined in their spending amid soaring household energy bills.

The scaling-back of the government’s Covid vaccination programme and pandemic test-and-trace was the biggest contributor to the monthly fall. Excluding this effect the economy probably grew, although analysts warned there were signs of weakness elsewhere as shortages of key materials and surging costs weigh on activity.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... -inflation

[Time_Traveller]

Plan to scrap Natural England will disrupt net zero targets, experts say

Mon 13 Jun 2022



Discussions about dismantling Natural England have sparked anxiety, with experts fearing this would further damage efforts to protect wildlife and reach net zero.

Campaigners have raised the alarm after spotting the proposal buried in a recent government consultation on nature recovery, which was sent to stakeholders.

Craig Bennett, the chief executive of the Wildlife Trusts, said that “various ministers are a bit obsessed” with absorbing the conservation watchdog into the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), in effect destroying it.

A government spokesperson confirmed that this was being considered, though no firm decisions had been made.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... xperts-say

[wjfox]

Wagwan? Street slang to be Britain’s main dialect

Multicultural London English, which has roots in the capital's migrant communities, could be the future of British English, say experts

13 June 2022 • 9:00pm

Multicultural London English (MLE) could become Britain’s dominant dialect within 100 years, academics have said, as inner-city slang goes mainstream.

The dialect known for terms like “peng” and using “man” as a pronoun emerged among the children of immigrants in the UK’s capital, but the argot of the urban youth could be the future of British English.

MLE is likely to become mainstream in the next 100 years, academics have said, with social media platforms and grime music helping to spread the “multiethnolect” across the UK.

Prof Matt Gardner, a linguistics lecturer at the University of Oxford, said: “Language always changes. We don’t speak in the same way people did in the time of Shakespeare or Chaucer. London, being the economic and cultural centre, drives these changes. We have seen that across the last hundred years, and we will see that across the next 100 years. What we will likely see is this multiethnolect spread geographically close to London, in the south-east, but also in other major cities, and then outwards from those cultural centres.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/0 ... n-dialect/

[Time_Traveller]

Sturgeon plots alternative route to Scottish independence vote next year

Tue 14 Jun 2022

Nicola Sturgeon plans to stage a fresh Scottish independence vote late next year without authority from Boris Johnson’s government, in a move likely to provoke lengthy legal battles.

The first minister said on Tuesday she would update Holyrood on her plans “very soon indeed” as she released a report claiming Scotland should aspire to match the prosperity rates of small European countries such as Denmark and Ireland after independence.

Sturgeon said she had an electoral mandate to deliver a referendum with or without Westminster’s agreement, and claimed her government had devised a legally secure alternative route to holding one regardless of that approval.

The legislation that set up the Scottish parliament stipulates that Westminster has to authorise any referendum affecting the UK constitution, under a so-called section 30 order.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... -next-year

[Time_Traveller]

UK 'committed' to Rwanda deportations and could exit human rights convention to force them through

Wednesday 15 June 2022

The home secretary has said she is "committed" to a policy of sending asylum seekers more than 4,000 miles away to Rwanda, after an 11th hour decision in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) blocked last night's planned deportation flight.

Priti Patel said she welcomed decisions made in the UK's domestic courts to remove migrants from the flight, but said it was "disappointing and surprising" to learn of the ECHR's intervention.

Downing Street said the government will do "whatever it takes" to ensure deportation flights to Rwanda go ahead and "all options are on the table" - including leaving the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Rwanda flight - which had up to seven people on board by Tuesday evening - had been due to take off at around 10.30pm from a military airport in Wiltshire but last minute decisions by the ECHR meant all passengers had their tickets cancelled.

https://www.itv.com/news/2022-06-15/uk- ... portations

[Time_Traveller]

Boris Johnson's ethics adviser, Lord Geidt, resigns 'with regret'

Wed, 15 June 2022

Boris Johnson's ethics adviser Lord Geidt has resigned following controversy over whether the Prime Minister broke ministerial code.

Lord Geidt tendered his resignation to the Prime Minister in a short statement on Wednesday.

The brief announcement was published on the UK Government’s website.

“With regret, I feel that it is right that I am resigning from my post as independent adviser on ministers’ interests,” it read.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/boris-johnson ... 44004.html

[Ozzie guy]

Piers Morgan now has a job in Australian tv talking about Australian political news. I hate that UK celebrity export lol, I don't know if I hate him in a meme sense or for real.

[wjfox]

Piers Morgan now has a job in Australian tv talking about Australian political news. I hate that UK celebrity export lol, I don't know if I hate him in a meme sense or for real.

He's a truly awful human being. Sorry he's dumped himself on your country.

[Time_Traveller]

People arriving in UK on small boats to be electronically tagged

Sat 18 Jun 2022

Some people arriving in the UK in small boats or the back of lorries will be electronically tagged under a 12-month pilot scheme run by the Home Office.

The 12-month pilot, which began on Wednesday, has been launched to test whether electronic monitoring is an effective way to give immigration bail to those who arrive in the country using “unnecessary and dangerous” routes.

The BBC reported the first to be tagged under the bail programme were likely to be those who had avoided being removed to Rwanda.

Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “It’s appalling that this government is intent on treating men, women and children who have fled war, bloodshed and persecution as criminals.

“This draconian and punitive approach not only shows no compassion for very vulnerable people; it will also do nothing to deter those who are desperately seeking safety in the UK.”

The European court of human rights (ECHR) on Tuesday granted an injunction that resulted in a chartered aircraft to Kigali being unable to depart Wiltshire.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... lly-tagged

[weatheriscool]

Refugees to be electronically tagged and prosecuted if they don't comply (from the UK)
Source: The Independent

Refugees who cross the Channel in small boats to reach the UK are set to be electronically tagged - and prosecuted if they fail to comply - under Home Office plans.

Campaigners and experts have accused ministers of adopting a "draconian and punitive" approach that will see people who have fled conflict and danger treated as "criminals", and of pushing through the plan despite having "no concrete evidence" that it will improve levels of compliance.

A 12-month pilot will see some of those who travel to Britain via what the government terms "unnecessary and dangerous routes" fitted with tags, potentially including those recognised as victims of torture and trafficking, according to new Home Office guidance.

If tagging conditions are breached, asylum seekers may be considered for detention and removal, subject to administrative arrest, or prosecuted, the document states.

Earlier this week, the government was criticised over its controversial Rwanda deportation plan, with a flight scheduled to deport asylum seekers to central Africa being grounded at the last minute after European judges intervened on human rights grounds.

It is understood that some of the 130 asylum seekers who were detained for removal on the flight will be among the first to be fitted with electronic tags, if and when they are released from detention.

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/h ... 03622.html

Good. The UK needs to control its borders and people don't have a right to break its laws.