UK News and Discussions

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UK security services must seek approval to access telecoms data, judges rule
Fri 24 Jun 2022

The security and intelligence services must acquire “prior independent authorisation” to obtain people’s communications data from telecom providers, a civil rights campaign group has said, after it won a high court challenge.

Liberty hailed a “landmark victory” and said two judges ruled it was unlawful for MI5, MI6 and GCHQ to obtain individuals’ communications data from telecom providers without having prior independent authorisation during criminal investigations.

Lord Justice Singh and Mr Justice Holgate delivered their ruling on Friday after considering Liberty’s challenge at a high court hearing in London. The campaign group took legal action against the Home Office and Foreign Office, with the litigation the latest stage of a wider challenge to provisions of the 2016 Investigatory Powers Act.

The Liberty lawyer Megan Goulding said: “This judgment is a major victory in the fight against mass surveillance. The court has agreed that it’s too easy for the security services to get their hands on our data. From now on, when investigating crime, MI5, MI6 and GCHQ will have to obtain independent authorisation before being able to access our communications data.”
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... udges-rule
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‘The game is up’: Tory rebels see fresh opportunity to oust Boris Johnson
Fri 24 Jun 2022

While Boris Johnson was in Rwanda, having an early-morning swim in the luxurious pool of the conference hotel, his Tory critics were already planning another go at ousting him.

The backbench plotters had previously been despondent about the prospects of kicking Johnson out after he narrowly won a confidence vote of his MPs and the cabinet rallied round him.

But they have been given fresh hope of removing him in the coming weeks because of renewed anger and incredulity among Tory MPs about the disastrous byelection results, as well as the scandal over attempts to get a government job for his then girlfriend and now wife, Carrie Johnson. “It’ll be a random walk, but we’ll get there erelong,” said one former cabinet minister cheerfully.

Johnson’s No 10 aides insist he still has scope to turn things around by being “humble” and accepting that more needs to change while not “over-panicking” about midterm results. However, there was evidence on Friday that even some of Johnson’s erstwhile backers believe his time may soon be up. “It wouldn’t do him any harm if he wanted to look in the mirror. He needs to ask himself: have I got the stomach for this, and am I going to be able to do this. Is it me?” said one Tory MP and grandee who has been supportive of the prime minister up until now.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ion-losses
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Boris Johnson eyeing up THIRD term that would keep him in power until 'mid-2030s'
25 Jun 2022

Brazen Boris Johnson has said he is “thinking actively” about a THIRD term in office - that would last until the “mid-2030s”.

Despite two by-election drubbings, the shameless Prime Minister claimed questions over his leadership were “settled” and declared he would win the next general election.

“Will I win? Yes,” he said of a 2024 poll.

And asked by the Sunday Mirror if he’d still like to serve a full second term to 2028 or 2029, he boasted: “Well look, at the moment I am thinking actively about the third term.

“And you know, what could happen then. But I will review that when I get to it.”

Asked what exactly he was thinking about, he told reporters during a Commonwealth summit in Rwanda: “About the third term - you mean this is the mid-2030s.”

Boris Johnson has only been PM since July 2019, less time than Theresa May, and is in his first full term of office following the December 2019 election.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/ ... d-27327549

Johnson is definitely delusional and can't be voted back in 2024 especially going into the 2030s.
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Justice Secretary Dominic Raab says criminal barrister strikes are 'regrettable' as first walkout begins
Monday 27 June

Criminal barristers will stage court walkouts for several days from today, a move which the justice secretary has described as "regrettable".

The lawyers are taking industrial action over legal aid funding and will refuse to accept new cases and to carry out "return work" - stepping in and picking up hearings and other work when colleagues are on cases which overrun.

The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) represents barristers in England and Wales and said around 81.5% of its 2,000 members voted on the ballot.

Those who voted for walkouts also supported the option to refuse new cases.

In a statement released on the eve of the strikes, Dominic Raab - who was a trainee solicitor at Magic Circle law firm Linklaters in 2000 - said: "It's regrettable that the Criminal Bar Association is striking, given only 43.5% of their members voted for this particular, most disruptive, option.

"I encourage them to agree the proposed 15% pay rise which would see a typical barrister earn around £7,000 more a year.
https://news.sky.com/story/justice-secr ... s-12640917

Oh look, another walkout to do with pay rise.
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South London tram drivers’ strike to follow national rail walkout
Mon 27 Jun 2022

Tram drivers in south London are to become the latest rail staff to strike when they walk out for 48 hours on Tuesday in a dispute over pay.

About 150 members of the Aslef union on the London Trams network, formerly known as the Croydon Tramlink, have rejected a 3% offer from operator FirstGroup.

The move comes after a week of rail strikes across the country by members of the RMT union at Network Rail and 13 train operators. Talks between the union and rail industry bosses to avert further strikes were continuing on Monday.

Finn Brennan, Aslef’s organiser in London, said the pay offer to tram drivers would mean a real-terms wage cut for people already struggling to deal with rising bills. He said: “Our members do a difficult and demanding job, working round-the-clock shifts over 364 days of the year. They deserve a fair pay settlement.”

He said FirstGroup’s profits had soared and it was returning £500m to shareholders as well as paying its chief executive £840,000 last year. While the trams are funded by Transport for London, Brennan said the company “prefers to use the money it gets from TfL to funnel cash to shareholders, and wealthy executives, rather than pay its staff a fair wage”.

A spokesperson for First Group’s Tram Operations Ltd said: “It’s hard to understand how Aslef can justify going out on strike, having benefited from a change in terms equivalent to a 5%-plus rise only in November. Aslef should call off these strikes and return to negotiations.”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... ional-rail
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UK doctors demand pay rise of up to 30% over five years
Mon 27 Jun 2022

Doctors have thrown down the gauntlet to the government by calling for a pay rise of up to 30% over the next five years, in a move that increases the chances of strike action.

Delegates at the British Medical Association’s (BMA) annual conference voted to press ministers to agree to the increase to make up for real-terms cuts to their salaries over the last 14 years.

Some doctors who supported the motion cited striking rail workers as an inspiration for how groups of workers should pursue pay claims with Boris Johnson’s administration.

Last week members of the RMT union staged three stoppages, while teaching unions threatened strike action if their pay was not increased by more than inflation.

Frontline doctors said years of pay freezes and annual salary uplifts of 1% had caused the real value of their take-home pay to fall by almost a third since 2008. They now want “full pay restoration” to return the value of their pay to 2008 levels, and have instructed the BMA to pursue that goal with a government that has made clear it will not hand public sector workers sizeable salary increases in case it fuels already rampant inflation.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... five-years
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Channel 4 working on new ITN deal as bosses fight privatisation plan
Tue 28 Jun 2022

Channel 4 is preparing to sign a deal to keep its news programme on air for the next five years, meaning any new private sector owner could be locked into producing a show that has repeatedly angered Conservative ministers.

It comes as the broadcaster’s management team engage in an uneasy dance over its future, with the government increasingly annoyed that they are openly fighting attempts at privatisation.

“Name me one other company where the executives would be able to go out and actively oppose their shareholders,” said one government source, who suggested it would not be tolerated for much longer.

According to individuals involved in the process, Channel 4 is in a state of “phoney war” before publication of the government’s detailed plans on privatisation, expected in July. Parliament will then be asked to approve the proposals as part of a wider piece of media legislation in the autumn, with a sale potentially taking place in early 2023.

Among the potential bidders is the actor Idris Elba, who sources said was in early discussions with the TV production company Miroma. Both parties stressed their affection for the channel and a keenness for it to stay British.

The fate of Channel 4 is increasingly linked to Boris Johnson’s ability to remain as prime minister – and the ability of external lobby groups, TV industry representatives and actors to win the support of backbench Conservative MPs.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/ ... ation-plan
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Life for those who kill emergency workers among criminal justice reforms coming into force
Tuesday 28 June 2022

Mandatory life sentences for those who kill emergency workers are among criminal justice reforms designed to "make our streets safer" coming into force today.

The changes also toughen sentences for those guilty of pre-meditated child murder.

In such cases a whole-life tariff - where offenders are told they will never be released - will be the starting point when judges consider sentences.

In addition, the Ministry of Justice said, it is ending the automatic early release of offenders deemed to be a danger to the public.

There are also measures to protect women and girls, with a new offence of taking non-consensual photographs or videos of breastfeeding women punishable by up to two years in prison.

Meanwhile, the time limit for prosecutions of domestic abuse related common assault and battery charges will be altered from six months from the date of the offence to six months from the date it is reported to the police - up to a maximum of two years from the offence.
https://news.sky.com/story/life-for-tho ... e-12641468
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Heathrow warns on investment as regulator eyes reduction in passenger charges
Tuesday 28 June 2022

Heathrow Airport has warned that a proposed reduction in the amount of money it can charge airlines per passenger would result in a major reduction in investment.

In its final proposals revealed on Tuesday, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the average maximum charge - which is passed on to passengers in their air fare - should fall from its COVID crisis level of £30.19 to £26.31 in 2026.

The airport had sought a range between £32 to £43 - bitterly opposed by airlines including BA and Virgin Atlantic which argued that the west London hub airport was already the most expensive to operate from.

The CAA said the proposed pricing reflected "expected increases in passenger numbers as the recovery from the pandemic continues and the higher level of the price cap in 2022, which was put in place in 2021 to reflect the challenges from the pandemic at the time".

It said that when the effects of inflation were removed, the proposed cap levels were equivalent to nearly a 6% reduction every year from today's level up to 2026 and would be "affordable" for consumers amid the cost of living crisis.
https://news.sky.com/story/heathrow-war ... s-12641613
"We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories...And those that carry us forward, are dreams."

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Population revealed in census shows it has grown by 6.3% in the last 10 years
Tuesday 28 June

The population of England and Wales has grown by more than 3.5 million (6.3%) in 10 years, from 56.1 to 59.6 million, new census data reveals.

There are now more people aged 65 and over than ever before - accounting for 18.6% of the population, compared to 16.4% in 2011, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show.

Since the last census on 27 March that year, populations have increased in all English regions and in Wales - with the East of England experiencing the highest growth - an increase of 8.3%, or roughly 488,000 residents.

Separate census data for Northern Ireland shows a 5% increase in its population - from 92,200 in 2011 to a record 1.9 million in 2021. Scotland's census will not be published until next year.

The local authorities where the population has decreased the most are both in London. In Kensington and Chelsea it fell by 9.6% and in Westminster it went down by 6.9%.

By contrast, Tower Hamlets, in east London, experienced the highest population growth (an increase of 22.1%), followed by Dartford in Kent (20%).
https://news.sky.com/story/uk-populatio ... s-12641686
"We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories...And those that carry us forward, are dreams."

-H.G Wells.
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