More than 100 UK lawmakers urge government to cancel London event, warning it is linked to land ‘stolen from Palestinians’

More than 100 UK lawmakers have called for the cancellation of an Israeli real estate event scheduled to take place in London on Sunday, which had appeared to advertise the sale of land in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

In a letter sent to the foreign secretary on Friday, 101 parliamentarians and members of the House of Lords, warned the event was “firmly embedded in Israel’s project of colonial expansion by facilitating the sale of land that has been stolen from Palestinians” and called on the government to take “all necessary steps” to stop the event from going ahead in the capital.

Chris Farrell was given benefit for six months despite his repeated requests for payments to stop

A former unpaid carer has urged welfare officials to “get their act together” after they continued to pay him carer’s benefit for six months after the death of his husband, potentially landing him with debts of more than £1,300.

Chris Farrell, 65, who claimed carer’s allowance for four years while providing full-time care for his late husband repeatedly tried to get the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to stop paying him the £86.45 a week benefit.

A carer who has accumulated more than £2,000 of unwanted carer’s allowance since their mother went into a care home 10 months ago. They said they had contacted the DWP to cancel the benefit five times, by phone and online form, to no avail.

A carer who found it impossible to get the DWP to stop carer’s allowance payments despite reporting over a year ago she had taken on a new work contract and was no longer eligible for the benefit. She had been overpaid more than £2,650.

A man trying to manage work and care for his father, who claimed carer’s allowance for several months after being made redundant, has been unable to stop the benefit despite telling officials repeatedly he no longer needed it after finding a new job.

Footy Addicts helps amateur players find a game at short notice – and tackles the problem of loneliness

Cries of “Boss! Boss! Boss!” emerge from the pitch during a hard-fought game of football in a London park. There aren’t a lot of names used in this game, because most players only met just before kick-off. They were brought together by an app that’s injecting life into grassroots football.

Footy Addicts was invented to solve an infuriating problem for amateur players – the late dropout, which can lead to unbalanced teams and ruined games. The app brings together strangers who are desperate to play football, and who can step in after a cancellation to make up the numbers at short notice.

Andy Burnham, the Labour candidate for the Makerfield by-election, supports giving migrants immediate access to Britain’s welfare state and social housing. In the past, when not on the campaign trail, he has […]

The post Be careful what you vote for: Andy Burnham wants to abolish the “no recourse to public funds” policy for migrants first appeared on The Expose.

Boy, 14, among three people held after 21-year-old was found critically injured in Central Park, Chelmsford

Three teenagers, including a 14-year-old boy, have been arrested on suspicion of murdering a 21-year-old man in a park in Essex.

Emergency services attended Central Park in Chelmsford at about 7pm on Friday, where the victim was found with critical injuries.

Excoriating article under Caroline Dinenage’s name remains on ConservativeHome website

It was a crisis that toppled a BBC director general and his head of news. After contentious accusations of bias by a former external adviser, Michael Prescott, both Tim Davie and Deborah Turness quit the corporation.

At the height of the media storm that ensued last November, the corporation was struck by another blow. A key figure in scrutinising the BBC – the chair of the Commons culture, media and sport committee – delivered an equally damning verdict.

The country is ready to blow away decades of dashed hopes and celebrate, with marching bands and all-night parties

Scotland is leaning into one of its most treasured traditions: embracing the hope and anxiety of a football World Cup, with a healthy dose of self-deprecating style.

There are brash new tartans, an Edinburgh bar offering free Irn-Bru-infused “fiery ginger” beers for patrons with red hair, a collaboration between Scottish whisky firms and a Brazilian distiller, and all-night parties in nightclubs repurposed as fanzones.

Exclusive: Research in England shows people a third less likely to reoffend under decriminalisation-style schemes

Drug diversion schemes led by police that steer people away from the criminal justice system and into treatment and education services are significantly more effective in reducing reoffending than prosecution, according to a new analysis.

Researchers examined outcomes across 13 English police forces and more than 62,000 criminal incidents over the past four years, finding that people whose cases were dealt with through decriminalisation-style diversion schemes were a third less likely to reoffend than similar individuals prosecuted for drug possession.

Appearance of a western reef heron in north Wales is unlikely to be the last, as heating temperatures mean species can survive Britain’s winter, say experts

It is a tropical bird typically encountered between west Africa and India, but last week a western reef heron arrived in north Wales in what is believed to be the first ever sighting in the UK.

The heron was first spotted in Foryd Bay at the weekend before flying to nearby Caernarfon harbour where it fed among the boats.

Exclusive: Greater Manchester mayor ‘serious’ about taking over ‘essentials of life’ if he becomes PM, a move critics say could cost taxpayer billions

A decade-long project to bring water and energy into public control will lie at the heart of Andy Burnham’s agenda should he become prime minister, according to sources close to the Greater Manchester mayor.

Several close allies of Burnham have said he wants to take over broad swathes of UK utilities in an effort to improve performance and potentially reduce bills for consumers.

Change in viewing habits offered by match times at 2026 tournament could mean using cheaper off-peak power

Watching late-night or early hours football could provide UK households with a practical opportunity to cut their energy bills, as even just doing the washing when cheaper electricity rates apply can net a decent saving.

At a time when energy costs are back at worrying highs, research by E.ON Next shows the potential to save money on a time-of-use tariff – in this case, its Next Smart Saver deal, which has three rates: peak, off-peak and super off-peak.

Exclusive: Fighting Dirty taking legal action against government over proposal it says could import weaker standards

An environmental campaign group is taking legal action against the government over proposals that it claims could fast-track chemical hazard classifications from other countries with lower standards into UK law.

Fighting Dirty claims proposals to change the classification and labelling of potentially hazardous chemicals could result in the UK weakening standards on cancer-causing substances.

Claims of two-tier policing and uncontrolled immigration may not be borne out by the facts, but that has not stopped them being played up for political ends

As the people of Glengormley, on the northern edge of Belfast, tidied up and prepared for more violence in the midst of what has been described as a modern-day pogrom, a court 500 miles away in Southampton, on the south coast of England, started to deal with its own outbreak of thuggery.

The trigger for this week’s riots in the Northern Irish capital had been the image of a black assailant who appeared to be stabbing and slashing his supine white victim in the face and neck while shouting in Arabic. The suspect was later revealed to be a refugee from Sudan.

Journalist and healthcare campaigner was driving force behind patient safety initiative after death of 13-year-old daughter

The healthcare campaigner and journalist Merope Mills has been made a CBE in the king’s birthday honours list for services to patient safety.

Mills, a senior editor at the Guardian, was a driving force behind the introduction of an initiative in England said to have potentially saved hundreds of lives. She has spent years campaigning for the introduction of Martha’s rule under which patients, relatives and staff can seek a second opinion if they have concerns about the care being provided.

Frederic Priestley, 34, falsely advertised property he did not own for rent on Facebook, obtaining payments and deposits

A man has been jailed after defrauding more than 30 people out of more than £77,000 in a rental scam, police said.

Frederic Priestley, 34, from Southwark, London, falsely advertised a property for rent on Facebook between April and September last year.

Unidentified officer removed from frontline duties in the first known case of its kind in the UK

A police officer is under criminal investigation over the alleged use of artificial intelligence and has been removed from frontline duties in the first known case of its kind in the UK.

The officer, who has not been named, is being investigated over allegations of using the technology to “create evidential material in a number of cases” and perverting the course of justice.

Four found guilty get tougher conditions as judge says actions were ‘designed to intimidate the UK government and a section of the public’

A judge has imposed lengthy custodial sentences on four Palestine Action activists who smashed up drones and other equipment at an Israeli arms manufacturer’s UK factory after ruling that there was a “terrorist connection” to their offending.

Charlotte Head, 30, and Leona Kamio, 30, were each jailed for five years and Fatema Rajwani, 21, was sentenced to four years and 8 months for criminal damage in relation to a 2024 break-in at the Elbit Systems UK site in Gloucestershire. Samuel Corner, 23, who was additionally convicted of grievous bodily harm without intent for striking Sgt Kate Evans with a sledgehammer, was sentenced to seven years and eight months. Each will also spend an additional year on licence and be subject to 15 years of terrorist notification requirements.

Endorsement by former soldier, despite party’s apparent efforts to distance itself from him, is likely bid to attract Restore Britain voters

Reform UK’s candidate in the Makerfield byelection has been criticised for welcoming an endorsement by Ant Middleton, the former soldier and TV presenter who the party had distanced itself from over his increasingly extreme views.

Robert Kenyon shared a video of himself with Middleton, who he described as “one of my heroes”. Middleton has previously said “well done Southampton” in the wake of violence after the murder of Henry Nowak, and has repeatedly used his own X account to make anti-Muslim comments.

The violent disturbances occurred in a nationalist area yet played out against a backdrop of union jacks

As the racially motivated violence unfolded in Northern Ireland this week, a striking dissonanace could be seenbehind the mobs and flames and smoke.

The knife attack that triggered the disturbances occurred in a nationalist area yet the mayhem played out against a backdrop of union jacks and loyalist murals.

Bell hotel in Epping was scene of violent protests after asylum seeker living there sexually assaulted girl and woman

Asylum seekers have been removed from the Epping hotel that became a flashpoint for anti-immigration protests across England last summer as the Home Office terminates its contract with the establishment.

The hotel on the outskirts of the Essex town was the scene of increasingly large protests after an asylum seeker who was living there sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman.