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☆ Air travellers warned of delays as UK passport control staff strike
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union take part in a border force workers strike action near Heathrow Airport, in London, Britain December 23, 2022. The Public and Commercial Services Union said more than 1,000 Border Force staff, who are employed by the government, were expecting to strike. The union said its Border Force members had been offered a 2% pay rise, far below inflation that stood at 10.7% in November. "Immigration halls are free flowing ...with Border Force and the military contingency providing a good service," a spokesperson said. Gatwick, Britain's second busiest, said passengers should expect longer wait times at passport control between Friday and the end of the year.

☆ UK's Sunak: Concerns about Scotland's gender reforms should be examined
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 23 (Reuters) - British Prime Minster Rishi Sunak said it was "completely reasonable" for his government to examine transgender reforms passed in Scotland on Thursday given concerns raised by campaigners about the impact on women's safety. "Lots of people have got concerns about this new bill in Scotland, about the impact it will have on women and children's safety," he told reporters on Friday. The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) bill, which was backed by the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) and other parties in the country's devolved parliament except for the Conservatives, passed by 86 votes to 39. Supporters of the bill, however, said the reforms benefit transgender people and pose no threat to women's rights. "Any attempt by the UK government to undermine the democratic will of the Scottish parliament will be vigorously contested by the Scottish government."

☆ Jeremy Clarkson's Meghan column most complained about ever - UK press regulator
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - A Sun newspaper column by British television presenter Jeremy Clarkson about Prince Harry's wife Meghan has become the press standards regulator's most complained about article, it said on Tuesday, with more than 17,500 complaints received. In a column published on Friday, Clarkson, who gained worldwide fame as presenter of motoring show "Top Gear", wrote of Meghan: "I hate her. The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) said it had received more than 17,500 complaints so far, the most about any article since it was established in 2014. We cannot allow this type of behaviour to go unchecked any longer," said the letter, which was posted on Twitter by Nokes. Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; additional reporting by Farouq Suleiman; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson 'horrified' Meghan column caused hurt
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - British television presenter Jeremy Clarkson said on Monday he was "horrified to have caused so much hurt" after a column he wrote in the Sun newspaper about Prince Harry's wife Meghan attracted more than 6,000 complaints. In a column published on Friday, Clarkson, who gained worldwide fame as presenter of motoring show "Top Gear", wrote of Meghan: "I hate her. In a column I wrote about Meghan, I made a clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones and this has gone down badly with a great many people." "I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future," added Clarkson, who is known for being outspoken and controversial. Britain's press standards regulator, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), said it had so far received "over 6,000 complaints about the article in question".

☆ UK Amazon workers at Coventry warehouse vote for strike action - union
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Amazon workers at a warehouse in Coventry, central England, have voted to walk out in the new year in a dispute over pay, the union representing the staff said on Friday. "Amazon workers in Coventry have made history - they will be the first ever in the UK to take part in a formal strike," GMB Senior Organiser Amanda Gearing said in a statement. The GMB union said more than 98% of workers voted in favour of strikes on a turnout of over 63%, adding that industrial action would likely take place in the new year. Britain is facing an unprecedented number of strikes across several sectors, including ambulance, transport, nurses and health workers, as workers struggling with surging inflation demand better pay and conditions. Reporting by Farouq Suleiman; Editing by Alistair SmoutOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Bank of England raises rates to 3.5%, expects more rises to come
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The Bank of England raised its key interest rate to 3.5% from 3% on Thursday, its ninth rate rise in a row as it tries to speed inflation's return to target after price growth hit a 41-year high in October. The BoE statement did not repeat unusual language from November when it said rates were unlikely to need to rise as far as markets expected. The European Central Bank is set to raise interest rates for the fourth time in a row on Thursday, although by less than at its last two meetings. Official figures on Wednesday showed consumer price inflation fell to 10.7% in November from 11.1% in October. That 0.4 percentage point fall in the annual rate was the largest since July 2021.

But only one policymaker, Catherine Mann, wanted to match November's bigger 0.75 percentage point increase - the BoE's largest in more than 30 years - and two MPC members voted to keep rates on hold. Sterling weakened against the U.S. dollar after the BoE's decision, falling to around $1.23, and it also declined against the euro. "While the 50-basis-point increase in the Bank rate was as expected, the extent of the divisions across the committee is an eye-opener," Philip Shaw, an economist with Investec, said. On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve also slowed the pace of its rate hikes while pointing to more tightening in 2023. That 0.4 percentage point fall in the annual rate was the largest since July 2021.

☆ 'What a tragic day': British nurses strike in bitter pay dispute
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Farouq Suleiman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/6] NHS nurses take part in a strike, during a dispute with the government over pay, outside St Thomas' Hospital in London, Britain December 15, 2022. An estimated 100,000 nurses will strike at 76 hospitals and health centres, cancelling an estimated 70,000 appointments, procedures and surgeries in Britain's state-funded NHS. "What a tragic day. This is a tragic day for nursing, it is a tragic day for patients, patients in hospitals like this, and it is a tragic day for people of this society and for our NHS," Pat Cullen, the head of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union, said to the BBC on a picket line on Thursday. Polling ahead of the nursing strike showed that a majority of Britons support the action, but once the walk-outs are underway politicians will be closely monitoring public opinion.

☆ Four dead after migrant boat capsizes off English coast
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Peter Nicholls | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

"At 0305 (GMT) today, authorities were alerted to an incident in the Channel concerning a migrant small boat in distress," a government spokesperson said in a statement. Some British politicians say migrants from Albania - a European Union candidate - have not suffered persecution but are moving for economic reasons. "I'm sure the whole House will share my sorrow at the capsizing of a small boat in the Channel in the early hours of this morning and the tragic loss of human life," Sunak said. The refugee charity Care4Calais accused the government of doing nothing to prevent migrant deaths, which it said were "wholly unnecessary and preventable". Data compiled by the Missing Migrants Project showed 205 migrants had been recorded dead or missing in the English Channel since 2014.

LONDON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The British government stood firm on its windfall tax on the oil and gas sector in a meeting with industry executives on Friday, two sources with knowledge of what was discussed said. Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt rebuffed requests from North Sea oil and gas executives to include a mechanism in the tax to reflect falls in oil and gas prices, although a future revision was not ruled out should prices slump, the sources said. Hunt last month announced plans to boost the Energy Profits Levy (EPL) on oil and gas companies from 25% to 35%, bringing the total tax rate on the sector to 75%, one of the highest in the oil and gas industry. The government said this would raise funds to help people struggling with increased living costs, largely driven by energy prices that surged after oil and gas exporter Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Britain's oil and gas productionReuters GraphicsReuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsAdditional reporting by Farouq Suleiman.

☆ 'Wonders of Wrexham': King Charles meets Hollywood stars at lowly Welsh club
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WREXHAM, Wales, Dec 9 (Reuters) - King Charles toured the grounds of the lowly Welsh soccer club Wrexham owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney on Friday, talking to the Hollywood actors about their dream of steering the team to sporting glory. Wrexham are currently second in the league and fighting for promotion. Charles and his wife Camilla were in Wrexham to celebrate its new status as a city and to hear about the redevelopment of the club. "A little earlier today, I had the opportunity to see one of the other wonders of Wrexham, namely the football club, which is busy putting Wrexham on the map as never before," Charles told dignitaries later in the day. Reporting by Farouq Suleiman; Editing by Kate Holton and Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 'Gossip behind the scenes': Reaction to Harry and Meghan's Netflix documentary
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, greet people outside Windsor Castle, following the passing of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, in Windsor, Britain, September 10, 2022. REUTERS/Paul ChildsLONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Love them, hate them or just don't rate them, Prince Harry and Meghan's Netflix documentary split public opinion after its launch on Thursday. In the documentary, Harry said the British royal family had dismissed race-related hounding of Meghan by the media as a rite of passage and the couple delivered a fierce attack on the tabloid press. "I believe that what they're saying is true, but we can't really tell because we don't really know, it's their life," 47-year-old M'chinda said. Customer support assistant Carmel Williams, 33, said she would like to know what has been happening and how they are feeling, calling it "gossip behind the scenes".

☆ Harry and Meghan decry media harassment in Netflix documentary
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Michael Holden | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/6] Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend the 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Award Gala in New York City, U.S., December 6, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew KellySummary Harry and Meghan documentary series releasedNewspapers scathing, call it 'act of war'LONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Prince Harry said it was his duty to expose the "exploitation and bribery" of the media, saying members of the British royal family regarded the harassment of his wife Meghan as being a rite of passage. In the first episodes of the couple's much anticipated Netflix documentary series, Harry, who stepped down from royal duties two years ago with Meghan, said he accepted people would fundamentally disagree with that he had done. In the documentary, Harry draws comparisons with Meghan's treatment and the intense media intrusion that his mother Princess Diana had suffered. "This is about duty and service and I feel as though, being part of this family, it is my duty to uncover this exploitation and bribery that happens within our media," Harry said.

☆ UK airports face Christmas disruption as border staff to strike
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Border Force workers at several major British airports including the country's busiest, Heathrow, will go on strike for eight days this month in a dispute over pay, threatening disruption to Christmas travel. The PCS trade union said staff employed by Britain's interior ministry in passport booths would take action at London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports and a handful of regional ones, plus the Port of Newhaven. The union's General Secretary Mark Serwotka said around 2,000-3,000 staff would be involved in the walkouts on ever day but one between Dec 23-31. A Heathrow spokesperson said the airport was working with airlines and Border Force on plans to mitigate disruption. Gatwick said it expected flights to operate as normal and it would also make extra airport staff available to help passengers on strike days.

☆ Former UK health minister Hancock to quit at next election
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Farouq Suleiman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Former British health minister Matt Hancock, who was forced to resign in 2021 for breaching his own social distancing rules during the pandemic, said on Wednesday he would not run again for parliament at the next general election. Hancock was at the centre of the British government's fight against COVID-19 and was heavily criticised for the response to the early stages of the pandemic. Hancock said in his resignation letter that the party had made it clear he would be re-admitted "in due course", but he said that would now not be necessary. In his resignation letter, Hancock said he was proud of his achievements during his nine years in government, including the response to the pandemic. Reporting by Farouq Suleiman; editing by William James and Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Border Force workers at British airports to strike over Christmas - union
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Border Force workers at several major British airports including the country's busiest, London's Heathrow, will go on strike for several days over the Christmas period in a dispute over pay, the PCS trade union said on Wednesday. The union said staff employed by the Britain's interior ministry, the Home Office, in passport booths would take action at Heathrow and Gatwick airports as well as Birmingham Airport, Cardiff Airport, Glasgow Airport, Manchester Airport and the Port of Newhaven. A Heathrow spokesperson said the airport was working with airlines and Border Force on plans to mitigate disruption. "The Home Office advises that immigration and customs checks may take longer during peak times on strike days, and Heathrow will support Border Force to minimise these impacts with the aim of processing passengers through the border as efficiently as possible," the spokesperson said. Reporting by Farouq Suleiman, writing by Sarah Young; Editing by Kate Holton, William MacleanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ambulance workers to strike, further disrupting health service in Britain
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Farouq Suleiman | Ajose Koilparambil | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] An NHS logo is displayed outside a hospital in London, Britain May 14, 2017. Britain's state-run National Health Service (NHS) is braced for a wave of unprecedented industrial action this winter, with up to 100,000 nurses due to take strike action on Dec. 15 and 20 for the first time in their union's 100-year history. "No one in the NHS takes strike action lightly, today shows just how desperate they are," GMB National Secretary Rachel Harrison said. The union said it would meet in the coming days to discuss potential strike dates before Christmas. Thousands of health workers, including call handlers and paramedics, represented by the Unison trade union are also set to take industrial action after voting in favour of strikes.

Commercial banks are paid interest on the reserves by the BoE at whatever is the BoE's current interest rate - just 0.1% a year ago, but 3% now and likely to rise further. But now the BoE makes losses because the interest paid on reserves exceeds income from its QE bond holdings. Bailey said the current structure of paying interest fully on all reserves was the simplest way for the BoE to ensure its interest rate changes are transmitted through the financial system. He disagreed with descriptions that this was free money for banks, since they had their own funding costs to meet that also rose with central bank interest rates. Another former BoE rate-setter, Gertjan Vlieghe, on Thursday said it would be a "disaster" to stop paying interest on reserves, even partially - akin to a default on debt.

REUTERS/Toby MelvilleLONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Net migration to the United Kingdom rose to a record high of around 504,000 in the year to June 2022, official statistics showed on Thursday, driven by an increase in the number of non-European Union nationals. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said a recovery of travel following COVID-19, and an increase in arrivals of international students who had been studying remotely during the pandemic had contributed to the rise. At the time then Prime Minister David Cameron had failed for several years to hit a net migration target of less than 100,000 a year. The previous record high for net migration was just over 330,000 in 2015. August saw the highest number of small boat arrivals of any month since data has been collected, it said.

☆ Eurovision Song Contest voting to be opened up to non-participating countries
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Viewers from countries not participating in the Eurovision Song Contest will be able to cast a vote for their favourite act next year for the first time in the competition's history, the organiser said on Tuesday. Viewers will be able to vote via a secure online platform, and a full list of eligible countries will be published nearer the time of the event, usually held in May. The 2023 Eurovision Song Contest will be held in the northern English city of Liverpool on behalf of this year's winners Ukraine. The grand final results will still be decided by a combination of votes by viewers and juries. It said the changes were designed to protect the event's integrity after irregular voting patterns in the results of six countries in the 2022 contest.

Hunt said he deferred most of the curbs on spending because cutting now would make the current recession worse. "There is nothing Conservative about spending money that you haven't got," he said. The front page of the Financial Times declared "Hunt paves way for years of pain". "All of that borrowing we've done over the last many years is coming home to roost," Johnson told BBC radio. "We're going to be stuck at 100 billion pounds a year being spent on debt interest in the medium term.

☆ UK's Hunt says next two years will be challenging
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt walks at Downing Street in London, Britain, November 17, 2022. REUTERS/Toby MelvilleLONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Finance minister Jeremy Hunt said Britain would face a challenging next two years but his new budget plans would help to tackle inflation and put the economy on a stronger footing. "There is nothing Conservative about spending money that you haven't got," he said. There's nothing Conservative about ducking difficult decisions that put the economy on track." Reporting by Muvija M and Farouq Suleiman; writing by Kate Holton; editing by William SchombergOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

He froze until 2028 a threshold at which employers start to pay social security contributions, which will cost companies more. Public spending would grow more slowly than the economy but rise in overall terms, he said. It now expects gross domestic product to contract by 1.4% next year compared with its projection in March for growth of 1.8%. The OBR forecasts GDP growth of 1.3% in 2024 and 2.6% in 2025, compared with previous forecasts of 2.1% and 1.8% respectively. Thursday's forecasts by the OBR showed that target would be met in the 2027/28 financial year.

☆ UK, Canada stress importance of full probe into Poland missile strike
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to stress the importance of a full investigation into a missile strike on Poland, Sunak's office said on Wednesday. "The prime minister and Prime Minister Trudeau emphasised the importance of a full investigation into the circumstances behind missiles falling in Poland yesterday," Sunak's office said, after the two leaders spoke to Zelenskiy from the G20 summit in Indonesia. "They stressed that, whatever the outcome of that investigation, Putin's invasion of Ukraine is squarely to blame for the ongoing violence." Reporting by Farouq Suleiman and Sachin Ravikumar, editing by Elizabeth PiperOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Actor Kevin Spacey faces more sexual assault charges in Britain
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has authorised seven additional charges against Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey for a number of sexual assaults against one man between 2001 and 2004, it said on Wednesday. The new CPS charges include one of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent and others of indecent and sexual assault. Spacey, 63, was previously accused of five offences in Britain - four counts of sexual assault by touching, and a more serious charge of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. 71st Tony Awards – Arrivals – New York City, U.S., 11/06/2017 - Actor Kevin Spacey. Spacey's defence lawyer in Britain, Patrick Gibbs, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the latest charges.

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