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Offences including manslaughter have been excluded from changes to sentencing rules amid an overcrowding crisis
Grooming gang perpetrators and killers, including those responsible for PC Andrew Harper’s death, will be blocked from early prison release under changes announced by Andy Burnham after a backlash over the scope of the scheme.
Here is a primer on how the crisis unfolded and what the upshot of Burnham’s decision could be.
Continue reading...Sun, 30 Aug 2026 16:59:19 GMT
A retired software engineer and a planetary scientist disagreed about putting up flags and nationalising private companies, but were they worlds apart on legalising drugs?
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Finley, 23, London
Occupation Planetary scientist
Continue reading...Sun, 30 Aug 2026 11:00:54 GMT
Andy Burnham is in need of radical proposals. A ‘care first’ year in exchange for 50% off fees could be just what he needs
The UK’s social care sector is in crisis. Costs are spiralling, with many local councils forced to dedicate the vast majority of their budgets to it. At the same time, more and more families are seeing their savings disappear into the black hole of nursing home fees. With an ageing population, the problem is set to get worse.
In only his second week as prime minister, Andy Burnham pledged to succeed where so many of his predecessors have failed: by fixing Britain’s social care system. And yet, as parliament returns from recess, the new-ish administration is still worryingly unclear about how it will do this. Despite Burnham declaring that care workers should enjoy better compensation, we don’t know how he plans to pay for any of it – not least because he has kept Starmer’s campaign pledge to not raise income tax, VAT or national insurance. At the moment, it looks as though it will be impossible to square the circle.
Continue reading...Sun, 30 Aug 2026 11:00:55 GMT
J’ouvert marks the start of the Notting Hill carnival in west London, with revellers covered in oil, paint and powder
Continue reading...Sun, 30 Aug 2026 11:43:34 GMT
Camille had bad experiences with men, so when she met Marcus they took things slowly. Now sex is a shared joy
• How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously
Marcus will go down on me for as long as it takes. He has a gentle touch and is an amazing kisser
Continue reading...Sun, 30 Aug 2026 10:00:52 GMT
The Canadian PM is one of the few world leaders to stand up to the US president. Former colleagues say they are not surprised
Mark Carney stood before a walnut-veneered lectern, his face drawn tight, as he announced that talks with Canada’s biggest trading partner had collapsed. “Last spring, I warned that America is trying to break us so that they can own us,” he said. “And I promised: that will never, ever happen. We are keeping that promise.”
For years, the former central bank governor had worked hard to calm markets. Now, he was asking Canadians to accept uncertainty and confrontation.
Continue reading...Sun, 30 Aug 2026 05:00:46 GMT
Campaigners welcome plan to bring IPP sentences to a close but say the move is long overdue
Campaigners have hailed Andy Burnham’s pledge to bring an end to indefinite jail terms as “a day that thousands of families have spent years fighting for”.
The prime minister has said he will “end the injustice” of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences during this parliament, meaning people will no longer be trapped indefinitely under a sentence abolished more than a decade ago.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Continue reading...Sun, 30 Aug 2026 12:36:46 GMT
Total number of missing Britons between Tibet and Nepal at 48 as Beijing mobilises more than 2,100 rescue workers
Fifteen British nationals are reported to be missing in China as the search continues for survivors of the devastating flooding in Nepal and Tibet.
Nepali and Chinese authorities confirmed an updated death toll of at least 810 on Sunday. More than 3,000 people are believed missing after flash floods brought upon by a massive glacier collapse in the Himalayas on Wednesday engulfed Gyirong port on the Nepal-China border.
Continue reading...Sun, 30 Aug 2026 17:13:57 GMT
An estimated 237 people have been rescued but 23 are missing after accident off the coast of northern Cyprus
Republican Turkish party MP Sami Ozuslu told the Guardian late on Sunday that the death toll had risen. “Sadly we are now hearing that there are nine or ten dead,” he said.
The families of passengers were converging on hospitals in Nicosia, Kyrenia and elsewhere, desperate for news of loved ones, he added.
Continue reading...Sun, 30 Aug 2026 17:17:52 GMT
Senior Tory says Khan has ‘lost passion for the job’ and Burnham is ‘very anti-London’ in interview with LBC
James Cleverly has vowed to run a “classically Conservative” campaign to become the mayor of London, insisting his victory in the capital would be a stepping stone for Kemi Badenoch to become prime minister.
The senior Tory denied he had resigned from the shadow cabinet to run for mayor after a shift to the right under Badenoch’s leadership. However, in a series of interviews on Sunday he avoided speaking about culture wars issues, which have been a focus for the Conservative leader.
Continue reading...Sun, 30 Aug 2026 16:25:02 GMT