Category: UK News

London’s iconic Millennium Bridge is set to close for three weeks due to urgent repairs. This will be the second closure in the bridge’s short history. The pedestrian crossing, also known as the “wobbly” bridge, opened in June 2000, but it had to be closed two days later due to a troubling sway in the… Continue reading Millennium Bridge: 'Wobbly' pedestrian crossing to close for repairs

The sale of cigarettes in England will be phased out in what has been billed by Chancellor Rishi Sunak as “the biggest public health intervention in a generation”. Sunak said there was “no safe level of smoking” and that his plan to raise the legal age of smoking annually by one year until no one… Continue reading Rishi Sunak defends his plan to ban smoking for younger generation

Reports have emerged that Metro Bank requires millions to reinforce its finances, leading to a 27% fall in its shares in early trading. The bank has not commented on the figure or the urgency of the talks but stated it “continues to consider how best to enhance its capital resources”. The bank began operations in… Continue reading Metro Bank shares plunge on fund raising reports

Nicholas Rossi, an American fugitive, will be extradited from Scotland to the United States to face allegations of rape. Scotland’s justice secretary Angela Constance confirmed the extradition order last week after a court ruling in August that found no legal barrier to Rossi’s extradition. The 36-year-old was arrested at a Glasgow hospital’s Covid ward in… Continue reading Nicholas Rossi to be extradited to US on rape charges

Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has proposed an ambitious plan to combat smoking in the UK by raising the legal age of smoking every year by a year. The aim is to eventually make it impossible for anyone to purchase tobacco, thereby ending smoking entirely. The proposal has been welcomed by Prof Sir… Continue reading Prof Sir Chris Whitty backs tobacco phase-out plan

The front pages of newspapers in Scotland are dominated by coverage of the Rutherglen and Hamilton by-election as voters head to the polls. However, the BBC and other broadcasters are restricted to factual reporting only in line with polling day rules. For this reason, the front pages of newspapers that could be perceived as attempting… Continue reading Scotland's papers: Police antidepressants row and Sunak praises union

The UK’s cloud computing industry is set to undergo a competition inquiry due to concerns that Amazon and Microsoft have a stranglehold on the market. Ofcom, the media regulator, has stated that the pair of tech giants currently account for between 70% to 80% of the market, with their closest rival, Google, holding just 5%… Continue reading Amazon and Microsoft to face cloud computing competition probe

In Scotland’s first recall by-election, voters are heading to the polls to elect a new MP for the Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency. The by-election was triggered after former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier was ousted from her position for breaching Covid rules. The by-election will be closely watched by both Labour and the SNP as… Continue reading Rutherglen and Hamilton West: Voters go to polls in by-election

Former UK Prime Minister Theresa May has revealed her thoughts on the Novichok attack in Salisbury in 2018 that left a former Russian double agent and his daughter hospitalized, with another person later dying from exposure. May called the attack “one of the most significant incidents” during her time in office and said she asked… Continue reading Salisbury poisonings: Theresa May remembers Novichok attack

Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council has reversed a decision on a housing application following a conflict-of-interest investigation involving former DUP councillor Luke Poots and his father Edwin Poots. The ex-councillor chaired a committee which accepted a planning application lobbied for by his father. After a legal challenge, the council refused planning permission, incurring costs of… Continue reading DUP: Housing plans in Luke Poots probe reversed