British Isles

UK households hosting refugees

17 Mar 2022
The Government is looking at using the properties of Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the UK for ‘humanitarian purposes’ to house Ukrainian refugees. However there is ‘quite a high legal bar’, and this measure…

Nazanin and Anoosheh: pray for healing

17 Mar 2022
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori are now united with their families in the UK after years of detention in the notorious Evin Prison, which has a reputation for torture and abusing human rights.…

Covid infections rising again across UK

17 Mar 2022
Covid infections are increasing across the UK with about one in 25 people infected, according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). In Scotland, 300,000 people - one in…

Northern Ireland poverty

17 Mar 2022
A Joseph Rowntree Foundation report published on 16 March tells us that as Northern Ireland entered the pandemic, nearly one in five people lived in poverty, including over 100,000 children. 1 in 14…

Concerns over Scotland’s £5bn Covid funds

17 Mar 2022
A detailed analysis of where almost £5bn of Covid business funding went is not possible due to gaps in data, a spending watchdog has found. The Scottish government provided £4.4bn in grants and…

Yachts with links to oligarchs

17 Mar 2022
The department of transport has blocked yachts from leaving Britain over suspected links to oligarchs, and ships linked to Russia have been turned away or redirected when attempting to enter British shores. Grant…

Another rise in Interest rates

17 Mar 2022
On 17 March Interest rates rose again for the third time in four months to counter higher prices and calm the rise in the cost of living. It means interest rates are now…

MPs ask PM to reverse fracking ban

10 Mar 2022
A letter to the PM, signed by 34 MPs and five peers, claims that pressing ahead with the fracking ban would play into the hands of the Kremlin, which they say wants to…

Special Educational Needs

10 Mar 2022
Susan Liverman, the mother of a boy with autism, wants to change the way parents of children with suspected special education needs or disabilities (SEND) are treated when their children do not attend…

Lord Barker resigns from oligarch-linked EN+

10 Mar 2022
Former government energy minister, Lord Barker, has resigned as chairman of EN+, the aluminium giant founded by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. The Conservative peer's resignation came as he faced pressure to cut ties…