Home
Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, said that Britain needed to build new gas-fired power stations to ensure energy security. GDP grew by 0.2 per cent in January. The number of people of working age classed as economically inactive rose to 9.25 million, compared with 8.55 million in February 2020, according to the Office for National Statistics. Among those aged 16 to 34, economic inactivity was rising; among those aged 35 to 64 it had fallen. Long-term sickness accounted for 2.7 million people not in work, 600,000 more than four years ago. The National Health Service employed more than two million for the first time, more than a third of public-sector workers. Police removed 35 bodies and a quantity of ashes from Legacy Independent Funeral Directors at Hull and Beverley and arrested two people on suspicion of prevention of lawful and decent burial. No new prescriptions for puberty blockers will be given routinely to children at gender identity clinics, NHS England said.
Lee Anderson, an MP who was a former Conservative party deputy chairman (until suspended from the party after saying that Islamists had ‘got control of [Sadiq] Khan and they’ve got control of London’) joined the Reform party. Diane Abbott MP, who has lost the Labour whip, described as ‘frightening’ remarks from 2019 attributed by the Guardian to Frank Hester (who has donated £10 million to the Conservatives): ‘You see Diane Abbott on the TV, and you’re just like I hate, you just want to hate all black women because she’s there, and I don’t hate all black women at all, but I think she should be shot.’ The Prime Minister said that the reported words were racist. Then the game began of asking prominent Tories if they’d give the donations back. Failed asylum seekers will be offered £3,000 to move to Rwanda in a new voluntary scheme.
An interim report from Operation Kenova, the investigation into the activities of the army spy called Stakeknife working at the heart of the IRA (known to have been Freddie Scappaticci, who died last year), found that ‘brutal acts of torture and murder’ which could have been prevented were allowed to take place with the knowledge of the security forces in order to protect their agents.
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in