Portrait of the week: Sunak vs Sturgeon, Nepal plane crash and Mexico bans smoking on beaches

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The government prevented the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, passed by the Scottish parliament, from proceeding to royal assent, under Section 35 of the Scotland Act, because of its ‘serious adverse impact’ on the operation of the Equality Act 2010. It was blocked by a statutory instrument laid before parliament by the Scottish Secretary, Alister Jack. The Scottish National party leader in the Commons, Stephen Flynn, called opponents to the bill ‘rabid gammon’. Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, sought judicial review. Rishi Sunak, the British Prime Minister, had visited Scotland a few days before to help some Sea Scouts toast marshmallows and to have dinner with Ms Sturgeon. Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour party, said he had concerns about the bill too, ‘in particular the age reduction to 16’ and the rejection of ‘our amendment in relation to the Equalities Act’.

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An armed officer in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, David Carrick, aged 48, pleaded guilty to 24 charges of rape and 25 other sexual offences. The Metropolitan Police had not stopped him even though nine incidents, including allegations of rape and domestic violence, were brought to their attention between 2000 and 2021. Under backbench pressure, the government accepted an amendment to the Online Safety Bill that could sentence social media executives to prison terms if they repeatedly failed to protect children from online harm. Nurses, teachers and court officials went on strike. The RMT union announced fresh rail strikes on 1 and 3 February. The Royal Mail advised people not to try to post international letters and parcels after its computer systems were severely disrupted by ransomware linked to Russian criminals. Ronald Blythe, the author of Akenfield (1969), a portrait of a Suffolk village, died aged 100.