Author: Fatimah Idera

A new review has revealed that the average waiting time for NHS 24 calls in Scotland has risen sharply from just nine seconds in 2014 to more than 22 minutes this year. The report, commissioned by Scottish Labour and led by former Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons president Mike McKirdy, warns that Scotland’s health service is “failing to deliver” despite having more staff, more funding and more policy initiatives than ever before. McKirdy said he uncovered a central puzzle, demand has remained fairly stable, yet overall NHS activity has fallen since 2018. He argued that the problems cannot be…

Human rights organisations say the UK’s hardline policy aimed at stopping asylum seekers from crossing the Channel in small boats has increased violence, deaths and smuggler activity rather than deterring arrivals. A new 176-page report by Humans for Rights Network, produced with 17 rights groups in France and six in the UK, documents the growing dangers faced by migrants in northern France. The report includes testimonies from asylum seekers and medical professionals, describing the use of rubber bullets, teargas and frequent evictions by French police actions partly funded by hundreds of millions of pounds from the UK. Despite heavy spending,…

UK youths face benefit cuts for rejecting job scheme

Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he fully expects Angela Rayner to make a return to cabinet, praising his former deputy as hugely talented despite her resignation in September over an underpayment of stamp duty on a property purchase. In an interview with the Observer, Starmer described Rayner who left school at 16 with no qualifications as the best social mobility story this country has ever seen. He added that her departure from government had been a personal loss, saying: “Of course I miss her. I was really sad that we lost her. She’s going to be a major voice in…

Man arrested after Heathrow airport pepper-spray incident

Trans women will not be permitted to take part in the main sessions of Labour’s Women’s Conference next year, following a legal review prompted by the Supreme Court’s April ruling that a woman is defined by biological sex under equality law. Under the new rules, trans women will be excluded from formal proceedings, including speeches in the main hall and policy debates. However, they may attend fringe events, which will remain open to all regardless of sex. The party considers this structure the least restrictive option that still meets legal requirements. Labour cancelled the 2025 Women’s Conference after receiving legal…

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Downing Street on Monday for an in-person meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor-designate Friedrich Merz, in a renewed display of European backing for Ukraine. The leaders will discuss ongoing negotiations between US and Ukrainian officials over a draft peace deal centred on Ukraine’s long-term security guarantees. The meeting follows a virtual session of the “coalition of the willing” held two weeks earlier, where the leaders examined proposals for a European peacekeeping force that could be deployed if a ceasefire is reached. In a joint statement…

Labour has announced a sweeping child poverty strategy aimed at lifting more than half a million children out of hardship, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer calling it the most significant anti-poverty initiative introduced by any UK government. The centrepiece of the plan is the scrapping of the two-child benefits cap, a policy brought in by the Conservatives in 2017 that had pushed more than 1.7 million children below the poverty line and limited support to low-income families. From April next year, families with more than two children will be able to access full welfare support. With around 4.5 million children…

A doctor has been charged with a series of serious sexual offences involving 38 patients under his care, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has confirmed. Nathaniel Spencer, 38, from Quinton, Birmingham, is alleged to have carried out the offences over a four-year period while working at hospitals in Stoke-on-Trent and Dudley. According to the CPS, Mr Spencer faces 15 counts of sexual assault, 17 counts of assault by penetration, and nine counts of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 13. He has also been charged with three counts of assault of a child under 13 by penetration, along…

The government says 60 food-delivery riders found working illegally in the UK are now facing deportation following a nationwide Home Office operation. The riders were among 171 people arrested during a seven-day enforcement blitz across towns, cities and villages in November, part of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s focus on unlawful employment in the gig-economy sector. Border Security Minister Alex Norris said the action should serve as a clear warning that those working illegally will be arrested and removed. He added that the government is tightening laws to curb illegal working in the delivery industry, including measures targeting identity sharing and…