UK

A total ban on under-16s owning smartphones should be considered by the next government, according to a report from MPs. The House of Commons Education Committee also called for a statutory ban on mobile phones in schools. It argued that screen time was harmful to children’s mental and physical health, and both schools and parents

An aircraft has crashed in a field in Lincolnshire, police say. Emergency crews are at the scene in Coningsby following reports the aircraft went down shortly before 1.20pm. A Lincolnshire Police spokesperson said a “single occupant aircraft” is believed to have crashed and nobody else is thought to have been involved. The Air Accidents Investigation

Migration has taken centre stage on the first day of the general election campaign, with the prime minister and Labour leader trading blows on the government’s flagship Rwanda policy. Sir Keir Starmer accused Rishi Sunak of never believing in his deportation plan as he kicked off his campaign in Gillingham in Kent, a traditional Conservative

Police Scotland has sent a report to the country’s prosecution service in relation to Peter Murrell after the former SNP chief executive was charged with embezzling party funds. The force said in a statement on Thursday it had submitted a “standard prosecution report” to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). A spokesperson added:

Paloma Faith, KT Tunstall and other songwriters at the Ivor Novello Awards have spoken out about the use of AI in music, saying meaningful songs cannot be written by “robots”. The awards ceremony, which honours the craft of songwriting, was held in London this afternoon, with artists including Raye, Bruce Springsteen, Lana Del Rey and

The King shared a fist bump and greeted winners of the Prince’s Trust Awards in his latest public appearance. The monarch was pictured skipping the formal handshake with Tyler West, a presenter and DJ, at Buckingham Palace while celebrating the 20th edition of the awards ceremony. Hosted on Tuesday, the Prince’s Trust Awards “shines a

Paula Vennells arrived at the Post Office Inquiry a former chief executive, a former Church of England lay preacher and an ex-CBE, with only her reputation, and perhaps her liberty, left to defend. After more than five hours of questioning she has done very little to restore the former, with the latter still very much

The mother of a victim of the Manchester Arena bombing has walked from the venue to Downing Street to deliver a letter calling for new terror laws. Figen Murray’s son, Martyn Hett, was one of 22 people killed when terrorist Salman Abedi detonated a bomb at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in May

Police in Essex are cracking down on illegal car meets, saying they will “never accept people treating roads like racetracks”. Unauthorised car meets or car cruises – where drivers meet on the public highway or large public car parks to race or show their vehicles to others – have recently gained popularity, according to police.

A COVID vaccination centre in Ceredigion has been forced to temporarily shut its doors after two snakes were found on site. The snakes have been named Cwm and Cou after the Welsh village where the centre is located. Cou is the larger of the snakes and is believed to be an adder, while Cwm is

The wet weather in the UK and Ireland that seemed almost unrelenting last winter was made worse by climate change, scientists have said. October 2023 to March 2024 was the second wettest such period on record for the UK and the third wettest for Ireland, bringing more than a dozen severe storms. The weather caused

Police have launched a search for an 18-year-old man who may be camping in the Edinburgh area. Anthony Cook was reported missing from Grimsby in Lincolnshire on Sunday and is believed to have travelled to the Scottish capital. The teenager was spotted buying equipment at a camping shop on Causewayside on Monday, including a dark

The rate of price rises has dropped to 2.3% in April – the lowest in nearly three years and closer to the Bank of England’s target, according to official data. Inflation is at a low not seen since July 2021, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Money latest: Do Sunak and Hunt deserve any

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said the UK economy is heading for a “soft landing” but reiterated its message to Jeremy Hunt that he should not have cut national insurance at the last two fiscal events. In its annual check-up on the state of Britain’s economy, the Washington-based Fund also warned of a black

“Workers united, will never be defeated!” a man shouts into a loud hailer. He is part of a crowd marching through the streets of Manchester in a May Day parade, organised by some of Britain’s biggest trade unions. The sun is shining and there’s a festival atmosphere, as his fellow marchers hold aloft placards about

The infected blood scandal was “not an accident” – and its failures lie with “successive governments, the NHS, and blood services”, a public inquiry has found. From the 1970s, 30,000 people were “knowingly” infected with either HIV or Hepatitis C because “those in authority did not put patient safety first”, the report into the inquiry

GB News could face punishment after a programme with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was found to have broken broadcasting rules. Regulator Ofcom said it is “starting the process for consideration of a statutory sanction against GB News” after finding that a “People’s Forum” featuring the prime minister breached broadcasting due impartiality guidelines. In response to

Prince William will join the King and Queen as they travel to Normandy to attend ceremonies to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, Buckingham Palace has said. The monarch and his wife will join the Ministry of Defence and Royal British Legion’s commemorative event at the British Normandy Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer on 6

Thousands of people died after being given infected blood transfusions by the NHS. They were people with haemophilia, women giving birth, and cancer patients who died after contracting HIV or Hepatitis C from infected blood. An inquiry has been studying millions of pages of evidence from hundreds of sources and witnesses for six years. From

A teacher has been found guilty of four counts of sexual activity with a child following a two-week trial at Manchester Crown Court. Rebecca Joynes, 30, was also found guilty of two counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust. Joynes had denied she had sex with one