Pat McFadden has vowed to bring about “radical” civil service reform including digitisation and stricter performance targets for officials to mirror private sector practices. Under the plans expected to be unveiled this week, under-performing officials could be incentivised to leave their jobs and senior officials will have their pay linked to performance. A new target … Read more
“Nothing is off the table” when it comes to raising money for defence, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has said, as she warned European values such as democracy and the rule of law were under threat in a increasingly “transactional” world. Without mentioning Donald Trump by name, the head of … Read more
The best route to learning to love words in print could well be pictures. This, at least, is the hope of the publishing industry this spring, as it welcomes news that sales of children’s comics and graphic novels have reached an all-time peak of almost £20m in Britain. While publishers and editors are celebrating this … Read more
The home affairs department warned the government as early as November 2023 that its perceived one-sidedness in support of Israel during the Gaza conflict left Palestinian and Muslim Australians feeling “extremely angry” and “betrayed” , as well as concerned about social cohesion, documents reveal. A November 2023 briefing document to the then immigration minister, Andrew … Read more
A-road; major towns and cities connected A1 London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Edinburgh A11 London, Cambridge, Norwich A120 Puckeridge, Stansted, Braintree, Harwich A19 Doncaster, York, Middlesbrough, Newcastle A2 London, Dartford, Rochester, Canterbury, Dover A249 Maidstone, Sittingbourne, Sheerness A259 Folkestone, Hastings, Eastbourne, Brighton, Chichester A27 Southampton, Portsmouth, Brighton, Eastbourne A30 London, Basingstoke, Exeter, Penzance A303 Basingstoke, Andover, Amesbury, Ilminster … Read more
A man has been charged with the murder of a teenage boy who was shot dead in Stockwell, south London, the Metropolitan police said. Lathaniel Burrell, 16, was shot dead in south London on Tuesday. Officers were called to the scene at about 3pm after reports of a shooting on Paradise Road. The teenager died … Read more
It has become a familiar routine for the Palm Beach county sheriff, Ric Bradshaw, and his deputies. Almost every Tuesday in recent weeks, the Federal Aviation Administration has posted to its website a formal “notice to airmen” advising of upcoming flight restrictions over south Florida, signaling once again to those who must protect him that … Read more
Keir Starmer could be heading for the same fate as Olaf Scholz, the recently defeated German chancellor, unless his government is able to deliver on issues such as immigration and welfare, a Labour MP has warned. Jake Richards, the MP for Rother Valley, said he had seen “uncanny” parallels between Labour and Scholz’s party during … Read more
Actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, who were found dead last month in Santa Fe, New Mexico, were rarely apart from each other, and it’s that closeness that may have led to the circumstances of their deaths. Arakawa had become Hackman’s caregiver in his later years when he developed Alzheimer’s disease and became … Read more
At various points in history it has been a prison for Mary, Queen of Scots, a battleground in the English civil war, and the site of one the country’s first flushing toilets. But despite its storied past, Wingfield Manor in Derbyshire has fallen into disrepair, and members of the public can no longer visit the … Read more