London:

The UK government on Wednesday announced plans to axe 92 House of Lords seats retained for hereditary lawmakers, resurrecting reform of the unelected chamber started under Tony Blair’s Labour government in the 1990s.

King Charles III, opening the first parliamentary session after Keir Starmer’s general election win for Labour, said removing the peers’ right to sit and vote in the Lords was part of “measures to modernise” Britain’s uncodified constitution.

Labour won the July 4 election by a landslide, returning it to power for the first time since 2010, allowing it to put its manifesto pledges into law, including the much-touted Lords reforms.

Parliament’s unelected upper chamber has long been subject to demands for reform to make it more representative and less “a chamber festering with grotesques and has-beens”, as one newspaper columnist famously described it in 2022.

But the extent of Labour’s plans remain unclear.

The scrapping of the hereditary peers — the hundreds of members of the aristocracy whose titles are inherited — has been described as a “first step in wider reform”.

“The continued presence of hereditary peers in the House of Lords is outdated and indefensible,” the government said in briefing notes accompanying the King’s Speech.

Removing hereditary seats

Comprising around 800 lawmakers, the House of Lords is comfortably larger than any other equivalent in a democracy.

Its members, whose current average age is 71, are mostly appointed for life.

They include former MPs, typically appointed by departing prime ministers, along with people nominated after serving in prominent public- or private-sector roles, and Church of England clerics.

The primary role of the centuries-old chamber is to scrutinise the government.

It cannot override legislation sent from the popularly elected House of Commons, but it can amend and delay bills and initiate new draft laws.

That job occasionally propels the Lords into the political spotlight, such as during its recent delays to the previous Conservative government’s contentious Rwanda deportation plan — quickly scrapped by the new government.

Like the Commons, the Lords has specialised scrutiny committees.

The new government’s planned legislation revisits the House of Lords reform agenda that Blair’s Labour government initiated in the late 1990s.

His government had intended to abolish all the seats held by hundreds of hereditary members who sat in the chamber at that time.

But it ended up retaining 92 in what was supposed to be a temporary compromise.

“25 years later, they form part of the status quo more by accident than by design,” said the briefing from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government.

“No other modern comparable democracies allow individuals to sit and vote in their legislature by right of birth,” it added.

“Holding membership of a seat within a Parliament on a hereditary basis is incredibly rare.”

‘Overdue and essential’

The government said the reforms were in part motivated by the gender imbalance of hereditary peers — currently all male, because most peerages can only be passed down the male line.

The rest of the House of Lords fares better, with 242 of other members — 36 percent — female.

Starmer’s new administration also argues that hereditary peers are too politically “static” for a democracy.

Of the 92 seats allotted for them under the 1999 reforms, 42 are for Conservatives, 28 for so-called crossbenchers, three for the Liberal Democrats and just two for Labour.

Meanwhile 15 are elected by the entire chamber from the hundreds of hereditary peers that exist in the UK.

Reformers also argue that hereditary peers do not face propriety checks, compared to life peers who are subject to a vetting procedure from the House of Lords Appointment Committee.

“In the 21st century, there should not be almost 100 places reserved for individuals who were born into certain families, nor should there be seats effectively reserved only for men,” the government argued

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

London:

Britain’s new Labour government set out its first package of proposed laws on Wednesday as Prime Minister Keir Starmer tries to deliver on his promise to rebuild the country.

The King’s Speech – given by the monarch but written by government ministers – opens the new session of parliament.

Below are some of the government’s key policy plans:

PLANNING REFORM

A Planning and Infrastructure Bill will seek to increase the number of homes built each year and simplify the process for approving key infrastructure projects by speeding up the time it takes to get planning permission.

The government signalled the planning bill would restrict the ability of local people to block new developments saying there would be “democratic engagement with how, not if, homes and infrastructure are built”.

WORKERS’ RIGHTS

An Employment Rights Bill will ban companies imposing zero-hour contracts, outlaw fire and rehire tactics and strengthen workers’ rights by providing parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal to all workers.

The bill will also make it unlawful to sack a woman who has had a baby for six months after her return to work, except in specific circumstances, and make flexible working the default when people start jobs.

ECONOMIC SAFEGUARDS

A Budget Responsibility Bill will guarantee that any government making significant tax and spending changes would be subject to an independent forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility, the official budget watchdog.

This is intended to avoid a repeat of former prime minister Liz Truss’s 2022 mini-budget, a $50-billion package of unfunded tax cuts which was delivered without an independent assessment, triggering a meltdown in financial markets.

ILLEGAL MIGRATION

The government wants to pass a new border security bill that will give law enforcement agencies counter-terrorism powers to target the gangs who bring tens of thousands of people to Britain in small boats every year.

This will include stop and search powers for border officers and stronger penalties for advertising people smuggling. Labour scrapped the previous Conservative government’s plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda.

HOUSING REFORM

Renters will be able to challenge unreasonable rent increases. The Renters’ Rights Bill will abolish no fault evictions, end “rental bidding wars”, and make it illegal for landlords to discriminate against families with children or those receiving benefits.

FINANCIAL REGULATIONS

The government’s new financial bills will seek to encourage consolidation of smaller pension schemes, improve the process for rescuing failed banks by expanding the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, and give new powers to a new auditing regulator.

CLIMATE AND ENERGY

The government will pass legislation to set up the centrepiece of its green energy plans, GB Energy, backed by 8.3 billion pounds ($11 billion), to co-invest in leading technologies and help support capital-intensive projects.

RAILWAYS

It will bring rail franchises back under government control when private contracts expire. It will seek to boost east to west connectivity in northern England but will not relaunch a high-speed railway between Birmingham and Manchester.

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS

As part of plans to reform parliament’s upper chamber, the House of Lords, it will remove the right of hereditary peers – passed down through family lines indefinitely and without election – to sit and vote. There are 92 hereditary peers out of more than 800 members.

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

The new crime and policing bill will introduce a ban on so-called “ninja swords”, seek to crack down on shoplifting and target people involved in harassment and drinking alcohol in public.

CYBER SECURITY

A Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will update Britain’s regulation in a similar manner to the EU’s proposed Cyber Resilience Act, forcing companies to report incidents including ransomware incidents to give more data on cyber attacks.

DEVOLUTION

An English Devolution Bill will give mayors and other local leaders more say over economic decisions including on transport and jobs.

Power in Britain is centralised compared to other large economies with many funding decisions made in London. The government says further devolution will help boost productivity and bring about more balanced economic growth.

CONVERSION THERAPY

It plans to ban so-called conversion therapy, which targets lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people with the aim to change their sexual orientation or gender identity.

It said any ban must not cover legitimate psychological support to people exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity. The previous Conservative government had sought to introduce similar legislation.

SMOKING

The government plans to gradually phase out the sale of cigarettes as first announced by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Children born on or after Jan. 1, 2009 will never be able to legally buy cigarettes under a planned bill.

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

Labour plans to end some tax breaks given to fee-paying schools and to use that money to raise standards in government-run schools.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A woman from the United Kingdom pleaded guilty to murdering her parents and living in their home for several years after, as per a report in the Independent. Virginia McCullough, 36, entered a guilty plea to the murders of Lois McCullough, aged 71, and John McCullough, aged 70, between June 17 and June 20, 2019, during her appearance via prison video call at Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday. She hid their bodies inside the house and kept residing at that location.

The woman lied to the doctors and relatives that her parents were unwell, on holiday or on vacation to cover her tracks. Her actions came to light on September 15, 2023, when Essex police executed a warrant at the Pump Hill residence after her parents’ doctors expressed concerns about missing visits. At that point, the 36-year-old admitted to stabbing her mother and poisoning her father with prescription drugs, according to the cops.

McCullough confirmed her identity, entered guilty pleas to both counts and stated that she understood the judge’s remarks. She will be sentenced on October 10 and 11.

As per the outlet, Judge Christopher Morgan said, “You will understand that there is a single sentence that can be passed upon you in these circumstances. Consideration however has to be given to the minimum term.”

Meanwhile, people living around the neighbourhood described the woman as “quite chatty” and a “little bit odd”, according to The Guardian. Dave Oldershaw, a neighbour, said McCullough was “carrying on, going up to the Chinese (takeaway) like nothing has happened”. He “thought she lived on her own” at the house and stated that he “only knew her to say hello to – she wasn’t trouble.”

A worker at a nearby shop said the woman had told him her parents had moved to be by the seaside. He said he had not seen them since the Covid-19 pandemic but would previously “see them two or three times per week”.

According to the employee, McCullough appeared “a little bit odd sometimes.” “She would come in and go ‘do you want a coffee’ then five minutes later, there would be a coffee sitting there,” the worker continued.

Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer take part in the BBC’s Prime Ministerial Debate, in Nottingham, England, on June 26, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

In a final and noisy pre-election debate on Wednesday night, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and opposition Labour Party Leader, Keir Starmer, argued loudly with each other on the cost of living, taxes and welfare, immigration and gender.

The Prime Minister, in danger of losing his Richmond (Yorkshire) seat, repeatedly warned voters over the 75-minute debate not to “surrender” to Labour on various fronts.

Mr. Sunak’s Conservative Party has been in power for 14 years, and has lagged behind Labour in opinion polls by around 20 points. Following the pandemic, Britons have seen four conservative Prime Ministers, crumbling public services (such as the National Health Service) and a cost of living crisis.

ALSO READ | Snap poll: On the surprise election announcement for the U.K.

The U.K.’s tax burden had hit record levels under the Sunak government. The independent Institute of Fiscal Studies warned earlier in the week that neither party was being upfront about the trade-offs that would have to be made between taxes and public services, which are already in disarray.

Mr. Sunak spoke over his opponent at length during the tax segment, accusing Mr. Starmer of planning a tax on pensions. “It is in their DNA. Mark my words. Your pension, your council tax your home, your car, you name it, they will tax it,” Mr. Sunak said.

On immigration, Mr. Starmer attacked the Prime Minister for the impracticality of the government’s plan to deport migrants with failed asylum claims to Rwanda. Mr Sunak argued that opposition leader did not have a plan and that it would be infeasible to return undocumented migrants to countries like Iran and Afghanistan.

The debate also went into some of Britain’s culture wars. The candidates were asked if they would protect women-only spaces. They both agreed on the equivalence of “sex” and “biological sex” but differed on the legal instruments required to achieve women-only spaces. Mr. Starmer accused the Tories of splitting people on a number of issues , as he cautioned people against transphobia.

Both candidates attempted to sidestep questions on mending Britain’s trading relationship with the European Union (EU). Pressed on the issue, Mr. Starmer said he would get a better deal with the EU including in research and development, as he pushed back against Mr. Sunak’s accusation that a better deal came with the free movement of EU citizens across the U.K. border.

Although Mr. Sunak trails Mr. Starmer in polls, Mr. Starmer also has low popularity.

During Wednesday’s debate, both candidates accused the other of making empty promises.

“Are you two really the best we’ve got to be the next prime minister of our great country?” a senior citizen in the audience, Robert Blackstock, asked.

“I get the frustrations, but think about the choice, allow me to finish the job I’ve started,” Mr. Sunak said as he suggested he would protect pensions from tax, “secure” borders, and have lower taxes that Labour.

“People feel like hope’s been beaten out of them,” Mr. Starmer said, arguing that Britons felt worse off now than they were 14 years ago when the Conservatives came to power.

He talked about his “working class” background and bringing a sense of service to politics.

Following the debate, Mr. Blackstock said he was disappointed with the answers both candidates had provided.

“From my perspective, we want a personality. We want somebody that we can recognise. We want somebody on the world stage, that is going to project our Great Britain. That’s what we want,” he said.

British opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer looks on as he visits Morrisons supermarket during a Labour general election campaign event in Wiltshire, Britain, June 19, 2024
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Two polls have found the UK’s Labour party was set to win a record-breaking number of seats and the incumbent Conservatives due for a historic drubbing in July’s general election.

With voters heading to the polls in just over two weeks time, the latest pair of nationwide surveys — by YouGov and Savanta/Electoral Calculus — showed Labour set to win either 425 or 516 out of 650 seats.

Either of the results would be the current opposition party’s best-ever return of MPs in a general election.

ALSO READ | Snap poll: On the surprise election announcement for the U.K.

Meanwhile, the twin polls showed support for the Tories — in power since 2010 — plummeting to unprecedented lows, with one estimating they would win just 53 seats.

The Savanta and Electoral Calculus survey for the Daily Telegraph newspaper predicted Rishi Sunak would become the first sitting U.K. prime minister ever to lose their seat at a general election.

The poll, which forecasts three-quarters of Mr. Sunak’s cabinet also losing their seats, would hand Labour a majority of 382 — more than double the advantage enjoyed by ex-prime minister Tony Blair in 1997.

It also showed the centrist Liberal Democrats just three seats behind the Conservatives on 50, and the Scottish National Party losing dozens of seats north of the English border.

Record Tory defeat?

The YouGov survey predicted Mr. Sunak’s party would win in just 108 constituencies.

That was a drop of 32 on its prediction from two weeks ago, reflecting how badly the Conservatives’ election campaign is perceived to have gone.

The 108 seats the Tories are predicted to win in the poll would still be their lowest number in the party’s near 200-year history of contesting U.K. elections.

Mr. Sunak is widely seen as having run a lacklustre and error-strewn campaign, including facing near-universal criticism earlier this month for leaving early from D-Day commemoration events in France.

In contrast, Labour leader Keir Starmer, set to become prime minister if his party prevails on July 4, has sought to play it safe and protect his party’s poll leads.

YouGov also found anti-EU populist Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party on course to win five seats, including in the Clacton constituency in eastern England where the Brexit figurehead is standing.

Mr. Farage has said he will attempt to co-opt what remains of the Conservative party if he is elected and it fares poorly on July 4.

Labour Leader Keir Starmer (centre), accompanied by Deputy Leader Angela Rayner and Naushabah Khan, Labour councillor for Gillingham and Rainham, speaks to the media on the first day of campaigning at Gillingham football club on May 23, 2024 in Gillingham, England.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Rishi Sunak, his Conservative Party colleagues and Opposition Labour Leader Keir Starmer and his shadow cabinet hit the campaign trail with gusto on Thursday, a day after the British Prime Minister surprised many within his ranks by calling an election just six weeks away on July 4.

The 44-year-old British Indian leader’s rain-soaked speech on the steps of 10 Downing Street on Wednesday evening sent the political corridors of the country into a flurry of activity, with Mr. Sunak hitting the ground running with a campaign event in east London right after with his three poll pitches of “Clear Plan, Bold Action, Secure Future”.

ALSO READ | U.K. by-election results deliver double blow for PM Rishi Sunak

“Over the next few weeks, I will fight for every vote,” he pledged.

Asked by the BBC why he chose to fire the starting gun for the election race getting drenched in the pouring rain, Mr. Sunak replied that it showed that he is “not a fair-weather politician”.

“I believe very strongly in the traditions of our country. And when prime ministers make important statements like that, they do it on the steps of Downing Street come rain or shine. And I believe in those traditions and that’s why I did what I did,” he explained.

ALSO READ | On course for power, U.K.’s Opposition Labour prepares for a quick change

The Opposition Labour Party Leader, Mr. Starmer, kicked his campaign off with a simpler one-word message – “Change”.

“On July 4 you have the choice. And together, we can stop the chaos. We can turn the page. We can start to rebuild Britain, and change our country,” he declared.

Conservatives trailing

The reaction to a summer general election, which was not expected before October when Mr. Sunak would have completed three years in office as Prime Minister, has been mixed – with many Tory MPs fearful of losing their seats due to the anti-incumbency that has built up after 14 years of the party being in charge.

Almost every pre-election survey shows the governing Conservatives trailing behind Labour, which is holding a firm 20-point lead after securing decisive wins in the local elections held just earlier this month and seen as a sign of things to come.

“I am feeling quite emotional about all this. I was anticipating an autumn departure from Parliament and still had important issues to raise on behalf of my constituents between now and then. I am sad that I won’t now get to do that,” said Tracey Crouch, one of the backbench Tory MPs more vocal about the displeasure over the election timing.

“A great amount has been achieved over those 14 years and during this campaign, I look forward to speaking to voters about my record of delivery both locally and nationally,” said another backbench MP Priti Patel, who chose to be more positive.

Sunak’s gamble

Poll watchers believe that Mr. Sunak decided to take the gamble of an earlier election as he was convinced that nothing much would improve by the October-November timeline being pitched earlier. With inflation hitting a 2.3% mark this week, indicating an improvement in the cost-of-living crisis that has crippled the U.K. economy since the COVID pandemic, he decided to take the plunge into a trim six-week election campaign.

The economy will be the central plank of Sunak’s pitch to the nation, saying the inflation figures are “proof that the plan and priorities I set out are working”.

Immigration and investment in the defence sector will be some of his other key focus areas, claiming that the Opposition by contrast has no clear plan on these crucial issues.

The Labour Party, on the other hand, is on a slightly easier wicket with its focus being on how they plan to turn things around after the “chaos” of a Conservative Party-led government.

The British Parliament is now into just days of so-called “wash-up” when the government finalises and concludes non-contentious pieces of legislation before its dissolution next week. Under the timeline now set, a new Parliament is likely to be in place in the week following the election results on July 5.

London:

A Moroccan man who stabbed a passer-by to death on a British street in what he later told police was revenge for Israeli action in Gaza was jailed for at least 45 years on Friday, with the judge calling the murder an act of terrorism.

Ahmed Alid, 45, who had sought asylum in Britain, killed his 70-year-old victim after approaching him from behind on a road in Hartlepool, northeast England, in the early hours of Oct. 15 last year, having previously attacked his Muslim housemate who had converted to Christianity.

After his arrest, he told detectives he had committed the acts because of the conflict in Gaza and said he would have killed more people if he had been able to, prosecutors said.

He was found guilty last month of murder, attempted murder and assaulting two female detectives during his police interview.

“You attacked and murdered Terence Carney in a terrorist act,” judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb told Alid as she sentenced him to life in prison at Teesside Crown Court, saying he must serve a total of 45 years behind bars before he could be considered for release.

“You intended it as revenge for the actions of a foreign country, Israel, and to intimidate and influence the British government in its international relations.”

Alid had first used two knives to attack his sleeping housemate, to whom he had become aggressive after learning of his conversion to Christianity, stabbing him six times while shouting “Allahu akbar”, or “God is greatest”.

The 32-year-old housemate, one of five asylum seekers who shared the property, managed to fight him off and another occupant came to his aid.

Alid left the house and walked down the road where he passed Carney on the opposite side of the street. He circled back and attacked him from behind, stabbing him six times in the chest, abdomen and back. Carney died shortly afterwards.

Following his interview with police, he attacked the two female detectives, with one suffering injuries to her shoulder and wrist.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The Labour Party’s Sadiq Khan, is seeking a third term as he runs against 12 other candidates for the Mayor of London. File photo

Voters in England and Wales are going to the polls on Thursday, May 2, to elect a number of local government officials, but the most-watched race is in London, where the incumbent mayor, the Labour Party’s Sadiq Khan, is seeking a third term as he runs against 12 other candidates.

The three other contenders dominating the air waves are Conservative candidate Susan Hall, Liberal Democrat (Lib Dem) Rob Blackie and the Green Party’s Zoë Garbett. Also running is independent candidate, Delhi-born Tarun Ghulati.

 Crime and safety have  been top of the list for voters as has the related topic of confidence in the Met (Metropolitan Police).  On Tuesday a sword-wielding man killed a 14 year old child and injured several other people in London, where blade related crimes are high relative to other cities. The cost of living, especially as it impacts housing and transport costs is another crucial manifesto issue for candidates.

Mr. Khan’s main pledge is free primary school meals. He introduced these at the start of the 2023 school year as an emergency measure to help parents with the cost of living crisis. He is now proposing making the scheme permanent. He has also pledged to increase policing and  is in competition with Ms. Hall over how many new police offers they will deploy.

The incumbent’s other priorities include affordable housing and transport – but with Londoners reeling from higher costs of living than when he assumed office, Mr. Khan has the added task of defending his record so far. A YouGov poll report released on Wednesday said 47% of potential voters planned to vote for Mr. Khan while 25% planned to vote for Ms Hall (1,192 adults surveyed between April 24-30). Nevertheless, respondents  were split on his record to date, with 41% approving and 46% saying he has done a bad job.

One of the messages of the Khan campaign has been that he will be able to achieve much more than in the last few years if there is a Labour Chancelor of the Exchequer and government following the U.K.’s general election later this year.

Ms. Hall, a London Assembly member,  has said that she will increase the number of police officers and  introduce Borough-based policing to tackle crime (i.e., more localised police forces). She has also said she will end the expanded Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) on day 1. The expanded zone, which imposes congestion charges on certain vehicles, was created by Mr. Khan in August last year. The mayor has defended the expansion of the zone and has linked it to better health and environmental outcomes for Londoners.

Ms. Hall has previously courted controversy for her comments on crime in the black community and for her social media style – where she ‘liked’ racist posts, including some involving Mr Khan, who is Muslim.

Reforming the Met is the main priority for the Lib Dem candidate, Mr Blackie, who was the victim of a violent mugging some years ago. “One night I was attacked while walking home from work. My neck was broken, and I was lucky to live,” he said on his campaign page.

Ms. Garbett, who reminds voters repeatedly that she is a home renter (and not owner), is focused on transport fare reform and rent control and regulation in the city.

London:

A man who set fire to two men as they left mosques in Britain last year was sentenced to indefinite detention in hospital, Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Wednesday.

Mohammed Abbkr was found guilty of attempting to murder two elderly men in separate incidents as they walked home, one from a mosque in London in February and another in Birmingham, central England, in March.

The CPS said there was no evidence Abbkr, 29, was motivated by a particular ideology, so the incidents were not treated as a terrorist attack.

Abbkr was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court to a hospital order, which means he cannot be released without the approval of British government ministers. He requires treatment for what the sentencing judge described as “a severe mental illness”.

“These were horrific acts of violence against two elderly members of the public,” said Nick Price, head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division.

“Mohammed Abbkr’s actions resulted in severe injuries and psychological trauma to his victims and caused considerable shock and concern to the communities in London and Birmingham,” Price said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Police in London are seeking help from the public to identify the person responsible for a man’s death whose body was found inside a freezer in an empty pub after he had been missing for nearly a decade. In a statement published on Friday, the Metropolitan Police Service said that Roy Bigg’s body was discovered in October 2021 in the basement of a building that was once a wine bar. He was believed to be in the freezer for several years before he was found by builders working on the premises. He was identified through his dental records. 

The Metropolitan Police believe that Mr Bigg was 70 years old when he died. A post-mortem examination found the cause of his death to be inconclusive. Now, despite previous efforts, cops are still looking for the person responsible for the murder of Roy Bigg. 

“It’s now been more than two years since Roy was found. Although our investigation and previous media appeals have provided us with information about Roy’s life, we still need your help to identify who is responsible,” Detective Chief Inspector Kelly Allen said in a statement. 

Also Read | UK Woman Wrongly Diagnosed With Cancer For Two Years, Wins Compensation

Authorities said that Mr Bigg went missing in February 2012. They want to know where Mr Bigg was between 2012 and 2021, when there were no confirmed sightings of the man they believe was murdered. Officials are offering up to 20,000 pounds, or more than $24,000, for information leading to the arrest, and prosecution of anyone responsible for Mr Bigg’s slaying. 

“Anything you can tell us may prove invaluable in helping us discover what happened,” the Metropolitan Police said. “A post-mortem examination found cause of death to be inconclusive and Roy’s remains were identified through his dental records,” the statement added.