United Kingdom

In an average working day, Claudia Bowring has to play the role of detective, estate agent, family mediator and, occasionally, grief counsellor.

She’s an empty homes officer for a borough council in the suburbs of Nottingham.

There are just short of 700,000 empty and unfurnished homes in England, according to the most recent government figures, external. Of those, 261,471 are classed as “long-term empty,” meaning no-one has lived there for six months or more.

If all empty homes were brought back into use, the housing crisis would be solved at a stroke and, arguably, the government would not have to build 1.5m new homes.

Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as that. Bringing derelict and abandoned properties back to life can be a long and complex process.

Even finding out who owns properties that have been standing empty for years, or in some cases decades, can be a challenge.

...

When persuasion fails, the gloves come off.

Like many local authorities, Conservative-controlled Rushcliffe charges extra council tax on homes that have been unoccupied for more than a year, under the Empty Homes Premium brought in by the previous government.

If that doesn’t do the trick, the council can take enforcement action.

It treats abandoned properties as an environmental health issue - derelict properties can be a magnet for vandalism and vermin, harming the quality of life for people living next to them.

In some cases, the council is able to carry out emergency repair work on abandoned homes, and then force a sale at auction to recover its costs. This sometimes results in a windfall for the owners who were so reluctant to sell up in the first place.

Another tool at the council’s disposal are Empty Dwelling Management Orders, which give councils the right to take over and make repairs to run-down private properties that have been vacant for at least two years. They can rent the property out for up to seven years to recover costs.

...

But it does not have to do this. There is no legal requirement for local authorities to bring empty homes back into use – and some councils choose not to.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/3843656

Securing the release of pro-democracy activist and British citizen Jimmy Lai from a Hong Kong prison is a "priority" for the government, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

During Prime Minister's Questions, Conservative leader Rishi Sunak asked if Lai's imprisonment was a breach of the 1984 treaty transferring power over Hong Kong from the UK to China.

The prime minister agreed it was a breach and said the government would "continue" to raise the case with China.

Lai, who is 76, was arrested in 2020 for fraud and involvement in protests and, following delays, is now facing trial for sedition and collusion with foreign forces.

His son called for "action" from Sir Keir to "save my father's life".

[...]

But he added: "My father will be 77 soon, he has spent close to four years in solitary confinement in a maximum security prison for peacefully campaigning for democracy in Hong Kong.

"As you can expect his health has deteriorated by a lot. I would ask our prime minister to put word to action, to save my father’s life and bring him home.”

Jimmy Lai has pleaded not guilty, but would face life in prison if convicted.

Lai founded the now-defunct newspaper Apple Daily and was involved in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

[Edit title for clarity.]

Counter-terrorism police are investigating whether Russian spies planted an incendiary device on a plane to Britain that later caught fire at a DHL warehouse in Birmingham, the Guardian can reveal.

Nobody was reported injured in the fire on 22 July at a warehouse in the suburb of Minworth that handles parcels for delivery, and the blaze was dealt with by the local fire brigade and by staff.

The parcel is believed to have arrived at the DHL warehouse by air, though it is not known if it was a cargo or passenger aircraft, nor where it was destined for. There could have been serious consequences if it had ignited during the flight.

A similar incident occurred in Germany, also in late July, when a suspect package bound for a flight caught fire at another DHL facility in Leipzig, and investigators are looking at links between the two. German authorities warned this week that had the parcel caught fire mid-air it could have downed the plane.

...

British investigators suspect that the incendiary device is part of a wider campaign that Russian spies have been carrying out across Europe this year, which has been condemned as rash and careless by spy chiefs in the UK and elsewhere.

Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, warned last week that Russia’s GRU military intelligence appeared to be on “a sustained mission to generate mayhem on British and European streets: we’ve seen arson, sabotage and more”.

The British spy chief accused Russia of engaging in “dangerous actions conducted with increasing recklessness” and argued that the plotting was counter-productive for the Kremlin because it was “driving increased operational coordination with partners across Europe and beyond”.

Russia’s motive appears to have been to try to inflict a cost on western allies of Ukraine, though the plots are at times precise and at others poorly coordinated and amateurish. But the Kremlin usually denies it is engaged in sabotage activity and has in the past dismissed its accusers of engaging in conspiracy theories.

Metal replica conker found in pocket of David Jakins AKA King Conker, first-time winner after competing since 1977

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/21381352

The Dutch have seen their prison population decrease by more than 40% over the past 20 years. At the other end of the spectrum, Britain has the highest rate of incarceration in western Europe, and is struggling with an unprecedented prisons crisis. Britain’s minister of prisons, James Timpson, calls the Netherlands a source of inspiration.

What could the Dutch system teach the rest of the world? First, the declining prison population is not actually the result of recent policies by visionary politicians. Much of it is due to changes in reported crime and the nature of crime. As in many other western countries, the number of violent crimes has significantly dropped in the Netherlands in recent decades.

This does not necessarily mean that there is actually less crime overall, as Dutch criminologist Francis Pakes, professor at the University of Portsmouth, who has studied the reasons for the emptying Dutch prisons, told me: “There is less conventional, violent crime, like murder. On the other hand, a lot of conventional crime went online and is less visible. And it is quite possible that there is a kind of organised crime that we have little visibility on. But fewer serious cases are coming to the police and courts.” And so fewer people end up in jail.

But while the Dutch don’t have a model policy the world can copy, the overall Dutch attitude towards imprisonment could be instructive. According to Pakes, the Dutch are much more aware that a stay in prison does more harm than good. Society may be rid of a criminal for a while, but in many cases, criminals simply resume their activities when they leave prison. They may become more ruthless, due to the violent prison climate in which they have had to survive. And perhaps they have a wider criminal network that they built up behind bars.

This also applies to shorter sentences. Even these can completely turn an offender’s life upside down. You can lose your job, home and social network. And you rarely become a better person during a short stay in jail.

Archive.

Seems like the guy in the article was a bit stupid and did the exact things that banks tell you not to like giving personal info and 2FA codes to a cold-caller, but also that Revolut's claims of biometric security didn't stop the scammers nicking all his money.

I've not had much experience with the "challenger banks" but apparently Revolut gets the most complaints by a long way. Anyone got any similar stories?

England has suffered its second worst harvest on record – with fears growing for next year – after heavy rain last winter hit production of key crops including wheat and oats.

The cold, damp weather, stretching from last autumn through this spring and early summer, has hit the rapidly developing UK wine industry particularly hard, with producers saying harvests are down by between 75% and a third, depending on the region.

On staple crops, England’s wheat haul is estimated to be 10m tonnes, or 21%, down on 2023, according to analysis of the latest government data by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU).

Winter barley was 26% down on last year, and the winter oilseed rape harvest was down 32%, in data released by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs on Thursday.

The ECIU estimates that farmers could lose £600m on five key crops – wheat, winter and spring barley, oats and oilseed rape – where production was down 15% in total...

All eyes were on outgoing Post Office chief executive Nick Read this week as he spent three days in front of the inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal.

Mr Read replaced former boss Paula Vennels in 2019 and was brought in to "right the wrongs of the past".

Wrongful prosecutions may have stopped, but he still had questions to answer about how much the organisation has really changed when he gave evidence.

Mr Read had taken leave of absence from his day job to prepare for the inquiry.

Unlike the appearance of his predecessor, Paula Vennells, there were no tears. But there were some key revelations. ( (Here are five things we learned from his evidence.

• Told not to 'dig into' the past
• Frustrated about his own pay
• Government using Post Office as a 'shield'
• Staff implicated by the scandal still working
• Contract for sub-postmasters is 'heavy-handed'

Explosive revelations from the inquiry this week. These convictions are starting to look more than a little unsafe.

A record 9.3 million people - including one in five children - are facing hunger and hardship in the UK, according to an anti-poverty charity.

This is one million more than five years ago, the Trussell Trust said in a new report.

The charity said almost a quarter of children under four face hunger and hardship, making them the age group most at risk.

Unless changes are made by the government, a further 425,000 people, including 170,000 children, are projected to fall into this category by 2027, it said.

A government spokesperson told the BBC that "no child should be in poverty".

The report, The Cost of Hunger and Hardship, external, was published on Wednesday.

Trussell Trust worked with economic and public policy experts WPI Economics to analyse government data.

It found that one in seven people across the UK face hunger and hardship and one in five children are growing up under these circumstances.

This means that 46% more children are facing hunger and hardship than two decades ago.

More than half of people currently facing hardship are living in a disabled family, the report said.

The Trussell Trust said a total of 32% of people in single-parent families face hunger and hardship, and children under four face the highest risk of being in this situation of any age group at 24%.

Having employment is not a reliable route out of hardship, the report concluded, with 58% of people facing hunger and hardship living in a family where someone is working.

The rate of hunger and hardship is highest for people living in Black, African, Caribbean, or Black British families at 28%, compared to 11% for people living in White families, the report said.

The BBC Weather website and app are suffering a data issue, meteorologists have said, after forecasts showed hurricane force winds hitting the UK.

Graphics show estimated wind speeds of 13,508 mph in London and overnight temperatures of 404C in Nottingham.

Presenter Matt Taylor said in a post on X: "Don't be alarmed folks - Hurricane Milton hasn't made it to us here in the UK! There's been a data glitch between our suppliers and the app/online. Folk are working to solve the issue"...

Archived version

If Liam Byrne—a British Labour Party politician who leads parliament’s business and trade committee—gets his way, Shein might need to redirect its planned IPO float to Hong Kong or its home base in Singapore. He is calling for the U.K. government to ban imports made in the Xinjiang region in China, according to the Financial Times. That kind of legislative change will result in greater intensive scrutiny in the supply chain, and ultimately on producers such as Shein over alleged use of forced labor.

Xinjiang is the Chinese region with links to the exploitation of Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic groups via forced labor. The evidence of crimes against humanity are widely documented.

[...]

Even those connected to the fast-fashion firm end up getting pulled into Shein controversies.

Last month, Italy launched a greenwashing probe into Shein. The Italian antitrust watchdog is probing Infinite Styles Services Co., a Dublin-based operation that manages Shein’s online presence. The probe’s focus is over the possibility of misleading sustainability claims connected with Shein’s clothing.

Last month, Italy launched a greenwashing probe into Shein. The Italian antitrust watchdog is probing Infinite Styles Services Co., a Dublin-based operation that manages Shein’s online presence. The probe’s focus is over the possibility of misleading sustainability claims connected with Shein’s clothing.

And in August, David Schwimmer, the leader of the London Stock Exchange Group, found himself pushing back on allegations that the Exchange had lowered its standards to court Shein so it could switch course from the U.S. to the U.K. for its flotation.

[...]

Shein initially planned to file its IPO in the U.S., but drew scrutiny from Washington lawmakers, who urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to block the firm due to concerns over ties to the Chinese government and alleged use of forced labor in its supply chain.

[...]

[Given the scrutiny in the UK], the most likely scenario could be a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

[...]

But how a Hong Kong listing would fare also remains a big question mark. Hong Kong isn’t exactly the go-to choice for companies aiming to go public. Exchanges elsewhere, such as the U.S. or London, are seen as more active, and therefore get to attract more investors.

Researchers have warned about the impact of 'climate tipping points' on the UK due to its position near the North Atlantic, as such an event could 'wipe out' domestic crop growing.

An assessment of climate threats to UK food security has put a spotlight on climate tipping points as a 'severely overlooked danger', a new report published today warns.

Researchers from the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) and others point to the fact that climate change is already playing a significant role in several threats to UK national security, including food supply.

But they warn that the government has a 'blind spot', as major climate threats are not adequately addressed in its national risk register, while some threats – like climate tipping points – are not included at all...

Sixty of the wealthiest people in the UK collectively contributed more than £3bn a year in income tax, the BBC has learned.

The amount of income tax they paid is roughly equivalent to around two-thirds of Labour’s entire additional spending commitments in their manifesto earlier this year.

Each of the 60 individuals had an income of at least £50m a year in 2021/22, but many will have earned far more and probably pay large amounts in other taxes too.

There is concern tax rises in this month's Budget could prompt an exit of the super-rich, hurting UK finances. Labour ruled out income tax changes, but Chancellor Rachel Reeves left the door open for other tax hikes.

A Treasury spokesperson said the government was committed to "addressing unfairness in the tax system".

Swiss banking giant UBS predicted in July the UK would lose half its millionaires by 2028, partly as a result of some switching to low-tax countries.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the Treasury needed to be aware that a small number of this super-rich group leaving the country would create a "relatively big hole in its finances”.

But the Green Party argued claims taxing the wealthy more would lead to them leaving the UK were not credible.

Deaths have outstripped births in the UK for the first time in nearly half a century, excluding the start of the pandemic, official figures showed on Tuesday.

Declining fertility and the demise of baby boomers means there are now more funerals than baby celebrations, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

There were an estimated 16,300 fewer births than deaths in the UK in the year to mid-2023, the first time this has happened since the 1970s “baby bust”, if excess deaths during Covid are stripped out.

But the figures continue to show a growing population, up 1% in the year to 68,265,209 people, due to net international migration of 677,300.

The dominance of deaths over births was described by economists as “a stark reminder of Britain’s demographic challenges”.