From voter ID rules to restrictions on protest, repressive measures are on the UK government’s post-pandemic agendaAs a bewildered country blinks in the tentative daylight of freedom, after nearly a year and a half of unprecedented restrictions, a wide…
‘Systematic failings’ in England’s care system as boy restrained in hospital
High court hears incident meant other seriously ill children had to be moved to nearby hospitalsThe “shameful” case of a violent 12-year-old boy who was detained in hospital by 15 police officers illustrates the “systemic failings” in England’s care sy…
Forcing people to return to offices is wrongheaded, says Starmer
Labour leader tells Guardian flexible working is one of few good things to have come out of pandemicCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageMinisters, civil service leaders and employers are “wrongheaded” to be trying to make people…
Inescapable truths about our outdated prisons | Letters
Readers respond to an article by Frances Crook, the outgoing head of the Howard League for Penal Reform, about the need for radical change to the prison systemFrances Crook has been a voice of reason in the charity sector for 35 years (The reform of pr…
Facebook could be forced by UK watchdog to sell gif creator Giphy
Site aims to integrate service with Instagram which ‘could see Facebook withdrawing gifs from competing platforms’Facebook could be forced to sell gif creation website Giphy after an investigation by the UK competition regulator found its takeover coul…
Scottish island castle, with barrel organ and rot issues, seeks caring new owner
Nature agency needs community-minded buyer to save Kinloch Castle, on Rum in the Inner HebridesWith red sandstone battlements, a sprung-floor ballroom, and a prized orchestrion organ said to have been made for Queen Victoria, Kinloch Castle on the Inne…
Una Stubbs, actor in Sherlock and Till Death Us Do Part, dies aged 84
TV and film actor, who also starred in Worzel Gummidge, ‘passed away quietly with her family around her’Una Stubbs obituaryUna Stubbs: a life in picturesUna Stubbs, the actor whose long career took in Summer Holiday, Worzel Gummidge, Till Death Us Do P…
Vectura board unanimously accepts Philip Morris’s controversial takeover bid
UK health firm, which makes asthma inhalers, said the tobacco company’s bid was ‘fair and reasonable’The board of the UK asthma inhaler maker Vectura has unanimously recommended that shareholders accept a controversial £1.1bn takeover bid from the toba…
Leeds prison punished inmates by restricting showers, report finds
Staff at HMP Leeds restricted access during hot weather in June 2020, with shielding inmates also affectedCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coveragePrisoners were unlawfully prevented from showering daily as punishment for poor behavi…
Streatham attack victim feared he would bleed to death, court hears
Inquest into death of convicted terrorist Sudesh Amman hears victims’ statements on injuriesA man wounded in an attack in Streatham in south London on 2 February 2020 overheard a paramedic say “he’s not going to make it” after he was stabbed in the sid…