How can government to get a grip on youth vaping
As a mother of two daughters of school age, the UK’s youth vaping epidemic keeps me up at night. My children have told me about swathes of young teens puffing on multi-coloured pens and a new-wave culture of smoking. Like cigarettes, these products contain nicotine, making them addictive and harmful for our children’s health. On the Conservatives’ […]
Mental Health Leaders Warn Half Of Students Are Losing Out On School Support
The letter, shared with PoliticsHome, coincides with Children’s Mental Health Week and urges ministers to “commit to long-term, sustainable investment in school-based support” as a matter of priority. Organised by Place2Be and signed by organisations including Mind, the NSPCC and Royal College of Psychiatrists, the letter says that the government’s current plan to introduce mental health professionals […]
Schools Funding Plummets Into Deficit, May Cause Staff Cuts
Financial data obtained by PoliticsHome under the Freedom of Information Act, covering 8,539 non-academy state schools in 93 local authorities, shows the schools made an average in-year surplus of £13,963 each on their day-to-day revenue spending in 2021/22. But this plummeted to an average deficit of £10,561 each in 2022/23, as rising inflation and growing numbers of […]
Five Million People Can’t Afford Basic Living Standards
The charity has accused politicians of “burying their heads in the sand” over the scale of the crisis. The new research seen by PoliticsHome found the number of people living in negative budgets is up by more than 50 per cent compared to 2020, increasing from 3.25m at the start of 2020 to 5m currently. A further […]
Childcare Sector Warns Of “Postcode Lottery” For Availability Of Free Hours
From April this year, eligible working parents of two year olds will be able to claim 15 hours a week of free childcare, but there is growing concern that the sector will not consistently have the resource to provide the places. Centre-right think tank Onward, which has been instrumental in campaigning for improved availability of pre-school […]
US and UK impose fresh Iran sanctions in wake of Israel attack
LONDON — The United States and United Kingdom unveiled fresh sanctions in the wake of Iran’s attack on Israel. The U.S. Treasury Department announced Thursday that 16 individuals and two entities “enabling” Iranian drone production have been sanctioned. A concurrent announcement from the U.K. confirmed Britain has also sanctioned seven individuals and six entities who it said […]
Britain passed the world’s toughest smoking ban.
LONDON — Eighteen months into his premiership and facing electoral wipeout, Rishi Sunak was in search of a legacy. It was in this state of mind last year that the flagging U.K. prime minister proposed a phased, generational ban on smoking — something almost without precedent throughout the world. On Tuesday night the plan moved one step […]
Britain’s smoking ban just another blow for parliament’s Pipe and Cigar Club
The chairman of the Commons and Lords Pipe and Cigar Club has an alarming confession. “I’ve never smoked,” says Michael Morris, an 87-year old Conservative peer, whose official title is Lord Naseby. “Actually, that’s not quite true,” he goes on. “I did smoke the odd cigar at university, but I’ve never smoked cigarettes.” These days […]
Every British MP suspended by their party since 2019
Meet Britain’s fastest-growing political group: the suspended MPs. Booted out of their political tribes — at least temporarily — over a variety of headline-grabbing controversies, these British lawmakers are now sitting in the House of Commons as independent MPs. Incredibly, the nomadic bloc now totals 18 members of parliament — and actually outnumbers Britain’s fourth-largest […]
Prime Minister Says Middle East Conflict Escalation Benefits No One After Israel Strike On Iran
Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel on Saturday, 99 per cent of which were intercepted, according to the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). The UK helped Israel to largely intercept an Iranian attack by hundreds of drones and missiles on Saturday night. G7 leaders, including Sunak, said they were united in condemning the “reckless and […]
