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Long-serving MP dedicated Westminster career to tackling social issues including child poverty and modern slaveryTributes from across the political spectrum have been paid to the former Labour minister and welfare campaigner Frank Field, who has died at the age of 81.Lord Field, who dedicated his career in Westminster to tackling social issues, including child poverty and modern slavery, served as an MP for 40...

Young people feel their internet activity is overwhelmed by betting promotions and similar content, says GambleAware Children are “saturated” with betting promotions and gambling-like content while using the internet, despite restrictions on ad campaigns targeting young people, new research reveals.GambleAware, the charity funded by donations from gambling firms, commissioned research that found the risks of online gambling were not understood by children because of the...

Work and pensions secretary attacks system of dealing with minor mental health problems as PM takes aim at ‘sicknote culture’Nearly everyone who gets signed off work for feeling “a little bit depressed” is classified as incapable of work, according to a senior government minister, as Rishi Sunak prepares to announce a new drive to get sick people back into employment.Mel Stride, the work and...

Company, which also makes Quality Street, says reducing sugar, salt and fats could harm ‘strategic freedom’Business live – latest updatesNestlé faces a resolution at its AGM on Thursday that could force the world’s largest consumer goods company to cut back on high levels of salt, sugar and fats in its food and drinks.The Swiss-headquartered multinational is urging investors to reject the proposal, arguing a...

Demand for private treatment booms as NHS waiting lists remain long, while more people also sign up for dental cover Britain’s health cover market has grown by £385m in a year as the NHS crisis prompted more people to seek out private medical treatment and demand for dental insurance increased, according to a report.The total health cover market, including medical and dental insurance and...

Karina Moon, who is sole carer for her daughter most of the week, was told she needed to repay £11,292.75 or be prosecuted for fraudEx-ministers press Sunak on ‘persecution’ of carers who broke earnings rulesCarers in the UK: have you been threatened with prosecution for benefit fraud?Karina Moon vividly recalls the telephone call that brought her to tears. She was stood, frozen, in the...

Hundreds of thousands could lose out in England and Wales under disability benefit reforms after general electionHundreds of thousands fewer disabled people could receive cold weather payments under the Conservatives’ planned post-election disability benefit reforms, according to an internal government report seen by the Observer.The briefing, by civil servants at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), says that under the plans, new applicants for...

Xylazine can cause skin ulcers and overdoses and has caused multiple deaths since 2022, warn researchersPeople buying cannabis vapes and illicit sedatives to treat pain, anxiety and insomnia risk unknowingly consuming a powerful animal tranquilliser that can cause skin ulcers and overdoses.Xylazine has been prevalent in the US for several years, where it is commonly found mixed with strong opioids, such as heroin or...

Parent of trans girl says report promotes agenda that ‘things need to be made more difficult’ for children with gender dysphoriaThousands of children unsure of gender identity ‘let down by NHS’Analysis: review has major implications for mental health servicesWhile the Cass report’s 400 pages will be pored over and debated, one thing is certain – young trans people face an anxious future.The mother of...

Amendment tabled by cross-party group including Stella Creasy is latest plan to modernise abortion law in England and WalesStella Creasy: No watering down, no new red tape – it’s time to fully decriminalise abortion in England and WalesA cross-party group of MPs is proposing to make abortion access a human right in England and Wales, putting forward legislation that would decriminalise abortion up to...

Community facility on UK’s first council estate reopens after outcry at local authority’s attempt to hike rentsWashing machines are once again whirring and dryers tumbling at a community launderette in east London that the local council had abruptly closed just weeks before, in a victory for local residents.People living in and around the Boundary estate, the UK’s first council estate, between Shoreditch and Bethnal...

Nuffield Trust says system for treatment is ‘obsolete’ as number of patients in England awaiting assessment hits record highThe NHS is experiencing an “avalanche of need” over autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but the system in place to cope with surging demand for assessments and treatments is “obsolete”, a health thinktank has warned.There must be a “radical rethink” of how people with...

Dan Dafydd, who accidentally ordered 80 cases of eggs, aims to raise £20,000 for the RNLI by Easter SundayFor a small shop owner on a small island as far as mistakes go, Dan Dafydd’s was a pretty big one leaving him with quite a dilemma: how do you get rid of 80 cases of Easter eggs when you meant to order only 80 eggs?For...

Victoria McCloud wants leave to join litigation in supreme court appeal brought by For Women ScotlandThe UK’s first transgender judge is seeking leave to join the litigation in a crucial supreme court case that could significantly affect legal protections for transgender women, the Guardian has learned.Victoria McCloud, a senior civil judge who became the youngest person appointed as master of the high court in...

Insight report based on data from UK Musicians’ Census also found 33% said they had been sexually harassed in the industryMore than half of women have experienced gender discrimination while working as a musician, with a third reporting being sexually harassed, a report has revealed.Female musicians are more than eight times more likely to have experienced gender discrimination than their male colleagues, at 51%...

Resolution Foundation study suggests lowest earners are £6,000 a year better off due to policyThe minimum wage has driven up the pay of millions of Britain’s lowest earners by £6,000 a year, making it the single most successful economic policy in a generation, according to a leading thinktank.Since its introduction in 1999 by Tony Blair’s first Labour administration the policy has secured cross-party agreement,...

Yearly cost to people, business and public sector found to be twice as big as NHS England’s annual budgetMental illness costs England £300bn a year, equivalent to nearly double its NHS budget, according to research.Researchers for the Centre for Mental Health thinktank analysed the economic, health and care impact of mental ill health, as well as human costs from reduced quality of life and...

Average monthly donations rose by nearly 40% to £65, with poorest areas among the most generousThe British public donated a record £13.9bn to charity in 2023, with people in some of the country’s least affluent areas among the most generous, a report reveals.The total marks a 9% increase on the 2022 figure – which stood at £12.7bn – as average monthly donations increased by...

Resolution Foundation points to legacy of Covid as it warns that near-record 2.7m people are too ill to workBritain is going through the longest sustained rise in the number of working-age adults who are too sick to work since the 1990s, according to a report warning that a benefits crackdown is unlikely to solve the country’s jobless crisis.The Resolution Foundation said economic inactivity due...

British Pregnancy Advisory Service says there is ‘genuine concern’ over rising number of investigationsSenior Labour figures seeking to water down plans to decriminalise abortionA leading provider of abortion services has received more than 30 demands to hand over medical records of women to police in the past four years, increasing to an average of one a month since October.Rachael Clarke, the chief of staff...

The Long Table says it took thousands of hours of work to turn derelict site into a community space, but landlord has now sold itA Gloucestershire restaurant with a radical business model, in that it feeds all comers regardless of their ability to pay, is losing its premises after the owner sold the property.The community around The Long Table, featured in the Guardian earlier...

Little action has been taken on issue at one of UK’s most notorious jails, Independent Monitoring Board saysBlack prisoners are disproportionately subjected to the use of force inside one of Britain’s most notorious jails, a report has found.The annual report of the Independent Monitoring Board, a statutory body that monitors the treatment of prisoners, found that from June 2022 to May 2023, black prisoners...

In today’s newsletter: Amid many other crises, the standard of NHS care for patients’ families is declining – this is what it feels like• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. It is no secret that NHS England has many problems: it is crumbling (literally), patient care backlogs are at record highs, there is a recruitment and retention crisis, and quality...

Exclusive: Independent examination of rape prosecutions hears lawyers are ‘obsessed’ with credibility of victims and use victim-blaming languageAnalysis: CPS report makes for grim reading – and it’s only the start Lawyers in the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales have trivialised teen sexual abuse, are “obsessed” about the credibility of rape victims and used victim-blaming language, according to a critical official examination into...