Tag: uk news

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Why do the British armed forces still allow 16-year-olds to enlist?

By Sharon Black

Charities have accused the Ministry of Defence of recruiting child soldiers, but it argues that military life offers a wide range of benefit to under-18s In the UK, 16-year-olds cannot vote, drive a car or drink alcohol. But they can join the army, and this week two charities, Child Soldiers International and ForcesWatch, accused the Ministry of Defence of perpetuating the ” outdated ” practice of recruiting children into the forces.The charities argued that the government was wasting taxpayers’ money – as much as £94m a year – recruiting 16-year-olds into the army

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British holidaymaker pleads guilty to killing UK soldier in Cyprus

By Sharon Black

Mohammed Abdulkadir Osman, 19, admits manslaughter of Fusilier David Lee Collins, 19, in Ayia Napa A British tourist has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of a UK soldier in Cyprus, a court official has said. Fusilier David Lee Collins, 19, from Manchester, was stabbed to death after a fight broke out in a nightclub in the popular resort of Ayia Napa, last November. Mohammed Abdulkadir Osman, 19, reportedly from London, admitted manslaughter at a court hearing in Larnaca, Photini Larcou, registrar of the court, said.

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Afghan interpreters could be offered relocation to Britain

By Sharon Black

David Cameron expected to make decision on Tuesday affecting up to 1,100 Afghans who risked lives working with UK forces Hundreds of Afghan interpreters who have risked their lives working with UK forces in Helmand province could be offered relocation to Britain this week when David Cameron reviews the issue at a meeting of the National Security Council. The prime minister has been given three broad options and is expected to make a decision on Tuesday that could affect up to 1,100 Afghan nationals – including more than 600 interpreters, who could be in grave danger from reprisals once Nato forces have left Afghanistan in 2014

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Is The Exorcist the scariest film ever?

By Sharon Black

Readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific concepts What’s the scariest film, ever – The Exorcist? I once went to a showing of The Exorcist at a cinema in Southampton.

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Thatcher funeral to match theatre of Churchill’s – but differences are stark

By Sharon Black

While the pomp will be similar to 1965, the crowd reaction to this non-state event is unlikely to be as united It was, Patrick O’Donovan noted in the Observer , as if “the City was stopped and was turned into a theatre, and it was all performed as a drama that all men understand”. The funeral cortege moved slowly from the Palace of Westminster to St Paul’s cathedral, through packed streets lined with silent troops, “their heads bowed over their automatic rifles in ceremonious grief”.

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Anti-Trident campaigners blockade naval base

By Sharon Black

Protesters chain themselves to gates at Faslane after calling for Trident budget to fund welfare, education and health instead Police have arrested 47 people protesting outside a naval base where nuclear weapons are stored. Campaigners chained themselves to each other and blocked the entrance of the Faslane base in Argyll, home of the UK’s Trident nuclear weapons. The Scrap Trident coalition wants Scotland to be allowed to “lead the way to a world free of nuclear weapons” and more than 100 of its supporters demonstrated outside the base.

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Afghanistan: high expectations of record opium crop

By Sharon Black

UN report reveals rapid growth of poppy farming as western troops get ready to withdraw, which reflects badly on Britain Twelve years after the fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan is heading for a near-record opium crop as instability pushes up the amount of land planted with illegal but lucrative poppies, according to a bleak UN report. The rapid growth of poppy farming as western troops head home reflects particularly badly on Britain, which was designated “lead nation” for counter-narcotics work over a decade ago

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Margaret Thatcher made the north of Ireland a more bitterly divided place | Gerry Adams

By Sharon Black

Her government’s policies handed draconian military powers over to the securocrats, and subverted basic human rights Margaret Thatcher was a hugely divisive figure in British politics. And for the people of Ireland, and especially the north, the Thatcher years were among some of the worst of the conflict. Her policy decisions entrenched sectarian divisions, handed draconian military powers over to the securocrats, and subverted basic human rights

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North Korea threat means we need Trident nuclear deterrent, says PM

By Sharon Black

David Cameron says scrapping nuclear deterrent would be foolish in face of ‘evolving threats’ from North Korea and Iran The prime minister has stressed the need for the UK to retain its Trident nuclear deterrent, saying it would be “foolish to leave Britain defenceless” in the face of the growing threat posed by North Korea and Iran. David Cameron’s insistence on the need for an independent nuclear deterrent came as the US said it was moving an advanced missile system to the Pacific island of Guam as Pyongyang continued to ratchet up the rhetoric against South Korea and its American ally. Writing in Thursday’s Daily Telegraph , the prime minister said such “evolving threats” underlined the need for the UK to maintain the ultimate deterrent.

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Labour urged not to back downgrading of Trident

By Sharon Black

Labour frontbencher and former Gordon Brown aide say party would look ‘dangerously weak’ if it supported diluted deterrent As Labour embarks on an intense debate on the future of Trident, a former aide to Gordon Brown has joined forces with a frontbencher to declare that the party would look “dangerously weak” if it diluted Britain’s nuclear deterrent. John Woodcock, who served as the former prime minister’s spokesman, and Angela Smith, the shadow deputy leader of the Commons, issued their warning as senior figures in the party urge Ed Miliband to use a government review of Trident to support a smaller deterrent. But in a Guardian article Woodcock and Smith warn : “While the world has changed greatly since the 1980s, the political reality has not: we will appear dangerously weak as a future party of government if we are prepared to give up that insurance while the world remains so unstable.” The pro-Trident MPs express the hope that Miliband will resist pressure for Labour to change tack.

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Departing British find reasons for optimism in Afghanistan

By Sharon Black

Soldiers and civilians prepare to depart with qualified confidence that progress will continue under full Afghan control The Royal Marines don’t intend to make a fuss when they leave Afghanistan in the next few days; there will be a low-key ceremony at their headquarters in Helmand, and a lowering of the white ensign that has flown at their camp since last September.

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Labour is right to support Trident | Angela Smith and John Woodcock

By Sharon Black

A nuclear disarmament policy might look fine on a Lib Dem leaflet but it would cost our party and the country dear As the next election gets closer, a steady stream of commentators have speculated that Labour could go back to the days of advocating unilateral nuclear disarmament by abandoning the programme to build the new submarines that will carry Britain’s deterrent . Some hope Ed Miliband will be different to the succession of Labour leaders who believed unilateralism would leave the UK more vulnerable to a future nuclear threat while doing precious little to advance the vitally important cause of global non-proliferation and disarmament.

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Why I’ll be protesting against a Trident replacement at Aldermaston | Natalie Bennett

By Sharon Black

The cost of replacing a dangerous and immoral nuclear missile system could pay for green jobs and university places On Easter Monday – or April Fools’ Day, depending on your preference – I am joining people from all areas of Britain to protest against one of the coalition’s greatest potential follies. Thousands of people, including Green party MEP Keith Taylor , members of CND and I, will be at Aldermaston for a protest rally against the Trident nuclear weapons system and its suggested replacement.

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Search and rescue contract loss angers UK coastal residents

By Sharon Black

Concern and disappointment after government announces Texas-based search and rescue firm will replace RAF and navy The rescue at the weekend was typically swift and professional. An angler had been swept off the rocks at Trewarvas Point near Helston in Cornwall and, without help, would have been dead within minutes in the surging sea.

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Afghanistan car bomb attack injures 10 British troops

By Sharon Black

One of the injured soldiers is airlifted to Camp Bastion after blast and gun battle in which five insurgents are killed At least 10 British troops have been injured in a suspected suicide car bomb attack on a patrol base in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. The insurgents followed up the blast with small arms fire on the base in Nad Ali, one of the districts where UK troops have been based during their time in the country. Five insurgents were killed in the attack on the base on Monday night, which is jointly operated by the Afghan army and troops from Nato’s International Security and Assistance Force (Isaf).

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Tottenham’s first black player should be awarded the Military Cross | Garth Crooks

By Sharon Black

David Cameron can do justice to Britain’s black first world war hero Walter Tull by posthumously awarding him a military honour I had been at Tottenham Hotspur for a few seasons and experienced a good deal of success . But when, for the first time, I experienced a long-term injury, requiring weeks of treatment and tortuous rehab, I found myself wandering around the club, often in deep reflection, waiting for the pain of the next physio session. On one such afternoon I came across a photo of a Spurs team from 1910

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Budget reality check: some grand-sounding claims – but do they stack up?

By Sharon Black

Guardian writers test the validity of some of the key assertions made by George Osborne in his budget speech “We’ve seen more people in work than ever before – including a record number of women. A quarter of a million fewer workless households than two years ago. And the unemployment rate is lower than when we came to office” Unemployment was at 7.8% of the workforce when the coalition was elected in May 2010 – and is back at that figure now

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General Sir Nick Houghton to be new chief of defence staff

By Sharon Black

Army commander with reputation as ‘Whitehall warrior’ to take key role amid ongoing deep cuts to armed forces A battle-hardened army commander who has recently earned a reputation as a “Whitehall warrior” is expected to be named on Tuesday as the new chief of defence staff at a time when the armed forces are continuing a painful and prolonged period of cuts.

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‘Extraordinary courage’ of soldier killed in Afghanistan earns Victoria Cross

By Sharon Black

Lance Corporal James Ashworth, 23, died in a grenade explosion as he tried to protect his men in Helmand A British soldier who died as he protected the lives of his comrades in Afghanistan is to be awarded the Victoria Cross. The medal recognises Lance Corporal James Ashworth’s “extraordinary courage” while serving with the 1st Battalion The Grenadier Guards in Helmand province last year. The Victoria Cross, the country’s highest award for gallantry, has been awarded just 10 times to UK soldiers since the second world war