London developers to be allowed to reduce percentage of affordable homes

Developers will be allowed to build lower numbers of affordable homes and claim higher subsidies to build them under plans being drawn up by the government to solve London’s housebuilding crisis.Steve Reed, the housing secretary, and Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, will announce the package within weeks, in what officials say will be a time-limited intervention designed to stall the sudden drop in new building in the capital.The plans, details of which are still being negotiated, have been welcomed by developers but condemned by homelessness charities who say it will increase the record numbers of people who are homeless in the UK.A spokesperson for Khan said: “The mayor is working with the housing secretary on a package of reforms to boost housebuilding in the capital.“Expected to be launched in the coming weeks, the changes will aim to unblock stalled sites and give the mayor stronger levers to approve homes and bring thousands of homes forward more quickly as we continue to build a better, fairer, more prosperous London for all

NHS medical negligence liabilities hit £60bn amid surge in maternity payouts

The NHS’s total liabilities for medical negligence have hit £60bn, driven by a jump in childbirth injury cases that cost more than £11m each on average to settle.The total sum of money the health service in England may have to pay out to settle lawsuits for mistakes by staff has quadrupled from £14.4bn in 2006-07, amid more claims and rising legal costs.The cost of settling clinical negligence legal actions has soared over the same period from £1.1bn to £3

Virginia Giuffre’s story of abuse exposes impunity of powerful men, UK experts say

Virginia Giuffre’s latest revelations are a “mirror held up to a system” that still enables powerful men to groom, abuse and exploit women with impunity, women’s rights campaigners have said.Excerpts from Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, which were released ahead of the book’s publication next week, lay bare how Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell took advantage of their position of power to manipulate and groom Giuffre.In the posthumously published text, Giuffre warns that more women will suffer similar experiences if people continue to believe that Epstein was “an anomaly, an outlier”.She wrote: “The way he viewed women and girls – as playthings to be used and discarded – is not uncommon among certain powerful men who believe they are above the law. And many of those men are still going about their daily lives, enjoying the benefits of their power

Brace for early flu season in England and get vaccinated, say experts

The flu season could be coming early this year, public health experts in England have said, adding that those who are eligible for a free vaccination should take up their offer.According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), an increase in flu levels in England is being driven by cases among younger adults and schoolchildren.It comes as Japan’s health authorities declared an influenza epidemic, with a higher than usual number of infections for the time of year.A report by the UKHSA suggests that while flu levels are rising in England, they remain within baseline – or typical – seasonal ranges. But it added that the levels were similar to those seen when the flu season came early in 2022-23

UK woman who travelled with husband to assisted dying clinic will not face charges

A woman who accompanied her husband to an assisted dying clinic in Switzerland has been told she will not face charges.Louise Shackleton, 59, handed herself in to police on her return from a Dignitas clinic after the death of her husband, Anthony, last December. North Yorkshire police said this week that although the Crown Prosecution Service concluded there was evidence of assisted suicide, it was not in the public interest to prosecute her.In England and Wales, “assisting a suicide” is a crime with a maximum sentence of 14 years. A similar law is in place in Northern Ireland

Experts urge UK to ban cigarette filters to protect health and environment

Cigarette filters do not work and are a major source of plastic pollution that should be banned by the UK government, experts have said.In an editorial in Addiction, the journal for the Society for the Study of Addiction, researchers argue that ministers should use a forthcoming tobacco and vapes bill to “ban filters in the interests of public health and the environment”.“Cigarette filters were designed to give the false impression of safety,” said Dr Katherine East, associate professor in public health at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, who is lead author on the editorial.“In reality, they do not reduce toxicant exposure and may even increase harm, because they lead people to inhale deeper and for longer and can embed harmful fibres and microplastics in the lungs. They are also a major contributor to the global plastic waste crisis