Quakers among charities warning new regulator powers could stifle advocacy

Several leading civil society organisations have urged the government to consult the sector before introducing new powers for the Charity Commission, which they caution risks “suppressing legitimate advocacy” at a time when civic space is under increased pressure.Signatories, including leaders from some of the UK’s largest civil society bodies, alongside faith-based and community organisations, wrote to the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, saying the proposed social cohesion measures could lead to the “suppression of lawful advocacy, campaigning and community engagement”.The letter, which was signed by leaders from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, the Muslim Charities Forum, Quakers in Britain and Oxfam, among others, cautions against a government proposal to introduce broader grounds on which organisations could be reported for extremism.“In the absence of clear safeguards and well-defined thresholds, the proposed expansion of the Charity Commission’s powers to remove trustees and close organisations, could be applied in ways that mischaracterise legitimate civil society activity,” the letter said.“This, in turn, may contribute to the suppression of lawful advocacy, campaigning, and community engagement, particularly for organisations working on sensitive or contested issues, including those led by or representing diverse communities

Prison officers given more training to avoid being manipulated into illicit relationships with inmates

A new programme of instruction and support will be given to trainee prison officers to help them avoid being manipulated into illicit relationships by experienced criminals.The Prison Service in England and Wales is developing the scheme, which will offer mentors and advice to trainee officers on how to handle complex relationships with prisoners.It comes as statistics show that prison officers are more likely to be younger and have less experience than a decade ago. It also follows the prosecution of more than a dozen former prison officers after becoming involved in financial and sexual relationships with inmates.They include Alicia Novas, 20, who was jailed for three years after working at HMP Five Wells in Wellingborough where she became involved with Declan Winkless, 31, and smuggled cannabis into prison

Streeting relaunches women’s health strategy to tackle ‘medical misogyny’

Wes Streeting has vowed to stop women being “gaslit” by doctors as he relaunches the women’s health strategy for England.Speaking before the publication of the renewed strategy on Wednesday, Streeting said the NHS was “failing women” and set out measures to help them access the healthcare they need.The government said the strategy would include a new standard of care to ensure women were offered pain relief for invasive procedures, such as fitting a contraceptive coil and hysteroscopies.Feedback would be directly linked to provider funding via a new trial, giving women more power to effect change if they have a poor experience.Action would also be taken to ensure women no longer face long waits for diagnoses for conditions such as endometriosis, which can take a decade to diagnose

EHRC updates guidance on how to apply supreme court ruling on gender

The equalities watchdog has updated its guidance on how to implement the supreme court ruling on gender after the government requested changes to the original proposals submitted last year.In a statement, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said that after feedback from the government, as well as consultation responses and extra legal advice, it had made changes to what is officially known as the code of practice.It follows concern from a number of MPs and groups representing transgender people that the original code, sent to ministers in September under the EHRC’s then chair, Kishwer Falkner, created a legal minefield for organisations implementing it and risked in effect excluding transgender people from much of the public realm.The code sets out how businesses and other organisations should respond in practical terms to the supreme court ruling that sex in the Equality Act refers only to biological sex.A government source said the changes did not mean the guidance was being weakened and that they would provide maximum clarity on how organisations could provide services in practice

‘Little progress’ in stopping drug drones at HMP Manchester, watchdog says

The Prison Service has made “very little progress” in enforcing a formal demand to stop drones from delivering drugs into one of its worst performing jails, a watchdog has concluded.Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons for England and Wales, said HMP Manchester remained in a “precarious state” after a failure to fix broken windows and install security to stop contraband being delivered to gangs.Taylor issued an urgent notification in October 2024 demanding that the Ministry of Justice intervene within 28 days to stop escalating drug use and violence at the high-security prison.The disclosures, in a report released on Tuesday, have provoked concern among penal reformers that ministers are failing to stop drugs being delivered into the 123 prisons across England and Wales.The government has dedicated £10m across the entire estate to anti-drone measures

Almost 2bn to be affected by metabolic liver disease by 2050, study suggests

Metabolic liver disease will affect 1.8 billion people worldwide by 2050, driven by rising obesity and blood sugar levels, a study suggests.Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), previously known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is one of the most prevalent and rapidly growing liver conditions globally, according to the research.There are now 1.3 billion people worldwide living with MASLD, the latest estimates suggest, a 143% increase in just three decades