Draft bill to ban abusive practices that aim to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity in England and Wales hailed as ‘historic’

Perpetrators of “conversion therapy” against LGBTQ+ people could face up to five years in prison under proposals hailed as a “historic and long overdue” milestone by campaigners.

The government has published its draft conversion practices bill, which would ban abusive practices that aim to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity in England and Wales.

Exclusive: Internal review found charity failed to pass on 37 incidents to authorities over a six-month period

The NSPCC has referred itself to the charity regulator after admitting it failed to flag high-risk Childline cases to the police and local authorities.

An internal review found that over a six-month period, 37 contacts from children categorised as high-risk – which includes reports of physical and sexual abuse, neglect and suicidal thoughts – were not passed on to the relevant authorities.

Some see publication of the Nottingham report as a landmark moment, others as bittersweet and traumatic

The long-awaited report into maternity failures at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS trust (NUH), the largest investigation of its kind involving about 2,500 families, will be published later this week.

Led by the senior midwife Donna Ockenden, the inquiry investigated stillbirths, neonatal deaths, maternal deaths and babies or mothers who suffered brain damage and other injuries between 2012 and 2025.

Locals who were children nine years ago say they want to ‘carry on the legacy that older people started’

Yousra Cherbika was 12 when the Grenfell fire broke out, a stone’s throw from her home. She and her family were evacuated that night and spent over a year living in a hotel, where she had to continue studying and revising for her exams.

At school, she faced empty chairs for classmates who hadn’t returned after the fire – for weeks, no one knew if they were dead or alive. One of her friends never came back.

Annette Bramley says Holly’s Law would stop perpetrators acquiring pets and raise awareness of domestic abuse link

Annette Bramley fondly remembers her daughter Holly as being family-oriented and a lover of animals. “She adored anything small and furry, or even not. I mean, she thought orangutans were beautiful,” she said.

When Holly ended up in a controlling and abusive relationship, her husband, Nicholas Metson, was quick to use this passion against her. He bought Holly a puppy and then tried to kill it by putting it in a washing machine at their home in Lincoln. After it was rescued by Holly, he drowned it in a bath.

Centrepoint warns young people facing ‘huge scarcity of work opportunities’ after Alan Milburn’s report on crisis

The growing number of young people not in work or education is driving more into unstable housing or homelessness, charities have said.

A government-commissioned review into the crisis facing young people in the UK said there could be a 25% rise in young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) to 1.25 million by the early 2030s without intervention.

Two other small British children who stayed at same hotel fell critically ill from same condition months earlier

The travel company Tui is under scrutiny over its safety protocols after a British baby girl died from a gastric illness following a stay at an Egyptian hotel – the same resort where two other children were left critically ill from the same condition months earlier.

Ariella Mann, one, died in January from a kidney condition linked to E coli after falling ill at the five‑star Jaz Makadi Aquaviva hotel in Hurghada on an all‑inclusive two‑week package holiday booked through Tui.

Rent donations on GoFundMe up 60% since 2022, with 100,000 donors helping people keep a roof over their heads

A record number of people in the UK are turning to crowdfunding to cover rent and household bills, with GoFundMe reporting more rent-related fundraisers were created in April than in any month on record.

The platform said donations towards rent support had risen by 60% since 2022, with more than 100,000 people a month contributing to help others meet their housing costs.

People shamed and ordered to leave shops after being misidentified then ‘given no help’ to investigate verdicts

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When Ian Clayton, a retired health and safety professional from Chester, popped into Home Bargains one February lunchtime, he was suddenly approached by a stern-looking member of staff.

“Excuse me, can you please put everything down and leave the shop now?” she said. Clayton recalled how he was stunned, and it was only as he was briskly walked past the tills towards the exit that he stopped to ask what he had done.

Exclusive: 839,000 homes in urban areas face threat of surface-water flooding, with social housing tenants most vulnerable to costs

Eight in 10 of the homes that are at high risk of flooding in England are now in towns and cities, according to analysis by the National Housing Federation (NHF), which said social housing tenants are disproportionately vulnerable to the financial cost.

Research found that 839,000 homes in urban areas are now classed as being at high risk of surface water flooding, a threefold increase since 2018.

Soaring cost of building materials, lack of affordability and planning bottlenecks are some of the obstacles thwarting housing target

At South and City College in Birmingham, dozens of young people clad in hi-vis vests and hard hats are building mini-walls and plastering half-formed rooms.

Some weave in and out of stacks of bricks with wheelbarrows, while others use spirit levels to check the walls are straight and flat. In a few days time, these walls will be demolished and the plastering scraped away, for a new class to come in and try their hands.

Calls for ‘urgent, sustained action’ over rising number of children who do not have permanent home

Living in temporary accommodation has contributed to the deaths of 104 children in England in the past six years, 76 of whom were under the age of one, according to data.

Statistics also show there were 64 stillbirths and 27 neonatal deaths involving mothers living in temporary accommodation (TA) in the UK in 2024. Experts say the housing crisis is pushing families into conditions that endanger their lives.

Data from 22 police forces shows spending has more than tripled since the ban came into force in 2024

Police spending on kennels and veterinary bills in England and Wales has more than tripled since the XL bully ban came into force, with some forces recording an almost 500% spending increase since the new law was enacted in 2024.

Data from 22 police forces obtained via freedom of information requests showed police spending had soared from an average of £137,400 per force in 2022-23 to £423,136 in 2024-25.

Thinktank says algorithms are fuelling isolation and division after analysing posts shown to social media users

Reform UK voters are the least likely to see posts from friends and family on social media and most likely to see content from brands and news organisations, a study has found.

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) thinktank said algorithms were fuelling isolation and division after its research analysing users’ feeds on Instagram, Facebook, X, Bluesky and TikTok found that only 13% of Reform UK voters saw content from someone they knew, compared with 23% of Green party voters.

Ministers urged to work with survivor groups on formal apology as many victims are nearing end of their lives

The UK government must urgently issue a formal apology for the state’s role in forced adoption as many victims are nearing the end of their lives, a cross-party group of MPs has said.

A report from the education select committee said ministers should provide an initial commitment to an apology and begin working with survivor groups as quickly as possible on its wording.

Researchers say lack of sleep could be a factor among young people interacting online for more than three hours a day

Children who are on social media for more than three hours a day are more likely to develop depression and anxiety as teenagers, according to research.

Experts said the impact was likely to be linked to a lack of sleep caused by using social media late at night, and that the link to depression was more pronounced in girls.

Heather Hallett says ‘superhuman’ efforts of workers were at times the only reason health service survived

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The NHS “teetered on the brink of collapse” during the Covid pandemic and only managed to survive thanks to the “superhuman” efforts of healthcare workers, an official inquiry has concluded.

In a damning assessment of how the UK’s healthcare systems dealt with the unprecedented pressure of the pandemic, the Covid-19 inquiry chair, Heather Hallett, said the impact of the virus was “devastating” due to the NHS being in a “parlous state” before the outbreak.

The NHS entered the pandemic with low bed numbers, high numbers of staff vacancies and high bed occupancy, meaning it was already in a “precarious position” and ill-prepared to deal with a pandemic.

There was not enough PPE at the start of the pandemic, meaning healthcare workers had to put themselves and their families at risk to care for patients.

Infection control in the early stages of the pandemic was flawed as it assumed Covid-19 was spread by physical contact, rather than being airborne.

The “stay home, protect the NHS, save lives” public message may have inadvertently led to a decline in hospital attendance of life-threatening emergencies such as heart attacks.

80% of healthcare professionals said they acted in a way that conflicted with their values during the pandemic, with some saying they felt they were “playing God” as they were unable to give everyone the treatment they needed.

World Happiness Report finds platforms focused on connection less harmful than algorithm-driven apps

Social media apps such as Instagram and TikTok, which encourage algorithm-driven scrolling, are worse for mental health than platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp, which prioritise social connection, according to an annual barometer of global happiness.

The World Happiness Report found excessive use of social media was causing unhappiness among young people across the world, although the impact was worse in English-speaking countries and western Europe.

Young people who received the no-strings sum when leaving care also spent less on alcohol, tobacco and drugs

The first UK trial to test the impact of unconditional cash payments on homelessness found people given £2,000 were more likely to be happier, in stable housing and had stronger relationships six months later.

The landmark study by the Policy Institute at King’s College London found that young people leaving care who were given a one-off £2,000 cash lump sum, with no strings attached, were less likely to be sofa-surfing than their peers and had a better quality of life.

Is there something different about people born between 1997 and 2012 or is it all just marketing nonsense and hysteria?

In just a few days, research has shown that gen Z like binge drinking, hold more traditional gender views, have started Chinamaxxing, prefer solo dining and believe environmental values are as important as physical attraction.

A search for the term on Google brings up millions of articles meticulously documenting every aspect of gen Z behaviour – from their finances and mental health, to their food habits and hobbies.