"The poll suggests Sir Keir Starmer's party has won with an estimated overall majority of 170 seats - while the Conservatives, led by Rishi Sunak, look likely to record their lowest seat tally in the party's history."

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/445597

A ban on politicians lying will be brought in before the 2026 Senedd [the Welsh parliament] elections, the Welsh government has promised.

Counsel General Mick Antoniw [...] promised that the law would disqualify Senedd politicians and candidates found guilty of deliberate deception from being a Member of the Senedd (MS). [...] It is not yet clear whether the proposed law would make lying a criminal offence or a civil sanction. [...] Mr. Antoniw said it was a "matter that goes to the heart of everyone".

The British founder of a charitable organisation providing support to frontline soldiers in Ukraine has died "like a hero in the battlefield".

Peter Fouché, 49, from Fulham, west London, died on 27 June while working as a combat medic on the front line in east Ukraine, his organisation Project Konstantin said.

It said in a statement on social media: "There are no words that can do Pete’s life justice."

The organisation, which was founded in 2022, provides vehicles, drones, uniforms and food to soldiers in Ukraine.

Halyna Zhuk, commercial director and co-founder of Project Konstantin, said Mr Fouché "lived like a hero and died like a hero in the battlefield".

'Endless compassion'

In a statement released on Monday, the organisation said: "It is with the heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of Pete, our beloved director and founder.

"There are no words that can do Pete’s life justice. No words or phrases that could ever encapsulate how much he meant to all of us.

"Pete's unwavering dedication, endless compassion, and relentless commitment to Ukraine and her people have left an everlasting impact on the countless lives he touched.

"His heroism knew no bounds. He was actively involved in saving more than 200 wounded Ukrainian soldiers, evacuating civilians from the most dangerous frontline cities, as well as bringing humanitarian aid to people in those towns and cities.

"Pete’s bravery and selflessness in the face of danger were nothing short of extraordinary, and his actions will forever be etched in our hearts."

A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office confirmed it was supporting the family of a British man who died in Ukraine.

Pretty depressing reading.

[Edit] I had the archive link as a comment but this has gained enough traction that it's not obvious. Here it is again so you don't have to give FT any clicks https://archive.is/ypkln

J.K. Rowling is embroiled in a fresh row with another Harry Potter actor over transgender rights.

Following exchanges of fire with Daniel Radcliffe and others, Rowling has blasted David Tennant after the Goblet of Fire star voiced strident views on those who speak out against trans rights.

During an appearance at the British LGBT Awards over the weekend, he called on British equalities minister Kemi Badenoch to “shut up” after she advocated for banning trans women from entering women’s toilets and sports teams.

In an interview at the same event, Tennant called transgender critics “a tiny bunch of little whinging f*ckers who are on the wrong side of history, and they’ll all go away soon.”

Earlier in the week, Rowling branded people like Tennant the “gender Taliban.” In posts on X (once Twitter) on Friday, she expanded her comments to address Tennant’s “wrong side of history” quote.

Rowling wrote: “This man is talking about rape survivors who want female-only care, the nurses currently suing their health trust for making them change in front of a man, girls and women losing sporting opportunities to males and female prisoners incarcerated with convicted sex offenders.”

She added: “For a man who’s supposedly a model of compassion and tolerance, he sure does want a lot of people to cease to exist.”

Previously.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/259213

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/259212

British authorities must reconsider whether to open an investigation into imports of cotton allegedly produced by slave labour in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, a London court ruled on Thursday, allowing an appeal by a Uyghur rights group.

The World Uyghur Congress, an international organisation of exiled Uyghur groups, took legal action against Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) after it declined to begin a criminal investigation. Rights groups and the U.S. government accuse China of widespread abuses of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the western region of Xinjiang, from where the vast majority of Chinese-produced cotton emanates.

Beijing vigorously denies any abuses and its embassy in Washington has previously described allegations of forced labour as "nothing but a lie concocted by the U.S. side in an attempt to wantonly suppress Chinese enterprises".

"The Chinese government has made it very clear that the allegation of 'forced labour' in Xinjiang is nothing but an enormous lie propagated by anti-China elements to smear China," a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in London said. In its legal action, the World Uyghur Congress argued that the NCA wrongly failed to investigate whether cotton from Xinjiang amounts to "criminal property".

Last year, a judge at London's High Court ruled there was "clear and undisputed evidence of instances of cotton being manufactured ... by the use of detained and prison labour as well as by forced labour". But the legal challenge was dismissed on the grounds that the British authorities' approach to the law – which was that there has to be a clear link between alleged criminality and a specific product – was correct.

The Court of Appeal overturned that decision, ruling that "the question of whether to carry out an investigation ... will be remitted to the NCA for reconsideration".

Rahima Mahmut, UK Director of the World Uyghur Congress, described the ruling as "a monumental victory and a moral triumph". "This win represents a measure of justice for those Uyghurs and other Turkic people who have been tortured and subjected to slave labour," Mahmut said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the NCA said: "We respectfully note the judgment of the Court of Appeal and are considering our next steps."

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/23066599

Since 2017, Wikipedia editors have compiled a list of news sources from which articles are highly likely to employ systematic bias, lack professional editing and/or journalistic standards, regularly misrepresent sources, and/or fabricate information.

While its list is by no means a complete list of publications with the aforementioned problems, it has helped make Wikipedia articles more reliable by basing them off of sources covering the same events and information from a less biased point of view.

To make Lemmy news communities better than their Reddit counterparts, I think avoiding links to those sources in favor of more reliable alternatives would be worthwhile.

Britain is in a poverty crisis. Over 14 million people (one in five) are living in poverty. Of these, 4 million, including 1 million children, are classed as destitute: regularly unable to meet basic needs for shelter, warmth, food and clothing.

Cuts to the welfare state over the last decade have contributed to a deepening of poverty in Britain not seen in any of its European neighbours. What sets Britain apart (and has made it possible for these cuts to continue) is the intense stigma placed on people living in poverty and who receive state benefits.

Stigma sorts people into two categories “the deserving” and “the undeserving”. Elderly (pension-aged) citizens, children and disabled people have tended to fall into the deserving category, while people deemed able-bodied and hence able to work are viewed more harshly if they receive support.

This has been seen throughout this election campaign, in discussions about getting people back into work. Rishi Sunak has said that the Conservatives intend to cut the welfare bill by getting people into work. In the last debate, he said it was “not fair” for people on benefits to not take a job they are offered after 12 months out of work. The implication here is that some people who receive benefits are cheating the system.

An opportunity like this only comes round once or twice a lifetime. Make the most of watching Tories lose their seats with this bingo game.

£9bn due to not having built more cheap onshore wind, £5bn due to poorly insulated homes, £5bn due to low solar deployment, £3bn because new homes were built less efficient.