Campaigners

Pillars at Cold Ashby, Northamptonshire, and Thorny Gale, Cumbria, bookended the project that modernised mappingHeritage campaigners are bidding for listing status for two concrete pillars hailed as “modest obelisks of modernity in the countryside”.These functional 120cm (4ft) stone or concrete “trig points” formed part of a 6,500-strong network of surveying posts that were vital for the development of modern mapping. Continue reading...

Use of glyphosate has risen 10-fold in 30 years, raising fears for public healthIt was Scottish farmers in the 1980s who pioneered the practice of spraying glyphosate on their wheat just before harvest. Struggling in the damp glens to get their crop to dry evenly, they came up with the idea of accelerating the process by killing it a week or two before harvesting.Glyphosate, then a revolutionary herbicide that killed everything plant-based but spared animal life, seemed perfect for the job. Soon the practice spread to wetter, colder agricultural regions around the world. Continue reading...

Figures suggest if £500,000 limit set for Great Britain 30 years ago was adjusted for inflation the maximum would be more than £1mA 30-year freeze on compensation for victims of crime should be lifted, campaigners have said, adding that the maximum of £500,000 is insufficient to plan for a lifetime.The current highest rate, set in April 1996 by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), is paid to victims of crime in England, Scotland and Wales who have suffered severe life-changing injuries, including brain damage and paralysis. Continue reading...

Government sources said new amendment to bill being worked on that would ensure duty of candour applies to individuals working for security servicesFamilies whose relatives were killed in disasters and who have suffered state injustice have written to Keir Starmer, accusing the government of an “insult” for failing to introduce the promised Hillsborough law in this session of parliament.Labour has promised for almost a decade to implement the law, which will impose a “duty of candour” on the police and public authorities, but the government pulled the bill in January during its passage through parliament. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Claire Earley’s son Rex spent six weeks in hospital after contracting E coli from contaminated lakeRealtime pollution alerts are needed across Windermere urgently, campaigners have said, as the mother of a seven-year-old boy who kayaked on the lake described how he nearly died after contracting a dangerous strain of E coli from contaminated water.Claire Earley’s son Rex spent six weeks in hospital, and underwent two emergency operations, after a family kayaking trip on Windermere last August. Continue reading...

Average arrears for housing, utilities and council tax for low-income households all rose last yearHigh levels of debt on essential bills have become the “new normal” for many low-income households, the charity StepChange said on Monday, with average arrears for housing, utilities and council tax all going up last year.People’s budgets have been stretched in recent years as they have faced higher prices for many goods and services, and the crisis in the Middle East has led to concerns over a new wave of increases. Continue reading...