News 08/11/25

The chief inspector of prisons says the string of mistaken early prisoner releases is “a symptom of a system close to breaking point.”

Charlie Taylor’s comments come after it was revealed two inmates wrongly freed last year remain at large, along with two more believed to have been released in error this summer. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, he described the situation as “embarrassing and potentially dangerous,” blaming it on what he called “an overcomplicated sentencing framework” and chronic pressure across the prison network.

The Football Association of Ireland has voted to call on UEFA to suspend Israel and its club sides from European competitions.

The motion, passed by 74 votes to seven, urges UEFA to impose the ban over alleged breaches of its own rules. In a statement, the FAI said Israel’s football association had failed to enforce anti-racism policies and allowed clubs to play in settlements in the occupied West Bank without approval from the Palestinian FA. UEFA has not yet responded.

Former Top Gear and Fifth Gear presenter Quentin Willson has died at the age of 68.

The Leicester-born motoring journalist joined the BBC in 1991, co-hosting the original Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson before later fronting Fifth Gear on Channel 5. His family said he passed away on Saturday after a short battle with lung cancer.

In a statement, they described him as a “true national treasure” who “brought the joy of motoring, from combustion to electric, into our living rooms.”

A woman is fighting for her life after being stabbed in what police are calling an unprovoked attack in Birmingham.

Officers were called to Smallbrook Queensway just before nine o’clock last night following reports a woman had been attacked. The victim, believed to be in her thirties, suffered a serious neck injury and remains in hospital in a critical condition.

A man in his twenties was arrested nearby and is being questioned in custody.

The Home Secretary is preparing to unveil a major overhaul of the UK’s immigration and asylum system later this month.

Shabana Mahmood is expected to base parts of her plan on Denmark’s strict approach, which limits family reunions and grants only temporary residence to most refugees. Officials say the proposals are aimed at cutting the number of people coming to the UK and speeding up removals for those with no legal right to stay.

Mahmood has called it a “fair but firm” approach to restore public confidence in the system.

Police are facing questions after it emerged the man accused of the Huntingdon train stabbings had previously threatened staff at a Peterborough barber shop.

Owner Ibrahim Wanas says CCTV captured the man waving a knife inside Ritzy Barbers just a day before the attack that left ten people injured. He says staff were terrified, and that the incident was reported to police — but claims nothing was done.

Now, he’s asking whether the tragedy could have been prevented had officers acted sooner.

An NHS trust and a ward manager will be sentenced next week for health and safety failings — more than a decade after a young woman took her own life in a secure mental health hospital.

A jury earlier this year found the North East London NHS Foundation Trust and ward manager Benjamin Aninakwa failed to do enough to prevent the death of 23-year-old Alice Figueiredo.

The verdict followed one of the longest jury deliberations in English legal history.

Almost five months after a plane crash in India that killed 260 people, the investigation has become increasingly controversial.

Flight 171 was bound for London from Ahmedabad when it crashed into a building just 32 seconds after take-off in June. An interim report released the following month blamed pilot error, but critics say it downplayed possible mechanical faults.

India’s Supreme Court has now intervened, with a judge insisting no blame should be placed on the aircraft’s captain.

Jeremy Corbyn’s new left-wing movement, Your Party, has become embroiled in a row over £800,000 in donations.

The money, raised during the group’s launch, is currently being held by a company controlled by MP Zarah Sultana, who co-founded the party.
Senior figures accuse her of withholding the funds despite previously agreeing to transfer them once the party’s registration was complete.