Senior opponents of assisted dying bill urge Lords not to deliberately block it

Senior opponents of assisted dying legislation have called on peers not to hold up the progress of the bill through parliament, warning there was a serious danger of the Lords losing democratic legitimacy.Many supporters now admit the bill is in serious danger of running out of time in the Lords before the end of the parliamentary session, meaning it will fail to pass, because of the slow pace of considering more than 1,000 amendments means the bill will probably run out of time for a vote.In a letter to the Guardian, two former ministers, Justin Madders and Dame Nia Griffith, and another select committee chair, Debbie Abrahams, who previously opposed the substance of the bill have now urged peers not to deliberately filibuster it.Just 80 of more than 1,150 tabled amendments have been covered during three days of debate. However, some opponents of the bill say the lengthy consideration of amendments is normal for a complex issue and that it has been up to peers to attempt to address a series of significant concerns about the bill, including from key professional bodies like the Royal College of Psychiatrists

‘We don’t have enough rooms to isolate’: NHS doctor reveals impact of rise in flu cases

As cases of flu rise sharply across the UK, the Guardian spoke to Amir Hassan, an emergency medicine consultant and the divisional medical director at Epsom and St Helier University hospitals NHS trust, who shared his views.“We’re seeing increased numbers of patients coming through, a lot of them with respiratory-type illnesses. It means we need to try to isolate these patients and treat them – so they’ll come in with shortness of breath, [and a] cough.And while the numbers are going up, we’re still getting the other patients coming in with falls and heart attacks and trauma. It puts pressure on the emergency department, and it puts pressure on the wards because you’re increasing the number of respiratory patients you’re managing

NHS ‘facing worst-case scenario’ as hospital flu cases jump 55% in a week

The NHS is facing its “worst-case scenario” for flu cases this month across England after the number of people in hospital with the illness increased by 55% in a week.An average of 2,660 patients a day were in an NHS hospital bed with flu, up from 1,717 last week and the highest ever for this time of year. By comparison, in the same week last year the number of patients in hospital with flu stood at 1,861, compared with 402 in 2023.Prof Meghana Pandit, the NHS national medical director, said the number of patients in hospital with flu was “extremely high for this time of year”.“With record demand for A&E and ambulances and an impending resident doctors strike, this unprecedented wave of super flu is leaving the NHS facing a worst-case scenario for this time of year – with staff being pushed to the limit to keep providing the best possible care for patients,” Pandit said

Starmer says resident doctors would be irresponsible to strike in face of flu crisis

Keir Starmer has said resident doctors would be irresponsible to push ahead with strikes next week after NHS England said a surge of “super flu” cases had left the service facing its worst-case scenario this winter.Ministers presented the British Medical Association with a fresh offer on training places on Wednesday night in a last-ditch attempt to avert strikes.The BMA is consulting its members on the proposals, raising hopes of a breakthrough, despite its leaders saying they do nothing to address their concerns on pay.The prime minister urged resident doctors – formerly known as junior doctors – to “do the responsible thing, accept the offer that’s on the table, and we can all move forward”.“They are being irresponsible in my view

‘This country’s divided’: how a Sunderland charity is changing that – one house, park and shop at a time

Far-right rhetoric fuelled rioting here in 2024, but Back on the Map is helping to unite the community, through good accommodation, new shops, and an aim to genuinely uplift and improve people’s lives Donate to the Guardian Charity Appeal 2025 here Communities are our defence against hatred. Now, more than ever, we must invest in hopeWhen 47-year-old shop assistant Claire Carter was younger, her mother told her to “never live on the long streets” – terrace-lined roads about half a mile long that lead from the centre of Hendon, Sunderland, to the sea. These six streets have a reputation for being “full of wrong ’uns, full of stolen cars, places getting smashed up”, she says. Close by is Fletcher’s News & Booze, the shop where Tommy Robinson hosted a book signing in 2017 that ended in physical fights and 21 arrests.Sunderland more widely has been a key site for far-right politics: in 2024 violent anti-Muslim riots broke out after misinformation spread on social media, suggesting that the man behind fatal stabbings at a children’s dance class in Southport was an illegal migrant

Online child sexual abuse surges by 26% in year as police say tech firms must act

Online child sexual abuse in England and Wales has surged by a quarter within a year, figures show, prompting police to call for social media platforms to do more to protect young people.Becky Riggs, the acting chief constable of Staffordshire police, called for tech companies to use AI tools to automatically prevent indecent pictures from being uploaded and shared on their sites.Riggs, who is the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for child protection and abuse, said: “I know that these platforms, with the technology that’s out there, could prevent these harms from occurring in the first instance.”She added that technology used by children should come with inbuilt protections, such as mobile phones that allow them to only access safe platforms and websites.Police statistics show that 122,768 child sexual exploitation offences in England and Wales were recorded in 2024, an increase of 6% on the previous year