National News

Animal Rising activists plan to scale the fences and enter the track of Aintree Racecourse before the Grand National race begins, the group has said. The climate and animal rights group said up to 300 activists will attend the race from 9.30am on Saturday where they intend to prevent the race from starting. They will also block traffic by performing a slow march along Ormskirk Road, the main access route. Nathan McGovern, a

Shoppers are opting for frozen meat and meals like pizza and chips as food price inflation continues to add hundreds of pounds to households’ grocery shops. New figures from research firm Kantar showed frozen food sales were ticking up in British supermarkets. Frozen poultry like chicken and game meats increased in the three months to mid-March, compared with the same period last year, as well as frozen prepared foods which includes

A Ukrainian reporter who came to the UK as a refugee last year is planning to run free walking tours of Liverpool in her country’s language during the Eurovision Song Contest finals in the city next month. Maria Romanenko, 30, left the Kyiv region for Manchester last year at the start of the Russian invasion. Her partner, Jez, who was born in Manchester, was with her at the time. The

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suggested there should be a greater role for the private sector in the NHS as he set out how he wanted to win voters’ trust on the issue. Mr Sunak, who has made cutting waiting lists one of his five priorities, was speaking as official figures showed an estimated 7.22 million people were waiting to start routine hospital treatment at the end of February – the highest total since

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner has denied the party is “playing dirty” with its attacks on Rishi Sunak and said it is right to highlight the Government’s record on crime – which she branded a “disaster”. The frontbencher defended the campaign, which has included a claim the Prime Minister does not think child sex abusers should be jailed, as “factual”. She said the advertisements seek to show the public how

A £6 billion-a-year package of measures to improve energy efficiency could cut bills by £500 for millions of households, Labour claimed. The scheme would fund upgrades to properties below energy performance certificate (EPC) band C. Shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband said Labour’s national warm homes plan would boost the efficiency of 19 million homes across the country over the next decade as he accused the Tories of failing to

A Massachusetts Air National Guard member has been arrested after the disclosure of highly classified military documents on the Ukraine war, US attorney general Merrick Garland said. Investigators believe that the guardsman, who specialises in intelligence, led the online chat group where the documents were posted. Mr Garland identified the guardsman as 21-year-old Jack Teixeira and said he would be charged with the unauthorised removal of classified national defence information.

The US president is continuing his four-day visit to the island of Ireland US President Joe Biden will address the Irish parliament on Thursday as his visit to the island of Ireland continues with a series of official engagements in Dublin. Before his address to both houses of the Oireachtas, Mr Biden will visit President of Ireland Michael D Higgins at his official residence in Phoenix Park and will also have a meeting with

The nation is continuing to narrowly avoid dipping into a recession The UK’s economy showed no growth in February as the nation continued to narrowly avoid dipping into a recession despite decades-high inflation. Teachers’ and Civil Service strike action acted as one of the biggest drags on gross domestic product (GDP), with thousands of workers walking out during the month. The decline in the services sector offset growth in the