Andy Burnham has announced a crackdown, but doubts remain over authorities’ ability to take on organised crime“There were parents dropping their children off and then heaving from the smell,” says Liz Thompson, 45, who runs Blessings Nursery in Bradford, West Yorkshire.During the recent heatwaves, the smell from an illegal waste dump on Midland Road, just metres from the nursery, became so unbearable that staff had to keep the doors and windows shut and the children couldn’t play […]

My friend and former colleague Peter Ackroyd, who has died aged 76, spent much of his professional life championing the virtues of wool, mainly in senior positions with the National Wool Textile Export Corporation but also with the International Wool Textile Organisation.Over the years he worked to strengthen relationships between farmers, manufacturers, fashion designers, retailers and government officials, while promoting wool as a natural, renewable and biodegradable fibre with an important […]

Government ‘urgently’ identifying men convicted in historical cases who could be freed in scheme loopholeAndy Burnham’s government is “urgently” identifying any grooming gang perpetrators who may still be eligible for early prison release after concerns were raised about a potential loophole in the system.The prime minister has “personally intervened” after men convicted of assaulting children in Bradford were expected to be freed from prison early despite a promise earlier this […]

Inquiry will compel individuals and institutions to explain what they did or did not do to protect children from sexual abuseLondon, Oldham, Bradford and Keighley will be the first towns and cities investigated by an independent grooming gangs inquiry, it was announced on Wednesday.The independent inquiry into grooming gangs has confirmed that its three-part hearings will investigate Whitehall departments and politicians alongside local councils, the NHS and national police institutions. […]