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Cowboy traders: can a new clampdown stamp out the builders from hell?

An app and a register of trusted traders may give greater protection to consumers but it is too late for some In hindsight, Sheri Ingram , 35, can see the red flags. Lee Slocombe, a builder hired to renovate her ex-boyfriend’s home in the south Wales valleys, offered to do the work cheaply because he had materials left over from another job, then asked for money upfront to buy additional supplies. “At the time, we believed him,” says Sheri, who was in her early 20s when it happened, and had just left university. The couple budgeted about £8,000 for work that included removing a supporting wall and building an extension with a balcony. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Sarah Marsh, Consumer Affairs Correspondent19 Sept

Earl Spencer doubles down on claims about ‘monstrous’ call with Charles after Diana’s death

Charles Spencer, Diana’s brother, claims then prince told him ‘we’ll forget her soon enough’ Earl Spencer has doubled down on his bombshell claim that King Charles said of Diana, Princess of Wales, “rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough” days after her death, saying he is telling the truth. The alleged comments, revealed in Charles Spencer’s memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, which is being serialised in the Daily Mail, prompted Buckingham Palace to issue an extraordinary statement suggesting Diana’s brother had misremembered events, saying “the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise”. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Sammy Gecsoyler18 Sept
  • neutral toward Diana, Princess of Wales · 98%

Slowly then all at once: this emboldened Celtic alliance could spell the end of the UK | Simon Jenkins

It’s something akin to a quiet earthquake: home nations jointly declaring their wish to be freed from English domination. A big move needs a big response Monday must have been a historical first. Never before have three of the four “nations” of the United Kingdom jointly demanded freedom to vote for its dissolution. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have lost confidence in England. They declared in Cardiff that the unionist government at Westminster is “coming to an end”. There was no such Celtic alliance against the Normans, Edward I or Cromwell. Celtic MPs have never formed a voting coalition in parliament. The Victorian Liberal party advanced “home rule for all”, but that was not independence and it got nowhere. Ireland rebelled, but it did so alone. When this eventually succeeded, Britain said good riddance, kept hold of Belfast and continued to centralise power in London. Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Simon Jenkins18 Sept

Charles sounded 'giddily elated' after Diana’s death, claims Earl Spencer

In latest extracts from upcoming memoir, Diana’s brother suggests some in Buckingham Palace were ‘relieved’ at her death The brother of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, has claimed in published extracts of his new memoir that King Charles sounded “giddily elated – like a lottery winner” in a phone call to him immediately after her death. Earl Spencer also says he believed Buckingham Palace wanted William and Harry and himself to walk behind Diana’s coffin because the then Prince Charles was “adamant” he was going to walk and palace officials feared “members of the public might shout abuse at him”. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Caroline Davies17 Sept
  • neutral toward Diana, Princess of Wales · 99%

Greens urge Zack Polanski to take stance on proposed policy declaring ‘Zionism is racism’

Exclusive: The Green leader has not spoken publicly about the motion, which is likely to be debated at the party’s conference in October The Greens are pushing Zack Polanski to take a stance on a potential party policy stating “Zionism is racism”, with some fearing it could alienate Jewish supporters if it was passed. Polanski, who leads the Greens in England and Wales, has not spoken publicly about the motion, which came top of a members’ vote of policy motions to be debated at the party conference in Brighton at the start of October, and is thus almost certain to feature. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Peter Walker Senior political correspondent17 Sept

‘Songwriting instead of doomscrolling’: project inspires Port Talbot to tune into its heritage

Community groups and schools work with Wales’s folk arts organisation to set stories of the area’s people to music Growing up in Wales, Liz Puleston-Jones was familiar with the country’s rich heritage of storytelling and traditional music, but none of it ever seemed to have much of a connection to her life in Swansea. Researching the history of the area as part of Cân y Cymoedd (When Valleys Sing), a project in nearby Port Talbot, she came across the story of Isabel Thomas, a 14-year-old girl in the 1940s who left school and lied about her age to work in a tin plate works to support her family. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Bethan McKernan Wales correspondent17 Sept