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Visitbritain/visitengland announces it is opening a new hub office in birmingham, from april 2024.
West Midlands Growth Company
VisitBritain/VisitEngland CEO Patricia Yates said:
“Following many months of careful consideration, we are delighted to announce that VisitBritain/VisitEngland will be opening a new hub office in Birmingham from April 2024. Birmingham has excellent transport links for both our international and Britain based staff and key stakeholders, a broad talent pool and good office space.
“Basing our hub office in Birmingham also brings us closer to our regional stakeholders across England including the West Midlands Growth Company, a Local Visitor Economy Partnership, with whom we already have a strong working relationship.
“We have seen other government departments and private sector companies successfully transition their operations to the city. We are excited about the opportunities and perspectives that having our headquarters in Birmingham will bring, as we continue our work to drive the economic benefits from tourism across the nations and regions and to support the industry.
“We are currently in negotiations on office space in central Birmingham and will announce the site once confirmed. We will keep an office presence in London to maintain our relationships with key government and industry stakeholders.
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What are you looking for, see things differently, welcome to britain.
Discover inventive new experiences and captivating stories in 2024, brought together with a dose of British flair. From exploring film settings and pioneering cultural spaces to countryside trails and relaxing wellness retreats, it’s all happening on our shores and you’re invited!
Join immersive exhibitions as the National Gallery celebrates a landmark anniversary or get a taste for chocolate as Birmingham’s Cadbury World also marks its 200th birthday. Venture off the beaten track for new coastal adventures, exploring new trails and walking routes, or take in sporting action as the world’s best compete in everything from athletics to the Premier League.
Whether it’s getting a feel for our vibrant cultural cities, embarking on a coastal adventure, or discovering locations made famous by film and TV, it’s time to experience Britain differently.
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- Mock Drafts
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The New England Patriots Should Trade Back and Take QB Michael Penix Jr.
The Pats need draft capital and a new quarterback. How can they accomplish both?
- Author: Chris Pirrone
At the third overall spot in the draft, the Pats will likely have the option to select the third best quarterback available, or the top wide receiver, such as Marvin Harrison Jr. who is widely regarded as the best player in this year's draft.
Related: The 3 Best Players In This Draft Are Wide Receivers
The Patriots have never had the third overall pick. They have had the fourth overall pick three times taking Willie McGinest in 1994, John Hannah in 1973, and Phil Olsen in 1970. The Pats run of success has meant that the last time New England had a top 10 pick in the NFL Draft was in 2008, when Bill Belichick drafted now current Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo with the 10th pick. The last time the team had a pick in the top 3 was in 1999 when the Pats had the first overall selection taking Drew Bledsoe.
It takes a lot of pain and losing to draft as high as number 3, so he Patriots need to be shrewd about how they set the organization up for future success with this key selection. They cannot end day 1 without taking a QB.
DRAFT AND TRADE SCENARIO
Given the significant needs across the roster, the Patriots should trade back with a willing partner and collect draft capital. The extra picks will help Eliot Wolf and Jerod Mayo rebuild a depleted roster. If they can find a partner with a pick in the 10-15 slot range, when the remaining top QBs may still be available, they should then select Michael Penix Jr., QB from Washington.
Report: Patriots now actively listening to trade offers for pick No. 3
Bleacher Report offered up a trade scenario with the Minnesota Vikings matching this strategy:
- New England Patriots receive: 2024 first-round pick (No. 11 overall), 2024 first-round pick (No. 23 overall), 2025 first-round pick (TBD), 2026 second-round pick (TBD).
- Minnesota Vikings receive: 2024 first-round pick (No. 3 overall).
The Patriots would receive both of Minnesota's 2024 first round selections at 11 and 23, plus Minnesota's 2025 first and second-round picks, to move back eight spots. It's a massive haul and the Pats remain in striking distance at 11 ready to pounce on a special player such as Penix.
Michael Penix Jr. Stats
While questions remains about Penix durability, he is a winner at every level and had an outstanding career at Washington. Over the last two years as a starter at Washington, Penix stats are exceptional:
- 28 games over two seasons starting at QB
- 725 completions
- 9544 passing yards
- 65.4 completion %
- 8.6 average yards per attempt
- 67 Touchdown passes
- 19 interceptions
- 154.2 passing efficiency rating
In 2023 Penix led the nation in passing yards while leading the Huskies to a 14 win season before their only loss to Michigan in the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Penix recently penned a compelling piece for The Players Tribune where he wrote "A Letter to NFL GMs" outlining his grit, past hurdles and success, and why he will be be a winner at the pro level.
Adding much needed draft capital while still getting one of the top QB prospects in the draft, would be a solid start to the Wolf and Mayo regime.
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April weather has been a 'month of two halves' Met Office says
- april showers
- Saturday 27 April 2024 at 10:03pm
Grey skies and rain mean April has felt unusually cold, the Met Office said.
April has been a “month of two halves”, with a warm fortnight followed by chillier weather – meaning that the average temperature for the month remains above the norm, according to forecasters.
Despite this, a lack of sunshine and persistent rain may have contributed to it feeling colder than expected for springtime, the Met Office has suggested.
Forecasters expect warmer temperatures to return from Wednesday, with south east England set to enjoy highs of up to around 20C.
So far this month, the maximum temperature recorded was 21.8C in Writtle, Essex, and a low of minus 6.3C in Shap, Cumbria – with a UK-wide average of 8.4C, according to the Met Office.
Data from the forecaster shows that the UK has seen an average of 99mm of rainfall in April so far, which is 27% higher than usual for the month.
Amy Bokota, senior meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “It’s been a month of two halves where it’s been quite warm for the first half, and then quite cool up until now, and then it’s expecting to warm back up again.
“So on the whole, it’ll probably be on the warmer side of average.
“It’s definitely wetter than average for the UK as a whole, so there you’re going to be seeing rain and grey skies and a lot of places have been quite dull so far for the time of year.”
When asked why people may feel it’s been colder than expected for springtime, despite temperatures suggesting otherwise, Ms Bokota replied: “The last couple of weeks has just been quite cooler than average."
She continued: “It’s been quite a dull month – duller than it should be on average – so there’s been less sunshine around, so that kind of impacts what people feel with the weather as well.
“It’s been mainly unsettled and changeable, so I think that just sort of feeds into people’s interpretation of what the weather feels like.”
The meteorologist said that although the forecast next week is looking warmer from Wednesday, it might not be the “glorious heatwave” people are hoping for ahead of the May bank holiday weekend.
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Revealed: UK government was warned of infected blood risks in 1970s
Documents show officials were told blood plasma harvested from US convicts was contaminated with viruses
Read more: the true story of the UK infected blood scandal ; plus: ‘My mum gave the injections that killed my brothers’
A commercial blood product at the centre of the biggest treatment scandal in the history of the NHS was approved for use after government officials were told convicts were among the paid donors and virus contamination “should be assumed”, corporate filings reveal.
The product, given to haemophiliacs to enable their blood to clot, was injected into thousands of patients in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s, including young children, who were infected with HIV and hepatitis C.
A single batch could contain plasma from 20,000 donors harvested in US prisons and some of the poorest neighbourhoods of America, where drug use and sexual infections were rife. One infected donation would contaminate the entire batch.
An inquiry headed by Sir Brian Langstaff will report next month on the scandal, which has killed about 3,000 people. He has already concluded “wrongs were done at individual, collective and systemic levels”.
The drug firm Bayer provided 7,000 documents to the inquiry, which reveals its subsidiary, Cutter Laboratories, warned in licensing application documents in the 1970s that its commercial blood product Koate, may contain viruses. It said: “Since the presence or absence of hepatitis virus in Koate concentrate cannot be proven with absolute certainty the presence of such a virus should be assumed.”
The product, known as a factor VIII concentrate, was approved in August 1976 along with similar treatments that were a conduit for deadly viruses for several years.
A government safety committee was told “American state prisons” were among the sources. Studies had shown greater risk of hepatitis infection from prison-harvested blood and the Committee on Safety of Medicines was warned the product “suffers from being prepared from multi-centre donations which cannot be properly controlled by inspection”.
Des Collins, of Collins Solicitors, acting for 1,500 infected or affected people, said the licensing documents were “shocking” and products should not have been approved until viral inactivation was available. “There was a huge failure by ministers and successive administrations,” he said.
Stuart Cantrill, 50, whose father Barrie died in 1989 from an Aids-related illness after contracting HIV from a commercial blood product for haemophilia, said: “There were clearly some in the NHS and in government who were aware of the risks and chose to ignore them. They went ahead and used a product which was almost certain to infect everyone.”
Experts in the 1970s considered the risk of a patient contracting hepatitis B from the pooled products was outweighed by the benefits of treatment, but did not consider the presence of more deadly viruses which had not then been identified, specifically hepatitis C and HIV.
When the cases of Aids were first reported in the 1980s, officials and ministers failed to act over the risk of the disease being spread by the contaminated blood. The Observer flagged the risk in January 1983, warning: “A commercial blood product imported into Britain from the United States may pose a grave threat to the health of haemophiliacs.”
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Four months later, the Mail on Sunday warned of hospitals using killer blood. It warned the pooled blood products from the US might be infected with HIV and “threatening the lives of thousands of British people”.
It was an accurate and prescient warning, but the government said there was no conclusive proof and failed to withdraw the contaminated product, which then infected adult and child patients with HIV. The dirty blood was administered for another two years before heat treatment was introduced in 1985. Andy Evans, chair of the Tainted Blood campaign, said it “beggared belief” the product continued to be licenced. “The evidence was pointing towards the fact the treatment was dangerous and they failed to act,” he said.
Bayer said it submitted documents voluntarily to the inquiry “to support the inquiry’s understanding of historical events and actions of Bayer Group companies”.
It said it was “truly sorry” of the tragic situation that occurred and that therapies designed to save lives caused so much suffering.
- Contaminated blood scandal
- The Observer
- Pharmaceuticals industry
- Aids and HIV
- Hepatitis C
‘My mum gave the injections that killed my brothers’: how UK’s infected blood scandal has torn lives apart
‘Plasma was called liquid gold’: the true story of the UK infected blood scandal
UK swapped to fatal US blood products to save money, minutes suggest
Infected blood scandal: victims’ families hope report will finally apportion blame
ITV announces drama on contaminated blood scandal after Post Office series success
Sunak on ‘wrong side of history’ over infected blood scandal, says charity
Rishi Sunak suffers first parliamentary defeat in infected blood vote
Victims of contaminated blood scandal left in dark about compensation
‘awful lot of nothing’: families denounce sunak’s response to blood scandal inquiry.
Sunak heckled at infected blood inquiry for saying government working ‘at pace’
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- Crime, justice and law
New powers to seize cryptoassets used by criminals go live
Greater powers for the National Crime Agency and police to seize, freeze and destroy cryptoassets used by criminals have come into force today.
Organised criminals, including drug dealers, fraudsters and terrorists, are known to increasingly use cryptoassets to launder the proceeds of crime and raise money. The NCA’s National Assessment Centre estimates that illicit crypto transactions linked to the UK are likely to have reached at least £1.2 billion in 2021, if not significantly higher.
To tackle this emerging threat, the government has updated proceeds of crime and terror legislation, making it easier for UK law enforcement to effectively investigate, seize and recover illicit cryptoassets. These changes include:
- Police will no longer be required to make an arrest before seizing crypto from a suspect. This will make it easier to take assets which are known to have been criminally obtained, even if sophisticated criminals are able to protect their anonymity or are based overseas
- Items that could be used to give information to help an investigation, such as written passwords or memory sticks, can be seized.
- Officers will be able to transfer illicit cryptoassets into an electronic wallet which is controlled by law enforcement, meaning criminals can no longer access it.
- UK law enforcement will be able to destroy a crypto asset if returning it to circulation is not conducive to the public good. Privacy coins, for example, are a form of cryptocurrency that grant an extremely high degree of anonymity and are often used for money laundering.
- Victims will also be able to apply for money belonging to them in a cryptoassets account to be released to them.
The changes that come into force today will stop criminals from undermining the legitimate use of crypto, while also supporting the development of crypto as a potential driver of economic growth.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said:
Criminals should never be able to benefit from breaking the law which is why we are making it much easier for law enforcement to stay on top of a new and developing threat. These reforms will also enhance our national security. Terrorist organisations like Daesh are known to raise funds through crypto transactions and these updated powers will enable our agencies to more easily strip them of their assets.
Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said:
These reforms are bad news for criminals, they send a clear message we will never let crime pay. Our agencies have already shown they have the expertise to target sophisticated criminals and deprive them of their ill-gotten gains. These new measures will help them take the fight to the next level.
In January 2024, the NCA worked with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration to investigate a multi-million drug enterprise which led to $150 million, in cash and crypto, being seized.
Cryptoassets were also seized in a case where three men sold counterfeit drugs on the dark web and accepted crypto as payment, amassing £750,000 in the process. They were jailed for more than 20 years between them. In a separate case, HMRC seized three non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as part of an investigation into VAT fraud, with three people arrested on suspicion of attempting to defraud the agency of £1.4 million.
A small number of counter-terror investigations have also found terror groups are using crypto to raise funds. In 2021, a British man was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment after he used Bitcoin to send around £55,000 to Daesh.
Adrian Searle, Director of the National Economic Crime Centre, said:
Criminals are increasingly using crypto assets to conceal and move the proceeds of crime at scale and pace, pay for other criminal services and as a means to defraud victims. These new powers are very welcome and will enhance law enforcement’s ability to restrain, recover and destroy crypto assets if required. They will enable a more effective pursuit of the criminals and ultimately deny them the financial gain they crave.
Adrian Foster, Chief Crown Prosecutor, said:
The economic crime threat is continuously growing and evolving with criminals exploiting advances in technologies like cryptocurrency. Crypto assets are often used by criminal gangs to launder their criminal profits internationally at the touch of a button. It is vital that investigators and prosecutors have the capability and agility to keep pace with this changing nature of crime which these new measures will greatly assist our ability to restrain, freeze, or eliminate crypto assets from illegal enterprise. These powers allow the Director of Public Prosecutions to assist law enforcement in crypto forfeiture cases where our expertise can add real value.
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‘Suspend all Post Office executives involved in Horizon scandal’
Postmasters call for immediate action by Badenoch until public inquiry ends
Postmasters have called for the immediate suspension of all Post Office executives involved in the Horizon Scandal.
In a letter to Kemi Badenoch , the Voice of the Postmaster Committee, a group representing current sub-postmasters , accuse “individuals within Post Office Ltd” of having “engaged in a pattern of deceit, actively misleading Parliament, Members of Parliament, the judiciary, postmasters, and the public at large”.
They urge the Business Secretary to suspend these individuals until the conclusion of the public inquiry.
It follows another week of damning allegations levelled at senior existing Post Office staff for their part in the Horizon IT scandal, which saw the unjust prosecution of more than 900 staff, many of whom were sent to prison.
On Thursday, the senior executive in charge of handling Horizon complaints from 2010 was accused of misleading the High Court by claiming she was unaware the Horizon IT financial system used by local postmasters could be accessed remotely.
The inquiry was shown emails revealing that Angela van den Bogerd was told that remote access was in fact possible as far back as 2010.
The executive, who received a bonus in the year she gave her evidence to the High Court, said she did not “knowingly” do anything wrong.
Other executives were accused at the inquiry of using “Orwellian language” to downplay concerns around the IT system, replacing the word “bugs” with “exception”.
“The recent evidence presented, revealing that current Post Office managers and directors were aware of remote access capabilities as early as 2011 and chose not to intervene, is nothing short of appalling,” the Voice of the Postmaster Committee wrote.
“This flagrant disregard for ethical responsibility has resulted in nine additional years of unjust prosecutions, at significant cost to both taxpayers and the lives of postmasters.”
Although the group did not name any individuals, it urged Mrs Badenoch to take “decisive action” by suspending “all individuals within Post Office Ltd who were implicated in the Horizon scandal and remain in their positions”.
They also want to see a separate investigation into the current management culture within the company, which is solely owned by the government.
“Merely waiting for the Inquiry to conclude is insufficient,” the letter states, adding: “Concrete decisions and swift action are imperative to ensure accountability and prevent further harm.”
Ms van den Bogerd said last week: “I apologise for not getting to the answer more quickly. But with the evidence I had and the parameters of my role at the time, I did the best I could to the best of my ability.”
She was appointed as the Post Office’s business improvement director in 2018, but stepped down from the role in 2020, telling the inquiry she had become “disillusioned” with delays in compensating postmasters.
A Post Office spokesman said: “A culture of respect and integrity is an absolute priority for today’s Post Office.
“We understand the concerns raised and will continue to review and make progress on cultural change which we will share with the Inquiry in Phase 7.
“We would always take immediate and appropriate action where there is evidence of misconduct or wrongdoing in line with our internal policies and employment legislation.”
A Department for Business and Trade spokesman said: “The Government set up the Horizon Inquiry to get to the bottom of this scandal and it would not be right for us to comment on its work whilst the inquiry is ongoing.
“We are committed to righting the wrong of the past and have introduced legislation to quash all convictions resulting from the Horizon scandal, with the aim of achieving Royal Assent by July.”
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Angela van den Bogerd, the Post Office's former business improvement director, after giving evidence to the Horizon scandal inquiry, in central London, on Friday Credit: HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP