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The Independent
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Black Sabbath farewell show hit with controversy
Marilyn Manson 's video message during the Black Sabbath farewell show livestream caused controversy among viewers. In his message, Manson congratulated Ozzy Osbourne and expressed his honour to be part of the tribute. The appearance followed the cancellation of Manson's Brighton concert two weeks prior, due to pressure from campaign groups and an MP. Manson has faced allegations of rape, sexual assault, and bodily harm from multiple women, though a case against him was dropped in January. Many fans expressed outrage on social media regarding Manson's inclusion in the Black Sabbath event.
The Guardian
01-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
British overseas territories miss final deadline to crack down on ‘dirty money'
The UK is edging towards a constitutional showdown with some of its overseas territories after offshore financial havens missed a final deadline to introduce corporate transparency measures aimed at cracking down on 'dirty money'. Five overseas territories (OTs) including the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda had pledged to introduce registers of company ownership, accessible to those with a 'legitimate interest', by June this year. The measure is aimed at tackling the reputation of some of the UK's semi-autonomous island OTs for permitting 'criminals and kleptocrats' to hide their business dealings behind a web of corporate secrecy. Four of the territories failed to hit Monday's deadline, the latest in a series of delays to frustrate ministers trying to push through transparency upgrades. The government's patience with the BVIs is understood to be wearing thin, although officials are happier with the progress of Bermuda, Anguilla and Turks & Caicos. MPs and campaign groups advocating for tougher measures to fight financial crime hit out at all of the territories that missed the deadline. One MP accused the island havens of 'defying the will of parliament', while another called on the government to consider overriding the territories' autonomy by issuing an order in council. This is a rarely used instrument that must be issued by the king on the advice of the privy council, which comprises government ministers and other senior figures. One of the most high-profile occasions was in 2000 when an order in council was used to decriminalise homosexuality in five Caribbean territories. Ministers are understand to be refusing to rule out this option for territories that continue to drag their feet. Andrew Mitchell, a former shadow foreign secretary, said the government should now consider deploying the order. 'When overseas territories behave like this, it brings the whole UK family, and our status as a world-leading financial centre, into disrepute. Enough is enough,' he said. 'The UK government must now consider every tool at its disposal to ensure that when international agreements are disrespected by our overseas territories there are serious consequences.' Joe Powell, the leader of an all-party parliamentary group on corruption and responsible tax, is expected to write to the premier of the British Virgin Islands (BVIs) to express his concerns. Successive governments have been pushing OTs and a separate group of crown dependencies, such as Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, to introduce fully publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership (Parbos). At a meeting in London last November, five OTs promised to introduce legitimate interest access registers of beneficial interests (Liarbos) as a prelude to further steps. The MP Lloyd Hatton said the failure to do so by June meant that territories such as the BVIs were 'defying the will of parliament for the third time', a reference to previous deadlines for the legislation that have been missed. A coalition of anti-corruption campaign groups including Transparency International and Spotlight on Corruption said in a joint statement: 'This undermines the UK's credibility on anti-corruption, damages our economy, weakens our national security and fuels global injustice.' Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion They said the government should be prepared to 'escalate its response', understood to be a reference to an order in council. The group, which is known as the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition, has also raised concerns about draft proposals brought forward by the BVIs for the registers. These would notify company owners of requests to access their corporate data and would also allow them to apply for an exemption to disclosure, among other concerns. Margot Mollat, a senior manager at Transparency International UK, said: 'The BVIs' proposed access regime is not compatible with global corporate transparency efforts.' A spokesperson for the BVI government said: 'We believe that our recently announced legitimate interest policy, which enables access to beneficial ownership information, providing there is a legitimate interest for doing so, strikes the right and proportionate balance between the transparency necessary to combat illicit finance and the protection of individual privacy and security. 'In the absence of a single global standard, we have worked closely with a wide range of international partners and stakeholders throughout the development of this clear and transparent policy. The policy is now being implemented while allowing time for necessary system enhancements, ensuring a smooth and effective rollout.' Earlier this month, the BVIs were 'grey-listed' by the Financial Action Task Force, the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, indicating that the territory was under increased monitoring. A Foreign Office spokesperson said: 'Since day one, tackling illicit finance has been a top priority for this government. We therefore welcome the progress already made by many overseas territories in recent months in implementing more accessible registers of beneficial ownership as part of greater transparency efforts. They are showing commitment and leadership on this shared agenda. 'We have made very clear to our partners in the remaining overseas territories the importance of delivering on commitments they mutually agreed to – and have offered technical support to achieve this. We have also been clear that we expect rapid and robust action to be taken, given the crucial importance of tackling illicit finance and increasing transparency.'
BBC News
14-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Campaign groups seek protection from Leicester anti-social rules
Campaign groups have joined forces to write a letter to Leicester's city mayor seeking assurances they are exempt from a new anti-social behaviour city council put a new public spaces protection order (PSPO) in place from April to tackle issues including e-scooters, drinking, playing loud music and the groups, which include unions, political parties and other campaigners, fear the order could "constitute an unjustified limit on their democratic rights" as the ban also includes "unauthorised structures" such as banners, stalls and City Council said there were processes in place to allow freedom of speech, which remain unchanged under the new rules. The order, which is valid for three years, covers the city centre inside the ring road and includes Leicester railway station, all of New Walk and the area between London Road and Regent Road as far as Granville has given police and council officers greater powers to take enforcement action against anyone deemed to be causing a nuisance in the new rules also aim to clamp down on anyone who is either caught collecting for charity or who puts up a gazebo without prior permission from the city was introduced after more than 1,000 residents responded to a consultation, with nine of out 10 people supporting the action to address unlicensed amplification and of May, an individual breaching the order could be given a £100 on the spot fine, and the fixed penalty notice could rise to £1,000 if a prosecution results in a conviction. In the letter to Sir Peter Soulsby, the former city mayoral and socialist candidate, Steve Score, said on behalf of the organisations that many groups had regularly campaigned on Saturdays and at other times for decades and had "never been anti-social"."To prohibit these groups from peacefully, and without causing a public nuisance, carrying out their regular campaigning would constitute an unjustified limit on their democratic rights to free speech," he wrote."We are sure that you did not intend the PSPO to be used in this way, so we are seeking assurances that trade unions, campaign groups, political parties and others will be exempt from this PSPO."Last month, religious groups received warning notices for the way they promote their faith to told the BBC they were handed warnings for using loudspeakers and setting up street stalls and banners near the Clock of the groups said they felt they had been unfairly targeted as a public nuisance for exercising their right to religious free response, Sir Peter said the order did not ban religious groups from the city centre but aimed to deter them from "unnecessary and intensely irritating behaviour".In a statement the city council added: "The PSPO does not restrict freedom of speech but it does restrict the nuisance of amplifiers, gazebos and other structures that more than 1,100 respondents to our consultation told us negatively impacted their experience of Leicester city centre."Many groups have been respectful of this so far and, as a result, the environment in the city centre is noticeably improved."There are clear processes already in place to ensure that the right to protest can be freely exercised, which remain unchanged under the new arrangements."
