MPs have approved a motion to declare an environment and climate emergency.
This proposal, which demonstrates the will of the Commons on the issue but does not legally compel the government to act, was approved without a vote.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who tabled the motion, said it was "a huge step forward".
Environment Secretary Michael Gove acknowledged there was a climate "emergency" but did not back Labour's demands to declare one.
The declaration of an emergency was one of the key demands put to the government by environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion, in a series of protests over recent weeks.
Addressing climate protesters from the top of a fire engine in Parliament Square earlier, Mr Corbyn said: "This can set off a wave of action from parliaments and governments around the globe.
"We pledge to work as closely as possible with countries that are serious about ending the climate catastrophe and make clear to US President Donald Trump that he cannot ignore international agreements and action on the climate crisis."
What is a climate emergency?
Dozens of towns and cities across the UK have already declared "a climate emergency".
There is no single definition of what that means but many local areas say they want to be carbon-neutral by 2030.
Some councils have promised to introduce electric car hubs or build sustainable homes to try to achieve that goal.
It's a much more ambitious target than the UK government's, which is to reduce carbon emissions by 80% (compared to 1990 levels) by 2050.
Labour's motion also calls on the government to aim to achieve net-zero emissions before 2050 and for ministers to outline urgent proposals to restore the UK's natural environment and deliver a "zero waste economy" within the next six months.
The Welsh and Scottish governments have both already declared a climate emergency, along with dozens of towns and cities, including Manchester and London.
The Royal Navy is testing a strikingly steampunk mechanical energy system for its Dragonfire Laser Directed Energy Weapon on its most advanced ships. And the new system’s design originally came from an unlikely source: the Williams Formula 1 team.
The Royal Navy is hoping its new Flywheel Energy Storage System (FESS) will reduce the impact on the rest of the ship when it needs to draw huge amounts of power for the energy weapon — while avoiding safety concerns such as lithium batteries starting fires on board a ship.
“This technology was originally developed by the Williams F1 team,” said U.K. military spokesperson Andrew Tate in a press release. “We saw an attractive option to bolster defence capability through the provision of more robust and futureproof power systems for naval ships.”
Flywheel Energy
The Dragonfire itself is a powerful 50 kW laser that could “protect our maritime and land forces” from “missiles or soldiers from enemy mortars,” according to the Ministry of Defense, as quoted by the UK Defence Journal.
But such a beast of a weapon on board a warship poses an engineering challenge. To meet its energy requirements, a coalition between U.S. and U.K. researchers decided to take advantage of the FESS, a system that “uses innovative high-speed & lightweight flywheels to provide high-power electrical pulses that these future systems require,” according to a press release.
The most common use of a flywheel is inside a car’s transmission. It stores rotational energy when the clutch is disengaged, and can transfer that energy back once its engaged again after a gear change.
In the same way, energy needed to fire a laser could be stored by a number of flywheels.
The Department for Transport is cancelling contracts to provide extra ferry services after Brexit.
Ending the contracts with Brittany Ferries and DFDS could cost the taxpayer more than £50m.
The government bought £89m worth of capacity from the two firms. Some of that capacity might be sold, but millions of pounds could be lost.
The contracts were designed to ease pressure on the port of Dover, by creating extra services at other ports.
In February, the DfT was forced to axe its £13.8m contract with a third company, Seaborne Freight, which the BBC found had never sailed a vessel.
Earlier this year, the National Audit Office estimated that the cancellation costs of all the ferry contracts would be £56.6m.
The cost is likely to only be several million pounds less than this.
A government spokesperson said: "The termination of these contracts has resulted in less cost to the taxpayer than the termination costs reported by the NAO."
The government was also forced to pay £33m to Eurotunnel, to settle a case which challenged the procurement process for the ferry contracts.
In addition, the DfT is now facing legal action from P&O Ferries, which says its rival, Eurotunnel, was given a competitive advantage by the government.
'We needed to be ready'
Mr Grayling, the Transport Secretary, said the cancelled contracts were part of a £4bn no-deal "insurance policy" the government had put in place.
"People would expect a responsible government to take out an insurance policy, and that's what we've done, to make sure we can deal with all the challenges in a no-deal Brexit.
"We never wanted it, we never worked for it, but we sure as certain needed to be ready for it," he said.
If extra cross-Channel freight services are needed again in the run-up to the new Brexit deadline in October, the government could have to negotiate a new set of contracts, he said.
Grayling under fire
Labour shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said the contracts will be "a case study in ministerial incompetence" on the part of Mr Grayling.
"The Transport Secretary's approach to procurement and planning has cost taxpayers tens, if not, hundreds of millions of pounds. His career as a minister has left a trail of scorched earth and billions of pounds of public money wasted.
It is calling on ministers to provide additional funding for older teenagers in education and to extend free childcare to more low income families.
The government said it would take the recommendations seriously.
The findings will come as a setback to Theresa May who promised to tackle the "burning injustice" of social inequality when she entered Downing Street in 2016.
However, the following year all of the commissioners on the Social Mobility Commission - set up in 2010 to monitor and promote social mobility - resigned, saying the government was too focused on Brexit to deal with creating a fairer Britain.
Dame Martina Milburn, who has since been appointed as the new chairwoman, said she sensed there was now "a real commitment" from the government.
However, she said the biggest concern was not stagnation but that the problem might actually get worse.
"There's still a big shift - if you want to be socially mobile - towards London," she told BBC Radio Four's Today programme.
"I think you're three times more likely to move to London if you're from a professional background than if you're from a working class background."
Education Secretary Damian Hinds said he welcomed the "thorough" report - the first since the new commissioners were appointed - but stopped short of saying the government would adopt all of its recommendations.
He told the Today programme that social mobility was "a very difficult thing to move" but he was now focused on improving prospects for the generation currently coming through school.
The report recommends:
a "significant increase" in funding for all 16 to 19-year-olds in education, with a special "student premium" for the disadvantaged
extending the offer of 30 hours of free childcare a week to cover households where one parent is working eight hours a week - currently one parent must work at least 16 hours
the government agreeing to pay the voluntary living wage to all of its employees and contracted workers, including cleaners and catering staff
The report found those from better-off backgrounds were almost 80% more likely to be in a professional job than their working class peers.
It said the proportion of people from professional backgrounds who were in professional jobs was 60% last year.
In contrast, only 34% of those from working class backgrounds had professional jobs last year. And both figures had changed only slightly over the past four years.
"Being born privileged means you are likely to remain privileged," said Dame Martina, who is also chief executive of the Prince's Trust.
"But being born disadvantaged means you may have to overcome a series of barriers to ensure you and your children are not stuck in the same trap."
The commission said an increasing number of students from low-income families were entering university by the age of 19. That proportion has now reached 26%, compared with 43% of better-off peers.
But five years after graduating, those graduates who had been on free school meals at school were in jobs that earned 11.5% less than other graduates, the report said.
Easier for the better-off to grab opportunities
Career progression and better-paid work is more likely if people move regions - particularly if they go to London, the data shows.
Too often provincial towns and cities don't have the employment infrastructure to ensure career progression, notably in professions like law and accountancy.
Those from wealthier backgrounds are more likely to be able to make that kind of move, with the resources and support to grab opportunities wherever they may be.
Poorer people often struggle to afford to leave their home region.
Some believe devolving power and prestige to local government and combined authorities is the way to ensure a more even spread of growth and new jobs - and make the country less reliant on London.
In England, the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine are initiatives to achieve just that within the wider industrial strategy.
But there are concerns that not enough resources are available to achieve significant structural change.
The report found barriers to getting a top job were there from the start - about a half (52%) of disadvantaged teenagers leave school without basic qualifications and many get stuck in low-paid work.
Adult education could help to redress that, said the report, but almost all forms of adult education have been in decline since 2010.
One route to a better-paid job was to move to another part of the country but those from professional backgrounds were more likely to make such a move, the report said.
There were also longer-term concerns that divisions could worsen as low-paid and low-skilled jobs were more likely to become automated in the future.
The education secretary said employment had risen in every UK region under this government, wages were outstripping inflation, the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has narrowed and the proportion of 16 and 17-year-olds in education or apprenticeships was at its highest ever.
Dr John Goldthorpe, from the University of Oxford, said social mobility can be both upward and downward - and the rate of downward mobility was rising.
He explained that from the 1950s to 1980s, the number of professional and managerial jobs increased - meaning there was "more room at the top" for people to move up into. But from the 1990s, the rate of growth in professional jobs has slowed - so there is less room at the top and more competition for those jobs.
"For young people today, the objective chances of upward mobility are less than they were for their parents or grandparents," said Dr Goldthorpe, who co-wrote the book Social Mobility and Education in Britain.
New research from British insolvency firm Begbies Traynor revealed that 484,000 U.K. businesses are in "significant financial distress," which is 14% of all the economically active firms in the country.
The "Red Flag Alert" data also showed that the number of firms in "critical" distress, often a precursor to formal insolvency, rose by 17% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019, prompting concerns that the U.K. could suffer a broader economic slowdown.
Property was the hardest hit sector, with 48,182 companies in significant financial distress, up from 42,512 in the first quarter of 2018, a 13% year-on-year increase.
Construction, often portrayed as the bellwether of the British economy, saw a 10% year-on-year rise in significantly distressed businesses, while financial services had 12,728 businesses affected, a 5% increase from the same period last year.
Julie Palmer, a partner at Begbies Traynor, said the incline in distress for capital intensive sectors such as construction and property was "bad news for the economy," as construction accounts for 17% of all U.K. businesses, employs 2.5 million people and contributes 6% of the nation's economic output.
"Worryingly this data shows that this economic malaise is spreading to the U.K.'s dominant services sector and does need to be stopped in its tracks by a combination of political certainty and a commitment to support U.K. business, particularly SMEs (small to medium-sized businesses) which are the 'engine room' of the U.K. economy," she said.
Executive Chairman Ric Traynor said Brexit uncertainty had hindered business growth and investment, but also highlighted that a combination of faltering European economies and a potential trade war between Europe and the U.S. could have a wider impact on U.K. businesses than its domestic issues.
But he suggested that record high employment figures and growing GDP (gross domestic product) showed the country's "economic foundations remain strong."
"If the government is able to right the ship over the next few months, providing greater certainty to businesses and regaining consumer confidence, then there is still time to head to calmer waters and avoid a storm," he said.
Barclays Chief U.K. Economist Fabrice Montagne, however, suggested that the U.K. picture across the first quarter of this year was not as bleak as the insolvency data suggested.
In a note published Friday, Montagne said that evidence of Brexit-related stockpiling, previously only implied in sentiment surveys, had become more evident in the hard data and boosted activity figures.
"GDP growth was robust through January and February as was job creation with the unemployment rate dipping to 3.9% while retail sales were exceptionally strong in March," Montagne said.
"Overall, the data support a strong Q1 GDP print, with some upside risks to the forecast of 0.4% quarter on quarter."
Against a backdrop of a less favorable global environment, a further adjustment in domestic demand means that Barclays economists are forecasting low levels of headline growth for a longer period of time.
Yet Montagne and his team are not forecasting a recession, rather GDP growth of 1.2% for 2019 and 1.2% for 2020.
The company behind the world's longest aircraft, Airlander 10, has been awarded more than £1 million ($1.3 million) to convert it into an all-electric vehicle. The test version of the slightly obscene-looking British blimp was retired back in January to make way for a production model, and it looks like said model will scrap combustion for a greener type of flight.
The project has been funded by the UK Aerospace Research and Technology Programme and is nicknamed E-HAV1 after Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), the company that makes the 302-foot combination of airplane and airship. However, as with everything that's happened to Airlander 10 so far, it probably won't be smooth sailing.
Aviation consultant Tony Dixon isn't convinced £1 million will be enough for the ambitious project, which will use the combined expertise of HAV, Collins Aerospace and the University of Nottingham to replace the blimp's engines with electric propulsion.
This will require creating a full-sized 500kW electric engine, work which will likely take years to complete. When ready, the craft will "support a broad range of activities from passenger travel to fisheries protection," says HAV.
The test version of Airlander 10 flew just six times, two of which ended badly: it hit the ground on its second ever outing, and on another occasion managed to hurt someone when it broke away and deflated.
The project to turn the aircraft electric is part of HAV's plan to reduce the carbon footprint of flying and "move us closer to our goal of zero-carbon aviation," says Chief Executive Stephen McGlennan. The new design for the electric aircraft is underway now, and production will commence shortly.
Jan Rostowski, former Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland, who will stand as a Change UK candidate in the 2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom.Reuters
Change UK candidate and former Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jan Rostowski speaks to Business Insider.
Rostowski says he has joined the party because of Brexit is a "fulcrum point" in European history.
He says he has "fundamentally" changed his views on homosexuality in recent years, following controversial comments unearthed this week.
Rostowski believes that Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage could one day become prime minister.
LONDON — Jan Rostowski has witnessed his fair share of decisive historical moments.
The politician was born and raised in the UK but moved to his parents' native Poland to help steer the country through a dramatic shift in its political landscape. He served first as an adviser to the country's finance minister from 1989 to 1991 — when the country was making its transition from communism to a market economy — and later as the country's Conservative finance minister himself.
That appointment came in 2007, one year before the financial crisis upturned the global economy and ripped apart the established political order. He would later serve as the country's deputy prime minister.
Now, he has returned to London to try to stop Brexit, which he calls "the worst thing that has happened in Western Europe since the Second World War." He is standing as a London candidate in the upcoming European elections for Change UK - The Independent Group, the upstart anti-Brexit outfit founded earlier this year by disaffected Labour and Conservative MPs.
"I have always, in my political life, felt it's really critical that you try and take part in those fulcrum points in history," he tells Business Insider.
"This is another one of those historical moments. It's bad for Britain, and it could also be very bad for Europe."
Why is Rostowski running to become an MEP? Principally, to try and force a second EU referendum as part of the political group which calls itself the "Remain alliance."
"The lie was that you could have your cake and eat it. The lie was that you could have frictionless trade without the obligations of membership," he says.
"This is the fundamental argument for a People's Vote. We've seen what that lie is."
He also believes the EU referendum in 2016 will lead to nothing less than "the collapse of the present party political system" in Britain, and worries about the space it is creating for figures like Nigel Farage to make a run on Downing Street in a future general election.
I would not exclude the possibility that, sometime down the road, [Farage] will walk in through that black door, light up a fag and ask for a pint of Guinness," he says.
Conservative and Labour attempts to find a popular Brexit position among divided voters are already causing havoc with poll ratings, with nascent political movements like Change UK and Farage's new Brexit Party aiming to sweep up support from a deeply polarised electorate.
"After all this, I would not exclude the possibility that, sometime down the road, [Farage] will walk in through that black door, light up a fag and ask for a pint of Guinness," he says.
Rostowski says he has plenty to offer as an MEP because he knows "really well" how the EU works.
His time as Poland's finance minister, from 2007 to 2013, saw him attend over dozens of meetings of ECOFIN, the EU's council of finance ministers. There, he learned a truth widely acknowledged that now seems ironic: British negotiators were masters at extracting the best deal possible from the EU.
"I know just how incredibly good the British were at getting their interests across the line within the European Union. They were absolutely the best negotiators," he says.
He recalls one argument where British negotiators locked horns with French and German colleagues over financial clearing houses. "At one point the French ambassador was almost in tears," he said.
"When the British really cared about something, they would just outplay [their counterparts]. It was unbelievable, it really was. That's why some people in Europe are annoyed [with Brexit]. Because Britain had the best deal of any country in the whole of the European Union. And Britain just turned around and said, no thanks."
Change UK has had a rocky start to its European elections campaign. Two candidates have already been forced to withdraw from the race for comments amid allegations of past racist behaviour.
Rostowski has himself come under fire for comments made during a 2011 interview in which he stated his opposition to gay marriage on the basis that "a stable society is based on heterosexual relations." He says he has changed his opinion "fundamentally" since then.
"My views have fundamentally changed," he says.
"I'm a Conservative and Conservatives change their views."
Change UK faces an uphill battle in its bid for success in the European elections on May 23, should they go ahead.
Farage's Brexit Party, with its clear anti-EU position, has had an explosive start, surging to the top of some polls in the upcoming European elections.
The elections, which were due to be scrapped had Britain left the EU on March 29 as originally intended, are now set to be held in the UK next month following May's decision to delay Brexit until October.
Change UK, on the other hand, has had a more challenging start to life, registering in the low single figures in some national polls as it struggles to forge a unique identity.
"I hope we're polling on a lot more [than 9%] as this clarifies," Rostowski says.
"If the party political system is going to collapse, you want it to collapse in a good way rather than a bad way."
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