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The government prevented the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, passed by the Scottish parliament, from proceeding to royal assent, under Section 35 of the Scotland Act, because of its ‘serious adverse impact’ on the operation of the Equality Act 2010. It was blocked by a statutory instrument laid before parliament by the Scottish Secretary, Alister Jack. The Scottish National party leader in the Commons, Stephen Flynn, called opponents to the bill ‘rabid gammon’. Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, sought judicial review. Rishi Sunak, the British Prime Minister, had visited Scotland a few days before to help some Sea Scouts toast marshmallows and to have dinner with Ms Sturgeon. Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour party, said he had concerns about the bill too, ‘in particular the age reduction to 16’ and the rejection of ‘our amendment in relation to the Equalities Act’.

An armed officer in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, David Carrick, aged 48, pleaded guilty to 24 charges of rape and 25 other sexual offences. The Metropolitan Police had not stopped him even though nine incidents, including allegations of rape and domestic violence, were brought to their attention between 2000 and 2021. Under backbench pressure, the government accepted an amendment to the Online Safety Bill that could sentence social media executives to prison terms if they repeatedly failed to protect children from online harm. Nurses, teachers and court officials went on strike. The RMT union announced fresh rail strikes on 1 and 3 February. The Royal Mail advised people not to try to post international letters and parcels after its computer systems were severely disrupted by ransomware linked to Russian criminals. Ronald Blythe, the author of Akenfield (1969), a portrait of a Suffolk village, died aged 100. Paul Johnson, the journalist who edited the New Statesman before falling out with Labour, died aged 94.

Britain’s gross domestic product grew unexpectedly, by 0.1 per cent, making the contraction in the three months to November 0.3 per cent. Inflation fell to 10.5 per cent from 10.7 per cent. Unemployment rose to 3.7 per cent in the quarter ending in November, from 3.5 per cent in the previous quarter. A ban on single-use plastic cutlery, plates and bowls in food outlets would come into force in October, the government said. Marks & Spencer is to open eight stores, five on former Debenhams sites, and take on 3,400 staff. Byron Burger is closing nine outlets, leaving 12; in 2018 it operated 67.

Abroad

Russia replaced General Sergei Surovikin (appointed in October as commander for the war in Ukraine) with General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff. A Russian missile destroyed a block of flats at Dnipro; 44 bodies were recovered and other people were missing. The Ukrainian interior minister died in a helicopter crash. Rishi Sunak told President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine that Britain would send 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine. Poland planned to send 14 of its German-made Leopard tanks, but needed Germany’s permission for their export.

China reported 59,938 Covid-related deaths between 8 December and 12 January; the figures refer only to deaths at medical facilities. A study by Peking University found that about 900 million people in China had been infected with coronavirus by 11 January. China’s population fell in 2022 for the first time since 1961, by 850,000 to 1.4118 billion. Iran hanged a British-Iranian man, Alireza Akbari, whom it accused of spying. A flight from Kathmandu crashed while approaching the airport at Pokhara in Nepal, killing all 72 on board. Japan is to release 1.3 million tons of water into the sea from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant, satisfied at its level of radioactivity. Another five pages of classified material were found at the family home of President Joe Biden of the United States, relating to his time as Barack Obama’s vice-president. A document with classified markings had also been found in the garage where Mr Biden keeps his 1960s Chevrolet Corvette sports car, in addition to those found in December and November. Republicans made much of the discoveries because the former president Donald Trump has been investigated by the Justice Department for keeping more than 300 classified files at Mar-a-Lago. Gina Lollobrigida, the film actress, died aged 95. Mexico extended its ban on smoking to parks and beaches.