Category Archives: UK news

Bahraini award to UK envoy shows ‘our diplomats are up for grabs’, says peer

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Rights activists call UK ambassador ‘morally compromised’ for accepting honour from Bahraini king in apparent breach of Foreign Office rules

The British ambassador to Bahrain has been accused of breaching government rules over accepting an award by the Gulf state’s king, a move critics suggest signals diplomats and civil servants are “up for grabs”.

This week, the ambassador, Alastair Long, received the Order of Bahrain from King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, in recognition of his diplomatic tenure, which human rights activists and politicians say is in “direct breach” of the Foreign Office’s rules on accepting foreign awards.

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UK warehouse landlord Segro rejects £12.6bn takeover offer from US rival

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FTSE 100 firm says Prologis all-share proposal turned down as it falls long way short of its own views on value

The UK warehouse landlord Segro is at the centre of the latest transatlantic takeover battle after rejecting a £12.6bn takeover approach from the US rival Prologis.

Prologis has gone public with its offer for the FTSE 100 company after it was “unequivocally rejected” by Segro’s board on Tuesday despite valuing the company at almost 25% more than its market value at that day’s close.

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Darren Jones says bond markets should be ‘content’ with Burnham’s economic plans – UK politics live

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Chief secretary to PM rules out leadership bid as he says he has received reassurances from Burnham

London, Oldham, Bradford and Keighley are to be the first towns and cities investigated by the grooming gangs inquiry, the Press Association reports. PA says:

The £65m probe is investigating how grooming gangs operated and how police, councils, health services, social care services and schools responded.

The announcement confirmed which areas will first face so-called local investigations – where serious failures have been identified in response to child sexual exploitation by grooming gangs.

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Misan Harriman to step down as chair of Southbank Centre

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Harriman, accused by Telegraph of sharing conspiracy after Golders Green attack, says he had decided ‘way before this madness’ to stand down

Misan Harriman will not seek another term as chair of the Southbank Centre and is to step down in autumn after a month of intense pressure caused by accusations he shared a conspiracy about the Golders Green attack.

Harriman, who has held the position since 2021, confirmed in a social media post that he would not continue as chair beyond autumn.

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Nearly a quarter of voters in Europe now back far-right parties

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Analysis by more than 150 political scientists finds proportion who back such parties has increased nearly fivefold since 1995

Almost one in four voters in Europe now cast their ballot for far-right parties, research shows, a proportion that has grown nearly fivefold since the mid-1990s and climbed particularly steeply over the past three years.

Analysis by more than 150 political scientists in 31 countries found the proportion of Europeans voting for a far-right party in their country’s most recent national elections had risen to more than 23%, from about 10% a decade ago and roughly 5% in 1995.

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Heatwave pushes Great Britain’s grid operator to call for extra electricity from power plants

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Neso issues rare summer warning for Wednesday evening, as households turn on fans and air conditioning

Great Britain’s grid operator has released a rare summer power supply warning for Wednesday evening as the heatwave is expected to get more intense, putting pressure on the energy system.

The National Energy System Operator (Neso) issued an electricity margin notice late on Tuesday, asking power plant owners to provide any extra electricity, as the buffer between supply and expected demand comes under pressure.

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Darren Jones says he will not challenge Andy Burnham for Labour leadership

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Chief secretary to PM says he had been ‘reassured’ about Burnham’s economic plans after conversation with him

Andy Burnham has moved a step closer to becoming prime minister after Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, said he would not stand in a Labour leadership contest.

Jones, who had been mooted as a candidate who could put Burnham’s ideas to a test in a race, told Sky News that he had had a “reassuring conversation” with the newly elected MP for Makerfield about his economic policy plans.

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Europe’s heatwave drives electricity prices to new highs as demand soars

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Great Britain has paid at least six times the normal price for imported power as millions turn on air conditioning and windfarm output sags

The heatwave has prompted a sharp rise in electricity prices across European markets as millions turn to air conditioners and electric fans to battle record high temperatures, which have also caused a string of power plant outages across the continent.

Great Britain imported electricity from Europe at more than six times the normal price on Tuesday as the high-pressure heat dome has slowed wind speeds, hitting renewable energy generation, and led to outages at multiple gas plants across the country.

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Searing UK heat leaves schools, hospitals and transport networks struggling to cope

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Temperature on Tuesday hits high of 34.6C in Surrey, England, with heatwave forecast to get more intense on Wednesday and Thursday

Searing heat has swept the UK with schools, hospitals, transport networks and water companies struggling to cope with the extreme temperatures caused by climate breakdown.

Temperatures hit highs of 34.6C in Wisley in Surrey, the Met Office said, with the UN chief warning that London was “cooking”.

Reduced rail speeds and services.

Hospital patient appointments cancelled.

School closures across southern England and Wales.

Hosepipe bans in south-east England.

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UK prioritised ties with UAE over averting mass atrocities in Sudan, MPs to be told

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Foreign Office failed to act on warnings of genocide due to ‘pressure’ from emirates, Yale human rights investigator will tell a parliamentary select committee

The British government had received intelligence that Ethiopia appeared to be supporting a genocidal militia in Sudan’s civil war as far back as 2024 but did not go public with the news for fear of upsetting the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a parliamentary committee will hear.

In May 2024, officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) told Nathaniel Raymond, an American human rights investigator at Yale University, that “significant private pressure” from the UAE meant the UK would not publicly divulge information linking Ethiopia and the emirates to their support for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

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Keir Starmer tells cabinet he wants to ‘resolve difficult issues’ before leaving No 10 – UK politics live

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Prime minister gives fresh indication of his intention to finalise and publish defence investment plan before leaving office

Peter Walker is a senior Guardian political correspondent.

The Liberal Democrats are marking the tenth anniversary of Brexit by enjoying their favourite pursuit – being rude about Nigel Farage.

Nigel Farage pocketed a £5m “reward” for the damage he’s caused, while the rest of us are paying for it dearly. When he promised we would be better off, he clearly only meant himself. We are taking over billboards across the UK today to say enough is enough.

Key to a serious Jones run seems to what he makes of Burnham’s economic policies in the coming days - including public control of utilities. And whether Ed Miliband ends up as chancellor.

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Nigel Farage: I can spend £5m gift on Ferraris or bet on horses if I want

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Reform leader says it is ‘purely private matter’ and it is not hypocritical to criticise Keir Starmer for receiving glasses

Nigel Farage has said his £5m gift from a crypto billionaire is “not any of your business” as it was given unconditionally to be spent on anything from Ferraris to gambling on horses.

The Reform UK leader bristled at questions about the £5m gift from the British Thai-based businessman Christopher Harborne in two radio interviews on Tuesday, saying it was “a purely private matter”.

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Royal Mail boss’s pay package triples to £6.9m despite profits slide

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Martin Seidenberg, chief executive of parent company IDS, handed payouts after takeover of UK postal service

The boss of Royal Mail’s parent company received almost £7m in pay and bonuses last year – more than triple the previous figure – despite group profits slumping by a fifth.

Martin Seidenberg, group chief executive of International Distribution Services (IDS), took home £6.9m in pay, bonus and long-term incentive scheme awards in the year to 31 March, compared with £2.1m the previous year.

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Artificial intelligence law firm wins court case in England for first time

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Company hails victory for freelancer over unpaid debt as ‘landmark moment’ for access to justice

An artificial intelligence law firm has won a case in an English court, in what is believed to be the first time a trial has been won using an AI lawyer.

A freelance HR consultant, Tamires Camal Taquidir, paid the firm, called Garfield AI, about £400 to send a legal letter and then issue court proceedings over an unpaid debt of £7,000.

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Man charged with terrorism-linked attempted murders after Edinburgh attacks

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Lewis Hawkes, 36, charged with five counts of attempted murder ‘aggravated by reason of having a terrorist connection’

A 36-year-old man has been charged with five counts of attempted murder “aggravated by reason of having a terrorist connection” after a series of attacks in Edinburgh last Friday.

Lewis Hawkes has also been charged with assault and robbery, two counts of breach of the peace and two counts of culpable and reckless conduct, all of which were also aggravated by reason of a terrorist connection.

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Two children found dead in car in France as heatwave hits Europe

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Number of countries issue alerts with sustained and rising temperatures expected to present danger to health

Two children aged four and two have been found dead in their family’s car in south-eastern France, the local prosecutor said, as a large swathe of western Europe suffers a ferocious heatwave forecast to shatter absolute temperature records.

“The causes of death are yet to be determined, but the heat is the leading line of inquiry,” said Hélène Mourges, the prosecutor in the town of Carpentras, where the temperature was expected to exceed 39C (102.2F) on Monday afternoon.

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European leaders pay tribute to Starmer as EU-UK summit is postponed

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Ursula von der Leyen, Friedrich Merz and Volodymyr Zelenskyy say British PM helped increase security

European leaders have paid tribute to Keir Starmer after he announced his resignation as the British prime minister, triggering the postponement of an upcoming EU-UK summit.

The European Council president, António Costa, said: “For sure we need to postpone it, but we are reassessing the opportunity to hold this new summit …

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AI models that can take down governments and business months away, rare Five Eyes statement warns

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Signal agencies in Australia, the US, the UK, New Zealand and Canada sound alarm after Trump blocks foreign nationals from Anthropic’s Fable AI model

Powerful AI models capable of taking down governments and businesses are mere months away, cyber intelligence agencies for the Five Eyes have warned in a rare joint statement, urging leaders to “act now”.

The surprising public intervention by signals agencies for Australia, the US, the UK, New Zealand and Canada comes after the Trump administration earlier this month decided to block “foreign nationals” from using a much-hyped AI model built by tech company Anthropic, called Fable.

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Keir Starmer expected to announce resignation timetable, paving way for Burnham premiership – UK politics live

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It’s still unclear whether there will be a leadership contest or an uncontested handover of power

All the national newspapers are splashing on the fate of Keir Starmer. The BBC has a summary including pictures of all the front pages. Two papers, the Times and the Daily Telegraph, have headlines saying Burnham wants to be PM by September.

Alex Burghart, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, was on the Today programme this morning putting the Conservative party’s case on Keir Starmer being replaced. He said having a new PM would not make much difference because the government’s problems were down to the views of Labour MPs. He said:

Constitutionally there doesn’t have to be a general election, you can change prime ministers. What matters is whether the prime minister has the support of MPs in parliament.

But I have to say that there, it’s not just Keir Starmer’s legitimacy that is being called into question, it’s Labour’s.

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Monday briefing: What’s next for no-drama Starmer as his ‘political challenges’ pile up?

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In today’s newsletter: Our senior political correspondent talks about how the coming days and weeks may unfold for the Labour government, and how Keir Starmer ended up the most unpopular prime minister in memory

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Good morning. Today’s the day, probably. Keir Starmer is expected to announce that he will step down as prime minister, after overwhelming pressure from Labour MPs to make way for Andy Burnham to become party leader.

This follows the Manchester mayor’s emphatic victory in last Thursday’s Makerfield byelection, where he leveraged his popularity and the prevailing anti-Starmer mood to secure more votes than Reform and Restore combined, cementing his credentials as the man who can take on the hard right in the next general election.

Middle East | High-stakes talks between the US and Iran are expected to continue for the rest of the week in Switzerland, after a tense start that saw Iranian negotiators walk out in protest at a stream of threats issued by Donald Trump on social media.

Edinburgh | Police Scotland said a man was charged after a series of attacks in Edinburgh on Friday night that are being treated as potential anti-Muslim hate crimes. Counter-terrorism officers were brought in to investigate the attacks in which five people were injured.

UK weather | The Met Office forecasts that extremely high temperatures could last from Monday until Thursday, leading to health concerns for elderly and vulnerable people.

UK news | Police have named the driver killed in the Bedford train crash on Friday, as his family said they “are devastated by his loss”.

Prisons | Pet ferrets kept as therapy animals at the UK’s largest children’s prison have been co-opted by managers to kill rats, resulting in a bloody incident and concerns over child and animal welfare.

Tuesday | This day marks the 10 years since the UK voted to leave the EU. A Guardian report analysing the complex legacy of Brexit through boats, bankers and borders is a good place to consider the legacy of leaving the EU.

Tuesday | Also this day, Peter Murrell, the ex-chief executive of the SNP, is likely to be sentenced to prison custody after pleading guilty to embezzling more than £400,000 from the party.

Wednesday | Donna Ockenden will publish her review of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Britain’s biggest maternity care scandal.

Friday | Kings Charles will become the first head of state to reveal their personal tax bill, and will release other financial reports for the royal household.

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