Category Archives: UK news

Crown questions to fore as king visits Canada amid tensions with Trump

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Charles to open parliament in show of support at a crucial time – but that has not quieted a chorus of critical voices

The decision by King Charles to formally open Canada’s parliament on Tuesday reflects his role as a “steadfast defender” of the country amid threats to its sovereignty, says prime minister Mark Carney.

But Indigenous leaders say the rare visit is also a reminder that Canada’s founding relationship between the monarchy and the country’s first peoples cannot ever be “forgotten or displaced or broken”.

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‘A steamy wrestle’: Guardian article inspires play on Shakespeare and Marlowe collaboration

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Exclusive: Born With Teeth by Liz Duffy Adams, coming to West End, imagines rival dramatists working together

A Guardian report on William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe being literary rivals and collaborators has inspired a play that will be staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in London’s West End this summer.

The RSC’s co-artistic director Daniel Evans will direct Born With Teeth by Liz Duffy Adams, an Irish-American playwright, who has imagined two of the greatest dramatists of all time working together, wrestling creatively, both envious and admiring of each other.

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Academic with apparent ties to Beijing has forged links within UK parliament

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Exclusive: Prof Yu Xiong, who has met king and queen and attended House of Lords events, apparently linked to CCP influence group

An academic with apparent connections to the Chinese Communist party has forged links inside the UK parliament and met King Charles and Queen Camilla.

Yu Xiong, a professor of business analytics at the University of Surrey and a cryptocurrency entrepreneur, has attended a dozen events in the House of Lords since 2022 and had regular contact with peers including Baroness Uddin, a cross-bencher.

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Starwatch: Venus will be unmistakably brilliant in the predawn sky this week

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The planet will reach its maximum western elongation from the sun, making it visible in the early hours

Venus will reach maximum western elongation from the sun on 31 May. Maximum elongation means that it appears as far from the sun as it can, making it the most easily visible. The fact that it is to the sun’s west means that it is visible in the morning sky.

From the UK, Venus rises at about 03.15 BST, giving an observing window of about an hour from 03.30 BST. The sun rises at about 04.45 BST, and no observations should be undertaken once the sun is in the sky because permanent eye damage can occur from looking at its fiery surface.

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Taxpayers set for £10bn loss on NatWest as disgraced ex-boss takes £600k-a-year pension

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Government expected to sell last shares in banking group this week, drawing a line under 2008 financial crisis bailout

Fred “the Shred” Goodwin, the disgraced ex-boss of Royal Bank of Scotland, is estimated to be receiving an annual pension worth nearly £600,000, as the government prepares to declare a £10bn loss after selling its final stake in the bank as early as this week.

The banking group, now known as NatWest, is expected to return to full private ownership within days, drawing a line under a £45bn state bailout that saved the bank from the brink of collapse at the height of the 2008 financial crisis.

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About £1bn in car loan compensation at risk because data deleted, lawyers warn

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Lenders’ routine purging after six years means details of some car buyers due compensation may have been lost

Consumers are at risk of losing £1bn of compensation over inflated car loans because high street banks and specialist lenders deleted their data, claims lawyers have warned.

Borrowers, banks and the government are anxiously awaiting a ruling from the supreme court that could spark one of the biggest redress schemes since the £50bn payment protection insurance (PPI) saga.

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Record number of Americans are seeking residency in UK, according to Home Office

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Nearly 2,000 applications for British citizenship submitted since since January, when Donald Trump took office

During the 12 months leading up to March, more than 6,000 US citizens have applied to either become British subjects or to live and work in the country indefinitely – the highest number since comparable records began in 2004, according to data released on Thursday by the UK’s Home Office.

Over the period, 6,618 Americans applied for British citizenship – with more than 1,900 of the applications received between January and March, most of which has been during the beginning of Donald Trump’s second US presidency.

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Families oppose ‘horrific’ plan for Highgate cemetery toilet block

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Relatives of late actor Tim Pigott-Smith among those threatening to exhume remains over redevelopment

Families who have relatives buried in Highgate cemetery have threatened to exhume the remains of their loved ones over plans to build a toilet block on the burial ground as part of an £18m redevelopment of the UK’s most visited graveyard.

Among those opposed to the plans are the family of the actor Tim Pigott-Smith, who described the project, which also includes the building of a new gardener’s hut, as “horrific”.

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What are public parks for? Inside the debate sparked by London festival row

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Differing interpretations of public access rights are at heart of Brockwell case pitting campaign group against festival fans

Public parks have been a cherished part of British life since the 19th century; for the Victorians they represented a “commitment to cultivate public good within the public realm”.

But differing interpretations of this vision for municipal green space are at the heart of a debate over a very 21st-century issue: music festivals.

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UK employees work from home more than most global peers, study finds

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Exclusive: Staff in Britain now average 1.8 days a week of remote working, above global average of 1.3 days

UK workers continue to work from home more than nearly any of their global counterparts more than five years after the pandemic first disrupted traditional office life, a study has found.

UK employees now average 1.8 days a week of remote working, above the international average of 1.3 days, according to the Global Survey of Working Arrangements (G-SWA), a worldwide poll of more than 16,000 full-time, university-educated workers across Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa that began in July 2021.

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Thousands support Kneecap at first big gig since terrorism charge

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Irish-language rap trio perform at London festival after member charged for allegedly displaying Hezbollah flag

• Kneecap review – rap trio remain unbowed by terror charge

Thousands of fans showed up to support Kneecap at a festival they headlined on Friday night, days after one of its members was charged with a terror offence.

The Irish-language act performed at the Wide Awake festival in Brockwell Park, south London, two days after band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, 27, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was charged for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig in London in November.

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Thousands support Kneecap at first big gig since terrorism charge

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Irish-language rap trio perform at London festival after member charged for allegedly displaying Hezbollah flag

• Kneecap review – rap trio remain unbowed by terror charge

Thousands of fans showed up to support Kneecap at a festival they headlined on Friday night, days after one of its members was charged with a terror offence.

The Irish-language act performed at the Wide Awake festival in Brockwell Park, south London, two days after band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, 27, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was charged for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig in London in November.

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Labour blocks proposal for ‘swift bricks’ in all new homes

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MPs had previously backed Conservative amendment to ask developers to provide hollow bricks for endangered birds

Providing every new home with at least one “swift brick” to help endangered cavity-nesting birds has been rejected by Labour at the committee stage of its increasingly controversial planning bill.

The amendment to the bill to ask every developer to provide a £35 hollow brick for swifts, house martins, sparrows and starlings, which was tabled by Labour MP Barry Gardiner, has been rejected by the Labour-dominated committee.

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British students at Harvard report ‘growing anxiety’ over US government attacks

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Trump administration’s effort to ban foreign enrolment could force students to disrupt their studies and careers

British and international students at Harvard report “growing anxiety” over their fate, as the Trump administration’s latest attack on the university could force them to disrupt their studies and careers.

On Thursday, the administration said it would revoke Harvard University’s eligibility to enrol international students, which was later temporarily frozen by a US federal judge on Friday.

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British Chagossians accuse UK government of betrayal over sovereignty deal

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Bertrice Pompe and Bernadette Dugasse won a brief victory in bid to stop transfer of Chagos Islands to Mauritius

Two women who brought an 11th-hour legal challenge to try to stop the UK transferring sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius have accused the government of betrayal.

British Chagossians Bertrice Pompe, 54, and Bernadette Dugasse, 68, who were both born on the largest of the islands, Diego Garcia, vowed to keep fighting to try to realise their dream of returning to their place of birth.

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‘Better than anything’: Tottenham fans toast Europa League win

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Supporters gather in north London to celebrate end to football club’s 17-year wait for trophy

For the first time in nearly two decades, a trophy arrived in north London without any red ribbons attached. The streets were a sea of white as thousands of fans descended on the Tottenham Hotspur stadium to celebrate the team’s Europa League triumph.

It was a blissful atmosphere as supporters gathered to toast an end to the club’s 17-year wait for silverware, each one uttering the same seven-letter word: “Finally.”

Frank Hunter had been to Bilbao, not bothering to book a hotel and instead making use of the Basque city’s park benches for sleep as he and his friends endured what he called “the most excruciating experience” of his life. But he said it was all worth it.

“Words can’t describe what it means to see all the boys all together, celebrating – it’s the best day,” said Frank. “To have days like this with your family is unreal. Here’s to many more.”

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No 10 delays child poverty strategy with tens of thousands more facing hardship

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Exclusive: Flagship policy put back until at least autumn amid fears cost of removing two-child benefit cap will outweigh political benefit

Labour’s flagship child poverty strategy has been delayed until at least the autumn, the Guardian has learned, even though tens of thousands more children will fall into poverty as a result.

The decision to push back the strategy comes amid Treasury concerns about the cost implications of ending the two-child limit on universal credit and questions inside No 10 over the political benefits of scrapping it.

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NCA freezes £90m of London property linked to former Bangladesh regime

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Two men linked to Sheikh Hasina prevented from selling properties, including apartments in Grosvenor Square

The UK’s serious and organised crime agency has frozen almost £90m of luxury London property belonging to two men linked to the deposed ruler of Bangladesh.

In a development that comes after mounting pressure on the UK to assist Bangladesh in tracing assets linked to the former regime, the National Crime Agency (NCA) obtained nine freezing orders, official records show.

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Netanyahu accused of slander after criticising Macron, Carney and Starmer

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Israeli leader’s antisemitism claim labelled defamatory as he is warned against pursuing a war without end

Benjamin Netanyahu was accused of slander and pursuing a war without end after he claimed the leaders of France, Canada and the UK were stoking antisemitism and siding with Hamas by demanding he end the two-month blockade of food and aid into Gaza.

In what has become an extraordinary standoff with some of Israel’s closest allies, Netanyahu appeared to deliberately raise the stakes on Thursday night by accusing his western critics of abandoning Israel in a war for its very existence.

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UK travellers face road and rail disruption over bank holiday weekend

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Motoring organisations warn of heavy traffic, and delays and cancellations will hit two rail routes out of London

The bank holiday getaway is likely to be a tricky one, with transport analysts predicting congested roads and the year’s busiest day so far for departing airports, while long-distance rail passengers dodge the start of more engineering work.

Motoring organisations forecast traffic to be at its worst on Friday, with many drivers surveyed apparently taking an extra day off before the long weekend and half-term break for most schools in England and Wales.

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