Category Archives: UK news

HSBC net zero goal delayed 20 years, as CEO offered 600% bonus

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Bank is criticised for pushing climate targets to 2050 and watering down environmental goals

HSBC has been criticised after it delayed key parts of its climate goals by 20 years, while watering down environmental targets in a new long-term bonus plan for its chief executive, Georges Elhedery, that could be worth up to 600% of his salary.

The London-headquartered lender said it was reviewing its net zero emissions policies and targets – which are split between its own operations and those of the clients it finances – after realising its clients and suppliers had “seen more challenges” in cutting their carbon footprint than expected.

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UK inflation jumps to 3%, reducing chance of early interest rate cut

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Annual CPI inflation rate hit 10-month high in January in blow to ministers amid rise in food bills and fuel costs

UK inflation accelerated faster than expected at the start of this year, eating into workers’ wages and reducing the chance of an interest rate cut next month.

The consumer prices index (CPI) measure rose to 3% in January, the Office for National Statistics reported, up from 2.5% in December.

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Miner Glencore considers ditching London Stock Exchange listing

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Group may move primary listing to New York or elsewhere – to get ‘optimal valuation’ – in fresh blow to UK market

Glencore is considering moving its primary share listing away from London, in what would be a fresh blow to the UK’s blue-chip stock exchange following a series of departures.

The chief executive of the mining group said it was studying whether a move would boost its shares – with New York top of the list of potential destinations.

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Planned change in British citizenship rules faces first legal challenge

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Young Afghan refugee brings case after move to prevent those who arrived on ‘dangerous journey’ from citizenship

Plans to prevent refugees who arrive in the UK on a small boat, lorry or via other “irregular” means from becoming a British citizen are facing their first legal challenge.

The challenge is being brought by a 21-year-old Afghan refugee who arrived in the UK aged 14, after fleeing the Taliban and being smuggled to Britain in the back of a lorry. He was granted refugee status and after five years was granted indefinite leave to remain. He was due to apply for British citizenship on 1 March.

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Record orders at BAE Systems as European defence spending rises

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Weapons maker’s full-year pre-tax profits top £3bn and it expects sales of more than £30bn next year

Britain’s biggest weapons manufacturer, BAE Systems, has reported record orders as the European defence industry gears up for increased spending sparked by the Ukraine war.

The company, a member of the FTSE 100, said it expected sales next year to top £30bn, as it reported annual profits before interest and tax of more than £3bn for the first time in 2024.

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Retailers to be required to report suspicious or bulk purchases of knives

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New raft of measures labelled Ronan’s law include tougher sentences for those caught selling blades to under-18s

Retailers will be required to report suspicious or bulk purchases of knives, and those caught selling blades to under-18s will face tougher sentences under a new raft of measures to clamp down on young people’s access to weapons labelled Ronan’s law.

Named after Ronan Kanda, the 16-year-old killed in Wolverhampton in 2022 by a teenager carrying a 22in ninja blade he had ordered online, the new laws are part of a raft of anti-knife crime plans announced by the government on Wednesday.

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Life expectancy growth stalls across Europe as England sees sharpest decline, say researchers

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Poor diet, obesity and inactivity blamed on decline with Norway the only country seeing a rise

Life expectancy improvement is stalling across Europe with England experiencing the biggest slowdown. Experts are blaming this on an alarming mix of poor diet, mass inactivity and soaring obesity.

The average annual growth in life expectancy across the continent fell from 0.23 years between 1990 and 2011 to 0.15 years between 2011 and 2019, according to research published in the Lancet Public Health journal. Of the 20 countries studied, every one apart from Norway saw life expectancy growth fall.

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Heat pump sales in Europe fall 23% to pre-Ukraine war levels

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Growth in 2022 and 2023 was driven by soaring gas prices caused by Russia’s invasion, but 2024 saw sales slump

Heat pump sales fell 23% in Europe last year, industry data shows, reverting to the level they were at before the war in Ukraine and slowing the shift away from gas-burning boilers.

Demand for clean heating devices fell by about half in Belgium and Germany, and by 39% in France, according to data for 13 countries that cover 85% of the European heat pump market.

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Politicians who deliberately lie could be forced from office in Wales

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Proposals designed to restore trust in politics would also criminalise the making of false statements to win votes

Elected politicians who deliberately lie could be forced from office under proposals designed to put Wales at the forefront of the “global challenge” to restore trust in politics.

Radical changes suggested by the Welsh parliament standards committee would also make candidates in elections liable to criminal prosecution for making any false statement to win votes.

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Bashy, Darkoo and Odeal top winners at 2025 Mobo awards

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There are two awards apiece for the UK artists, while Nigerian singer Ayra Starr also wins two at Newcastle-hosted ceremony for Black musical excellence

Seventeen years since his debut single, British rapper Bashy has capped his long-awaited return to music with two wins at the 2025 Mobo awards, given each year to the best music of Black origin in the UK and overseas.

The 40-year-old vocalist and actor, born Ashley Thomas, won best hip-hop act as well as album of the year for Being Poor Is Expensive. While it didn’t make the UK charts, the album earned critical acclaim and a dedicated audience on streaming, drawn to its examination of race, mental health and working-class life in north-west London.

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Rick Buckler, drummer of The Jam, dies aged 69 after short illness

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The musician, along with band members Paul Weller and Bruce Foxton, had many hits in the 1970s and 1980s, including four UK No 1s

Rick Buckler, the drummer of the rock group The Jam, has died aged 69 after a short illness.

In a statement, his management company said Buckley “passed away peacefully on Monday evening in Woking after a short illness with family by his side”.

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Holiday firms reporting surge in demand for long-haul breaks

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Thailand and Vietnam now often seen as ‘more cost-effective’ than visiting traditional European favourites

Holiday companies are reporting a surge in demand for long-haul breaks amid claims that the likes of Thailand and Vietnam are now often “more cost-effective” than visiting traditional European favourites.

On Tuesday, the travel brand Kuoni said long-haul bookings for the year ahead were 14% higher than at the same point in 2024.

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Devon man jailed for sending ‘utterly deplorable’ email to Jess Phillips MP

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Jack Bennett, 39, given 28 weeks for message sent a day after criticism of minister by X owner Elon Musk

A 39-year-old man has been jailed for sending an “utterly deplorable” email to safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, one day after she was criticised by X owner Elon Musk.

Jack Bennett, from Seaton, Devon, pleaded guilty to sending malicious communications to three people between February 2024 and January 2025, including the Birmingham Yardley MP, at Exeter magistrates court on Tuesday.

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Kabul evacuation whistleblower wins case against UK government

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Civil servant Josie Stewart found to have been unlawfully dismissed in 2022 after she told BBC about failures

A civil servant who blew the whistle about the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and Boris Johnson’s involvement in a decision to evacuate a pet charity from Kabul has won her case for unfair dismissal against the government in a legal first.

An employment panel of three judges unanimously found the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) unfairly dismissed Josie Stewart in 2021 after she leaked information in the public interest.

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Top judge ‘deeply troubled’ by PMQs exchange on Gaza asylum case

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Lady Carr says politicians should respect judicial independence, as Starmer calls decision to grant family asylum a ‘legal loophole’

England and Wales’s most senior judge has written to Keir Starmer about an “unacceptable” exchange with Kemi Badenoch at prime minister’s questions, saying she was “deeply troubled” by the discussion on a Palestinian family’s asylum case.

Lady Sue Carr, the lady chief justice, criticised the Conservative leader’s questions about the case, in which a family from Gaza had applied through a scheme designed for Ukrainian refugees.

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‘We’re just terrified’: People evacuate homes after sinkhole appears on Surrey high street

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Water supply turned off in Godstone as 20-metre hole swallows up a garden

Villagers in Surrey have been forced to evacuate their homes over fears of an explosion after a large and expanding sinkhole appeared in the high street.

On Monday night, a sinkhole appeared on Godstone High Street. By Tuesday afternoon, it had grown to at least 20 metres, which led to water supplies being cut off and a garden being swallowed up.

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Thames Water wins court backing for £3bn debt package

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Deal approved at high court gives company £1.5bn in upfront cash to stave off collapse

Thames Water has won court approval for an emergency debt package worth up to £3bn that should stave off the collapse of Britain’s biggest water company for at least another few months.

London’s high court said on Tuesday that the deal could proceed, after hearing four days of complex arguments earlier this month over whether it should go ahead. The deal will allow the company to avoid special administration, in effect a temporary nationalisation.

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British motorcycling couple detained in Iran charged with espionage

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Craig and Lindsay Foreman accused of entering country ‘under guise of tourists’

A British couple detained in Iran have been charged with espionage after travelling to the country as part of a round-the-world motorbike trip.

The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency said Craig and Lindsay Foreman, who are in their early 50s, had been charged after allegedly gathering information in different locations in the country.

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Energy bills in Great Britain forecast to rise by 5% from April

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Households face greater than expected rise in Ofgem price cap after Europe’s gas storage levels slump, analysts say

Millions of households face a greater than expected increase to their energy bills of about 5% from April after a slump in Europe’s gas storage levels caused market prices to climb, according to analysts.

The average gas and electricity bill for a typical household in Great Britain is expected to rise by £85 from April to £1,823 a year under the energy regulator’s price cap.

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Nigel Farage calls for reindustrialisation of Britain and higher birthrates

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Reform leader tells ARC conference the UK needs ‘some sense of optimism’ and praises ‘Judeo-Christian culture’

Nigel Farage has called for the “reindustrialisation” of Britain and “180-degree shift” to reverse the declining birthrate, as he praised the “Judeo-Christian culture” that he claimed underpinned western civilisation.

Addressing a global gathering of rightwing activists in London, the Reform leader said the UK should rebuild its heavy industry, including through the domestic production of steel, oil and gas.

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