Category Archives: UK news

Antony Blinken to visit UK for talks on Ukraine and Middle East

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US secretary of state will be most senior US official to have travelled to London since Labour’s election victory

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, will head to London next week to discuss the Middle East and Ukraine, the state department announced on Saturday, in advance of a US visit by prime minister Keir Starmer.

Blinken’s visit to London on Monday and Tuesday will be the most senior by a US official since the Labour party won the general election in July, ending 14 years of Conservative rule.

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Post Office campaigner Alan Bates marries partner on Richard Branson’s private island

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Bates and Suzanne Sercombe invited to Necker Island after publicly soliciting a holiday from Virgin tycoon

The Post Office campaigner Alan Bates has married his partner, Suzanne Sercombe, on Richard Branson’s Necker Island in a ceremony officiated by the Virgin tycoon.

The wedding took place last month on the entrepreneur’s private island in the British Virgin Islands, the Sunday Times reported.

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Tory health reforms left UK open to Covid calamity, says top doctor’s report

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Britain’s pandemic response was among the worst and the NHS had been ‘seriously weakened’, says leading surgeon

• Three reports lay bare scale of NHS malaise, but will Reeves fund a remedy?

Britain was hit far harder by the Covid-19 pandemic than other developed countries because the NHS had been “seriously weakened” by disastrous government policies over the preceding decade, a wide-ranging report will conclude this week.

An assessment of the NHS by the world-renowned surgeon Prof Ara Darzi, commissioned in July by the health secretary, Wes Streeting, will find that the health service reduced its “routine healthcare activity by a far greater percentage than other health systems” in many key areas during the Covid crisis.

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BBC promises ‘innovative’ return for Casualty in Christmas special

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Broadcaster says episode will ‘celebrate gift of giving’ after news revealed in a cryptic teaser trailer for medical drama

Casualty is to return to TV screens for an “innovative” Christmas special, the BBC has revealed. The news was announced in a cryptic teaser trailer, which followed Saturday’s season finale on BBC One.

The BBC says the Christmas special will “celebrate the gift of giving” and be told in an “innovative, format-breaking way”. A teaser image for the trailer showed a hospital ward covered in snow, with a fluorescent jacket on the ground.

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Former Welsh first minister Vaughan Gething to stand down at next election

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MS for Cardiff South and Penarth, who stood down after 140 days as first minister, will not seek re-election in 2026

Vaughan Gething, the Labour former first minister of Wales who stood down after a series of scandals, has announced he will not seek re-election for the Senedd.

Gething, the MS for Cardiff South and Penarth, said it had been “an immense honour” to serve his constituents, and in the Welsh government, as he made the announcement.

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Keir Starmer optimistic for ‘deep’ reset of relations with Ireland

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Starmer to hold talks with Irish counterpart on first official visit of a British PM to country for five years

Keir Starmer has said he believes there can be a “deep” reset of relations with Ireland after arriving in Dublin for his first official visit, with Northern Ireland, Brexit and joint international interests on the agenda.

It is the first official visit of a British prime minister since Boris Johnson visited in 2019 to try to salvage a Brexit deal after years of strained relations.

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CIA boss says west should not be intimidated by Russia’s nuclear threats

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Bill Burns calls Vladimir Putin a ‘bully’ whose ‘sabre-rattling’ should not always be taken literally

Western leaders should not be intimidated by Kremlin threats of nuclear escalation, the head of the CIA said on Saturday, amid a debate over whether Anglo-French Storm Shadow missiles should be used inside Russia.

Bill Burns, on a visit to London alongside the head of MI6, said the US had brushed off a previous Russian nuclear scare in autumn 2022, demonstrating that threats from Moscow should not always be taken literally.

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‘À la carte’ new Brexit deal with EU not on table, Micheál Martin warns

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Ireland’s deputy PM welcomes warmer relations as Keir Starmer arrives for official visit – but cautions UK cannot ‘cherrypick’ issues

The UK cannot have an “à la carte” reset of the Brexit agreement, Ireland’s deputy prime minister has said, just hours before Keir Starmer headed to Dublin for his first official visit to Ireland.

The tánaiste said the EU wanted an improved EU-UK relationship but that the UK could not “cherrypick”.

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Heavy rain to hit parts of UK over weekend as flooding risks remain

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Met Office says new band of ‘heavy and thundery rain’ to sweep north through southern and central England and Wales

Heavy rain is due to sweep across large parts of the UK this weekend, with many at risk of flooding.

A new band of “heavy and thundery rain” will arrive on the south coast on Saturday and move northwards overnight, affecting central and southern England and Wales, the Met Office said.

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Elton John makes first appearance after revealing ‘limited vision’

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Singer speaks at Toronto film festival after announcing eye infection had left him with limited vision in one eye

Sir Elton John has made his first public appearance at Toronto international film festival, days after announcing a severe eye infection had left him with limited vision in one eye.

The British singer, 77, was pictured in good spirits as he arrived on the back of a buggy at the Canadian festival, alongside his husband, David Furnish.

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Body Shop’s remaining UK stores saved after rescue deal agreed

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British cosmetics tycoon Mike Jatania leads consortium to acquire UK’s 113 outlets and outposts in Australia and North America

The Body Shop has been rescued from administration by a consortium led by the British cosmetics tycoon Mike Jatania in a deal that will keep the ethical beauty brand’s remaining 113 UK stores trading.

Auréa, the growth capital firm founded by Jatania and former UBS, Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch executive Paul Raphael, said it had bought all the Body Shop International’s assets, which include its UK stores and control of outposts in Australia and North America for an undisclosed sum.

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Labour’s ‘change of tone’ revives foreign students’ interest in UK universities

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Admissions officers report rise in number of inquiries from international students since general election

Applications by international students to UK universities have been revitalised in a welcome boost for the sector’s ailing financial health by the Labour government’s “change of tone” on immigration since the general election.

Vice-chancellors and admissions officers said a rise in the number of inquiries about courses and feedback from overseas recruitment agents suggested that the change in the government’s stance since the 4 July election had been widely noticed by potential international students and their families.

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Drinking wine to 5: Dolly Parton launches prosecco and rosé range in UK

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Country music star’s ‘down to earth’ range at Asda goes head to head with Kylie for the ‘easy drinking’ top spot

Whether it’s 9 to 5, Jolene or Islands in the Stream, Dolly Parton fans are no stranger to belting out her hits with a glass of wine in hand, but now they can sip her vino, too, as the singer’s “down to earth” wine range goes on sale in the UK.

The brains behind Dolly Wines say they have bottled Parton’s “vivacious spirit and love for life” with the decision to branch out from selling albums to alcohol pitting the US country music star against the pop princess Kylie in the battle for the “easy drinking” top spot.

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Starmer leads with compromise for new family pet – and gets ‘dog-like’ cat

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Siberian kitten at No 10 may get frosty reception from chief mouser Larry, who took on George Osborne’s cat, Freya

On the face of it, the kitten that joined Keir Starmer’s family appears to have had a peaceful first week at an address where feline and human rivals have been known to get their claws out.

The arrival of the Siberian cat – as yet unnamed in public – was revealed on Monday by the prime minister, who said his children had been pushing for a dog to join them at Downing Street.

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Sixth-generation wire-maker blames Brexit for shredding its business

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Owner of Ormiston Wire in London urges Keir Starmer not to forget small manufacturers in his dealings with EU

The head of a family-owned company that has made specialist wires and cables for six generations for clients ranging from naval vessels to film sets has blamed Brexit for shredding its business.

Mark Ormiston, the owner of Ormiston Wire, said small businesses such as his had been flushed “down the toilet” by the masterminds of Brexit who gave little thought to the real-life consequences for UK manufacturing.

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Wrongly denied Windrush payments causing ‘further harm and injustice’

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Home Office has paid more than £430,000 extra compensation after watchdog investigations of complaints

The Home Office has wrongly denied compensation to numerous Windrush victims, a watchdog report has found, concluding that “further harm and injustice” has been caused as a result of systemic problems with the scheme.

More than £430,000 of extra compensation has been awarded to people affected by the scandal as a result of investigations by the parliamentary and health service ombudsman.

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Tony Blair told to ‘take responsibility’ after Grenfell criticism

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Campaigners call for apology after inquiry report makes several criticisms of decisions made during Blair’s tenure

Grenfell campaigners have called on Tony Blair to apologise and take responsibility for decisions made by his government that contributed to the fire that killed 72 people.

The former prime minister said on Thursday that tragedies such as the west London fire, which came after years of missed opportunities to regulate combustible cladding, were a result of unavoidable mistakes.

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British pop art pioneer Derek Boshier dies aged 87

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Portsmouth-born, working-class artist was known for collaborations with David Bowie and the Clash

Derek Boshier, the working-class artist who was a key part of the pop art movement and a collaborator with the Clash and David Bowie, has died aged 87.

The Portsmouth-born artist studied at the Royal College of Art in London from 1959 to 1962 alongside David Hockney and was profiled with Pauline Boty and Peter Blake in Ken Russell’s 1962 film about the pop art movement, Pop Goes the Easel.

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Cleared man’s claim to wife’s fortune blocked as judge rules he did kill her

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Family of Paula Leeson sued Donald McPherson after criminal prosecution over fatal drowning collapsed

A man who stood to claim a £4.4m estate from his wealthy wife has had his inheritance blocked by a judge who ruled he killed her.

The family of Paula Leeson, 47, who was found dead in a swimming pool in a Denmark holiday home in 2017, sued her husband, Donald McPherson, 51, for unlawful killing after a criminal prosecution collapsed when there was not enough evidence.

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Noel Edmonds to present TV series from his New Zealand country estate

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Former gameshow host reportedly signs £1m deal with ITV for show in same vein as global hit Clarkson’s Farm

It seems to be turning into a rite of passage for former Top Gear hosts who have been the subject of public opprobrium.

Noel Edmonds is set to follow in the footsteps of Jeremy Clarkson by presenting a new TV series from his country retreat. The presenter, 75, who began working as a DJ in the late 1960s, has reportedly signed a £1m deal to return to television after a six-year gap by presenting a series from his park and vineyard in New Zealand.

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