Category Archives: UK news

Staff at UK’s top AI institute complain to watchdog about its internal culture

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Whistleblowing complaint warns Alan Turing Institute is in danger of collapse due to government threats over funds

Staff at the UK’s leading artificial intelligence institute have raised concerns about the organisation’s governance and internal culture in a whistleblowing complaint to the charity watchdog.

The Alan Turing Institute (ATI), a registered charity with substantial state funding, is under government pressure to overhaul its strategic focus and leadership after an intervention last month from the technology secretary, Peter Kyle.

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Experts warn against DIY Botox-like injections available illegally online

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Self-administering Innotox, which is not licensed for use in UK, can lead to eyelid droops, infection and even botulism

People seeking cheap Botox-like injections have been warned by experts against doing it themselves due to the risk of “eyelid droops”, infection and even botulism.

There are growing concerns over the availability of medication called Innotox that is being sold illegally online in the UK. Unlike Botox, which comes as a powder that must be reconstituted for use in an injection, Innotox is a ready-to-use liquid – making it easier to self-administer.

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Women call out ‘creepy’ experiences on Vinted as trolls and image thieves target site

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Scrutiny of selling platforms grows as female users warning of harassment on sites after photos stolen and sexualised

Users of secondhand clothing websites such as Vinted are warning about the danger their images will be used against their will on pornography sites, and sounding the alarm about the spread of sexually charged harassment under their posts.

The potential for hijacking photos posted on the internet for real or faked erotic content has long been known, but victims and their advocates say culprits appear to have zeroed in on Vinted with targeted campaigns.

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Path to peace cannot be decided without Ukraine, says Europe

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Ukrainian and European partners to join UK foreign secretary and US vice-president at Chevening for talks

The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, and the US vice-president, JD Vance, held a meeting with Ukrainian and European partners in Britain on Saturday to discuss the drive for peace in Ukraine.

The summit comes before a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin set for next Friday in Alaska. In a comment that that was met with pushback from Kyiv, the US president said that an end to the war must involve “some swapping of territories”. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stressed early on Saturday that “Ukrainians will not give their land to occupiers”.

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Arrests begin in London at largest protest over Palestine Action since group’s ban

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Met police says it has drawn officers from other forces to form ‘significant presence’ in busy weekend of protests

Arrests have begun in central London at the largest demonstration relating to Palestine Action since the group was proscribed as a terrorist organisation.

The Metropolitan police said they had drawn officers from other forces to help form a “significant policing presence” in the capital as it faces a busy weekend of protests.

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Early Beatles photos by Paul McCartney to go on show in London

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Portraits taken in early 60s reveal intimate moments before band’s fame became all-consuming

A collection of photographs taken by Paul McCartney when the Beatles were on the brink of global stardom are to be shown in an exhibition that sheds light on intimate moments as the group first experienced fame.

Rearview Mirror: Liverpool-London-Paris, which opens at Gagosian in London on 28 August, features 18 shots taken by the singer-songwriter during late 1963 after the release of the Beatles’ first album, and early 1964 as they travelled to the US.

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Canadian who could not renew visa due to mental health crisis faces UK ban

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Academic Heather Scott has been told by Home Office that being ‘acutely ill’ is not an exceptional circumstance

The Home Office is threatening to ban a Canadian academic from the UK after she was unable to renew her visa in time during a mental health crisis.

Dr Heather Scott has lived in Britain since she came in 2011 on a study visa. The renowned academic, whose area of research relates to Victorian cemeteries including Highgate, Brompton and Abney Park, is required to be based in London.

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Human connection to nature has declined 60% in 200 years, study finds

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Prof Miles Richardson says people risk ‘extinction of experience’ in the natural world without new policies

People’s connection to nature has declined by more than 60% since 1800, almost exactly mirroring the disappearance of nature words such as river, moss and blossom from books, according to a study.

Computer modelling predicts that levels of nature connectedness will continue to decline unless there are far-reaching policy and societal changes – with introducing children to nature at a young age and radically greening urban environments the most effective interventions.

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US and UK disagree about Gaza policy, Vance suggests before Lammy meeting

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Vice-president says, unlike Britain, White House has no plans to recognise the Palestinian state

The US and UK have “disagreements” on Gaza including over whether to recognise a Palestinian state, JD Vance has suggested as he arrived in England for his summer holiday.

The US vice-president was speaking before a bilateral meeting with David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary, at his 17th-century grace-and-favour country house, Chevening.

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Rotherham abuse survivors welcome police climbdown over internal inquiry

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South Yorkshire police will no longer lead investigation into alleged crimes of former officers after move caused outcry

Lawyers representing victims of sexual abuse in Rotherham have welcomed a climbdown that means South Yorkshire police will no longer lead an investigation into alleged crimes of former officers.

The force came under fire last month after it emerged that it was to lead an investigation into the actions of its own officers, to be overseen by the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

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Vance says UK and US have ‘disagreements’ over Gaza, as he confirms Trump does not back Palestinian state recognition – as it happened

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David Lammy is hosting the US vice-president at Chevening, his grace-and-favour residence in Kent, where they will discuss the Middle East

The SNP is calling for the recall of parliament so that MPs can approve sanctions against Benjamin Netanyahu in the light of his decision to extend the occupation of Gaza. In a statement Stephen Flynn, the SNP leader at Westminster, said:

A genocide is happening before our eyes in Gaza. Words of condemnation aren’t anywhere near enough - if we have any hope of stopping this genocide strong actions are desperately needed, now.

That means Keir Starmer needs to recall Westminster and take concrete steps to sanction the Israeli government.

Those sanctions must include ending all arms sales to the Israeli military, stopping all training, logistical and military support to the IDF, directly and personally sanctioning Netanyahu and his ministers and finally and immediately recognising the state of Palestine before it is brutally wiped off the map.

If the international community fails to act - we are consciously and complicitly standing idly by - allowing Benjamin Netanyahu to plan, implement and inflict an ongoing genocide in Gaza.

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Bidding battle for NHS landlord Assura intensifies as watchdog steps up investigation

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US suitor KKR lobbies board to accept offer to take Assura private as CMA looks into £1.79bn offer by rival UK investor

The bidding battle for the NHS landlord Assura has heated up after its US suitor KKR lobbied the board to accept its offer, while the competition watchdog stepped up its investigation of Assura’s £1.7bn takeover by a rival UK healthcare investor.

Primary Health Properties (PHP), which invests in buildings housing GP practices, has been blocked from fully integrating Assura by the Competition and Markets Authority while it looks into the takeover.

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River Island gets green light for rescue that saves more than 4,000 jobs

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Restructure by family-owned fashion chain involves 33 store closures but leaves more than 1,000 jobs at risk

River Island has got the green light for a rescue restructure that saves more than 4,000 jobs but will shut 33 of the clothing chain’s 230 stores as people shift to buying online.

The plan to reduce costs, which still puts more than 1,000 jobs and a further 70 sites at risk, won approval from a high court judge on Friday after a majority of creditors gave their backing earlier in the week.

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Starmer calls Gaza City takeover plan wrong and urges Israel to reconsider

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UK prime minister says occupation approved by Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet will only bring more bloodshed

Keir Starmer has urged Benjamin Netanyahu to reconsider his plans to take over Gaza City and said the move would only bring more bloodshed.

The British prime minister said Israel’s decision to escalate a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians over the past 22 months while pushing the territory into famine was wrong and would do nothing to secure the release of Israeli hostages.

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Emergency care at Lucy Letby hospital falls short of legal standards, CQC finds

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Countess of Chester receives urgent warning notice over ‘visibly dirty equipment’ and routine corridor care

Emergency care at the hospital where Lucy Letby worked is falling far short of legal standards, the healthcare watchdog has found, with routine corridor care and “critical gaps” in sepsis treatment.

The Countess of Chester hospital, in north-west England, was issued with an urgent warning notice after inspectors found “repeated breaches” of regulations in its emergency care unit.

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UK ministers push ahead with discount on bills for households near new pylons

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Plans have provoked outrage from communities in areas of Great Britain expected to host new infrastructure

The government is pushing head with a plan to offer those who live near new electricity pylons a discount of £2,500 from their energy bills over the next 10 years to ease the backlash against its clean power plans.

Thousands of households within half a kilometre of new or upgraded electricity infrastructure could each receive up to £250 off their annual energy bill from next year to help speed up the rollout of infrastructure critical to the government’s targets.

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Released violent offenders to be ‘locked’ in restriction zones in England and Wales

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Women’s safety campaigners welcome plan to switch from exclusion zones that ‘have made victims feel trapped’

Restriction zones aimed at “locking” violent offenders – rather than their victims – into specific areas when they are released from prison are to be introduced by the government in England and Wales.

At the moment, exclusion zones are often used to keep an offender away from their victim’s home but many campaigners for women’s safety have long called for this to be flipped.

Increased tagging for domestic perpetrators.

Requiring judges to flag domestic abuse at sentencing so prisons, probation and police can better identify and manage abusers.

Expanding specialist domestic abuse courts.

Bolstering transparency for victims at sentencing – including the provision of free copies of judges’ sentencing remarks for victims of rape and other sexual offences.

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Police in England brace for disorder as far right promote anti-migrant protests

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Restrictions in place on Friday in areas including Norwich and officers will monitor at least 12 other towns and cities

Police are braced for potential disorder in towns across England this weekend amid the far right’s promotion of a range of protests against asylum seekers, with anti-racism activists planning counter-protests.

Restrictions will be in place on Friday at locations including Norwich while officers will police at least 12 other towns and cities that evening.

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New research reveals King George IV profited from slavery in Grenada

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Experts say finding heightens pressure on the monarchy to confront its historical links to slavery

Grenada has vowed to step up its pursuit of an apology and reparations from King Charles after new research revealed that George IV personally profited from slavery on the Caribbean island.

The research by independent scholar Desirée Baptiste shows that George IV, who ruled for a decade until 1830, received profits from enslaved labour on Grenadian plantations – a finding that experts say heightens pressure on the monarchy to confront its historical links to slavery.

This article was amended on 7 August 2025 to remove a description of George IV as an ancestor of King Charles. George IV was Charles’s 4th great-granduncle but not a direct ancestor.

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UK politics live: Gordon Brown calls for extra defence spending to be exempt from fiscal rules

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Former PM says ‘exceptional’ aim to spend 5% of GDP should be a joint Nato and European initiative financed via bonds or a defence fund

This is what Gordon Brown said in his Today programme interview when asked to give more details of his plan to exempt from extra defence spending from the fiscal rules. He said other European countries were already looking at this, and that having a European-wide initiative would persuade the bond markets that in this case the rise in borrowing was justified. He said:

If you look around Europe at the moment, you’ll see that the Germans are looking at what they can do outside the fiscal rules. The European stability and growth pact is exempting a lot of defence money from the normal fiscal rules. The French are looking at other ways of doing it. The Polish have already done that.

What I’m actually asking for is a European-wide initiative where individual countries will come together and say, Look, we all have to do this. We all have to find, let’s say, an extra 1%, because 5% of course is building on some of what’s already been spent.

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