Category Archives: UK news

Will of man suspected of being army’s top IRA spy Stakeknife to be sealed, high court rules

Posted on by

Judge rules that Freddie Scappaticci’s will cannot be made public for 70 years in a legal first

The will of the man alleged to have been Britain’s top agent inside the Provisional IRA is not to be made public, the high court has ruled in a legal first.

Ordering that the will of Freddie Scappaticci, who is suspected of being the mole known as Stakeknife, should not be open for public inspection as is usual, Sir Julian Flaux said it was the first time this had been done for a person who was not a member of the royal family.

Continue reading...

Woman admits manslaughter of daughter, two, who was found in Hampshire pond

Posted on by

Not guilty plea to murder accepted due to diminished responsibility at time of Annabel Mackey’s death

A woman has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of her two-year-old daughter who died after being found in a pond.

Alice Mackey, of Oakhanger in Hampshire, entered the plea at Winchester crown court in connection with the death of Annabel Mackey, who went missing from her home in Kingsley on 10 September last year.

Continue reading...

Angela Rayner: No 10 officials guilty of ‘self-harm’ by briefing against ministers

Posted on by

Exclusive: Deputy PM hits out at targeting of herself and others – often women – with negative headlines

Angela Rayner has hit back at anonymous No 10 officials who have briefed against senior cabinet ministers in recent months, warning them they are committing “self-harm”.

The deputy prime minister launched an outspoken defence of herself and other colleagues – often women – who have found themselves the subject of negative headlines in recent months, with several being tipped for the sack at a future reshuffle.

Continue reading...

Lionesses set for London open-top bus parade after Euros triumph

Posted on by

Keir Starmer leads tributes to England women’s team along with figures including King Charles and Prince William

The Lionesses are set for an open-top bus parade in central London after they overcame Spain to win back-to-back European Championships.

The open-top bus procession along the Mall will start at 12.10pm on Tuesday, before a staged ceremony at the Queen Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace.

Continue reading...

Keir Starmer to recall cabinet for emergency meeting on Gaza crisis

Posted on by

Prime minister expected to press Donald Trump to take tougher stance towards Israel when they meet in Scotland

Keir Starmer will recall his cabinet from their summer break for an emergency meeting on the Gaza crisis this week as cross-party MPs warned his talks with Donald Trump provided a critical juncture in helping to resolve the conflict.

Amid growing international horror over the situation on the ground in Gaza, he will urge the US president to take a tougher stance towards Israel and will push for ceasefire talks to resume, when they meet in Scotland on Monday.

Continue reading...

Starmer faces difficult task persuading Trump to take different path on Gaza

Posted on by

PM will be hoping to convince Trump to push Netanyahu to revive peace talks when UK and US leaders meet on Monday

Moments after Air Force One touched down at Prestwick on Friday for a trip in which politics will take as big a billing as golf, Donald Trump was asked about his relationship with Keir Starmer.

“I like your prime minister. He’s slightly more liberal than I am, as you’ve probably heard. But he’s a good man,” the US president told reporters. At a time when the UK wants Trump’s ear on numerous weighty issues, his response to questions about the “special relationship” will have given Downing Street some reassurance.

Continue reading...

Mother of British victim of Air India crash left ‘heartbroken’ by casket error

Posted on by

Amanda Donaghey provided DNA to officials in Ahmedabad but wrong remains were flown to the UK

The mother of one of the British victims of the Air India crash says her family is “heartbroken” after the wrong remains were sent home in his casket.

Air India’s London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into a medical college hostel seconds after taking off from Ahmedabad on 12 June, killing 241 people onboard.

Continue reading...

Keir Starmer to urge Trump to resume US role in Gaza ceasefire talks

Posted on by

No 10 sources say PM is ‘horrified’ by crisis and hopes to convince US to help end ‘unspeakable suffering’

Keir Starmer will personally press Donald Trump to revive ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas when they meet on Monday amid growing international alarm over the starvation crisis in Gaza.

The prime minister is expected to ask the US president, who is on a four-day break in Scotland, to push for a resumption of peace talks after the US and Israel withdrew their negotiation teams from Qatar.

Continue reading...

Private equity fund offers car tycoon €1.1m to settle claim over investment cash

Posted on by

Big Motoring World founder Peter Waddell says Freshstream made him forfeit sum as it saw him as a nuisance

A private equity company accused of ousting a multimillionaire used car salesman from his own business has offered to pay €1.1m (£950,000) to settle a separate case with him.

Peter Waddell filed his first high court claim against Freshstream last year, alleging that the investment firm used an independent investigation into contested sexist, racist and abusive comments “as a means of securing [his] exclusion” from his used car empire, Big Motoring World. Freshstream had acquired a one-third share in Big during 2022.

Continue reading...

Women’s Euro 2025 final to cap £800m boost for UK supermarkets, pubs and retailers

Posted on by

Sunday’s England v Spain match set to be most-watched women’s football match in UK history, benefiting food, drink and hospitality industries

The climax of the exhilarating women’s Euros, as the Lionesses attempt to atone for their loss to Spain at the World Cup, is poised to be the most-watched women’s football match in UK history with the tournament providing a more than £800m boost to supermarkets, pubs and retailers.

With Sunday’s showdown aired on both ITV and the BBC, and their respective streaming services, TV industry executives expect that, with the help of a family-friendly 5pm kick-off time, viewing will eclipse the 14.8 million peak audience when England lost 1-0 to Spain in Sydney two years ago, if the match is close.

Continue reading...

Tens of thousands of people take to streets for London Trans+ Pride 2025

Posted on by

Event becomes biggest of its kind as more than 100,000 turn out to support its ‘existence and resistance’ theme

More than 100,000 people took to the streets for London Trans+ Pride 2025 on Saturday, making it the biggest such event in the world, organisers said.

The route wound through the centre of the capital’s most famous sites, taking in Regent’s Street, Piccadilly and Trafalgar Square. It concluded at Parliament Square with speakers including Heartstopper and Doctor Who actor Yasmin Finney.

Continue reading...

Starmer says plan to airdrop Gaza aid and evacuate ill children will go ahead

Posted on by

Leaders of UK, France and Germany call for lifting of aid restrictions and immediate ceasefire after holding talks

Keir Starmer has confirmed the government will be “taking forward” plans to airdrop aid into Gaza and evacuate children who need medical assistance in an effort to relieve what Downing Street called an appalling situation.

Speaking to the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, on Saturday morning, the prime minister outlined the UK’s intentions to work with Jordan to carry out the plans.

Continue reading...

Water chiefs’ pay rises to average of £1.1m despite ban on bonuses and outrage over pollution

Posted on by

Total remuneration at companies in England and Wales – many of them under scrutiny for sewage discharge – was £15m in 2024-25

The pay of water company chief executives in England and Wales rose by 5% in the last financial year to an average of £1.1m, despite a ban on bonuses for several companies and widespread outrage over the sector’s poor performance.

Total pay reported by water companies reached £15m in 2024-25, up 5% on £13.8m the previous year, according to Guardian analysis of 14 companies’ annual reports.

Continue reading...

‘She’s an inspiration to the youngsters’: the rapid rise of Michelle Agyemang

Posted on by

Lioness has gone from prospect to superstar at Euro 2025 – and she’s got more than just football in her locker

Four years ago, Michelle Agyemang was a ballgirl at Wembley stadium, witnessing the Lionesses’ rule the pitch in a 4-0 victory against Northern Ireland. Now, at just 19 years old, she no longer finds herself retrieving balls that have veered out of play, but is an integral part of the team she once admired from the sidelines.

The forward, who football fans hope will be showing off her on-pitch magic on Sunday as the Lionesses’ face off against Spain in the Euros 2025 final, began her journey to the top of the sport in her Essex home town of South Ockendon.

Continue reading...

Beware the blizzard of lies: US advice on how to handle Farage’s Trump tactics

Posted on by

Pro-democracy campaigners suggest ‘pre-buttal’ is more powerful than factchecking in fighting falsehoods

Truth, the progressive California politician Hiram Johnson once said, is the first casualty of war. His oft-cited remark was supposedly made in 1918 in reference to the first world war, which had by then caused millions of human casualties.

More than a century later, truth is again caught in the crossfire, this time as a casualty of 21st-century culture wars.

Continue reading...

‘The sorest my legs have ever been’: hordes to descend on Hackney for litter-picking world cup

Posted on by

The public-spirited sport of spogomi is catching on across Britain, which boasts its world champion team

Armed with gloves, metal tongs and plastic rubbish sacks, hordes of determined litter-pickers will descend on Hackney Marshes in east London this weekend.

Spogomi, a Japanese litter-picking sport, has come to the UK. Invented in 2008, it was intended as a competition to encourage people to clean up public spaces. It is now played in schools across the country as people gamify collecting rubbish.

Continue reading...

Ex-Sun editor David Dinsmore to take up government communications role

Posted on by

Dinsmore will join Whitehall as civil servant in top communications role after reportedly impressing Starmer during interview

A former editor of the Sun will take up a senior communications role at the heart of government.

David Dinsmore, editor of the tabloid from 2013 to 2015, will be a civil service appointment rather than a political adviser, tasked with improving the government’s communications operation. The role is separate to the No 10 director of communications.

Continue reading...

Devon and Cornwall crime commissioner sorry for multiple bodies claim

Posted on by

Police say only one set of human remains found after Alison Hernandez told meeting ‘dead bodies’ recovered from site

A police and crime commissioner has apologised for claiming that multiple human remains had been discovered in woodland in Cornwall at the centre of a murder investigation.

Alison Hernandez told a meeting of the Devon and Cornwall police and crime panel that “dead bodies” had been found at Sticker, near St Austell, and investigations were continuing to establish exactly how many.

Continue reading...

Cabinet ministers and third of MPs call on Starmer to recognise state of Palestine

Posted on by

Exclusive: Rayner and Cooper understood to back action as 221 MPs sign letter calling for UK recognition of statehood

Keir Starmer is under intense pressure from his most senior cabinet ministers and more than a third of MPs to move faster on recognising a Palestinian state in response to Israel withholding aid to starving civilians in Gaza.

Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, and Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, are understood to be among ministers who believe the government should take the lead on Palestinian statehood alongside France.

Continue reading...

Graham Thorpe’s care had ’failings’ in last months of his life, says coroner

Posted on by

An inquest into the former England cricketer’s death last year has recorded a conclusion of suicide

There were “failings” in the provision of former England cricketer Graham Thorpe’s care in the months before he died, a coroner has said, as a conclusion of suicide was recorded at an inquest.

Thorpe, 55, died on 4 August 2024 after being struck by a train at a railway station in Surrey.

Continue reading...