Lead News

The British government on Monday condemned the “intimidating and thuggish behaviour” of anti-immigrant demonstrators who converged on a port in southern England where migrants were brought ashore after crossing the English Channel. Hundreds of protesters, many dressed in dark clothing and wearing masks, faced off with police in Portsmouth late Sunday in an attempt to prevent lifeboats from bringing the ...

Plans for a large reorganisation of local government have been put on hold after the government received new legal advice that suggested they might not comply with the law. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said the review was to ensure the process was robust and aligned with the new government’s aim to “rewire the state”, and ...

Keir Starmer is to quit as the MP for Holborn and St Pancras, saying it is the right time for him to leave the Commons. Starmer, who resigned as prime minister in July, told the Camden New Journal he wanted to focus on international affairs and “pass the baton to a successor”. Starmer had previously said he would seek to ...

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir on Sunday urged the United Kingdom to sustain its support for international efforts to ensure safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable repatriation of the Rohingyas to Myanmar. He made the call when British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Sarah Cooke paid a courtesy call on him at the foreign ministry, according to a ministry press ...

Families are rushing to Nepal to search for the 33 British nationals who are still missing, as fears mount over the risk of a second wave of flooding in the region. The catastrophic flash floods that hit Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday, thundering down valleys and sweeping away entire villages, have killed at least 538 people, while more than 1,500 ...

The French far-right leader Jordan Bardella is to give a speech at Reform UK’s party conference in Birmingham next week as he attempts to boost international ties before Marine Le Pen’s bid for the French presidency next spring. Le Pen’s far-right, anti-immigration National Rally (RN) is high in the polls and she is predicted to reach the final round of ...

Prince Harry, his wife Meghan and their two children landed Wednesday in Britain, UK media reported, after the shock news emerged last week they would be relocating from the United States. The couple, who quit Britain for California six years ago amid a royal feud, landed aboard a private jet at Birmingham Airport in central England, The Telegraph newspaper and ...

Britain and Ukraine have signed a partnership to jointly develop artificial intelligence technology for defence and national security. The agreement gives British researchers access to Ukraine’s Avengers AI Labs, which uses a dataset of about 5m battlefield images to train military AI systems. Britain is the first international partner to receive access to the platform. The two countries will also ...

Andy Burnham has promised to keep up the pressure on Russia despite Moscow’s “outrageous threats”, on his first official visit to Ukraine as UK prime minister. Burnham met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and chaired his first meeting of the “coalition of the willing”, set up by the UK and France under his predecessor Sir Keir Starmer. He said the coalition ...

The government borrowed more than expected in July, according to figures published as Chancellor John Healey draws up his first Budget. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said borrowing, the gap between what the government spends and what it collects in tax, was £1.8bn during the month. Official forecasters had expected a surplus of £500m, meaning the government borrowed £2.3bn ...