UK News

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 ...

The community in Shoreham, West Sussex, has paid its respects to a family who died after getting into difficulty in the sea on Tuesday. Hassan El-Khawas, 55, Zeina Alayn, 37, and their 14-year-old daughter Sara, died despite the efforts of paramedics at the scene. It was confirmed on Friday that six-year-old Saja El-Khawas had died in hospital. A vigil took ...

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has proposed that all foreign prisoners are sent to serve their sentences abroad in order to scrap Labour’s early release scheme. Farage said his party was exploring options with third countries over renting prison spaces, including El Salvador, which he said Reform chairman Lee Anderson would visit soon for initial talks. Reform said removing foreign ...

Subscriptions will be easier to cancel and companies will be compelled to make it clear when contracts auto-renew at a higher price, Andy Burnham has announced. The prime minister is also planning to outlaw shops from falsely claiming products previously retailed at much higher prices to advertise supposed deals, which he said tricks shoppers into thinking they are getting better ...

Record-breaking heatwaves in May and June led to an estimated 2,877 excess deaths in England, the UK Health Security Agency said Wednesday. The provisional figure is almost double the total for the whole of the summer in 2025, which was 1,504, and represents “a substantial public health impact,” the Ukhsa government agency said. “These figures highlight the significant danger that ...

Andy Burnham promised to reform social care to help “my dad and the millions like him” faced with the unfairness of the current system as he acknowledged tax hikes could be needed to pay for fundamental changes. The Prime Minister, whose father has Alzheimer’s, said “difficult, difficult decisions” could be needed on tax but insisted fixing the current problems in ...

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham vowed in an interview aired on Monday to overhaul the country’s social care system to ease pressure on the beleaguered National Health Service. Unlike the publicly funded NHS, which is struggling with long waiting lists and stretched resources, social care for elderly and disabled people is largely privatised in Britain. “Whatever political capital I have, ...

Security has been increased by several hundred additional staff at the UK’s largest Muslim convention, Jalsa Salana, alongside enhanced coordination with police, emergency services and local authorities, against a backdrop of growing anti-Muslim sentiment. Last month, another big Islamic gathering was forced to close early after 12 people were arrested, including three on suspicion of conspiracy to murder, over a ...

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has said Prime Minister Andy Burnham is not looking at bringing in rent controls in England. She told BBC Breakfast that changes made through the Renters’ Rights Act, which came into effect in May, were “already having a significant impact on the market”. She added that controls which had been implemented in some areas of the ...