UK News

Jeremy Hunt has said there is likely to be less scope for tax cuts in the March Budget than there was last autumn. The chancellor told the BBC he wanted to “lighten the tax burden” to help grow the economy. But he said this had to be done in a “responsible” way. In last year’s Autumn Statement, when the government ...

Details of a deal between the UK government and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to restore devolution in Northern Ireland have been published. The DUP has been boycotting Stormont’s power-sharing government for two years in protest at post-Brexit trade rules. The deal will reduce checks and paperwork on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. The changes apply to ...

Britain is ready to bring forward the moment when it formally recognises a Palestinian state, the country’s foreign secretary has suggested. David Cameron said Palestinians had to be given a political horizon to encourage peace in the Middle East. He is beginning his fourth visit to the region since being appointed foreign secretary in November, BBC reports. The UK has ...

Rishi Sunak’s flagship Rwanda bill is facing its first test as debate gets under way in the House of Lords. Peers including the Archbishop of Canterbury have criticised the principles of the bill, while the Lib Dems are pushing to kill it entirely. The move is expected to fail, but peers have indicated they will try to strip out key ...

King Charles has left hospital after treatment for an enlarged prostate. The King walked out of the London Clinic private hospital, having spent three nights there following his procedure. Earlier, Catherine, the Princess of Wales, left the same central London hospital, almost two weeks after undergoing “abdominal surgery”. The princess was driven to her home in Windsor, without any public ...

In the first vote of its kind, the House of Lords has called for the new UK-Rwanda treaty to be delayed until Kigali improves its asylum procedures. Peers backed a non-binding motion urging the government not to ratify the treaty, by 214 votes to 171. The treaty, signed in December, is central to Rishi Sunak’s scheme to deport asylum seekers ...

The UK will not hesitate to take further military action against Houthi targets in Yemen if the group continues Red Sea attacks, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has told MPs. Mr Sunak said the UK was not seeking confrontation with the Iran-backed group, but would continue to act in self-defence. It follows overnight strikes with the US in Yemen. Labour leader ...

Two people have died and tens of thousands of homes remain without power after Storm Isha battered the UK with gusts of up to 99mph. Transport services largely recovered on Monday though some roads remained closed and rail lines blocked, while dozens of schools were shut. The next storm due to hit the UK and Ireland has been named Storm ...

A new storm is set to hit the UK later with gusts of wind of up to 80mph (128km/h) and a risk to life. Storm Isha has prompted amber weather warnings for wind in much of England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland from 18:00 GMT. Yellow rain warnings are also in place in most areas. Isha is the ninth named storm to ...

King Charles III’s aim of a ‘slimmed-down’ monarchy came in for scrutiny on Friday, as questions were asked about who will stand in for him while he goes into hospital, reports AFP from London. The 75-year-old British head of state will undergo prostate surgery next week, forcing him to cancel public engagements. At the same time, his daughter-in-law Catherine, Princess ...