UK News

Sir Tony Blair met with Jeffrey Epstein in Downing Street while still prime minister, following lobbying by Lord Peter Mandelson, the BBC has confirmed. A memo written by senior civil servant Matthew Rycroft, dated 14 May 2002, briefs Sir Tony about “super-rich” financial adviser Epstein ahead of a meeting scheduled at 17.00 GMT that day. The meeting was six years ...

King Charles’s coat of arms will feature on the front of all new passports from December, the Home Office has said. Natural landscapes from all four UK nations will also feature inside the updated documents, including Ben Nevis, the Lake District, Three Cliffs Bay and the Giant’s Causeway. It is the first full redesign of British passports in five years, ...

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday hailed the new Gaza ceasefire deal as “a moment of profound relief that will be felt all around the world”. “I am grateful for the tireless diplomatic efforts of Egypt, Qatar, Turkiye (Turkey) and the United States, supported by our regional partners, in securing this crucial first step,” he said in a statement. ...

Storm Amy has swept into the UK, bringing heavy rain and strong winds to large parts of the country. A gust of 96mph was recorded overnight in the Inner Hebrides. An amber wind warning remains in place for parts of northern Scotland and the Met Office is warning of power cuts and flying debris that could endanger life. A lower ...

Sir Keir Starmer has said pro-Palestinian protests planned for this weekend will cause “distress” and urged those thinking of taking part to “recognise and respect the grief of British Jews” after Thursday’s synagogue attack. “It is not a time to stoke tension and cause further pain,” the prime minister wrote in the Jewish News and the Jewish Chronicle. A leader ...

The British government vowed to redouble its efforts to tackle antisemitism on Friday as the Jewish community reeled from an attack at a Manchester synagogue that killed two people on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. The Israeli government has accused Britain of allowing rampant antisemitism to spread through British cities and on its university campuses in ...

Sarah Mullally was appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury on Friday, becoming the first woman to lead the Church of England in the 1,400-year history of the role. Mullally, 63, also becomes the ceremonial head of some 85 million Anglicans worldwide, who are divided between conservative Christians, especially in Africa, where homosexuality is outlawed in some countries, and their ...

Keir Starmer has said he will look at how international law is being interpreted by British courts in an effort to tackle small boats, which he labelled “Farage boats” because of their increase in number since Brexit. Speaking after the Labour party conference, the prime minister signalled his unhappiness with how the European convention on human rights was being interpreted ...

Andy Burnham has warned against “underestimating the peril the party is in” at a fringe meeting at the Labour party conference. The mayor of Greater Manchester continued his criticism of Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership at events at the Liverpool conference, telling audiences he would not shy away from debate on Labour’s future. Despite a backlash from MPs, Burnham said Labour ...

Sir Keir Starmer has labelled Reform UK’s policy of scrapping indefinite leave to remain as “racist” and “immoral”. The policy, which could effectively lead to hundreds of thousands of people who are here legally being deported from the UK, was announced by party leader Nigel Farage last week. Sir Keir added he did not think Reform UK supporters were racist ...