UK News

After a torrid few weeks, Labour now has the opportunity to get on the front foot, and deliver on a major election pledge. The government will fulfil their promise to bring forward legislation on workers’ rights within 100 days. But in some cases employees will have to wait nearer to 1,000 days to enjoy new rights. The new Employment Bill, ...

Former deputy Labour leader Baroness Harriet Harman has said “missteps” and “clunkiness” should be expected when a new administration arrives in Downing Street. She was speaking to the BBC after Sue Gray quit her role as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, amid intense criticism and controversy. Defence Secretary John Healey said she had played a “massive role” ...

Sue Gray has quit her role as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, saying she “risked becoming a distraction”. She had been caught up in rows over pay, after the BBC’s political editor revealed her salary was higher than Sir Keir’s, and donations from Lord Alli. A Downing Street spokeswoman confirmed Ms Gray is to take up a new ...

Former cabinet secretary Lord O’Donnell has said the position of top civil servant is “massively underpaid”. He is involved in the recruitment process for the £200,000-a-year role, following Simon Case’s decision to step down on health grounds. Lord O’Donnell, who held the post between 2005 and 2011, told the BBC the “incredibly demanding job” should have a higher salary. The ...

The government has pledged nearly £22bn for projects to capture and store carbon emissions from energy, industry and hydrogen production. It said the funding for two “carbon capture clusters” on Merseyside and Teesside, promised over the next 25 years, would create thousands of jobs, attract private investment and help the UK meet climate goals. Sir Keir Starmer, who is to ...

The UK is about to stop producing any electricity from burning coal – ending its 142-year reliance on the fossil fuel. The country’s last coal power station, at Ratcliffe-on-Soar, finishes operations on Monday after running since 1967. This marks a major milestone in the country’s ambitions to reduce its contribution to climate change. Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel producing ...

The former Labour MP Rosie Duffield has said Keir Starmer has “a problem with women” and that the government was “more interested in greed and power” than making changes to the country. In a broadside at Starmer’s leadership, Duffield told the BBC she was Labour “in my heart and soul” but said the scandal over senior party figures’ acceptance of ...

Boris Johnson was part of a last-minute attempt to discourage the Duke of Sussex from leaving his royal life in the UK, according to the former prime minister’s soon-to-be-published memoir. Johnson delivered what he calls a “manly pep talk” to Prince Harry on the sidelines of a UK-Africa investment summit in London in January 2020, according to Unleashed, the memoir ...

“Boris Johnson was such a numpty, have we got another numpty now?” asked Tal, a business analyst, after the end of the Labour party conference on Wednesday. His question summed up the mood of the voters More in Common spoke to in a focus group in Hendon, a seat Labour won in July by just 15 votes. The group had ...

British police called on Thursday for anyone with allegations against former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed to come forward and said it would look to prosecute others after multiple women accused the late billionaire of sexual abuse and rape. A BBC documentary aired last week said Al Fayed had sexually abused female staff at his London department store Harrods and ...