UK News

Eurostar has unveiled plans to launch direct services connecting the UK with Germany and Switzerland. The operator claimed a “new golden age of international sustainable travel is here” as it announced proposals to run trains between London St Pancras and both Frankfurt and Geneva from the “early 2030s”. These routes would be served by a fleet of up to 50 new trains costing approximately two billion euros (£1.7 billion). Journey […]

A group of Thames Water lenders have put forward plans for a multibillion-pound rescue deal of the troubled supplier that would see them pump in new cash but ask for leniency in how it is regulated. Creditors including US and UK investment firms – such as Aberdeen, Elliott Management and BlackRock – have submitted a plan to regulator Ofwat to overhaul £17 billion of Thames Water’s debts, including investing another […]

Rachel Reeves has signed off on £14.2 billion of investment to build the new Sizewell C nuclear plant as part of the spending review. The Chancellor is set to confirm the funding at the GMB Congress on Tuesday. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said new nuclear power capacity was needed to deliver a “golden age of clean energy abundance”. Trade unions welcomed the move, which the Treasury said would go towards […]

The families of the Nottingham attack victims are set to meet with the Health Secretary following claims that an NHS trust has “stonewalled” their questions about staff who treated killer Valdo Calocane. A report into the care received by Calocane, released in February, detailed how he was not forced to have long-lasting antipsychotic medication because he did not like needles, and how other patients at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust […]

Nigel Farage has said he has forgiven Zia Yusuf for his decision to quit as Reform UK chairman, but admitted the party was “plunged” into a “difficult place” by the incident. Businessman Mr Yusuf returned to the party over the weekend, just 48 hours after he quit his position, saying he had made an “error”. Speaking in Port Talbot on Monday, Mr Farage said: “Let’s be clear, I think Zia’s […]

Two men charged with murdering a 16-year-old pedestrian in a hit-and-run and three counts of attempted murder have appeared in court. Zulkernain Ahmed, 20, and Armaan Ahmed, 26, were not asked to enter any pleas when they were remanded in custody at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court accused of killing Abdullah Yaser Abdullah Al Yazidi. The teenager was walking along Staniforth Road in the Darnall area of Sheffield last Wednesday when he […]

The Home Office remains locked in negotiations with the Treasury over its budget with time running out before the spending review. Rachel Reeves is expected to announce above-inflation increases in the policing budget when she sets out her spending plans for the next three years on Wednesday. But Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is yet to agree a final settlement with the Chancellor, with reports suggesting greater police spending will mean […]

Some nine million pensioners in England and Wales will receive the winter fuel payment this winter, the Chancellor has announced. The payment, worth up to £300, will be restored to the vast majority of pensioners who previously received it because anyone with an income of under £35,000 a year will now get the payment automatically. Those with an income above this threshold will also receive the payment, but it will […]

Union membership in councils run by Reform has increased since the party took control of local authorities after the May elections, new figures reveal. The GMB said workers were “flocking” to join unions amid fears of cuts to pay, jobs and conditions by Reform. Councils where the GMB has seen an increase in membership include Durham, Lancashire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire and Doncaster. GMB national officer Rachel Harrison told the PA […]