UK news
Lib Dems should ditch Ed Davey’s stunts and talk policy, survey finds | Liberal Democrat conference
The Liberal Democrats should drop their stunts and offer a more serious policy programme if they want to gain support among voters, according to a study presented at the party’s annual conference. Polling by the More in Common thinktank, shown to Lib Dem members at the gathering in Bournemouth, suggested that while it has the […]
Kenya’s arrest warrant is milestone in Agnes Wanjiru case but lengthy UK process awaits | Kenya
In the spring of 2012, David Cameron was prime minister and British troops were still fighting in Afghanistan under the stewardship of the then defence secretary, Philip Hammond. Before deploying, soldiers from the UK would be flown 3,000 miles south-west of Helmand province, to Kenya, for hot weather training. They would train at Batuk, the […]
British soldier accused of murdering Kenyan woman Agnes Wanjiru named | UK news
The British soldier accused of murdering the Kenyan woman Agnes Wanjiru in 2012 has been named as Robert James Purkiss. Purkiss, 38, was named in court documents at the high court in Nairobi this week, where a court issued a warrant for his arrest. The high court judge Alexander Muteti issued the arrest warrant on […]
Netanyahu calls UK’s Palestine recognition ‘absurd prize for terrorism’ | Israel
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, called the UK’s recognition of Palestine on Sunday “an absurd prize for terrorism”. In remarks to ministers released by his office, he said Israel would have “to fight both in the UN and in all the other fronts against the slanderous propaganda aimed at us, and against the calls to […]
How will recognition of Palestinian statehood be greeted in the UK? | Politics
1. How will the decision be met within the Labour party? The Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023 were met with horror across the British political spectrum. Yet soon after, concern began to mount around the scale of Israel’s response. As the death toll rose, and the situation on the ground in Gaza […]
‘Not enough in itself’: wary welcome in West Bank over recognition of Palestine | Palestinian territories
Abu Said, a barber, is busy. It is a weekend and though the narrow streets of al-Am’ari camp are hot and quiet, his shop is crowded. Everyone in al-Am’ari, on the outskirts of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, knows that the UK, France, Portugal and Canada have said they will recognise a Palestinian state […]
Disruption continues at Heathrow, Brussels and Berlin airports after cyber-attack | Airline industry
Hundreds of thousands of passengers at Heathrow and Berlin airports faced flight delays on Sunday after a cyber-attack hit check-in desk software, while cancellations at Brussels airport suggested that disruption for Europe’s air travel would continue into Monday. Airlines were forced to revert to slower manual check-ins from Friday night after the attack hit Collins […]
Broadcaster John Stapleton dies aged 79 | Television
Tributes have been made across the world of television to the “rock solid broadcaster and ultimate gentleman” John Stapleton, who has died at the age of 79 after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2024. Stapleton’s agent, Jackie Gill, said on Sunday: “John had Parkinson’s disease, which was complicated by pneumonia. His son Nick and […]
UK recognises Palestine as an independent state | UK news
The UK has formally recognised Palestine as an independent state, Keir Starmer has announced. The deeply symbolic move comes seven decades after the end of the British mandate in Palestine and the formation of the state of Israel. Canada and Australia on Sunday also made their own formal declarations recognising Palestine before a conference of […]
British couple released after detention in Afghanistan say they feared being executed | UK news
A British couple who were reunited with their family in the UK after being released from almost eight months in detention in Afghanistan have said they feared being executed by the Taliban. Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife, Barbie, 76, who arrived at Heathrow on Saturday, said it was never explained to them why they […]