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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been awarded a 'Living Bridge' honour for his role in championing closer bilateral relations and clinching the India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Seema Malhotra, Britain's Indian-origin Minister for the Indo-Pacific in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), accepted the honour on behalf of Starmer at a ceremony in the House of Lords complex in London on Monday evening. The annual Living Bridge Awards, organised by the UK-based strategic consultancy India Business Group (IBG), also recognised New Delhi-based GMR Group multinational conglomerate, British Indian businessman G P Hinduja, KPMG UK chair Bina Mehta, and the University of Southampton for their role in bringing India and the UK closer across sectors. This deal (FTA) will assist businesses to trade with India with confidence and security taking advantage of the huge opportunities offered by the complementary nature of the two economies and India's rapid growth, said
Britain's government said on Thursday that it will support a series of local inquiries into cases of organised child sexual abuse in the wake of a furore largely stoked by the world's richest man Elon Musk. In a statement to lawmakers, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the government has also authorised what she called a rapid audit of the current scale and nature of gang-based exploitation across the country and make recommendations. The issue of so-called grooming gangs", also called rape gangs" by some, has risen up the political agenda in the UK after Musk recently took to his X platform highlighting the problem and condemning British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Musk criticised Starmer for not backing a national inquiry into the matter following a request from the local authority in the northern English town of Oldham, where police found girls under 18 were sexually exploited by groups of men in the 2000s and 2010s. Musk also alleged that Starmer failed to bring perpetrators t
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his UK counterpart Keir Starmer on the sidelines of the G20 Summit on Tuesday, during which he expressed eagerness to work closely in areas such as technology, green energy, security, innovation and technology. Modi -- who arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday after concluding a two-day trip to Nigeria -- has met leaders of several countries, including those from Italy, Indonesia, Norway and Portugal, on the sidelines of the summit. He also met French President Emmanuel Macron and discussed ways to keep working closely in sectors such as space, energy and AI. Modi said in a post on X about his meeting with Starmer, "Had an extremely productive meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Rio de Janeiro. For India, the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the UK is of immense priority." "In the coming years, we are eager to work closely in areas such as technology, green energy, security, innovation and technology. We also want to add strength to tr
Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he will double funding for Britain's border security agency and treat people-smuggling gangs like terror networks in an attempt to stop migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats. In a speech Monday to a meeting of the international police organization Interpol, Starmer will say the gangs behind irregular migration are a serious threat to global security. Arguing that the world needs to wake up to the severity of this challenge, Starmer will say that we're taking our approach to counterterrorism, which we know works, and applying it to the gangs, according to extracts released by his office. He'll call for more cooperation between law-enforcement agencies, closer coordination with other countries and unspecified enhanced powers for law-enforcement. Starmer plans to increase the U.K. Border Security Command's two-year budget from 75 million pounds ($97 million) to 150 million pounds ($194 million). The money will be used to fund high-tech .
The future of Rishi Sunak as Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party hangs in the balance as polling booths opened across the UK on Thursday, with the British Indian leader and the man who wants his job Keir Starmer out early to cast their votes along with millions across the country. Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty walked hand-in-hand to their local polling booth on a sunny day in his constituency of Richmond and Northallerton in Yorkshire, northern England. A little later, Starmer and wife Victoria were at their polling station in Camden, north London, sporting Labour red colours. As is customary, there is no campaigning or party political canvassing on polling in the UK. Sunak, 44, is up against voter angst towards the incumbent Tories after 14 years in power and has had to contend with trailing far behind 61-year-old Keir Starmer-led Labour Party throughout the six-week campaign. Both leaders wrapped up their poll pitches with contrasting messages Suna