Britain

UK govt condemns masked anti-immigration protesters blocking Dover port

Dozens of masked anti-immigration protesters blocked roads leading to Britain's busiest ferry port on Saturday, clogging traffic and disrupting travellers and cargo vehicles heading for France. The UK government condemned the action, saying it went beyond peaceful protest. The Port of Dover said Saturday morning that all traffic in and out was "stopped due to an ongoing public order incident," and police said they were "engaging with the protesters." Video posted on social media showed several dozen men in black, their faces covered, standing across a major road near the port. One clip showed demonstrators linking arms across a main road and shouting "stop the boats." Chris Vinson, a Conservative Party local councilor, said the protest appeared to be "illegal migration-related." "I'm not aware that there's been any violence, although clearly, having the path of your vehicle blocked by men wearing black paramilitary gear and balaclavas is extremely intimidating," he said. The Labo

Cash-strapped UK universities turn to mergers as funding pressures mount

The two mid-ranking institutions are merging into one of the UK's biggest, forging a blueprint for others in the economically challenged sector to follow

AI is boosting UK productivity, but it's coming at a cost for workers

Britain has seen a K-shaped recovery: The top end of its economy is doing better than it has in years, but the bottom is struggling

Total solar eclipse: Why August 12 event is special for many across Europe

The August 12 total solar eclipse will turn parts of Europe dark, with Spain and Iceland in the path of totality and the UK witnessing a major partial eclipse

Will call out Trump if required: Britain's new Prime Minister Andy Burnham

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he will always put Britain's interests first and will call out Donald Trump if required, while ruling out an early general election

UK PM Burnham names Kanishka Narayan as first AI minister to attend cabinet

Narayan, a Labour politician from Wales, was appointed minister for AI and online safety in September 2025 under Burnham's predecessor Keir Starmer

Who is Andy Burnham, Labour leader succeeding Keir Starmer as UK PM?

Andy Burnham succeeded Keir Starmer as UK prime minister after winning the Labour leadership. Here's a look at his political journey, rise to power and the challenges ahead

Who is Kanishka Narayan? Indian-origin MP named UK's first AI minister

Kanishka Narayan had previously served as Minister for AI and Online Safety since September 2025 under former Prime Minister Keir Starmer

What to know about key challenges Andy Burnham faces as UK prime minister

Andy Burnham begins his first full day as UK prime minister on Tuesday, after entering 10 Downing Street on a wave of enthusiasm and a mountain of challenges ahead. The pressing issues look familiar. They were the same ones his predecessor, Keir Starmer, faced: a sluggish economy, a cost-of-living crisis, overstretched public services, and foreign policy that includes wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and managing relations with US President Donald Trump. Burnham became prime minister after spending most of the past decade running Greater Manchester as mayor of a northwest England region with 3 million residents, before winning his ticket back to Parliament in a special election last month. Leading a national government delivering services for 70 million people is a monumentally larger task with problems on a larger scale. These are some of the main issues confronting Burnham: Boosting the economy and decentralising ...

Ship ablaze in Strait of Hormuz near coast of Oman, says British military

A ship caught fire early Monday in the Strait of Hormuz near the coastline of Oman, the British military said. The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center issued a warning about the fire, saying it was unclear what sparked the blaze. The US military has been encouraging ships to use a route near Oman to transit the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has responded with attacks targeting those vessels, insisting it must have control over the crucial waterway through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas traded once passed in peacetime. The United States began a new round of airstrikes early Monday targeting Iran after announcing the death of another American service member, and Iran fired missiles toward Jordan that risked widening the conflict into neighboring Israel. Step by step, the US and Iran have inched closer to all-out war as last month's interim deal meant to permanently end the fighting has crumbled and shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has largely

Andy Burnham set to become next UK premier with majority of MP votes

At the end of the first day of the party's leadership contest to replace Keir Starmer, 322 of 403 Labour members of Parliament voted for Burnham

Nominations open in contest to be UK leader with Burnham as sole contender

Nominations open Thursday in a Labour Party election to replace Keir Starmer as Britain's prime minister, a contest in which there is expected to be just one candidate. Former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham will be collecting signatures from Labour lawmakers, and needs at least 80 to run a target he's likely to well exceed. Other potential contenders have all ruled themselves out. Former Defence Minister Al Carns, who had been pondering a run, confirmed late Wednesday that he will not challenge Burnham. "I'd hoped a leadership contest would give us the opportunity for a proper debate," Carns said in a statement. "But months of internal Labour politics isn't what the country needs right now. We've got to get on with the job. Andy Burnham's earned this and he's got my full backing." Nominations remain open until July 16. Burnham is highly likely to be announced as the new Labour leader the following day, and to become prime minister after a meeting with King Charles III on Ju

Andy Burnham may struggle to keep his promise to Britain's economy

The frontrunner for Britain's top job has pledged to deliver 'good growth in every postcode', but decades of regional inequality and weak productivity will make that promise difficult to fulfil

Decision to resign was intensely personal, says UK PM Keir Starmer

Keir Starmer has spoken of his decision to resign as Labour Party leader and British Prime Minister as an "intensely personal" one, which he took with his wife and children at a family weekend away. In his first interview since his Downing Street statement that fired the starting gun for a leadership election, Starmer told the BBC on Friday evening that he would complete his current term as a central London member of Parliament. But, while on the backbenches of Parliament, the 63-year-old politician plans on "keeping his mouth shut" to allow his successor widely expected to be former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to get on with the job. "I grappled with what was the best thing to do for me, for the country, for the government," said Starmer. "In the end it became an intensely personal decision. And that's why it was a decision taken ultimately when (my wife) Vic and I were away with the kids," he said. The weekend before June 22, when he announced his resignation on the

Burnham's 'good growth' pitch: How it differs from plans of 'failed' UK PMs

Theresa May promised industrial renewal, Johnson championed levelling up and Starmer pledged national renewal. Andy Burnham argues growth will remain elusive unless power moves beyond Westminster

UK says it will open new sponsorship routes for eligible refugees

Britain's government said it will open safe, legal routes for eligible refugees, while also changing human rights laws to make it easier to deport people who are in the country illegally. The new routes will allow community groups, universities and employers to sponsor refugees to come to the UK. Authorities said the plan was inspired by a similar "community sponsorship" programme in Canada that has settled some 400,000 people in the country since 1979. "I will open new legal routes for genuine refugees, while closing loopholes that have been too often abused," Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said Friday. At the same time, Mahmood said, a new immigration law will seek to prevent "abuse" of human rights laws and crack down on "vexatious claims." It will tighten the definition of family so that it is restricted to immediate family members only. Critics have said the European Convention on Human Rights is often cited to prevent the deportation of people who have no right to stay in the

Why air-conditioning is one of the best solutions for dealing with summers

Most of northwest Europe is critically unprepared for a world in which heatwaves are the norm, not an exception

Starmer has resigned, but what can new PM do differently against Reform UK?

When Starmer led Labour into the election in 2024, he was facing down the party's traditional rivals in the Conservatives

From landslide win to downfall: How Keir Starmer lost backing of supporters

Dutiful rather than dynamic, Keir Starmer was elected Britain's prime minister to be a safe pair of hands who would end years of political chaos under the Conservatives. His term is ending less than two years later after missteps, party infighting and one colossal error of judgment that indirectly ensnared him in the scandals surrounding Jeffrey Epstein, a man he had never met and whose sexual crimes he was not complicit in. On Monday, Starmer said in an emotional statement that he is stepping down as leader of the governing Labour Party, though he will remain caretaker primer minister until a new Labour leader is chosen in coming weeks. "The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election," he said. "I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace." Starmer's selling point was "no more soap opera politics," said Rob Ford, a political science professor at the Universit

Starmer announces resignation as UK PM, successor to take over by September

Under mounting pressure from within the governing Labour Party, PM Keir Starmer said he would step down and ensure an orderly transition, with a successor expected to be in place by September