Page 2 - Britain

UK's PM Starmer arrives in Ukraine for security talks with Zelenskyy

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Ukraine on Thursday, pledging to help guarantee the country's security for a century days before Donald Trump is sworn in as US president. The British government says Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will sign a 100-Year Partnership treaty in Kyiv, covering areas including defence, science, energy and trade. Starmer's unannounced visit is his first trip to Ukraine since he took office in July. He visited the country in 2023 when he was opposition leader, and has twice held talks with Zelenskyy in 10 Downing St. since becoming prime minister. One of Ukraine's biggest military backers, the U.K. has pledged 12.8 billion pounds (USD 16 billion) in military and civilian aid to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion three years ago, and has trained more than 50,000 Ukrainian troops on British soil. Starmer is due to announce another 40 million pounds (USD 49 million) for Ukraine's post-war economic recovery.

Deal on Chagos Islands won't be finalised until Trump consulted, says UK

Britain's government confirmed on Wednesday that it will not finalize a deal to hand over sovereignty of the contested Chagos Islands to Mauritius until President-elect Donald Trump's administration is consulted. The governments of Britain and Mauritius have been negotiating in recent months to complete an agreement to settle the future of the disputed Indian Ocean archipelago, which is home to a strategically important UK-US naval and bomber base. But the agreement was opposed by Trump and his supporters. The president-elect's pick for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, warned last year that the deal posed a serious threat to US national security. The military base, located on Diego Garcia, the largest of the chain of tropical islands off the tip of India, has supported US military operations from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2008, the US acknowledged it also had been used for clandestine rendition flights of terror suspects. The official spokesperson for British Prime Minis

UK watchdog to investigate Google search services to see consumer impact

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which gained a wider remit over big tech this month, said search was vital for economic growth and it was critical that competition was working

British Sikh brother-sister duo jailed for fraud in charity donations in UK

A Birmingham-based brother and sister duo associated with the Sikh Youth UK group have been sentenced by a UK court after being found guilty of fraud offences relating to charitable donations. Rajbinder Kaur, 55, was convicted for money laundering and six counts of theft amounting to GBP 50,000 and one count under Section 60 of the UK's Charities Act 2011, which covers knowingly or recklessly providing false or misleading information to the Charity Commission. Her brother Kaldip Singh Lehal, 43, was also convicted for the same charge under the Charities Act. Kaur and Lehal ran the Sikh Youth UK (SYUK) group. While Kaur was sentenced to two years and eight months imprisonment by Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday, Lehal was given a four months' sentence suspended for 18 months and 80 hours of community service. Kaur tried to portray herself as someone naive about financial matters despite having worked in a bank, Superintendent Annie Miller from West Midlands Police said in a state

UK records highest deportations of illegal migrants, 'returns flights'

The UK government has claimed to have exceeded its target of deporting illegal migrants to countries of their origin, hitting the highest rate of removals since 2018 leading to 16,400 people with no right to be in the UK being removed. Home Office figures released on Thursday claim enforced returns were up 24 per cent compared to the same 12 months prior, including the removal of 2,580 foreign criminals marking a 23 per cent increase on last year. The government said bespoke charter flights have removed immigration offenders to countries around the world, including four of the biggest "returns flights" in the UK's history carrying more than 800 people. Individuals removed since the July 2024 election are said to include criminals convicted of drug offences, theft, rape and murder. This government was elected on a promise of change and within just six months we have redeployed resources for a scheme that returned just four volunteers and instead worked to remove 16,400 people with

UK lawmakers vote against new inquiry into 'grooming gangs' scandal

Grooming gangs scandal: The ruling Labour Party criticised the Conservatives for attempting to derail the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Asian bond selloff eases, stocks drop amid focus on UK gilts, US policy

Selling in stocks continued though, with most Asian share indexes ticking down in early trading

UK has strong belief in India's democratic values, growth story: Om Birla

There is a strong belief in India's democratic values and growth story here, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said in London during his ongoing visit to the UK. Addressing a community gathering at the High Commission of India in London on Wednesday evening, Birla shared insights from his dialogues with his UK counterpart House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and other members of Parliament. He noted that his interactions highlighted the strength of the India-UK parliamentary cooperation and the multifaceted nature of the bilateral partnership across multiple sectors. I had a good dialogue with leading UK parliamentarians and they displayed a strong belief in India's democratic values and growth story, Birla said. Our electoral process is transparent, which has helped reinforce a belief in democracy around the world. We take pride as the largest democracy of the world, dubbed the mother of democracy', and I extend an invitation to come visit India's new Parliament as we mark 75 year

UK Tories vie for Elon Musk's attention with grooming gangs probe vote

The Tory party, led by Kemi Badenoch, now spies a political opportunity by backing Musk's call for a full government-led investigation into the scandal

Indian diaspora groups condemn use of term 'Asian' in UK's child sex abuse

A number of Indian diaspora groups in the UK have strongly objected to the use of the generic term Asian with reference to a historic child sexual abuse scandal across different parts of England, largely involving gangs of men of Pakistani heritage. Defending his record, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday that he had reopened such cases and brought the first prosecution of an Asian grooming gang in Rochdale, north-west England, during his time as the head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) between 2008 and 2013. The Network of Sikh Organisations (NSO) reacted to Starmer's statement to highlight that the charity had first complained about the use of vague terminology referencing the country's wider South Asian community in connection with the crime back in 2012. This use of the vague reference to Asian' grooming gangs is extremely disappointing from the Prime Minister, NSO said in a statement. Part of the problem with this issue has been a fear of not speaking ..

UK business morale gloomiest, hits two-year low after tax rises: Survey

Finance minister Rachel Reeves announced 40 billion pounds ($50 billion) of tax rises on Oct 30, the most of any budget since 1993

UK minister Tulip Siddiq under scrutiny over ties to former Bangladeshi PM

The filings show that the apartment was registered to Abdul Motalif, a developer linked to the Awami League, the political party led by Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh's former PM and Siddiq's aunt

EV sales surge by 60% in UK as carmakers slash prices to dodge fines

The UK government is now reviewing the rules, which could result in increased flexibilities to help manufacturers meet them

UK grooming gang scandal reignited, Elon Musk, British MPs raise subject

Musk criticised the UK's handling of such crimes, directly calling out former CPS head and current Prime Minister Keir Starmer

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp to sell Foxtel to Britain's DAZN for $2.1 bn

News Corp will gain a board seat and hold a 6 per cent stake in DAZN, a London-headquartered streaming platform

In another blow to new Labour govt, British economy flatlines in Q3

The British economy flatlined in the third quarter of the year, according to downwardly revised official figures Monday, in another blow to the new Labour government that has made growth its number one mission. In its latest revision of the July to September period, the Office for National Statistics said the British economy showed no growth against the previous estimate of 0.1%. The agency partly blamed the reduction on fresh survey data showing weaker trading across bars and restaurants. The reduction has prompted critics to say that Labour talked down the economy on taking power on July 5 for the first time in 14 years when it described its economic inheritance from the previous Conservative administration as being the worst in generations. Treasury chief Rachel Reeves promised to turbocharge economic growth after Labour won the July election but has now seen the economy stall over the three months to September, while official figures earlier this month also pointed towards a 0.

UK PM Starmer hosts group of Indian investors, CEOs at Downing Street

The visit follows Starmer's meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 where they committed to take forward an ambitious UK-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

London's Heathrow to invest nearly $3 bn to upgrade airport over 2 years

The capital will be used to improve all terminals, including baggage delivery and projects to support punctual departures and arrivals,

UK govt approves $4.6 bn takeover of Royal Mail by Czech billionaire

Britain's government gave the go-ahead Monday for the sale of Royal Mail's parent company to a Czech billionaire, paving the way for the postal service to pass into foreign ownership for the first time in its 500-year history. Authorities confirmed Monday that the 3.6 billion-pound (USD 4.6 billion) takeover of Royal Mail's owner, International Distribution Services, by billionaire Daniel Kretinsky's EP Group, can go ahead. Kretinsky and IDS agreed to the deal in May but had been waiting for official approval under national security laws because of the importance of the postal service in the UK. The service will remain headquartered in the UK and as part of the deal, Britain's government will retain a so-called golden share in the service, meaning it will need to approve any key changes to Royal Mail's ownership, headquarters location and tax residency. The takeover is expected to be completed early in 2025. Royal Mail, one of the UK's oldest institutions, began in the 1500s as a

UK property asking prices fall, headwinds remain for 2025, says Rightmove

Compared with a year earlier, asking prices were 1.4 per cent higher