Mahmood agenda bites: Migrant worker applications nearly halve in a year Politics The number of applications for skilled worker visas has nearly halved in a year after home secretary Shabana Mahmood raised the barriers to entry for migrants. Official data released by the Home Office showed that there were 34,700 skilled worker visa applications in the year to March. This was a 44 per cent decrease from [...]
Kanye is awful but so is meddling in private enterprise Opinion Kanye West's actions are deplorable, but if Wireless wanted to platform him that's their business risk to take, writes Joseph Dinnage.
Wireless Festival cancelled after Home Office blocks Kanye West Politics Organisers have canned this year’s Wireless Festival after its headline act Kanye West was blocked from travelling to the UK by the Home Office. The rapper was scheduled to play at the popular festival in north London this summer but West, who changed his name to Ye, will be blocked from travelling to the UK [...]
Carabao Cup: Arsenal and Manchester City tailgaters to be deemed criminals March 20, 2026 Arsenal and Manchester City fans will be deemed criminals this weekend should they enter the Carabao Cup final without a football match ticket, the Home Office has announced. The move, introduced by crime and policing minister Sarah Jones, comes into force today and will cover all of football, and is part of a wider response [...]
Antonia Romeo appointed civil service boss February 19, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer has appointed Dame Antonia Romeo to be the first female cabinet secretary to lead the civil service, as part of a reshuffle of the government’s top team. The new civil service chief is currently the most senior civil servant at the Home Office, and was a leading contender for the role when [...]
Crackdown on social media migrant adverts to begin, Home Office says February 1, 2026 Social media users who tout illegal routes into the UK face up to five years in prison, starting on Monday. The Home Office will activate part of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, passed last year, as part of its crackdown on adverts telling migrants how they can circumvent immigration checks. Border security minister [...]
Asylum seekers’ cost to taxpayer is unknown, public auditor says December 10, 2025 The full cost of asylum to the British taxpayer is unknown as the government has not processed data on how much local authorities spend on migrants, the National Audit Office (NAO) has said. In a broad report mapping out asylum seekers’ journeys through the UK’s legal systems and support structures, public auditors found that there [...]
AI to answer your 101 calls, leaving 999 calls to humans December 9, 2025 “It’s not unusual for us to see 5,000 calls in 24 hours,” chief superintendent of the Thames Valley police department, Simon Dodds, told City AM. “Prioritising 999 over everything else is a real challenge”. That pressure has pushed his department, as well as the Hampshire & Isle of White Constabulary, to use AI agents. Their new [...]
UK startup growth clashes with Labour’s immigration reforms November 20, 2025 More than half of Britain’s fastest-growing startups are founded by immigrants, as global talent continues to power the UK’s entrepreneurial engine even as ministers tighten migration rules. New analysis from the Entrepreneurs Network shows that 54 per cent of the UK’s top 100 fastest-growing companies have at least one foreign-born founder, a sharp rise from [...]
Fresh Labour revolt brews over asylum system tightening November 17, 2025 A growing number of Labour backbenchers are preparing to revolt against the government’s proposed tightening on the UK asylum system. In another fiery showdown between Keir Starmer’s government and emboldened backbenchers, home secretary Shabana Mahmood is set to spark tensions across Westminster with new announcements aimed at making the UK less attractive to people crossing [...]