Tube strikes: RMT given 24 hours to avoid travel carnage September 5, 2025 Transport for London has warned the RMT union that it has just 24 hours to stop a major tube strike next week, which is set to shut down every Underground line and the DLR. The union has rejected a pay deal and made a series of demands around working hours and perks, making a settlement [...]
Angela Rayner on the brink: Deputy PM underpaid stamp duty on purchase of £800,000 property September 3, 2025 Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has referred herself to the standards watchdog after she admitted to underpaying stamp duty on her second home in Hove. A spokesperson for Keir Starmer has refused to confirm the date Rayner informed the Prime Minister about her tax dealings, raising questions on when he found out about new tax [...]
Thames Water: Creditors set out rescue plan with £20.5bn investment September 3, 2025 A consortium of Thames Water creditors have laid out plans for how a £20.5bn investment would “fix the foundations” of the UK’s biggest water supplier. The group of 15 investors, known as the London & Valley Water consortium, are set to focus on improving the firm’s record on pollution and sewage leaks – with an [...]
How tube strikes will stretch London’s infrastructure – and patience – to the limit September 2, 2025 From Sunday evening tube drivers are going on strike, and while the Elizabeth Line will continue to run other London Underground lines – as well as the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) – will pack it in for five days. Transport for London (TfL) put a 3.4 per cent pay rise on the table, which was [...]
Angela Rayner under pressure to clarify property questions amid hypocrisy accusations September 1, 2025 Angela Rayner is facing mounting scrutiny over her property portfolio, with accusations that she avoided £40,000 in stamp duty and questions around a house valuation in her constituency. These suggestions are made more embarrassing by her dual roles as deputy prime minister and housing secretary. The Times has reported on the “remarkable coincidence” that, at [...]
Home Office wins appeal to keep asylum seekers in Epping hotel August 29, 2025 Asylum seekers will be allowed to stay at a hotel in Epping, after the Court of Appeal overturned a previous ruling from the High Court. The decision from the second highest court in the UK means that the 138 men currently housed at The Bell Hotel in the Essex town can stay put. Earlier in [...]
Ofgem ups energy price cap August 27, 2025 The energy watchdog has announced that the energy price cap will be raised by a higher than expected two per cent between October and December. Ofgem’s decision is set to push the typical household’s energy spend up to £1,755 per year, despite a fall in wholesale energy prices. This comes following a price dip over [...]
UK backs down on plans to force Apple to share encrypted user data August 19, 2025 The British government has backed down on plans to force Apple to share encrypted user data, according to President Trump’s intelligence chief. Tulsi Gabbard told the Financial Times that the government has agreed to abandon its demands for a “back door” for data. US vice-president JD Vance reportedly intervened to broker the exemption for the [...]
Stephen Kinnock quizzed on his dad’s calls to ditch two-child benefit cap August 18, 2025 Stephen Kinnock said that discussions in government around scrapping the two-child benefit cap are “ongoing”, when asked about his father Lord Kinnock’s calls to ditch the policy. In an interview with BBC Breakfast, the health minister said: “Decisions about the Budget, decisions like that have major financial implications, they are a matter for the Chancellor.” [...]
Are nicotine pouches the future of Big Tobacco? August 14, 2025 Nicotine pouches are all the rage at the moment. Sometimes erroneously described as ‘snus’ – this only refers to tobacco-based products – the pouches are mainstay of Square Mile pubs, start-up offices and even Premier League football pitches. But are they a passing fad, or the new cornerstone of ‘Big Tobacco’? And, for an industry [...]
