Author: Fatimah Idera

The UK Government has softened its proposed inheritance tax changes for farmland, raising the threshold from £1m to £2.5m following months of protests by farmers and growing unease within the Labour Party. Under the revised plan, a 20% tax will apply only to inherited agricultural assets valued above £2.5m from April 2026. The original proposal, announced in last year’s Budget, had set the threshold at £1m, sparking widespread concern across the farming sector. Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said the changes were made after listening to farmers’ concerns, stressing that the aim was to protect family-run farms while ensuring larger estates…

Business leaders have warned Prime Minister Keir Starmer that forging closer trade relations with the European Union has become a strategic necessity as UK exporters struggle under post-Brexit trading arrangements. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said the current UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) is failing to support growth, with more than half of exporters reporting it has not helped them sell into the EU. The findings are based on a survey of nearly 1,000 firms, most of them small and medium-sized businesses. According to reports, 54% of exporters said the deal negotiated by Boris Johnson’s government was not…

An Afghan asylum seeker has been sentenced to nine years in prison for the shocking and violent rape of a 17-year-old girl in a Scottish park. Rapualla Ahmadze, who was approximately 20 at the time of the attack, targeted the teenager in Cooper Park, Elgin, during August of last year. The High Court in Edinburgh heard how Ahmadze acted in a predatory manner, approaching the girl and making intimidating remarks before the assault. Although he claimed the encounter was consensual, a jury found him guilty of rape and a separate charge of threatening and abusive behavior. Judge Thomas Welsh KC…

The Home Office is preparing to transfer the first group of asylum seekers to the Crowborough army training camp in East Sussex early next year. This move is a central part of the government’s broader strategy to end the use of hotels for temporary accommodation, a goal Prime Minister Keir Starmer hopes to achieve by the next election. The site is designated to house approximately 540 men, many of whom are expected to be recent arrivals from small boat crossings due to the camp’s proximity to the south coast. While the government originally targeted a December opening, the timeline was…

Resident doctors in England are returning to hospitals today, marking the end of a five-day walkout. Despite the return to work, the long-running dispute over pay and working conditions remains unresolved, with union members recently rejecting the government’s latest offer regarding job security and specialized training. The British Medical Association (BMA) argues that current salaries are effectively 20% lower than they were in 2008 due to the rising cost of living. Dr. Jack Fletcher, a leader within the union, warned that the UK is losing medical talent to other countries that offer better compensation and a more supportive professional environment.…

More than 800 migrants crossed the English Channel in small boats on Saturday, marking the highest number recorded on a single December day in recent years, according to Home Office figures. A total of 803 people made the journey in 13 boats and were brought ashore at Dover by Border Force and RNLI vessels. The surge is believed to have been driven by a backlog of migrants waiting to cross after weeks of bad weather made sea journeys impossible. The latest crossings take the provisional total for 2025 to 41,455 arrivals, already exceeding the full-year figure for 2024, when 36,816…

The Prince of Wales has accepted the role of patron of the Special Air Service (SAS) Regimental Association, the charity supporting serving and former members of the elite Army unit. Prince William said he was proud to take on the position as he feels a deep sense of honour and respect by looking forward to working with the association, which provides welfare and support to SAS personnel and their families. The chair of the association welcomed the announcement, describing it as a source of great delight in a newsletter to members. In a message included in the newsletter, the prince…

The Home Office has confirmed that an army barracks in Kent that has been used to house asylum seekers has officially shut down. Napier Barracks in Folkestone, a former military site, began accommodating migrants in 2020. Since then, it has faced sustained criticism over poor living conditions, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when a major outbreak occurred among residents. The site closed on Friday and is expected to be fully vacated by the end of the month before being handed back to the Ministry of Defence. The Home Office said the barracks will later be transferred to a property developer…

Scotland police have seized drugs worth nearly £14 million in the lead-up to Christmas, describing it as a record-breaking week for drug recoveries nationwide. The largest single haul was made on 11 December in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, where officers recovered more than £8 million worth of cocaine during a targeted raid. A day later, police uncovered ecstasy, amphetamine and mephedrone valued at over £3.5 million in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire. Additional operations across the country led to further major seizures. In Perth and Kinross, officers recovered £1.2 million worth of cocaine in Dunning, while another £560,000 worth of the Class A drug…

The Society of Editors has criticised plans by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s government to reduce daily media briefings at No 10, warning the move could weaken transparency and democratic accountability. The organisation, which represents major news outlets, said regular and robust questioning of government was essential to a healthy democracy. Its concerns follow the announcement by Downing Street’s director of communications, Tim Allan, that the traditional twice-daily lobby briefings would be cut to one per day, with some replaced by press conferences. The changes were unveiled on Thursday without prior consultation with the lobby of political journalists who routinely…