However, Siddiq claimed that major evidence provided was forged and denied the claim

The number of refugees allowed to settle in the UK through UN-backed resettlement schemes has fallen sharply, dropping 26% in one year, according to new Home Office data. Between September 2024 and September 2025, only 7,271 people were granted protection, compared with 9,872 the previous year. About half of those resettled were Afghans whose lives were put at risk after a UK defence official accidentally leaked the personal details of…

Ex-UK special forces director accused of cover-up over SAS killings in Afghanistan

Starmer

The Prince of Wales, William, has visited several severely ill children from Gaza who are currently receiving specialist treatment under an NHS-led humanitarian programme, Kensington Palace has confirmed. The UK began admitting critically ill Gazan children in September as part of a government medical evacuation initiative. As of 21 November, 50 children are being treated in NHS facilities, according to the Department of Health and Social Care. A Palace spokesperson…

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will endorse Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Budget in a speech on Monday, insisting it will ease cost-of-living pressures, stabilise the economy, and strengthen growth. Starmer is expected to argue that although the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has downgraded growth forecasts from next year, the UK’s current economic performance is beating forecasts, and the government must now go “further and faster” on pro-growth reforms. His remarks…

Reeves had repeatedly warned that the UK’s productivity forecast had been downgraded, suggesting there was less money available.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed that pensioners whose only source of income is the state pension will not be required to pay income tax until at least 2030. The assurance comes as the value of the state pension is expected to rise above the frozen income tax threshold in April 2027, which would ordinarily result in some pensioners becoming taxable. Next year, those receiving the post-2016 flat-rate state pension will…

The UK Government has announced that asylum seekers will no longer be allowed to use taxis for medical appointments starting in February, following concerns over excessive transport costs. The decision comes after reports revealed that some asylum seekers were being taken on long-distance taxi journeys costing hundreds of pounds, with the Home Office spending an average of £15.8m a year on transport. Earlier, asylum seekers were given one weekly bus…

Prostate

Home office

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has defended Labour’s decision to scale back its original plan to give workers protection from unfair dismissal from their first day in a job. The government now plans to reduce the qualifying period from two years to six months instead. Phillipson said the change was a pragmatic compromise that would help Labour pass its wider employment rights bill, which includes new day-one rights to sick pay…