Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering extending the freeze on income tax thresholds as part of efforts to close a looming gap in the public finances, raising the prospect of higher tax bills for millions of workers. Treasury sources said the measure is among the leading options for Reeves’s second budget this autumn. The freeze, first introduced by the Conservatives in 2021 and due to end in 2028, means thresholds rise…

Dozens of demonstrations or protests are expected this weekend outside hotels being used to house asylum seekers, as political and legal battles intensify over the government’s approach. The latest figures show that more than 32,000 asylum seekers are currently accommodated in hotels an 8% increase since Labour came to power, though still below the 2023 peak under the Conservatives. Anti-migrant rallies, alongside counter-protests organised by Stand Up to Racism, are…

The Home Office has scrapped plans to use a Norfolk hotel to house asylum seekers after weeks of controversy and the threat of legal action from the local council. The Park Hotel in Diss, currently accommodating women and children seeking asylum, was earmarked for conversion to accommodate single men. The proposal sparked protests in the town last month and drew sharp criticism from South Norfolk Council, which argued the move…

The Government is considering scrapping compulsory GCSE resits in English and maths, in what could mark the most significant reform to post-16 education in a decade. At present, pupils who fail to achieve a grade 4 (equivalent to a C under the old system) in either subject at 16 are required to resit them if they remain in education. The policy was designed to ensure school leavers met the minimum…

Britain is heading into an autumn of strikes that threaten to disrupt essential services, with industrial action planned across transport, healthcare, and local government. The RMT union confirmed on Thursday that the London Underground will face a week of strikes starting September 5, just as schools reopen and passenger numbers surge. Signallers, engineers, and service control staff will walk out on staggered days, causing severe disruption across the capital. The…

Labour membership a political party in the UK has fallen by nearly 200,000 since Keir Starmer became leader, according to the party’s latest accounts. Despite Labour’s landslide general election victory in July 2024, one in ten members left the party over the course of the year, with 37,215 departing in 2024 alone. Labour’s membership stood at 333,235 at the end of last year, down significantly from its peak of 532,046…

The UK General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) results released this week show overall grade stability compared to last year, but also highlight ongoing inequalities in student achievements. As core subjects like english and maths continue to be major hurdles, with this year’s results showing the highest failure rates in a decade for both subjects. There is also a clear divide between school types. Almost half (48.1%) of GCSEs taken…

A Nigerian man with a long history of failed asylum claims and a conviction for violent disorder has won the right to remain in the UK after judges accepted he would face persecution for being gay if returned to his home country. The man, whose identity has been protected by the courts, first arrived in Britain in 1983. Over the course of more than four decades he has repeatedly sought…

Britain’s education system is facing a deepening crisis after the latest GCSE results revealed English and maths pass rates have slumped to their lowest levels in more than a decade, with white working-class children hit hardest. Just 58.3 per cent of pupils across the UK passed maths this year, down from 59.5 per cent in 2024, the weakest performance since 2013. In English, the pass rate fell by 1.7 percentage…

The United Kingdom (UK) Government has taken control of the country’s third-largest steelworks after a High Court ordered the compulsory winding up of Speciality Steels UK (SSUK), part of Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Steel empire. The decision puts nearly 1,500 jobs in Rotherham and Sheffield at risk. The court found SSUK to be hopelessly insolvent, with just £600,000 in cash against a £3.7m monthly wage bill, while its parent group faces…

Smyth, who has served as an MSP for South Scotland since 2016 and previously held several frontbench roles including Scottish Labour’s transport and constitutional affairs spokesperson, was suspended by the party after it became aware of the investigation.

The UK Home Office has issued an urgent appeal for 5,000 residential properties to house up to 20,000 asylum seekers, following a High Court ruling that could further disrupt current accommodation plans