United Kingdom

    Ahead of a crucial EU summit this month, the British prime minister is seeking to resolve a dispute over the backstop to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland. One of the proposals she is working on to take effect if no other solution to the Irish border issue is found is for the whole UK to participate in a customs union with the EU. Michel Barnier, chief EU negotiator, has rejected the idea, but officials in Dublin privately argue it could settle the border question and open the way to a deal. It looks like it would resolve that issue [of the border], said a senior Irish official involved in Brexit talks. Whether Europe accept it or not is another conversation. The Irish intervention will help Mrs May in the run-up to the EU summit on October 18 as she at...

    Theresa May has declared the age of austerity over with a message to voters that there are better days ahead. In her crucial keynote speech to the Conservative conference in Birmingham, Mrs May said next year’s post-Brexit Spending Review will set out a programme of increased investment for public services, as a mark that the decade of cuts following the financial crash is coming to an end. And she announced a new cancer strategy to increase early detection of the illness and save 55,000 lives a year by 2028, along with a ninth successive annual freeze in fuel duty. Admitting that the housing market is broken, she announced she was lifting the cap on councils borrowing to fund new developments, with the aim of building the homes this country needs. In a speech desi...

    The couple are on a whistle-stop tour of Sussex, arriving first at Edes House, in Chichester, on a busy day of engagements. The Duchess is wearing a camel Armani coat, a dark green Hugo Boss skirt and shirt from And Other Stories paired with nude suede stilettos. The Duke and the Duchess, the US-born former actress, will view the rare Sussex copy of the American Declaration of Independence. Crowds gathered early in Chichester ahead of the couple's arrival, with Ros Gentle among those waiting to catch a glimpse. She said: I think they are a great advert for the Royal family. In the afternoon, the couple will travel to East Sussex. The Duke, who was given the title the Duke of Sussex by the Queen on the morning of his wedding, will tour Brighton's historic Royal Pav...

    The man was taken to hospital with an arm injury. It is not believed to be life threatening, West Midlands Police said. Six people four men and two women were arrested for firearms offences at a property in Shepherds Gardens, Edgbaston, at around 5am. The men aged 21, 35, 45 and 52 and women aged 59 and 64 all from Birmingham have been arrested on suspicion of firearms offences and remain in police custody. A firearm was recovered by police and has been seized for forensic examination. Police had entered the property looking for a man wanted in connection with a firearms offence. The incident has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Police said inquiries are at an early stage and investigations are continuing. Police issued a statement to ...

    The Queen has joked about how she is not built for sitting cross-legged in a documentary about her global role. In the second part of ITV’s Queen Of The World, the monarch is seen chatting about a trip she made to the Pacific island of Tonga. She recalls how she was welcomed with a performance of Polynesian nose flutes, and that she found it difficult to sit cross-legged, as is the custom in Tonga. Asked by Elizabeth Kite, winner of a Queen’s Young Leaders Award, if she enjoyed her time in Tonga, the Queen replies: It was wonderful. We had people playing the nose flute outside the window. Just the most extraordinary thing. Sounds awfully uncomfortable but they play it rather well The only thing I found difficult was sitting cross-legged. She adds: It’s quite painf...

    Theresa May has slapped down her Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt by publicly disowning his comparison of the EU with the Soviet Union. Mr Hunt’s comments have been widely condemned by politicians and diplomats from across Europe, with particular disdain expressed in countries formerly under Soviet domination. Lithuania’s European Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis, who was born in a Siberian labour camp after his family’s deportation by Stalin and was later arrested by the KGB secret police as a dissident, offered to give the Foreign Secretary a history lesson. And Estonia’s ambassador to London, Tiina Intelmann, described Mr Hunt’s comments as insulting to all those who lived under the Soviet yoke before the collapse of the communist regime in 1991. In his keynote s...

    Former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson today appeared to be mimicking Theresa May's naughtiest moment as he was caught running through what looked like a field of wheat. The former Foreign Secretary, who is in the midst of a bitter row with the Prime Minister over her Brexit policy, was photographed in the field while out jogging in Oxfordshire today. The Prime Minister who is infamously awkward and was dubbed the Maybot during the last election memorably said that running in a field of wheat was the naughtiest thing she has ever done. It comes after he launched another scathing attack on the PM's Chequers plan branding it deranged in an interview with a Sunday newspaper. Mr Johnson's volley of onslaughts against Mrs May's Brexit plans have overshadowed To...

    Jeremy Hunt has likened the EU to a Soviet prison warning that trying to lock Britain in could destroy the bloc. Jeremy Hunt on Sunday likened the EU to a Soviet prison warning that trying to lock Britain in could destroy the bloc. The Foreign Secretary made the striking comparison as he delivered a stark message that the UK would 'fight' if Brussels tried to block a fair divorce deal. He insisted the EU must learn the lessons of history and not try to keep countries in line with dirty tactics. Mr Hunt also issued a plea for Tories to come together behind Theresa May's Chequers plan, saying infighting only risked handing power to Jeremy Corbyn. The combative comments came in a speech to party conference in Birmingham that will fuel speculation Mr Hunt sees himself...

    A man has been charged with murder after two women died in a stabbing in a quiet village. Jack Ralph has also been charged with attempted murder after a man was taken to hospital with serious injuries during the incident in Hadlow, near Tonbridge, on Saturday, Kent Police said. Police were called by paramedics to a house in Carpenters Lane just after 7.40am. Three people were found with injuries consistent with a stabbing, police said. Two women, aged in their 50s and 70s, died at the scene. The man, also in his 70s, is in a stable condition in hospital, according to a force spokeswoman. The 28-year-old, who lives on the street, remains in custody and will face two counts of murder and one of attempted murder when he appears via video link at Medway Magistrates’ Co...

    Boris Johnson has launched a blistering attack on Theresa May's Brexit plan on the eve of the Tory conference, calling the proposal deranged and preposterous. But in a blow to the former foreign secretary's leadership ambitions, a Sky Data poll has revealed voters are more likely to support the party under the current prime minister. In his latest outburst, Mr Johnson questioned whether Mrs May believes in Brexit as he rejected her Chequers strategy for leaving the European Union. Unlike the Prime Minister, I campaigned for Brexit, he told the Sunday Times. Unlike the Prime Minister, I fought for this, I believe in it, I think it's the right thing for our country and I think that what is happening now is, alas, not what people were promised in 2016. Mr Johnson ...