United Kingdom

    The housing market is dead. Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, the Halifax, says that prices fell in April by 3.1%, the biggest monthly drop in almost eight years. Newspapers bury this disastrous news way back in their editions for fear that it will spread gloom and despondency. We need to wean ourselves off this way of thinking. Falling house prices are not disastrous, and only in a country with such a perverted relationship with bricks and mortar could they be seen as such. In Germany, they scratch their heads in bemusement when they hear Britons boast of how the value of their house has soared. The Germans are right. Ever-rising house prices are a curse. They are bad for social mobility. They are bad for young people. And they are bad for the economy. The billi...

    Millions of viewers around the world will be watching with baited breath to catch that all-important first glance of Meghan Markle in her wedding dress on 19 May, but there is one member of the royal family who will have already had a sneak peek at the bride's beautiful gown - the Queen! Her Majesty is expected to see Meghan's designer dress at Windsor in the days leading up to the royal wedding, to ensure she approves of the design. HELLO!'s royal correspondent Emily Nash explained the tradition while speaking on royal podcast On Heir this week. "We understand that this is royal tradition," she said. The Queen also gave the Duchess of Cambridge's bespoke Alexander McQueen gown her seal of approval ahead of her marriage to Prince William in 2011, and will likely do...

    Migration officials have had their power to check NHS records in immigration cases reined in. Digital Minister Margot James told MPs that a previous memorandum of understanding between the Home Office and Department of Health had been narrowed so that records could now only be shared in cases involving serious criminality. The move represents a serious climbdown from the "hostile environment" policy towards illegal immigrants, implemented by former Home Secretary Theresa May. Tory MP Dr Sarah Wollaston, who chairs the Commons health select committee, put down an amendment to the Data Protection Bill which would seek to make such a change. Ms James said: The Government has reflected further on the concerns put forward (Dr Wollaston) and as a result, and with immedi...

    Shoppers face significant hikes in food bills if the Government fails to secure a free trade deal with the European Union, peers have warned. In a bleak assessment of the impact of Brexit, they suggested grocery costs would rise, businesses could go bust and round year supplies put at risk. Customers could be left in a two-tier system that means the better off buy more expensive, British goods while those who are poorer are left with lower-standard cheap imports. Peers said there was a striking contrast between Government confidence about the potential impact of Brexit on the price and availability of food and concerns raised by the industry. The UK's ports would be choked up with delays if EU food imports are subject to the same border checks as other imported pr...

    Meghan Markle has told friends she cannot wait to be a mother, saying she would absolutely love to have children, her former agent has claimed. Gina Nelthorpe-Cowne, Ms Markle's friend and agent, disclosed the former actress had shared the news she was dating Prince Harry during a whispered conversation over lunch, and spoken about her hopes of having a family. Speaking in a Sky documentary, she claims she had once asked Ms Markle if she saw children in her future when they were travelling together for work in the Cayman Islands. Ms Markle is to marry Prince Harry on May 19 at Windsor Castle, becoming an official member of the Royal Family. The Prince has previously spoken regularly about his desire to have children, his affection for his nephews and niece Prince ...

    Supermarket petrol pumps are starting to charge drivers a £99 fee to pay at the pump under a new European-style rule change by Visa and Mastercard. The pre-authorization charge is being introduced to ensure drivers have enough money to cover the amount of fuel they put in their cars if they choose to pay at the pump instead of at a kiosk. Last month Asda became the first supermarket to introduce the charge at three stores, but has been met with complaints from customers. One customer claimed the £99 charge was deducted from her bank balance and not returned for two days.  Although the money is deducted from the customer's bank balance or credit card limit it is held in limbo but never actually leaves their account. Once the payment for the petrol has cleared the c...

    Ten years after being jailed for ­kidnapping daughter Shannon, Karen ­Matthews still finds it hard to shake off the tag of most despised mum. But the 43-year-old has spoken out in a bid to convince the nation she is not evil and insist she knew nothing of the snatch plot that shocked the nation. Matthews even offered to take a lie detector test about what happened to her daughter when she vanished in February 2008 before being found at an accomplice’s flat tethered to a bed. Mum-of-seven Matthews said: “I’m not Britain’s worst mum. I didn’t kill anybody. Baby P’s mum and Maxine Carr don’t get the abuse that I do. None of it’s true. I’m on the edge. It makes me want to kill myself but I’d never do that. I’m scared I’ll die lonely and alone. She said she was made ...

    When Sally came round from the anaesthetic her cheeks were already wet with tears. She had been fully sedated while the doctors terminated her four-month pregnancy, a pregnancy she had desperately wanted to continue. I was crying when wheeled me in, she says. They kept asking ‘are you sure you want to do this? and I couldn’t even answer, I just had to nod my head. Sally is not her real name but she says she could not bear for family and friends to know what she went through. She and her partner discovered, almost halfway through the pregnancy, that the government no longer paid out child tax credit and the child element of universal credit for more than two children. The rule applies to babies born after 6th April 2017 and it’s been widely condemned by women’s rig...

    Household wet wipes will be banished in the UK as part of Michael Gove’s drive to crack down on plastic being thrown away and damaging ecosystems, the government has said. If they are outlawed, shoppers will no longer be able to buy the wipes, which are mostly made of polyester and contain millions of microfibres impregnated with chemicals. Tens of thousands of wet wipes are sold in Britain each year, and despite public awareness campaigns, many are still flushed into lavatories, where they end up clogging mains sewers, and go on to kill fish in rivers and other marine life as the fibres are released. We are continuing to work with manufacturers and retailers of wet wipes to make sure labelling on packaging is clear and people know how to dispose of them properly a...

    A customs partnership with the European Union is still on the table, the business secretary has said, despite fierce opposition from some Tory Brexiteers. Thousands of British jobs depend on frictionless trade with Europe, Greg Clark stressed as he continued to push for the controversial arrangement. He also opened the door to extending a transition period on customs with the EU until a new arrangement was in place. Outspoken Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg dismissed the suggestion of job losses as Project Fear. Mr Clark was part of the Brexit "war cabinet" which this week failed to reach an agreement on whether to back the customs partnership. The arrangement would see the UK collect import duties on behalf of the EU for goods arriving via British ports and airports. ...