United Kingdom

    A review of the Windrush generation scandal will have full access to Home Office information, Theresa May has promised ahead of a Labour move to force disclosure of internal documents. The Prime Minister, who was home secretary before entering Number 10, promised a package of measures to bring transparency on the issue. Labour hopes to use a parliamentary procedure to force ministers to hand over correspondence including text messages and emails – between ministers, officials and special advisers between May 2010 and 2018. At Prime Minister’s Questions, Mrs May said Home Secretary Sajid Javid would set out the actions being taken by the Government on the issue. She said speed is of the essence and Mr Javid will be commissioning a full review of lessons learned...

    The first pictures of the Harry and Meghan's royal wedding carriage have been released. The couple have chosen an Ascot Landau carriage for their procession. Although the weather on 19 May is expected to be sunny with some clouds, a backup carriage has been chosen in the event of severely wet weather. Kensington Palace tweeted out two images of the carriage, explaining that the Ascot Landau is one of five in the Royal Mews. The Ascot Landau will be the centre piece of public celebrations after the couple marry in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. Prince Harry and Ms Markle are very much looking forward to this short journey which they hope will be a memorable moment for everyone who has gathered together in Windsor to enjoy the atmosphere of this special day, ...

    Nearly 200 protesters were arrested Tuesday after May Day riots in central Paris, where hooded youths torched a McDonald's restaurant and several vehicles during a march against President Emmanuel Macron's public sector reforms. Shouting Rise up, Paris and Everyone hates the police, around 1,200 people in black jackets and face masks joined the traditional May 1 union-led demonstration for worker's rights, according to a count by Paris police. They also torched vehicles at a car dealership, along with a mechanical digger and a scooter, leaving a trail of destruction and plumes of dark smoke billowing into the air. The worst unrest in months in Paris comes at a time of heightened tensions over Macron's reform of the public sector and follows a showdown between polic...

    Theresa May is facing huge pressure from pro-Brexit MPs as her feuding Cabinet ministers prepare to meet in a ferocious showdown on Government policy on customs. The Prime Minister's so-called Brexit war cabinet is meeting to attempt to reach a deal on whether the UK should leave Europe's customs union or enter a customs partnership. The PM has repeatedly pledged that there will be no customs union after Brexit, but is struggling to reconcile the demands of warring Brexiteers and Remainers and avoid more Cabinet resignations. She also faces near-civil war on her back benches too, with pro-Remain Tory rebels threatening to vote with Labour and other Opposition parties in the Commons to stay in the customs union. But on the eve of the Cabinet showdown, a group of Br...

    Prince Harry and Meghan Markle feature on a new coin commemorating the royal wedding. Harry and the American star sat for the portraits used on the Royal Mint souvenir and are depicted looking lovingly into each other’s eyes. It is Ms Markle’s first appearance on a UK coin by the Royal Mint. The Royal Mint revealed: Following the announcement of their engagement, the Royal Mint was granted a private sitting with Prince Harry and Meghan at Kensington Palace. The coin design was crafted by Jody Clark, who created the current effigy of the Queen in 2015. Harry featured on an Alderney coin by the Royal Mint in 2005 to mark his 21st birthday.

    Theresa May faces a new immigration crisis after it emerged that she overruled Cabinet ministers pleading for more doctors from overseas to fill empty NHS posts. At least three government departments lobbied for a relaxation of visa rules to let in desperately needed doctors as well as specialist staff sought by businesses, the Evening Standard has learned. The issue erupted on Friday when several NHS trusts went public about fears that patient safety was being put at risk by doctor shortages. The crisis came as then home secretary Amber Rudd was fighting for her political life over the Windrush scandal but No 10’s hard line meant her hands were tied. Sources have disclosed that Downing Street was lobbied for several months before the NHS went public to allow a re...

    Pressure is continuing to grow on Prime Minister Theresa May over her actions as Home Secretary as Sajid Javid signalled a break from the past on his first day in the role. Mr Javid said he would do right by the Windrush generation and rejected the term hostile environment which was used by Mrs May to refer to the government’s immigration policy. The new-look Cabinet is due to meet on Tuesday for the first time since Amber Rudd resigned from her role as Home Secretary after admitting she had inadvertently misled MPs over the existence of targets for removing illegal immigrants. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said Mrs May now has questions to answer about what she actually did as home secretary. Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, said Sajid Javid’s appointme...

    The proportion of families headed by a 25- to 34-year-old that own their own home has more than halved in some regions. Home ownership among young families has plummeted across every corner of Britain over the past 35 years, according to a devastating inquiry into the housing crisis facing millennials. The proportion of families headed by a 25- to 34-year-old that own their own home has more than halved in some regions, showing that the crisis goes far beyond London. Analysis conducted as part of a two-year investigation into intergenerational fairness in Britain, chaired by a former Tory minister, found that millennials are being forced into increasingly cramped and expensive rented properties that leave them with a longer commute and little chance of saving for a...

    The number of students caught cheating at the UK’s top universities has shot up by a third in three years, with experts warning that institutions are ignoring the problem. Figures compiled by the Guardian from freedom of information requests to Russell Group universities a group of 24 leading institutions that includes Oxford and Cambridge shows the number of academic misconduct cases surged by 30%, from 2,640 to 3,721, between the academic years 2014-15 and 2016-17. Experts have expressed concern about the findings. Thomas Lancaster, a senior teaching fellow at Imperial College London and one of the UK’s leading experts on essay cheating, said: A growing number of young people also feel more pressure than ever before often turning to cheating to help them get thro...

    Amber Rudd has become the fifth member to leave cabinet to leave within just six months. The former Home Secretary quit her job Sunday evening after coming under increasing pressure over the way her department handles immigration. In a resignation letter to PM Theresa May she admits she inadvertently misled the Home Affairs Select Committee over the issue. Rudd admitted her department had targets for deportations - something she had previously denied - and that she should have been aware of them. Her departure also comes 10 months since June's snap general election where the Conservatives lost their majority in the House of Commons. The first to leave was Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, who resigned his post after being caught up in Westminster sleaze allegatio...