United Kingdom

    When Alasdair Haynes walked onto the market floor of the London Stock Exchange to start a new week one morning exactly 30 years ago today, he was greeted by an eerie sight. The 26-year old, who worked in traded options for stock jobbing firm Pinchin Denny, was accustomed to the usual hustle and bustle of the trading floor. But on Monday October 27, 1986, the LSE had suddenly become a “ghost town”. “We were one corner of the London Stock Exchange,” Haynes, who now runs share trading venue Aquis Exchange, recalls of his time working at the exchange in traded options. “Ninety percent of [the LSE] was filled with jobbers’ booths and brokers all walking around and the runners running around. “And then we all walked in on the Monday morning and there was the traded options marke...

    Theresa May privately warned that companies would leave the UK if the country voted for Brexit during a secret audience with investment bankers a month before the EU referendum. A recording of her remarks to Goldman Sachs, leaked to the Guardian, reveals she had numerous concerns about Britain leaving the EU. It contrasts with her nuanced public speeches, which dismayed remain campaigners before the vote in June. Speaking at the bank in London on 26 May, the then home secretary appeared to go further than her public remarks to explain more clearly the economic benefits of staying in the EU. She told staff it was time the UK took a lead in Europe, and that she hoped voters would look to the future rather than the past. In an hour-long session before the City bankers, she al...

    One of Britain's most wanted criminals was arrested in Tenerife on Monday after fleeing the UK six years ago. Convicted rapist Mohammed Alam, 33, was sentenced to 14 years in his absence in March 2010 after subjecting a woman to a sickening attack in Cheltenham. Extradition proceedings are due to begin at the Spanish national court in Madrid on Wednesday. The Bangladeshi national was featured in the Operation Captura - a notorious fugitive campaign run by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and Crimestoppers. He was caught by Spanish police at a restaurant in Playa de las Americas, a holiday resort in the south west of the Canary island. Detective Sergeant Paul Howell, of Gloucestershire police, said: "We hope this result shows criminals that they will be convicted even if the...

    An exchange rate sign in Paris The British economy’s post-Brexit vote bounce is losing momentum as the weak pound and higher inflation herald a squeeze in living standards, according to a Guardian analysis. Although official growth figures to be published on Thursday are likely to show the economy will avoid recession in the second half of the year, the latest Guardian analysis of the post-referendum economy shows a more mixed picture. The most notable shift over the last month was a further sharp fall in the value of the pound. Against the dollar, the pound is lingering around the $1.22 mark – about 18% lower than on 23 June, the day of the referendum. At one point a “flash crash” in the currency markets pushed the pound briefly to about $1.15. It quickly recovered, but t...

    David Cameron sent Boris Johnson a revenge text after the former London mayor was defeated in his leadership bid, a new book claims. Mr Johnson failed to put his name forward to become the new Tory leader after the Brexit vote after being betrayed by fellow Leave campaigner Michael Gove. In a book by Tim Shipman, it is claimed Mr Cameron sent Mr Johnson a gloating message saying: "You should have stuck with me, mate.” Extracts of the book All Out War were published in today’s Sunday Times, promising to tell the “disastrous inside story of how Boris did not become prime minister”. One cabinet member told the author that Mr Cameron was "the happiest I have seen him in a long time" on the day Mr Gove launched his rival bid for the top job. Mr Cameron, who backed staying in th...

    The first group of unaccompanied children without links to Britain arrived in the UK last night from the Calais camp known as the "jungle". The refugees were among the latest wave of around 70 new young arrivals to cross the Channel under the provisions of the Dubs amendment. It followed a change to the Immigration Act which meant Britain has to accept some of the "most vulnerable" unaccompanied child refugees who do not necessarily have ties to the UK. Previously all the young refugees who have arrived in Britain have been brought under the Dublin regulations, which require the children to have family resident in the UK. Speaking about the new arrivals, Bishop Jonathan Clark, spokesman for Citizens UK, said: "It's great to see government acting on what Citizens UK have be...

    A Muslim father whose children have been taken into care after a High Court judge decided that they had been abused has complained of social workers being prejudiced against him. Mr Justice Baker has concluded two boys had been been hit, punched and kicked by their father and said beatings had been plainly abusive. He concluded that the couple had used physical abuse in a bid to discipline their large family and has ruled that all their children should live away from home. The man had spoken of the racism in this country and he and his wife thought that there had been a conspiracy against them. The parents, in particular the father, thought that there had been a conspiracy and that the professionals had not acted appropriatelyMr Justice Baker Detail has emerged in the late...

    Theresa May's office has strongly rejected the suggestion from French presidential candidate Alain Juppé that the border for migrants could be moved from Calais to the southeast coast of England. Juppé, the current favourite to succeed current presiden François Hollande, said he wanted a total revision of the Le Touquet treaty, the bilateral agreement which means border checks take place on the French side of the channel. This would involve the border being pushed back to Kent on the southeast coast of England, meaning migrants traveling across Europe could cross the channel from France to the UK with much more ease. "We can’t tolerate what is going on in Calais, the image is disastrous for our country and there are also extremely serious economic and security consequences...

    Fake Sheikh Mazher Mahmood Mazher Mahmood, known as undercover reporter the Fake Sheikh has been jailed for 15 months for tampering with evidence in the collapsed Tulisa Contostavlos drugs trial. Mahmood, 53, was found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice earlier this month. The self-styled “king of the sting” met N-Dubz and ‘X Factor’ star Contostavlos in a London hotel, posing as a film producer who wanted the singer to star in a Hollywood film. Contostavlos was accused of arranging for Mahmood to be sold £800 of cocaine by one of her contacts. The journalist’s driver Alan Smith, 67, was also found guilty of the same charge following a trial at the Old Bailey. The pair were accused of conspiring to suppress evidence in Contostavlos’ trial, which was late...

    Theresa May has angered European leaders by telling her first EU summit that she expects Britain to be at the centre of European decision-making until Brexit takes place. In a brief speech at the end of an EU dinner in Brussels, the prime minister said Britain wanted to continue to play a central role in meetings and decisions until it leaves the EU. The speech angered fellow leaders, according to Manfred Weber, leader of the Christian Democrats in the European parliament. He said: “When somebody wants to leave a club, it is not normal that such a member wants to decide about the future of this club. That is really creating a lot of anger about the behaviour of the British government.