Latest United Kingdom government News
UK gives sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. The US base on Diego Garcia stays
LONDON (AP) — The British government agreed Thursday to hand sovereignty of the long-contested Chagos Islands, an archipelago of more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean, to Mauritius, in a deal to secure the future of a strategically important U.K.-U.S. military base. British...
Following freebies row, UK's Starmer pays back $8,000 worth of gifts
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Wednesday it is “right” that he has paid back more than 6,000 pounds ($8,000) worth of gifts and hospitality, following a row over freebies. For weeks, Starmer has faced criticism over the scale of the...
UK leader Starmer pitches pragmatism as he seeks to mend EU ties battered by Brexit
BRUSSELS (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday held out the prospect of “sensible leadership” on issues of common interest as he launched a mission to improve ties with the European Union, which disintegrated as his country left the world’s biggest trading bloc four years...
Britain's last coal-fired electricity plant is closing. It ends 142 years of coal power in the UK
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s last coal-fired power plant is closing on Monday, ending 142 years of coal-generated electricity in the nation that sparked the Industrial Revolution. The Ratcliffe-on-Soar station in central England is finishing its final shift at midnight after more than...
Contenders to lead Britain's defeated Conservatives woo members at a key party conference
LONDON (AP) — Members of Britain’s defeated and divided Conservative Party gathered Sunday for an annual conference dominated by the search for a new leader capable of bringing the right-of-center party back from a catastrophic election defeat. U.K. voters ousted the Tories in a...
New British leader vows his nation will reengage on global leadership
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — New British Prime Minister Keir Starmer took the international stage at the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday for the first time with a message: His nation is returning to “responsible global leadership.” The Labour Party leader, who won a landslide...
UK political magazine The Spectator's new editor is Michael Gove
LONDON (AP) — Michael Gove, who was a longtime U.K. Cabinet minister under successive Conservative Party governments, has been appointed the editor of The Spectator, one of the world’s oldest political magazines. Wednesday's announcement came little more than two weeks after...
UK leader Starmer aims to shed gloomy image by saying things will get better — eventually
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer tried to shake off his image as a gloom-monger on Tuesday, telling voters exhausted by years of political and economic turmoil that better times are on the way — if they swallow his recipe of short-term pain for long-term gain. ...
Ex-NYC COVID adviser is fired after video reveals he attended parties during pandemic
NEW YORK (AP) — A former New York City official who helped coordinate the city’s response to the pandemic was fired from his private-sector job after a recording showed him talking about attending a sex party and other private gatherings when the city was urging people to practice social...
Britain's Treasury chief tries to turn on the economic optimism after months of gloomy talk
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — British Treasury chief Rachel Reeves promised on Monday not to return to an era of public spending cuts despite the dire state of the U.K.’s national finances, as she tried to inject a dose of optimism after weeks of negative headlines for the country’s new Labour...
