Latest United Kingdom government News
What happened this week in the UK election campaign, from a betting controversy to Farage's ambition
LONDON (AP) — The U.K.'s general election campaign is less than two weeks away now, and the prevailing trends don't appear to have changed much. The left-of-center Labour Party is the clear favorite to defeat Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservatives, with Keir Starmer looking set...
Bather, beware: British beaches and rivers have a sewage problem. It has seeped into election talk
HENLEY-ON-THAMES, England (AP) — Endurance swimmer Joan Fennelly is undaunted by frigid water and long distances, swimming year-round in the wild. But she takes extra precautions in her own backyard. The River Thames is one of Britain's many waterways contaminated with sewage and agricultural...
British Prime Minister Sunak says he's 'incredibly' angry over election date betting accusations
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Thursday that anyone involved in using inside information to bet on the date of Britain’s July 4 national election should be expelled from his Conservative Party. Sunak said on the BBC that he was “incredibly angry,...
Bank of England keeps main interest rate at 16-year high of 5.25% despite inflation fall
LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England on Thursday kept its main interest rate at a 16-year high of 5.25% even though inflation has fallen to its target of 2%, with several policymakers warning that a premature cut could stoke another bout of price rises. For the second meeting in a...
Stock markets buckle from Paris to Mumbai under stress of election results: Will the US be next?
NEW YORK (AP) — Elections have consequences for financial markets. But what that means for investors is often hard to predict. Just look at France, where the threat of electoral losses for the president’s centrist party recently sent the French stock market to its worst week in...
Ship attacked by Yemen's Houthi rebels in fatal assault sinks in Red Sea in their second sinking
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A bulk carrier sank days after an attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels, who are believed to have killed one mariner on board, authorities said early Wednesday. It was the second ship sunk in the rebels' campaign targeting Red Sea shipping. The sinking...
One of Rishi Sunak's bodyguards arrested over alleged bets on UK election date
LONDON (AP) — One of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s police bodyguards has been arrested over alleged bets on the date of Britain’s national election made before it was announced, authorities said Wednesday. The Metropolitan Police force said that a constable in the Royalty and...
With election looming, UK's governing Conservatives seize on inflation fall to 2% target
LONDON (AP) — Inflation in the U.K. returned to the Bank of England's target rate of 2% for the first time in nearly three years, official figures showed Wednesday, a development that was seized on by the governing Conservative Party as evidence that its economic plan is “working” ahead of...
Strict asylum rules and poor treatment of migrants are pushing people north to the UK
AMBLETEUSE, France (AP) — The rising tide crept above their waists, soaking the babies they hugged tight. Around a dozen Kurds refused to leave the cold waters of the English Channel in a futile attempt to delay the inevitable: French police had just foiled their latest attempt to reach the...
Britain's rollercoaster-riding Liberal Democrat leader embraces stunts to gain election attention
LONDON (AP) — Most politicians try to avoid slips, stumbles and undignified photos. Not Ed Davey. The leader of Britain’s centrist Liberal Democrats has turned the country’s six-week general election campaign into a showreel of self-deprecating fun. Davey, 58,...
