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STORY

More than half of Britons believe their confidence in the Government protecting people’s right to express views it disagrees with has worsened over the past two years, according to polling commissioned by civil liberties organisation Liberty. The survey found 51% said their confidence had declined, while 10% believed it had improved. Liberty said the findings showed growing public concern about free expression in Britain.

The polling also found that 39% thought their ability to speak freely on important issues had worsened, while 42% believed it had become harder to express controversial political opinions without facing legal consequences. A further 39% said their understanding of what is and is not permitted under UK law had deteriorated. Liberty linked the decline in confidence to recent controversies including restrictions on protest, travel bans imposed on some overseas speakers and arrests connected with support for proscribed group Palestine Action.

Liberty is calling on the new Prime Minister to take what it described as a more consistent and non partisan approach to free speech, arguing that laws governing expression should be applied consistently across the political spectrum. Liberty director Akiko Hart said the findings should be regarded as a warning and argued that confidence in the right to disagree was important to a healthy democracy.

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Citizens Advice has criticised Royal Mail after the company failed to meet its reduced delivery targets for both first and second class post between April and June 2026. The charity said late deliveries continued to cause problems for people waiting for medical appointments, benefit decisions and bills, despite changes introduced by Ofcom which lowered the standards Royal Mail is required to meet.

From 1 April, Royal Mail’s annual target for first class post was reduced from 93% to 90% of letters being delivered within one working day, while the target for second class post was lowered from 98.5% to 95% within three days. Citizens Advice said Royal Mail had not met any of its annual delivery targets for the past six years, while the price of a first class stamp had risen by 137% and a second class stamp by 40% over the same period.

Tom MacInnes, Director of Policy at Citizens Advice, said it was not acceptable that Royal Mail had indicated it could take until next spring to meet the new targets. The charity is calling on Ofcom to consider using caps on stamp prices, arguing that previous fines for poor performance have had little effect. Changes to the Universal Service Obligation also mean second class post is moving to delivery on alternate weekdays, with full implementation expected at all delivery offices by December.

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Prime Minister Andy Burnham has travelled to Kyiv for his first overseas visit since taking office, as Ukraine marks the 35th anniversary of its independence. Burnham is expected to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and take part in Independence Day events, with the Government saying the visit is intended to reaffirm continued UK support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.

During the visit, Burnham announced that the Government has agreed to allow defence company MBDA to release classified information about British components used in the SCALP long range missile. SCALP is the French produced version of the UK’s Storm Shadow missile and uses shared British and French technology. The move is intended to allow France and Ukraine to progress plans to establish missile assembly lines inside Ukraine.

Burnham is also due to co chair a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing alongside other international leaders gathered in Kyiv. The Government said the UK has committed £25 billion in support to Ukraine since Russia’s full scale invasion, including £16 billion in military assistance and £5.6 billion in non military support. The Kremlin criticised the missile announcement on Monday, accusing Britain of escalating its involvement in the conflict.

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Norwich Airport will close to all air traffic on Friday 28 August because of a 24 hour strike by air traffic control staff. The airport has confirmed that no flights will operate to or from Norwich during the closure and has advised passengers due to travel that day to check directly with their airline for information about cancellations and alternative arrangements.

The strike has been called by Prospect as part of a dispute over pay, terms and conditions. The union said air traffic control employees are seeking pay and employment conditions comparable with colleagues elsewhere in the country. Action short of a strike began on 17 August and includes staff working strictly to contract, refusing non contractual overtime, declining shift swaps and withdrawing goodwill.

The dispute has already caused disruption at Norwich, including a five hour closure on 21 August and the cancellation of flights to Amsterdam and Aberdeen. Norwich Airport said it apologised for the disruption caused by the planned full day closure and remained committed to negotiations with Prospect aimed at reaching an agreement.

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Serious violent and sexual offenders released from prison are to face new geographical restrictions limiting them to designated areas, with GPS technology used to monitor their movements. The Government plans to introduce the tighter restriction zones from September, allowing probation services to confine some offenders to areas only a few miles across where the restrictions are considered necessary and proportionate.

The measures go further than existing exclusion zones, which prevent offenders entering particular locations such as a victim’s home or workplace. Under the new approach, an offender can instead be prohibited from leaving a defined area. Victims will be able to contribute to decisions about boundaries, while the zones must still allow offenders to attend appointments and access services intended to reduce the risk of reoffending.

The Sentencing Act 2026 provides powers for additional licence conditions including restriction zones, bans on driving, prohibitions on attending public events and restrictions on entering pubs, clubs and bars. Offenders who breach licence conditions can be recalled to prison. Justice Secretary Alex Norris said the changes were intended to reduce the risk of victims unexpectedly encountering the people who harmed them.

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The Government has briefed energy company executives on measures to protect infrastructure following reports that hackers linked to Iran forced a small British energy generator offline for four days. The incident was reported to have taken place in July, although the Government has not confirmed who was responsible or disclosed the location or identity of the affected facility.

Energy Minister Michael Shanks said the Government and industry had taken the incident seriously and were working with regulators and the National Cyber Security Centre to assess threats and strengthen protection. He said the generator involved was very small compared with what would normally be regarded as a power station and stressed that there had been no threat to the wider electricity grid.

The Department for Energy said nobody lost power as a result of the incident and described the UK energy network as highly resilient. The reports were published by the Financial Times and Daily Telegraph, which attributed the attack to hackers linked to Iran. The Iranian embassy in London had not commented on the allegations when approached by Reuters.

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The UK Government has agreed that defence company MBDA can release classified information about British components used in the SCALP long range missile as part of plans to establish assembly lines in Ukraine. Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced the move during a visit to Kyiv on 24 August, his first overseas trip since becoming Prime Minister, as Ukraine marked the 35th anniversary of its independence.

SCALP is the French produced version of the UK’s Storm Shadow missile and the two systems use shared British and French technology. The Government said releasing the information would allow France and Ukraine to move forward with plans for Ukrainian assembly of the weapon. The measure will sit alongside Project Brakestop, the UK programme intended to develop lower cost advanced long range strike weapons for Ukraine.

Burnham was also due to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and co chair his first meeting of the Coalition of the Willing while in Kyiv. The Government said the UK has committed £25 billion in support to Ukraine since Russia’s full scale invasion, including £16 billion in military assistance and £5.6 billion in non military support.

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Chris McDonald MP has been appointed as the Government minister with responsibility for intellectual property. The Intellectual Property Office confirmed the appointment following McDonald’s move in July 2026 to become Minister of State for Science, Innovation and Investment, a role held jointly across the Department of Health and Social Care and the newly formed Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade.

The new responsibilities will see McDonald take ministerial oversight of intellectual property policy, including the framework through which businesses, creators and innovators protect their work and ideas. The Intellectual Property Office is the Government body responsible for intellectual property rights including patents, trade marks, designs and copyright.

Intellectual Property Office chief executive Adam Williams welcomed the appointment and said intellectual property was central to the UK’s creative and innovative strengths. He said the system helped individuals and businesses protect ideas, attract investment and bring new products, services and content to market, adding that he looked forward to working with McDonald in his new role.