Category: News Story

STORY

The Government has proposed creating a national workplace health system intended to prevent employees leaving work because of illness or disability. Its Keep Britain Working review estimates that approximately 2.8 million people are economically inactive because of health conditions, an increase of around 800,000 since 2019.

The proposed system would combine more inclusive workplaces, accessible occupational health provision and improved information about sickness absence and employment retention. Employers would be encouraged to discuss health concerns earlier, make appropriate adjustments and prepare practical plans for employees remaining in or returning to work.

The review estimates that health related economic inactivity costs Britain approximately £212 billion each year through lost economic output, benefits, additional NHS costs and the effect upon unpaid carers. The proposed workplace standards and reporting arrangements are still being developed and tested, meaning their final form and effect upon employers have not yet been settled.

STORY

The Government has opened the second application window for the 2026 Sustainable Farming Incentive, making £233 million available to farmers and land managers in England. The scheme provides payments in return for measures intended to support sustainable food production, improve the environment and make farms more resilient to drought and changing weather conditions.

The funding includes the additional £50 million announced by the Prime Minister in August, alongside £3 million which was not allocated during the first application window. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the first window received 7,000 applications, with 3,100 agreements operational by 1 September and payments already reaching participating farms.

Farmers and land managers with at least three hectares of eligible agricultural land may apply. Around 21,000 farms with existing environmental land management agreements due to expire by the end of February 2027 will also be permitted to seek their next agreement early, before their current funding ends. Farming Minister Stephen Morgan said domestic food production was a matter of national security and that the funding would help businesses respond to climate related risks.

STORY

Police are making inquiries after footage livestreamed by far right activist Daniel Thomas appeared to show him repeatedly stabbing and slashing an inflatable dinghy in the English Channel while a rescue worker was standing inside it. Thomas, who uses the name Danny Tommo, had followed boats carrying asylum seekers and filmed the incident after their occupants had been transferred to rescue vessels.

The footage reportedly shows Thomas warning the rescue worker to leave only after he had begun damaging the dinghy, before Thomas and his companions moved away. The livestream did not show what subsequently happened to the worker. The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants condemned Thomas’s actions as violent and dangerous.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said inquiries into the incident were continuing. Six people were arrested during the wider protest operation for alleged offences including assaulting an emergency worker and aggravated trespass, although the report did not identify Thomas as one of those detained. The rescued asylum seekers were later transferred to a Border Force vessel following an exceptionally long and hazardous Channel crossing.

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Southern Water has been fined £2.4 million after admitting five environmental offences involving untreated sewage, diesel and other waste released around Faversham and Whitstable. The incidents occurred between 2019 and 2021 and affected Swalecliffe Brook, Faversham Creek and coastal waters near Whitstable Harbour.

The court heard that diesel from a leaking generator entered Swalecliffe Brook and the sea in July 2019, prompting warnings for people and their pets to avoid the water. Further incidents released untreated sewage into Faversham Creek and Swalecliffe Brook during 2020 and 2021. Around 70 dead fish, including eels, were discovered following one discharge, while warning signs advising against swimming remained at Tankerton and Herne Bay beaches for almost a week.

Southern Water pleaded guilty to all five charges at Medway Magistrates’ Court in April. District Judge Stephen Leake imposed the fine at Bromley Magistrates’ Court and ordered the company to pay £69,894 in costs and a £190 victim surcharge. The Environment Agency said it had undertaken 700 inspections of Southern Water sites during the past year and identified 400 required improvements. The company was separately fined £7.1 million earlier this year for pollution which closed beaches in Thanet.

STORY

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey is expected to call for an international treaty to halt the development of superintelligent artificial intelligence. He will make the proposal during his keynote address at the party’s conference in Brighton.

Davey will propose a global pause on the development of the technology and the creation of an international AI safety agency headquartered in the UK. The proposed organisation would be modelled on the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The Liberal Democrat leader will contrast his proposal with the Government’s new AI defence partnership with the United States. While the Government says its agreement will help protect critical infrastructure and improve threat detection, Davey is expected to argue that broader international regulation is required.

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The UK and Cambodia are to sign a new agreement intended to strengthen cooperation against international online scam networks. The Government said the agreement would also support people trafficked and forced to work within scam operations.

Home Office Minister Lord Hanson is visiting Cambodia for the International Conference on Combating Online Scams, taking place from 22 to 24 September. He is expected to meet Cambodian ministers, United Nations agencies, international partners and independent journalists.

The memorandum will cover intelligence sharing, financial and digital investigations and stronger protection for trafficking victims. The Government said previous coordinated action with the United States had frozen more than £125 million in assets connected with criminal networks operating scam centres in Southeast Asia.

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The UK has agreed to provide Saudi Arabia with defensive aerial refuelling support following a request from its Government. The request followed an increase in attacks on Saudi territory by Houthi forces based in Yemen.

One RAF Voyager aircraft is expected to be deployed in the coming days. Burnham said the arrangement would operate for a limited period, although the Government would keep the assistance under review.

The Prime Minister described the decision as part of British efforts to support regional stability and protect important trade and energy routes. The UK had previously deployed its Sky Sabre air defence system to Saudi Arabia following missile attacks linked to the wider conflict with Iran.

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Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the Government will argue for the United Kingdom to become a trusted partner in the European Union’s Made in Europe initiative. The scheme is intended to reduce reliance on Chinese components by giving greater priority to products manufactured within Europe.

The Government is concerned that excluding British companies could disrupt supply chains and create additional trade barriers between the UK and EU member states. Burnham said Britain and the EU faced common industrial challenges, particularly in the steel sector.

Burnham has pledged to deepen relations with the EU and said he hoped a postponed UK and EU summit could take place before the end of the year. The Government is seeking access to Made in Europe after negotiations over British participation in the EU’s SAFE defence fund ended without an agreement.

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Public sector borrowing reached £18.3 billion in August, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics. This was £2.9 billion more than in August 2025 and the second highest August total since monthly records began, without adjusting for inflation.

Borrowing during the financial year to August totalled £77.3 billion. Although this was £2.2 billion lower than during the equivalent period last year, it was £8.1 billion above the forecast produced by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

Public sector net debt was provisionally estimated at almost £2.99 trillion at the end of August, equivalent to 93.8 per cent of gross domestic product. The figures add to the financial pressures facing Chancellor John Healey as he prepares for the Budget on 28 October.

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Major American television networks have suspended their participation in the White House television press pool after the Trump administration barred reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico. ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News said they would no longer provide shared filming of presidential events in protest at the restrictions.

The dispute began when the White House deactivated press credentials belonging to journalists from the three organisations without prior notice. President Donald Trump accused the outlets of producing “fake news”, but the organisations argue that excluding journalists because the administration dislikes their reporting amounts to viewpoint discrimination and represents a serious threat to press freedom.

CNN, MS NOW and Politico have filed legal action alleging that the bans breach protections contained in the First and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The case raises wider concerns that a Government could determine which organisations are permitted to report from the centre of power according to whether their coverage is favourable, while the decision by rival networks to act collectively demonstrates growing unease about the precedent being established.