Category: News Story

STORY

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has defended the selection of Joshua Bonehill-Paine as a candidate for Somerset Council despite his previous convictions for hate offences. Bonehill-Paine was convicted in 2015 of racially aggravated harassment of the then Labour MP Luciana Berger and was also imprisoned for stirring up hatred against a Jewish community in north London.

Badenoch said his past conduct had been appalling but argued that he had rejected his former views and demonstrated rehabilitation through work connected with the Prevent anti-radicalisation programme. She said the election was for a local authority role involving matters such as parking and bins, rather than a national political platform.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council declined an invitation to meet Bonehill-Paine and called on the Conservatives to withdraw his candidacy. Berger said there was a major distinction between explaining why earlier conduct was wrong and seeking public office, describing what happened to her as a sustained campaign rather than isolated remarks.

STORY

The Government’s Sovereign AI fund has invested in OLIX, a British company developing computer chips for artificial intelligence systems. The equity investment forms part of a nine figure fundraising round and makes OLIX the fifth business backed by the state venture fund since the programme was launched.

OLIX is based in London and has offices in Bristol. The company is developing chips intended to make AI processing faster, cheaper and more energy efficient. The Government said the company had achieved a valuation exceeding $1 billion, placing it among the United Kingdom’s newly established technology unicorns.

Ministers said the investment was intended to strengthen domestic capability in advanced semiconductors and retain more of the employment and economic activity associated with AI infrastructure. Sovereign AI was established to take stakes in selected British companies considered capable of scaling internationally. The value and detailed commercial terms of the Government’s investment in OLIX were not disclosed in the announcement.

STORY

Severn Trent Water has agreed payments totalling £2,277,424 to environmental charities following Environment Agency investigations into pollution incidents in the West Midlands. The money is being provided through two enforcement undertakings, which allow the regulator to accept restoration, prevention and financial commitments for certain environmental offences.

More than £1.8 million will go to Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, including £1.5 million relating to unauthorised sewage discharges from Blackminster Wastewater Treatment Works into Broadway Brook in June and August 2022. A further £327,424 relates to a breach of an ammonia permit condition at Cheltenham Hayden Wastewater Treatment Works in 2021.

Severn Rivers Trust will receive £450,000 for projects intended to improve river environments. Severn Trent must also meet the Environment Agency’s costs and carry out measures to prevent recurrence or repair harm. Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust plans to use part of its funding for work including the Severn Treescapes project, which supports tree planting and restoration at sites across the region.

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European Union member states have approved the United Kingdom’s participation in the EU’s €90 billion support loan for Ukraine. The framework is intended to meet urgent defence and budgetary needs during 2026 and 2027, with British participation allowing Ukraine to use loan financing to buy eligible defence products from manufacturers based in the United Kingdom.

The loan allocates an indicative €60 billion for defence industrial capacity and procurement, with €30 billion available for economic and budgetary support. The Council said €8.1 billion had already been disbursed, including €3.2 billion in budget assistance and nearly €4.9 billion for defence. The Commission expects to release €28.3 billion from the defence package during 2026.

The United Kingdom agreed to make a fair and proportionate contribution to borrowing costs and qualifies through its security and defence partnership with the European Union and its existing support for Ukraine. The approval followed a contribution agreement signed on 13 July. Formal adoption was to take place through a written procedure, with the decision entering into force upon publication in the EU’s Official Journal.

STORY

Knife related homicides have fallen to their lowest recorded level in 35 years, according to figures highlighted by the Home Office. The Government said knife enabled homicides had decreased by 26 per cent during its period in office, while overall knife crime had fallen by 11 per cent since the general election.

More than 14,500 knives and offensive weapons have been surrendered through Home Office funded bins since July 2025. Items collected include machetes, swords, zombie style knives, ninja swords and kitchen knives. A further 783 weapons were handed in through a mobile surrender van operated during a dedicated scheme last summer.

New surrender bins are being introduced in South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, adding to locations in London, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands. The mobile van is also due to visit sites in the West Midlands and 24 London boroughs. The Government has set a target of halving knife crime over ten years and said further policing, prevention and surrender measures would continue.

STORY

Agricultural technology businesses, researchers and farmers will be able to bid for a share of £20 million to develop robots and automated systems for crop production. The funding is intended to support technology capable of planting seeds, tending crops and harvesting produce, including tasks currently dependent on seasonal labour.

The competition forms part of the Farming Innovation Programme and will finance collaborative projects intended to move equipment towards commercial use. The Government cited work by Fieldwork Robotics on an automated raspberry picker as an example of technology being developed with public support to improve reliability and allow wider deployment.

The £20 million allocation is included within a wider £53 million increase in agricultural innovation funding and takes the amount available during the year to £123 million. Ministers said applications would be assessed on their potential to improve productivity, resilience and farm profitability while addressing labour shortages at busy periods of the agricultural calendar.

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The Council of the European Union has approved the restoration of temporary rules allowing online service providers voluntarily to detect, report and remove child sexual abuse material. The earlier exemption from electronic communications privacy rules expired on 3 April, creating a gap while negotiations continued on a permanent legal framework.

The interim regulation permits providers to resume voluntary activity intended to identify offenders, support investigations and prevent the further distribution of abusive material. Amendments adopted by the European Parliament exclude number independent interpersonal communications that use, have used or will use end to end encryption from the scope of the temporary measure.

The restored arrangements will apply until 3 April 2028 and are expected to enter into force three days after publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. The Council and Parliament are continuing negotiations on longer term legislation, which is intended to establish a permanent framework for preventing and combating child sexual abuse online.

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Four men have been arrested during an Environment Agency investigation into large scale illegal waste dumping at Bolton House Road in Wigan. Police officers supporting the operation arrested men aged 41 and 35 from Wigan, a 24 year old from Leeds and a 59 year old from Liverpool on suspicion of environmental, fraud and money laundering offences.

The Bolton House Road site has generated complaints from nearby residents about smells and other disruption. A fire lasting a week led to nearby schools closing during the previous summer. The Environment Agency said the investigation was being led by its National Environmental Crime Unit and was intended to establish responsibility for the material deposited at the site.

The 24 year old was also arrested in connection with alleged waste dumping at Cave’s Inn Pits Site of Special Scientific Interest near Shawell in Leicestershire. The arrests form part of continuing inquiries and no charges have yet been announced. Agencies involved said evidence obtained during the operation would now be examined before decisions on further action were taken.

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Gatwick Airport can proceed with bringing its Northern Runway into regular use after the Court of Appeal dismissed a legal challenge to the expansion. The Government said the court had also refused permission for the campaign group involved to appeal, allowing work to continue towards the first flights from the extended runway in 2030.

The Department for Transport said the scheme could accommodate up to 100,000 additional flights and around 13 million more passengers each year. Gatwick estimates that the project will create 14,000 jobs and provide approximately £1 billion in additional annual economic benefits through the airport and its wider supply chain.

The expansion remains subject to conditions covering carbon emissions, air quality and noise. Ministers linked the decision to wider aviation investment, including £219 million intended to increase sustainable aviation fuel production and £43 million for hydrogen powered and electric flight projects. The airport currently serves more than 200 destinations.

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Manchester City Council has reported that 4,766 homes were completed in the city during the latest year, compared with 4,261 across the 32 London boroughs combined. A report to the council’s Communities and Equalities Scrutiny Committee said the total represented another record year under Manchester’s housing strategy and included 901 affordable homes.

Of the affordable homes completed, 439 were for social rent and 259 were built in the city centre. The council said 13,555 homes had been delivered since 2022, more than 7,800 were under construction and a further 20,000 had planning permission or were at another stage in the development pipeline.

Manchester’s strategy aims to deliver at least 36,000 homes by 2032, including 10,000 social, council and other genuinely affordable properties. The authority also reported that around 600 empty homes had been returned to use since 2024 and that the number of households on the housing register had fallen by about 2,000 during the previous six months.