Category: News Story

STORY

Amnesty International UK has backed calls for the Government’s Prevent counter terrorism programme to be abolished, describing discussion about its future as “long overdue”. The human rights organisation was responding to reports that the Green Party’s Crime and Justice Working Group has proposed scrapping Prevent as part of a wider package of criminal justice policies being considered ahead of the party’s autumn conference.

Rebecca Barnes, Racial Justice Campaigner at Amnesty International UK, claimed Prevent was ineffective and discriminatory and disproportionately affected Muslim and racialised communities, as well as children and neurodiverse people. Amnesty said figures released last year showed that despite record numbers of referrals to Prevent, around 80% of cases were not considered to require intervention through Channel, the programme which provides support to people considered vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism. Barnes said she hoped the Greens would adopt the proposal and that other political parties would follow.

The Government continues to defend Prevent, describing it as a critical part of the UK’s counter terrorism strategy and an early intervention programme intended to stop people becoming involved in or supporting terrorism. The Home Office said earlier this month that more than 6,000 people had received interventions intended to steer them away from violent ideologies since 2015. It said the programme allows professionals, families and members of the public to raise concerns about people who may be susceptible to radicalisation and argued that Prevent remains necessary because the terrorist threat facing the UK is continuing to evolve.

STORY

Women’s Aid has warned that new restriction zones for offenders could give victims a false sense of security unless they are backed by effective monitoring and properly resourced probation and police services. The charity said it supported measures which restrict the freedoms of offenders but cautioned that the zones should never be used as an alternative to an appropriate prison sentence.

The new powers allow offenders to be required to remain within specified geographical areas, with restriction zones available as part of community and suspended sentences and as licence conditions following release from prison. The Government has said the approach is intended to place restrictions on offenders rather than victims, with electronic monitoring used to identify breaches. Under wider sentencing reforms, restriction zones can be imposed alongside measures including bans from pubs, public events and driving.

Ellie Daniel, Head of Policy and Survivor Services at Women’s Aid, said effective use of the zones would require robust risk assessments involving victims and specialist support services. She warned that probation services were already stretched and that police responses to breaches would not necessarily be immediate, meaning monitoring could record a breach without preventing it. Women’s Aid said inadequate safeguards could have potentially fatal consequences and called for wider changes to the criminal justice system if the Government is to meet its commitment to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.

STORY

The UK has reaffirmed its support for Ukraine and its right to defend itself against Russia as the country marks the 35th anniversary of its independence. Speaking at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Arron Newble, the UK’s Counsellor for Politico-Military Affairs, said Ukrainians were continuing to defend the sovereignty they chose when the country declared independence on 24 August 1991.

Newble said Russia’s invasion had sought not only to seize Ukrainian territory but also to undermine the country’s identity, sovereignty and culture. He referred to an OSCE Moscow Mechanism report which documented the indoctrination and militarisation of Ukrainian children, as well as attacks on cultural and religious sites and pressure on communities living under Russian occupation. The UK representative said Russia had failed to achieve the political submission or rapid military victory it had sought.

The statement also condemned recent Russian missile and drone attacks, including strikes on 19 and 20 August which the UK said killed at least 17 civilians, followed by a drone attack on a shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih which it said killed another 16 people and injured more than 130. Newble said the UK would continue supporting Ukraine’s legitimate self-defence and efforts to secure what he described as a just and lasting peace, arguing that Ukrainian resistance was also defending wider European principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and the right of countries to determine their own future.

STORY

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has visited HMNB Devonport in Plymouth as the Government prepares to invest £7.1 billion in upgrading the naval base and dockyard. Devonport, described by the Ministry of Defence as the largest naval base in Western Europe, is the only UK facility responsible for the deep maintenance and defuelling of the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarine fleet. During the visit, Streeting met Royal Navy personnel and industry workers and viewed facilities being constructed to support future submarine operations.

Plymouth is also due to become home to the Royal Navy’s new Type 26 frigates, while around £500 million has been committed through the Defence Investment Plan to modernise the UK Commando Forces. This will include new high speed boats, drones and autonomous technology. The Devonport programme forms part of Royal Oak, a £26 billion ten year programme to modernise naval infrastructure which the Government says is the largest of its kind since the end of the Cold War.

A further £50 million is being invested in defence projects in Plymouth and the South West through the Plymouth Growth Deal, with the Government saying the funding will support hundreds of jobs and help defence companies develop new technology. Streeting said Devonport was critical to national security and would remain central to British naval power as the Type 26 fleet arrives. Defence Readiness and Industry Minister Luke Pollard, the MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, said continued investment in submarines and surface ships would also support jobs and skills in the city.

STORY

Homelessness charity Crisis has criticised Reform UK proposals to remove foreign nationals from social housing and give greater priority to British born workers under the age of 35. Reform has also proposed prioritising married couples with children. Crisis said the changes would not address the underlying shortage of social housing and risked excluding people already facing housing insecurity.

Francesca Albanese, Director of Policy and Social Change at Crisis, said access to social housing for non UK nationals was already heavily restricted and that the overwhelming majority of social tenants were UK citizens. She argued that record waiting lists were primarily the result of too few social homes being built. Crisis cited research suggesting that around 90,000 new social homes a year would be needed to end homelessness in England.

The charity also criticised proposals that could exclude people from social housing because they were not in work. Crisis said this could affect older people, disabled people and carers, noting that nearly half of households moving into social housing include someone with a long term illness or disability. Albanese said increasing the supply of social housing, rather than restricting eligibility further, was the necessary response to the housing crisis.

STORY

UK productivity has been growing at an average annual rate of 1.1% over the past two years, according to new analysis from the Resolution Foundation which argues that official figures are understating the improvement. The think tank said its alternative measure showed productivity growth since the third quarter of 2024 had exceeded the average recorded in the late 2010s, while official Office for National Statistics data indicated a 0.2% fall over the same period.

The Foundation said it developed an alternative measure because of continuing problems with the ONS Labour Force Survey following the pandemic, instead using HMRC payroll data and tax returns from self employment. Its analysis found that 12 of 19 sectors had experienced stronger productivity growth over the past two years, including information and communications, retail, science, transport and health. It said the improvement had largely come from higher productivity within individual sectors rather than workers moving out of lower productivity industries such as retail and hospitality.

The report also cautioned against attributing the improvement primarily to artificial intelligence. Although the proportion of businesses reporting some use of AI has doubled from 23% in late 2023 to 46% in June 2026, only around one in 20 businesses said they were using it extensively. Resolution Foundation principal economist Simon Pittaway said the recent improvement was welcome but would need to be sustained if it was to produce significantly stronger economic growth and higher living standards

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.

STORY

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.

STORY

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.

STORY

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.