Tag: News Story

STORY

A man who carried out a series of robberies and attacks across the London Underground has had his sentence increased after the Solicitor General referred the case to the Court of Appeal.

Adel Kerari, of Hammersmith and Fulham, London, was originally sentenced at Inner London Crown Court on 9 January 2025 to two years and eight months’ imprisonment for six counts of robbery and one count of fraud. His sentence was increased on Thursday 25 June 2026 to three years and nine months following a referral under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.

The court heard that Kerari and other gang members targeted commuters across the London Underground during a two week period in June 2023. Victims were robbed, assaulted and stabbed at stations including Holborn, Russell Square, Leicester Square, Goldhawk Road and Leyton.

On one day, Kerari and his gang attacked and robbed one woman and two men in three separate incidents at Underground stations. The victims had phones stolen, along with wallets and bank cards, and two of them were stabbed. In total, seven people were targeted in six separate incidents.

Solicitor General Ellie Reeves said Kerari had targeted lone passengers in a spree of violence and welcomed the Court of Appeal’s decision to increase the sentence. She said violent criminals and gangs threatened the safety of towns and cities, and that she would pursue action to ensure sentences reflected the seriousness of violent crimes.

British Transport Police Detective Sergeant Tony Gittins said Kerari was a dangerous and violent criminal who had launched a series of robberies across the London Underground. Transport for London said the offences were serious and violent, adding that it continued to work with police to tackle robbery and violent crime across the network.

STORY

Sir John Major has called for Britain to rejoin the European Union’s single market within five years, arguing that the country must be honest about the economic damage caused by Brexit and the choices now required to restore growth and stability.

The former Conservative Prime Minister made the intervention in an interview with The Independent to mark the tenth anniversary of the 2016 referendum. He said the next stage of Britain’s relationship with Europe should be based on practical national interest rather than political slogans, with single market membership forming a central objective for the years ahead.

Major said that rejoining the single market would carry a price, including difficult political trade-offs, but argued that ministers should be open with the public about both the gains and the obligations. His comments presented closer European alignment not as a return to old arguments, but as a route to repairing trade links, reducing barriers for business and restoring Britain’s influence with its nearest neighbours.

The intervention is significant because Major remains one of the most experienced Conservative voices on Europe, having negotiated through difficult European debates during his own premiership. His remarks will strengthen those arguing that Britain’s economic future depends on a more constructive settlement with the EU, particularly as businesses continue to raise concerns about post-Brexit costs, paperwork and lost opportunities.

The Government has sought to improve relations with Brussels, but has previously ruled out returning to the single market, the customs union or freedom of movement. Major’s intervention challenges that position by arguing that a more ambitious approach is now needed, and that political leaders should make the case for closer European ties with clarity and confidence.

Supporters of closer UK-EU relations are likely to see Major’s comments as a serious and timely contribution from a former Prime Minister who has long warned about the consequences of Brexit. His call places economic realism at the centre of the debate and suggests that the question for Britain is no longer whether Brexit created problems, but how boldly the country is prepared to address them.

STORY

The Government has announced a $1 billion tranche of UK-backed finance for Ukraine through the World Bank. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said the funding would support Ukraine’s resilience and recovery by helping to keep essential public services operating during the war.

The Government said the UK-backed package would help unlock more than $4 billion in additional financing when pooled with support from international partners. Lammy made the announcement while leading the UK delegation to the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk.

The package sits alongside a further recovery and energy security package announced by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper worth almost £290 million. Ministers said the funding would support public services, economic growth and Ukraine’s long-term reconstruction.

STORY

Great British Energy – Nuclear has announced that the new nuclear plant next to the Wylfa site on Anglesey will be called Gwyndod Power Station. The name was chosen after hundreds of local suggestions and a panel involving young people from Ynys Môn.

The panel was chaired by Ynys Môn MP Llinos Medi and Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens. The Government said the name reflected the identity and heritage of the island, with Gwyndod derived from the old name for the region’s dialect, Gwyndodeg.

Stevens said the UK Government was bringing nuclear back to Ynys Môn and referred to investment of more than £2.5 billion in the site. Great British Energy – Nuclear said the project was intended to support skilled jobs and provide clean, reliable power for the future.

STORY

Cambridge South station will open to passengers from Sunday 28 June after a £250 million Government-backed project. The Department for Transport said the station would provide direct rail access to Cambridge Biomedical Campus and improve links to London, Stansted and Birmingham Airport.

The Government said the station is expected to welcome around 1.8 million passengers a year and provide up to nine trains an hour to Cambridge city centre and beyond. Ministers said journey times from London King’s Cross to the biomedical campus would fall to a single 45-minute direct journey.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the investment would improve access to jobs and opportunities. The station is also connected to cycle routes and the guided busway, with 1,000 cycle spaces and blue badge bays included in the scheme.

STORY

Ministers have set out a new Government Estate Nature Plan covering more than 577,000 hectares of Government-owned land in England. The Government said the plan would support nature recovery, climate adaptation and the resilience of public services.

The plan covers roughly 4% of England’s land and is intended to replace fragmented site-by-site action with a more coordinated approach across the Government estate. Ministers said it would help protect critical public services from the effects of climate change.

The measure forms part of the Government’s wider environmental programme and comes alongside renewed scrutiny of climate policy in Parliament. The Government said the estate plan would allow public land to be used more strategically for resilience, biodiversity and service protection.

STORY

The Government has launched a new taskforce to advise ministers on the security risks posed by climate change and nature loss. Climate Minister Katie White announced the group on Friday, saying it would help the UK better anticipate and respond to the national security implications of environmental change.

The taskforce brings together security, military and academic experts. Ministers said it would focus on the growing risks that climate change can pose to resilience, critical infrastructure and international stability.

The announcement follows wider Government and parliamentary attention on climate adaptation, energy security and the UK’s long-term environmental obligations. The taskforce is intended to provide expert advice rather than immediate legislative change, but it is likely to feed into future security and resilience planning.

STORY

The Government is expected to publish its delayed Defence Investment Plan before the NATO summit, with ministers under pressure to set out how the Strategic Defence Review will be funded. Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis has said the plan will be published before the summit, while further reports suggest additional funding has been negotiated with the Treasury.

The plan is expected to focus on future military capability, including autonomous systems, drones and modernisation of the armed forces. Sir Keir Starmer previously said the Defence Investment Plan would bring together the money and the capability required to implement the Strategic Defence Review.

The issue has become politically sensitive after the resignation of former Defence Secretary John Healey and wider arguments inside Government over the pace and scale of defence spending. Ministers have maintained that national security remains a central priority and that the plan will give the armed forces and industry greater certainty.

STORY

The European Union has said talks on linking the UK and EU emissions trading systems have been affected by political developments in Britain. EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said Brussels would need time to assess how the UK situation changed the prospects for the negotiations.

The discussions are part of the wider post-Brexit relationship between the UK and the EU and would be significant for businesses operating under carbon pricing regimes. Hoekstra said the EU would have to calibrate its approach before deciding how talks should proceed.

The issue comes as the Government continues to deal with the consequences of Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation announcement and the expected transition in Labour leadership. EU officials have indicated that the substance of the talks remains important, but that the political timetable in London is now a relevant factor.

STORY

Downing Street has said Sir Keir Starmer is taking advice after a public dispute between Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and migration minister Mike Tapp over immigration policy. The row followed an article by Tapp in The Times in which he argued that overseas care workers should be exempt from proposed changes to settlement rules.

Mahmood has asked for Tapp to be dismissed and has restricted his access to sensitive Home Office documents and meetings without her approval. Downing Street said Tapp remained a minister while the Prime Minister considered whether there had been a breach of the ministerial code and collective responsibility.

Tapp has defended his intervention, saying he had been working on the policy area for months and would not be intimidated. Justice minister Jake Richards said it had not been wise for a junior minister to set out views publicly in that way, adding that the matter would be dealt with by the Government.