Tag: News Story

STORY

Health Secretary Yvette Cooper has said Labour ‘did not do government very well’ during the final period of Keir Starmer’s premiership and criticised the way Downing Street operated while she was Home Secretary. Cooper made the comments during an interview on the Political Currency podcast with former Conservative Chancellor George Osborne.

Cooper said Starmer’s leadership approach was characterised by the instruction to ‘bring me solutions, not problems’ and argued that this did not always work in politics. She cited the launch of the Government’s immigration white paper in May 2025, saying the Home Office had carried out much of the policy work but that Number 10 wanted Starmer to announce it without her fronting the launch.

She contrasted that approach with Prime Minister Andy Burnham, describing his style as more collegiate and saying he wanted ministers to discuss problems as well as possible solutions. Cooper also said she wanted the Government to build broader political agreement on reforming social care and on support for young children and families based on the principles of Sure Start.

STORY

Intensive care admissions among babies under six months with respiratory syncytial virus fell by around 50% during the first full winter of the NHS maternal RSV vaccination programme, according to the UK Health Security Agency. Twenty NHS trusts participating in surveillance recorded 63 admissions to intensive care or high dependency units in 2025 to 2026, compared with 131 the previous winter.

The maternal vaccination programme began in September 2024 and is offered from 28 weeks of pregnancy to provide protection to newborn babies. UKHSA said 61.7% of women giving birth between March 2025 and February 2026 had received an RSV vaccine. Peak weekly attendances at accident and emergency departments for infant bronchiolitis were also lower and the peak season was shorter than in previous years.

UKHSA said an earlier study found the maternal vaccine provided more than 80% protection against hospital admission for newborn babies. The annual report also found that 65% of eligible older adults had received an RSV vaccination by the end of May, with hospitalisation rates among eligible adults aged 75 to 80 reduced by more than 40%.

STORY

A record 262,820 UK 18-year-olds have secured a university or college place on Level 3 results day, according to figures published by UCAS. The total is 3% higher than the 255,130 recorded last year, although the proportion of the 18-year-old population entering higher education remained broadly unchanged at 31.6%.

UCAS said 228,990 UK 18-year-olds had been accepted by their first-choice university or college, an increase of 1% from last year. A further 31,770 were placed with their insurance choice, up 21% from 26,330 in 2025. Overall, 79% of applicants in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who were holding an offer and received a decision were placed with their first choice.

Across applicants of all ages and nationalities, 446,690 people had been accepted, also a record. UCAS said more young people from the most disadvantaged areas had gained places, while engineering and technology recorded the largest year-on-year increase among subject groups. More than 26,000 courses remained available through Clearing.

STORY

The UK economy grew by 0.4% between April and June 2026, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics. The increase followed growth of 0.6% in the first three months of the year, while gross domestic product was 1.2% higher than in the same quarter of 2025.

Services provided the largest contribution to growth, increasing by 0.5% during the quarter. Construction output rose by 0.3%, while production showed no overall growth. The ONS said output increased in 15 of the 20 industrial subsectors measured in the latest estimate.

GDP per head is estimated to have increased by 0.4% during the quarter and was 1.0% higher than a year earlier. Separate ONS figures showed business investment rose by 1.7% between April and June and was 0.8% above its level in the same period last year.

STORY

The Government has announced £22 million of funding for projects intended to reduce the use of animals in scientific testing and speed up the development of new medicines. The package includes a new national research hub and support for nine projects using human tissue models and artificial intelligence.

A £20 million Pre-clinical Translational Models Hub will be based in Cambridge and will develop miniature versions of human tissue, known as organoids, using cells donated by NHS patients. Researchers will use the models to study how people may respond to medicines, including treatments for cancer and inflammatory bowel disease, while providing an alternative to some tests currently carried out on animals.

A further £2 million will support nine projects through Innovate UK, including beating heart cells grown in a laboratory, human ear models and AI systems designed to predict how medicines move through the body. Government figures show that 2.54 million animal testing procedures were carried out in Great Britain during 2025, a fall of 3.8 per cent from the previous year.

STORY

A Reform UK councillor in Kirklees has come under scrutiny after campaign group Hope Not Hate published details of historic social media posts in which he allegedly called for the then Speaker of the House of Commons to be hanged and made comments about gay people having children.

David Rowan, who is listed by Kirklees Council as Dave Rowan, represents the Colne Valley West ward for Reform UK. He was elected in May 2026 as part of a major advance for the party in Kirklees, where Reform won 29 seats and became the largest group on the council.

Hope Not Hate reported that in October 2019 Rowan responded to a social media post about then Commons Speaker John Bercow by writing: “Hang the Dwarf”. The campaign group described the comment as a call for Bercow to be hanged. Bercow served as Speaker of the House of Commons until October 2019.

The organisation also reported another comment attributed to Rowan in which he said he did not believe “gays should have kids full stop”. The remarks were among a series of historic posts highlighted by Hope Not Hate following Rowan’s election to Kirklees Council.

Hope Not Hate also highlighted a July 2019 post in which Rowan expressed support for Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, writing: “Thommy [sic] Robinson I salute you for caring”.

The campaign group said it had approached Reform UK to ask whether the party intended to take action against Rowan but had received no response at the time its article was published.

STORY

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the Government will do what it can to reduce costs for businesses but warned that ministers are operating against a difficult financial outlook. He said the Budget, due on 28 October, would look more broadly at business rates, with smaller firms among those facing particular pressure from operating costs.

Burnham also said the Government was examining changes to the rail fares system and repeated his longer term ambition to increase state control over water, energy and housing services as part of efforts to reduce household costs. He said his approach would involve an accumulation of smaller measures rather than promises that could not be fully funded.

The Prime Minister has previously ruled out tax increases on working people but has not ruled out other tax rises to fund reforms including changes to social care. The Government has also said it will continue to follow its fiscal rules, limiting the amount of additional borrowing available as ministers prepare for the autumn Budget.

STORY

Prime Minister Andy Burnham is chairing an emergency COBRA meeting to discuss the response to extreme heat, wildfires and drought as Britain experiences its fifth heatwave of the year. Temperatures are forecast to reach around 37C across parts of southern and eastern England and the Midlands from Thursday.

Fire services have responded to 966 wildfires across England and Wales so far this year, including 185 during the first ten days of August. England and Wales recorded their driest July in 190 years, while Government figures indicate that around 45 million people are living in drought affected areas and 27 million face restrictions on water use.

The meeting is the first COBRA session chaired by Burnham since he became Prime Minister last month. Downing Street said ministers would continue taking action to protect communities and water supplies, support farming and safeguard the environment as prolonged dry weather continues to affect public services, agriculture and wildlife.

STORY

The Home Office has announced that another 13 hotels are no longer being used to accommodate asylum seekers, bringing the number closed during 2026 to 44. The latest group includes the Grand Metropole Hotel in Blackpool, the Gold Thorn Hotel in Wolverhampton and the Best Western Brook Hotel in Norwich, with around 160 asylum hotels still operating nationally.

Immigration Minister Anna Turley said ending hotel use remained a Government priority and said more than £1 billion had been saved since the 2024 general election through reductions in hotel accommodation and wider changes to the asylum system. Some people leaving hotels are being moved to other forms of accommodation, including former military sites and houses in multiple occupation.

The Government has pledged to end the use of asylum hotels by the next general election and is looking to larger sites, including former military bases, as alternatives. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said accommodation should be distributed more evenly across the country, while ministers say local authorities will continue to be consulted and retain their existing planning powers.

STORY

Disabled people and people with long term health conditions are being invited to help shape recommendations for the future of Personal Independence Payment after an interim review concluded that the current system is no longer fit for purpose. Fifteen workshops will be held online and in person, with registration opening on 12 August and closing on 21 August.

The Timms Review was launched last October and published its interim report in July 2026. Evidence submitted to the review included accounts from people who described the PIP assessment and decision making process as stressful and dehumanising, while also saying that the benefit itself remained important to supporting independence and participation.

The workshops will take place during September and October and will be used to test and refine emerging recommendations before the final report is submitted to the Government in the autumn. More than 38,000 responses were received to the review’s call for evidence, with disability organisations, charities and MPs also due to be consulted as the recommendations are developed.