UK

“Neither of them are blessed with natural charisma.” This rather damning assessment of both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer – the UK’s choice of future prime minister – focuses on their speech and body language, not how they might lead the country. The leaders of the two main parties face weeks of interviews, speeches,

Police are reviewing a Conservative candidate’s campaign adverts after receiving allegations of election fraud. Robert Largan, who is fighting to keep his High Peak seat, has published a number of campaign materials in the colours of Labour and Reform UK. The graphics also included the phrases “Labour for Largan” and “Reform for Robert”. Live updates

A 13-year-old girl from Wales has died while on holiday in the US. Anna Beaumont was found unresponsive in a pool at Discovery Cove in Orlando, Florida. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said she was transported to hospital in critical condition on Tuesday but died the next day. In a statement, the force said: “We

The King and Queen watched as their horse came last at Epsom on Ladies’ Day. King Charles and Queen Camilla had to watch the late Queen Elizabeth’s thoroughbred Treasure finish at the back of the pack in the Oaks at Epsom on Friday. Despite odds of 16-1 Treasure, who was bred by the King’s mother,

Police are appealing for information about the stolen motorbike used to shoot four people, including a nine-year-old girl, in Hackney, east London. At a news conference near the scene on Friday, police revealed the bike the offender used in the attack on Dalston Kingsland Road is a Ducati Monster with a white body, red chassis,

A primary school teacher who murdered her boyfriend before burying him in their garden has been jailed for life with a minimum of 20 years. Fiona Beal, 50, from Northampton, stabbed Nicholas Billingham, 42, to death sometime between October and November 2021. After previously pleading guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter by reason of

The Home Office has “little to show” for the money it has used on the Rwanda scheme and “does not have a credible plan”, a group of MPs has warned. The Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the government department had spent millions of pounds so far on the policy and its asylum accommodation plans.

Rishi Sunak has argued national service will “keep kids out of trouble” – and lots of parents are “worried” about what their children get up to at the weekend. The plan, which has faced criticism from some Tory ministers, would see 18-year-olds given the choice of a full-time military placement for 12 months, or a

The King has been given the first seedling from the famous Sycamore Gap tree, which was cut down last year. The National Trust has presented the monarch with the first seedling grown from seeds collected from the felled landmark for Celebration Day. The event takes place on the last bank holiday Monday in May and

A search has been launched for a missing hillwalker who may have become “disorientated” during a trek on the Isle of Rum. Keen hiker Mary Molloy, 68, was last seen walking in the area between Trollabhal and Bealach an Fhuarain at around 2.30pm on Saturday. She later got in touch with her family at around

Manchester United have won the FA Cup after beating rivals Manchester City 2-1 in the final at Wembley. Alejandro Garnacho put the Red Devils ahead with a close-range effort in the 30th minute after a mix-up between City defender Josko Gvardiol and goalkeeper Stefan Ortega. Kobbie Mainoo then doubled United’s lead nine minutes later with

Paula Vennells arrived at the Post Office Inquiry a former chief executive, a former Church of England lay preacher and an ex-CBE, with only her reputation, and perhaps her liberty, left to defend. After more than five hours of questioning she has done very little to restore the former, with the latter still very much

The wet weather in the UK and Ireland that seemed almost unrelenting last winter was made worse by climate change, scientists have said. October 2023 to March 2024 was the second wettest such period on record for the UK and the third wettest for Ireland, bringing more than a dozen severe storms. The weather caused

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said the UK economy is heading for a “soft landing” but reiterated its message to Jeremy Hunt that he should not have cut national insurance at the last two fiscal events. In its annual check-up on the state of Britain’s economy, the Washington-based Fund also warned of a black

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has offered a “wholehearted and unequivocal” apology to the victims of the infected blood scandal, saying it was a “day of shame for the British state”. Mr Sunak said the findings of the Infected Blood Inquiry’s final report should “shake our nation to its core”, as he promised to pay “comprehensive

The infected blood scandal was “not an accident” – and its failures lie with “successive governments, the NHS, and blood services”, a public inquiry has found. From the 1970s, 30,000 people were “knowingly” infected with either HIV or Hepatitis C because “those in authority did not put patient safety first”, the report into the inquiry

Two police officers who took a two-hour break to get kebabs on the night of the Manchester Arena terror attack have been given final written warnings. The inquiry into the atrocity had heard suicide bomber Salman Abedi may have been challenged if a British Transport Police (BTP) officer had been present. It heard none of

Edward Tuddenham is one of the few remaining haemophilia specialists to have treated patients at the beginning of the infected blood scandal in the early 1970s. To have infected patients with HIV and Hepatitis C in the course of treating them “is the worst thing you can imagine,” he said. Prof Tuddenham went on to

Those responsible in the infected blood scandal should face prison, the mayor of Greater Manchester has said. Andy Burnham, who secured his third term as mayor in the local elections earlier this month, has also warned victims should not be left in the “wilderness” waiting for justice. He said there had been a “criminal cover

An emergency measure has been triggered by the Ministry of Justice to deal with prison overcrowding in England. Operation Early Dawn will see defendants in police custody remain there – and not be transferred to magistrates’ courts for bail hearings – in case there is no prison space for that prisoner if they are remanded