UK

The government has set out its legislative agenda for the new parliamentary session in the Queen’s Speech. Laying out what new laws will shape people’s lives over the next year, it contains 38 pieces of legislation. For the first time in 59 years the Queen was forced to defer to her son Prince Charles and

Priti Patel has said her plan to send migrants to Rwanda sends a “clear signal” that those who arrive illegally have no right to remain – but admitted it will “take time” to implement. The plan has been described as “cruel and nasty” by charities and “opposite the nature of God” by the Archbishop of

The royals will visit all parts of the UK over the bank holiday Jubilee weekend, with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Wales, Buckingham Palace has announced. The Earl and Countess of Wessex will visit Northern Ireland and the Princess Royal will be in Scotland. All will attend public events marking the platinum anniversary.

Labour’s Lisa Nandy has defended “Mr Rules” Sir Keir Starmer and said it was “not illegal to eat” after latest claims about alleged COVID rule breaking by the party leader. Sir Keir has said he was working and stopped to eat when he was filmed having a beer in a room in Durham in April

Sinn Fein is to become the first nationalist party to take control of the Northern Ireland Assembly in its 101-year history. The party has 27 seats, pushing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which has 24 into second place. The most seats the DUP can return with is 25 and Michelle O’Neill is now set to

A treasure trove of footage of the Queen taken from her personal film archive is to be shown for the first time, including clips of the young princess showing off her engagement ring months before the announcement was made public. The monarch granted documentary-makers unprecedented access to hundreds of home recordings filmed by her, her

The Conservatives face losing their Commons majority if local election results are replicated at a general election, according to a Sky News projection. Analysis suggests that it would mean a hung parliament with Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Tories remaining the largest party at Westminster but falling 48 seats short of an overall majority. The projection

The Queen has decided that only working members of the Royal Family will join her on the balcony at Buckingham Palace for Trooping the Colour – meaning Prince Andrew, Prince Harry and Meghan will not be alongside her for the Platinum Jubilee moment. The confirmation from Buckingham Palace ends speculation about whether the public will

Boris Johnson has admitted it was a “tough night” for the Conservatives after the party lost some key local councils in London to Labour – but the opposition party had mixed results outside the capital. The prime minister said: “We’ve had a tough night in some parts of the country, but on the other hand,

Polls have closed for local elections that represent Boris Johnson’s first test at the ballot box since he was fined for breaking lockdown rules. Voting has been taking place for councils in some parts of England, with more than 4,000 seats up for grabs, as well as across the whole of Scotland and Wales, each

The Bank of England has raised the base rate of interest to 1% – the fourth consecutive increase as it continues to move against surging inflation – despite issuing a warning about a recession ahead. The Bank forecast that the UK economy will shrink later this year in the face of double-digit inflation and an

Shop prices increased at their fastest rate in more than a decade last month, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has said. Retail prices went up from 2.1% in March to 2.7% in April, according to the BRC-NielsenIQ price index. This was the highest annual rate of inflation it recorded since September 2011. The figures will

Patients who overcome severe COVID infections suffer the same cognitive impairment that people generally go through between the ages of 50 and 70, a new study has found. This is the equivalent of losing 10 IQ points say the team of scientists from the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London. Their findings suggest that

The parents of Madeleine McCann have used a quotation from the Winnie the Pooh children’s stories to illustrate their thoughts on the 15th anniversary of their daughter’s disappearance. The caption, to a drawing of Pooh and his friend Piglet, posted on the Find Madeleine website reads: “But the most important thing is, even if we’re

Boris Johnson will address the Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday, becoming the first world leader to do so since the outbreak of war in February. In a recorded address, the prime minister will praise Ukraine’s resistance against tyranny and announce a new £300m package of military aid to support the country’s ongoing defence against Russia. In

The man suspected of abducting Madeleine McCann insists he was many miles from the scene having sex in his camper van with a young woman who will back his alibi. Christian B says he drove the woman to the airport at Faro, Portugal, for a flight home the next day and they were stopped and