UK news
Sadiq Khan sparks row with Met after blocking £50m AI deal with Palantir
May 21, 2026Sadiq Khan has blocked a £50m Metropolitan police deal with the controversial US tech company Palantir, sparking a bitter row between the London mayor and Scotland Yard. After the UK’s largest police force had agreed to use Palantir’s AI technology to automate intelligence analysis in criminal investigations, Khan intervened, citing “serious concerns” about how the […]
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Google DeepMind in talks with UK unions amid staff concern over US and Israel’s AI use
May 20, 2026Google DeepMind has agreed to enter formal talks with UK tech workers that could lead to trade union representation amid growing staff concerns about the use of its AI by the US and Israeli governments’ defence and intelligence. In a groundbreaking move, the artificial intelligence arm of the multi-trillion dollar Google empire, led by the […]
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There could be 1,000 or more victims of black-cab rapist John Worboys, says Carrie Johnson
May 20, 2026Carrie Johnson, the wife of the former prime minister Boris Johnson, has said there could be “up to 1,000, if not more”, victims of the black-cab rapist, John Worboys. Johnson, who helped bring the serial sex attacker to justice, said she had been contacted by more women who believed they had been assaulted by him. […]
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London tube strikes called off at last minute
May 18, 2026Planned strikes by drivers on London Underground this week have been called off, the RMT union has announced. The union said the two 24-hour stoppages from midday on Tuesday, which were set to disrupt travel over four days this week, had been suspended. An RMT spokesperson said: “At the 11th hour the employer has shifted […]
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Tens of thousands march through London for far-right and pro-Palestine protests – live
May 16, 2026Police say 11 people arrested ‘for a variety of offences’ The Met said it has arrested 11 people “for a variety of offences” so far. It did not specify how many arrests were linked to the Unite the Kingdom event and the pro-Palestine march. Police said earlier today two men were arrested near Euston station […]
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Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton win battle to stop 29-storey block being built by Thames
May 16, 2026Celebrities including Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger have defeated plans to build a 29-storey tower on the banks of the River Thames. Jagger, along with fellow rock star Eric Clapton, actor Felicity Kendal and comic Harry Hill, fought the developer Rockwell Property for two years over its plan to erect a 100-metre tower next to […]
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‘We can all coexist’: artist Es Devlin uses selfies to unite UK in portrait of a nation
May 14, 2026Can a collective portrait of Britain hold together a country that feels as if it is splintering apart? That is the quietly radical hope behind Es Devlin’s new installation at the National Portrait Gallery: a living portrait comprised not of monarchs, politicians or celebrities but of thousands of ordinary faces drifting slowly into and out […]
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‘Is he getting rid of Starmer?’ Profile boost for Streeting in Ilford North seat
May 14, 2026Wes Streeting’s potential leadership bid has been the subject of mockery from figures within Labour, while the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s slapdown of the now former health secretary in the Commons on Wednesday went viral on social media. However, in Streeting’s parliamentary seat of Ilford North, his constituents seem rather fond of him and pleased […]
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Seven people barred from coming to UK for far-right rally
May 11, 2026Seven people hoping to attend a far-right rally in central London on Saturday have been blocked from entering the country by the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood. Keir Starmer, the prime minister, promised on Monday to block “far-right agitators” hoping to attend the Unite the Kingdom event on 16 May organised by Tommy Robinson, whose real […]
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Thousands attend rally against antisemitism outside Downing Street
May 10, 2026Thousands of people gathered outside Downing Street on Sunday to protest an increase in antisemitic hate crimes and violence, as senior politicians and interfaith leaders called for unity. The Standing Strong: Extinguish Antisemitism rally, backed by more than 30 Jewish groups, drew thousands of people to Whitehall, as Conservative and Liberal Democrat party leaders, alongside […]
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