UK

Lloyds Banking Group is to close a further 136 branches. Britain’s biggest mortgage lender said It will shut 61 Lloyds, 61 Halifax and 14 Bank of Scotland sites between May this year and March 2026. All workers affected by the closures would be offered alternative roles, the group said. A list of the affected branches

Prisoners are being sent back to jail by the probation service because it’s the “easiest thing to do”, rather than solely for public protection, the chief inspector of probation has told Sky News. Martin Jones cited caseload “pressure” in the service meaning officers are recalling people to jail to get them out of their “worry

Rachel Reeves will unveil Labour’s plans to grow the UK economy on Wednesday, warning it “will not come without a fight”. The chancellor is expected to announce a raft of measures including developing Oxford and Cambridge – which she says has the “potential to be Europe’s Silicon Valley” – building nine new reservoirs and the

Victims and relatives will take centre stage as the inquiry into the worst atrocity of the Troubles gets underway today. For the next four weeks, commemorative and personal statements about the 29 people killed in the 1998 Omagh bombing will be heard at the Strule Arts Centre in the County Tyrone town, in what victims’

The King delivered a speech to Holocaust survivors on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, and said “remembering the evils of the past remains vital”. “It is a moment when we recall the depths to which humanity can sink when evil is allowed to flourish, ignored for too long for the world,” he

Angela Carson struggles to pull the damp laundry out of her washing machine. Her hands are so weak she can barely stop them from shaking. The 65-year-old places the wet clothes onto her lap and slowly moves herself in a wheelchair through the small kitchen to another room, so they can dry. Angela suffers from

A 53-year-old man has been charged with the murder of a university lecturer, Devon and Cornwall Police have said. Claire Chick, 48, was found injured on West Hoe Road, Plymouth, at 8.55pm on Wednesday. Ms Chick, who taught at the University of Plymouth’s nursing school after a career in nursing, was taken to hospital but

Storm Eowyn was “probably the strongest” to hit the UK in at least a decade, according to the Met Office – and in some areas was the most intense in “20 or 30 years”. But don’t expect settled weather because Storm Eowyn has gone, Sky News meteorologist Dr Chris England warned. “The Spanish named Storm

Anti-Muslim graffiti has been found daubed on seven London buildings this month, including mosques, community centres and a primary school. The Metropolitan Police said it is investigating “several incidents of criminal damage” and is treating them as “shocking” hate crimes. They took place between Monday 6 January and Thursday 23 January and the force is

The deaths of five people, including Leicester City’s owner, in a helicopter crash were accidental, an inquest jury has ruled. Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, referred to in court as Khun Vichai, died in the crash along with two of his staff, Nursara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, pilot Eric Swaffer, and Mr Swaffer’s girlfriend Izabela Roza Lechowicz, a

A woman whose four young boys died in a house fire after she went to a supermarket has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Deveca Rose, 30, was found guilty of the manslaughter of her twins, Leyton and Logan Hoath, aged three, and Kyson and Bryson Hoath, aged four, in October last year. Jurors

Storm Eowyn brought widespread closures in Ireland and parts of the UK on Friday as flights, rail services and hospitals were all disrupted. But Saturday is set to see more disarray in the wake of the battering communities took. Here’s what we know: Police Scotland asked people to “continue to avoid” travelling in the dangerous

Police have launched a murder investigation after the death of a woman in Plymouth. Devon and Cornwall police said officers were called to the West Hoe area of the city at 8.55pm on Wednesday after the woman in her 40s was found seriously injured in the street. She was taken to hospital, but was pronounced

A rare red alert for “very strong” wind has been issued for parts of the UK ahead of Storm Eowyn. The alert, which covers all of Northern Ireland from 7am on Friday until 2pm, and parts of Scotland from 10am to 5pm, warns of “very dangerous conditions” and “widespread disruption”. Tornados could also hit parts

A Russian “spy” ship has been monitored by the Royal Navy after it entered UK waters earlier this week, the defence secretary has said – as he issued a warning to President Vladimir Putin. The vessel, called Yantar, has been used for gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure, John Healey told MPs.

A man has pleaded guilty to murdering the wife and two daughters of racing commentator John Hunt in a crossbow attack. Kyle Clifford, 26, from Enfield, was accused of stabbing Carol Hunt, 61, to death and fatally shooting Louise, 25, and Hannah Hunt, 28, with a crossbow at their family home in Bushey, Hertfordshire, on

Benefit fraudsters could be banned from driving and subject to bank account snooping if they fail to pay back the taxpayer, under a new government crackdown. In an effort to curb welfare fraud, the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched what has been dubbed the biggest fraud crackdown in a generation. The Public

Sir Keir Starmer has said Britain faces a new threat and terrorism has changed in light of the Southport attack last summer. Speaking the day after Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana admitted murdering three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, the prime minister said the incident “is a sign Britain now faces a new

An inquiry into the Southport stabbings has been announced by the government. It comes after Axel Rudakubana, 18, admitted murdering Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, in the attack in Southport, Merseyside, in July last year. In a statement, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The families and the

The teenager accused of killing three girls in a knife attack at a dance class in Southport in July last year has pleaded guilty to their murders. Axel Rudakubana, 18, from Lancashire, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on what was due to be the first day of his trial on Monday. He refused to stand