UK

Millions of UK homes are already in debt over their energy bills – with £1.3 billion owed, even before bills are set to soar by more than 80%. The overall debt bill is already three times higher than it was a year ago, according to analysts at Uswitch, and it seems likely it will grow

Energy bills are expected to rise even further this winter than previously forecast, according to the latest from energy consultancy Cornwall Insight. Bills are now expected to reach approximately £3,582 a year for the average household from October – up from the £3,359 predicted earlier this month. From January, the amount is expected to rise

NHS England says the number of people waiting two years or more for treatment has been dramatically reduced as part of its plan to address delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic. However, waits of more than two years used to be so rare that the NHS did not start publishing statistics for them until April

Downing Street has rejected calls for Boris Johnson to summon an emergency COBRA meeting to deal with the cost of living crisis. Gordon Brown, the former Labour prime minister, has called for Mr Johnson to meet with his two potential successors and thrash out a financial package of measures before energy bills soar in October.

Children are being strip-searched by the Metropolitan Police without an appropriate adult present in almost a quarter of cases, with black boys disproportionately targeted, new data shows. The research, published by the children’s commissioner for England, revealed that officers from the force conducted intrusive searches on 650 young people aged 10 to 17 between 2018

The next prime minister is facing calls to immediately increase Universal Credit payments to stop vulnerable people spiralling further into poverty when fuel bills increase again this winter. The poorest in society are suffering three major blows to their income in the year to October 2022, according to a report commissioned by former prime minister

Rail passengers are facing a fresh wave of disruption as train drivers from several companies have announced another strike over a long-running dispute about pay and working conditions. The 24-hour walkout on Saturday 13 August will coincide with a busy weekend of football, with Premier League games in Manchester, London, Birmingham and Brighton likely to

Archie Battersbee, who suffered “devastating” brain damage, has died after his life support was turned off. His mother Hollie Dance stood outside the hospital and said she was “the proudest mum in the world”. She said Archie was “such a beautiful little boy and he fought right until the very end, and I am so

Archie Battersbee’s parents have been refused permission to appeal against the High Court’s decision which denied them the right to have their son moved from hospital to a hospice to die. The family had applied to the Court of Appeal on Friday, challenging a ruling that blocked their plans to move him to a hospice

Archie Battersbee cannot be moved from hospital to a hospice, the High Court has ruled, denying an application from his family. His mother, Hollie Dance, said she wanted her brain-damaged son to “spend his last moments” together with family privately, but the High Court ruled this was not in Archie’s best interests. The judge has

Liz Truss has refused a Conservative Party member’s request for her to apologise for proposing to link public sector pay to local living costs – reiterating that the policy was “misrepresented”. On Monday night, the foreign secretary and Tory leadership frontrunner said she would save £8.8bn by introducing regional pay boards instead of national ones

The Bank of England has hiked interest rates by half a percentage point – the sixth rise since December and the biggest rise since 1995. This means the bank rate now stands at 1.75% – its highest level since late 2008 at the beginning of the global financial crisis. It will increase borrowing costs for

Archie Battersbee’s life support will be withdrawn at 11am, unless his family launch a High Court bid by 9am to move him to a hospice. His parents plan to file the application by the deadline. They lost their latest legal appeal to stop doctors ending life-sustaining hospital treatment for their brain-damaged son after a European

If you drive in London, chances are a camera will see you. The city uses a network of Automated Number-Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras to scan the roads for vehicles entering and leaving its road-charging zones. The UK road system is carpeted with these cameras. Every day, around 13,000 capture 55 million “reads”, as number plate

Archie Battersbee’s life support is set to be switched off at 11am today, pending another last-ditch attempt by his family to postpone the move. The parents of the brain-damaged 12-year-old had said his treatment would be brought to an end on Wednesday morning after they lost a Supreme Court bid to keep it going. But

Moves to end Archie Battersbee’s life support have been delayed again as his parents appealed against the withdrawal of their brain-damaged son’s treatment. The Supreme Court on Tuesday confirmed it had received the application for permission to appeal and would consider it as a matter of urgency. The hospital said it would not begin withdrawing

Former Tory leadership contender Penny Mordaunt has endorsed Liz Truss in the race to be prime minister, in a huge blow to Rishi Sunak. Ms Mordaunt announced her backing for the foreign secretary as she introduced her at the latest Conservative leadership hustings in Exeter, declaring Ms Truss as “the hope candidate” who “knows what

England are waking up as the champions of Europe after the Lionesses delivered the country’s first major trophy since 1966. There were euphoric scenes nationwide last night after the squad beat Germany 2-1 in extra time – with 87,000 supporters at a packed-out Wembley Stadium cheering them on, not to mention millions more at home.

England’s Lionesses have won Euro 2022 after beating Germany 2-1 in extra-time at Wembley. It is the country’s first major trophy since the men’s side won the World Cup in 1966. Ella Toone gave England the lead in the 62nd minute with a sublime lob after being sent through one-on-one with the German goalkeeper. The

The Duke of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte are among those cheering on England’s Lionesses as they aim to make football history when they take on Germany in the Euro 2022 final at Wembley later today. The home side, who could land their first major trophy, are underdogs – Germany has won the title eight times,