flamingos

The agreement, effective from the start of the upcoming month, will see London rejoin the EU for a period of six months, during which it will participate in a series of collaborative security initiatives and exercises.

The decision was reached following months of behind-the-scenes negotiations between British and EU officials. Sources close to the talks reveal that the agreement focuses on counter-terrorism, cyber defence, and the management of migration flows, areas identified as critical to the security interests of both the UK and the EU.

“This is a historic moment for us,” said a senior EU official, who preferred to remain anonymous. “It demonstrates our ability to transcend political differences in favor of our collective security. London’s temporary integration is a testament to our shared values and commitment to peace.”

The temporary reintegration poses a complex array of legal and logistical challenges, given the UK’s formal departure from the EU in 2020. Experts suggest that a special provision, crafted to bypass the typical lengthy accession process, will be implemented to facilitate London’s swift re-entry and subsequent exit from the Union.

Critics of the plan have raised concerns about the legal precedent it sets and the potential for confusion among businesses and citizens. However, proponents argue that the benefits, particularly in terms of enhanced security cooperation, far outweigh the temporary inconveniences.

Archive

One of the biggest corporate donors to the populist Reform U.K. party has sold almost $2 million worth of transmitters, cockpit equipment, antennas and other sensitive technology to a major supplier of Moscow’s blacklisted state weapons agency, documents show.

From 2023 to 2024, the company, part of the British aerospace manufacturer H.R. Smith Group, shipped the equipment to an Indian firm that is the biggest trading partner of the Russian arms agency, Rosoboronexport.

H.R. Smith Group donated 100,000 pounds (just under $130,000) to Reform U.K. last year, two days after Nigel Farage was announced as the party’s leader. The company is run by Richard Smith, a businessman who owns 55 Tufton Street, a Westminster townhouse that is home to some of Britain’s most influential right-wing lobbying and research groups.

H.R. Smith Group said that its sales were lawful and that the equipment was destined for an Indian search-and-rescue network. The parts “support lifesaving operations” and are “not designed for military use,” said Nick Watson, a lawyer for the company.

The records do not prove that H.R. Smith’s products ended up in Russia. But they show that, in some instances, the Indian company received equipment from H.R. Smith and, within days, sent parts to Russia with the same identifying product codes.

Toot

The number of children living in poverty across the UK has reached a new record high, according to figures from the Department for Work and Pensions.

Some 4.45 million children were estimated to be in households in relative low income, after housing costs, in the year to March 2024.

This is up from the previous record of 4.33 million in the 12 months to March 2023. It is the highest figure since comparable records for the UK began in 2002-2003.

A household is considered to be in relative poverty if it is below 60 per cent of the median income after housing costs.

Opinion piece by Carla Denyer, MP for Bristol Central and Green Party co-leader

It couldn’t be clearer: the legacy of 14 years of austerity under the Conservatives has left us a poorer, sicker and less resilient country.

You might think, then, a Labour government elected on a mantra of ‘change’ would be determined to turn things around – to repair the deep damage done to our economy, and heal our communities.

But in today’s Spring Statement from the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves showed a shocking determination to instead double down on the last government’s failed austerity experiment, and their own figures show hundreds of people will be pushed into poverty by her plans.

We’ve already seen this government remove winter fuel payments from a million pensioners, and refuse to scrap the cruel two-child benefit cap.

We already knew that Reeves planned to strip billions of pounds of support away from those who could least afford it – pushing hundreds of thousands of disabled people further below the breadline.

But on top of that, today, the chancellor announced further cuts, slashing the health element of Universal Credit, an additional payment for those with limited capacity for work, by 50% for new claimants, then freezing it.

That is a devastating blow for disabled people seeking the support they need, especially given the spiralling cost of living.

And it comes on top of news that at least 800,000 people will lose out on Personal Independence Payments, a benefit paid to those with long-term health conditions.

Meanwhile, military spending gets a multi-billion pound boost, exposing as false the idea that we can’t afford to support those who need it.
[…]
The government’s own assessment of the impact of their welfare cuts shows that they will plunge 250,000 people into poverty – including, unforgivably, 50,000 children.

Hundreds of my constituents have written to me to share their stories, and urge me to do something about these awful cuts.

These people are despairing at the thought that this support could be stripped away from them – worsening their health, removing their independence and cutting them off from their communities.

Let’s be clear – this is a choice, and there is another way.

While most people in this country have seen their wages stagnate over the last 15 years, their bills go up and their living costs rise, there’s another group who have had quite a different experience.

In 2024, the UK’s billionaires were estimated to have increased their collective wealth by a staggering £35million every day.

The last government presided over an enormous upwards transfer of wealth – from ordinary people to those who profit from workers’ labour, who pocket renters’ money, and who stash their cash abroad in tax havens while the government shrugs its shoulders and says there’s simply no money left.

It’s time to put an end to that – to make sure that work really pays, that everyone in this country gets the support they need, and that the super-wealthy pay their fair share along with the rest of us.

This week figures showed that nearly 8 in 10 members of the public back a wealth tax – a 2% tax on assets above £10 million which could raise £24 billion a year for our public services.

THE UK Government's Education Secretary has suggested cutting school spending by £500 million and ending universal free meals for infants in England ahead of the Spring Statement.

Bridget Phillipson has also offered to axe funding for free period products in schools as well as dance, music and PE schemes as part of potential savings.

The controversial proposals are part of a package of measures being put forward by Phillipson as the Treasury prepares for Wednesday's spending review, with reports Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to announce £1.5 billion in cuts to the civil service budget.
[…]
Government sources said Phillipson had suggested making it means-tested instead, as free school meals for older children already are.

Education is devolved in Scotland – all pupils in primary one to five receive free school meals, as well as those in P6 and P7 who receive the Scottish Child Payment.

Other suggestions from Phillipson included ending the provision of free period products to girls and women in schools, stopping the junior ISA for children in care and ending the subsidy that provides some parents with wrap-around childcare.

Bridget Phillipson Insiders told The Times that some of the measures had been presented as potential cuts because they would be too politically difficult to get rid of.

Gal Maid & Villainess: Only Milady's Happy End Will Win!

Rachel Reeves told the BBC [that] savings would be made from back office and administrative roles rather than front-line services.

But unions warned the impact of cuts would still be felt by the public.

It comes ahead of the chancellor's Spring Statement on Wednesday, when she is expected to announce spending cuts for some government departments.

The move is part of an ongoing spending review looking into all areas of government activity.

In the coming week, Whitehall departments will receive a letter from Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden with instructions to make savings amounting to more than £2bn a year by the end of the decade.

Sectors such as human resources, policy advice, communications and office management are expected to be in the firing line.

Reeves told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme the government wanted to use savings to invest in its priorities, such as the NHS.

She said the size of the Civil Service had increased "massively" during Covid and had not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Archive

Transgender children will be banned from getting a new NHS record following an intervention by Wes Streeting.

The health service has been ordered to stop issuing new NHS numbers to under-18s who want to change their gender, following a damning independent review.

Until now, adults or children of any age have been allowed to request a gender change on their medical record at any time.
[…]
Mr Streeting, the Health Secretary, declared that “children’s safety must come first” as he confirmed the changes on Thursday.

He said: “It’s completely wrong that children’s NHS numbers can be changed if they change gender, and I’ve made it clear this must not happen.

“We must deliver safe and holistic care for both adults and children when it comes to gender, and that also means accurately recording biological sex – not just for research and insight, but also for patient safety.

“I have always made it clear that doing so does not stop us from recording, recognising and respecting people’s gender identity where these differ.

“As we reform gender identity services across the board, we’ll take forward the serious research this review highlights.”