Michael Buchanan Social affairs correspondent, BBC News Getty Images Government plans to speed up employment support for people affected by the changes to welfare benefits will be “undeliverable”, the BBC has been told. As part of the U-turn on welfare reforms, ministers are expected to fast-track a £1bn support plan to get people into work,...
At the end of last month Mayor Lurie proposed a new budget for the city of San Francisco. It came in just under $16 billion dollars. That included a bunch of cuts to try to eliminate a projected deficit of $782 million. One way to cut those funds is to cut back on city jobs....
Issa Tchiroma Bakary – a prominent minister and long-time ally of President Paul Biya – has quit Cameroon’s government, in the hope of ending 92-year-old Biya’s four-decade grip on power in upcoming elections. Just four months before the central African nation goes to the polls, Tchiroma said the Biya administration he belonged to had “broken”...
Aylo, the owner of adult sites Pornhub, YouPorn and RedTube, says it will introduce “government approved age assurance methods” in the UK. The company has not yet revealed how it will require users to prove they are over 18, but UK regulator Ofcom says simply clicking a button, which is all the adult site currently...
The government is in talks with Labour MPs about possible changes to its welfare policies, Downing Street has confirmed. In a notable softening of tone, No 10 said that they “want” to hold a vote on Tuesday – as is currently planned – and admitted that getting the policy right was “not easy”. It follows...
Georgina Barnes BBC News, South West BBC The government announced on Tuesday that the creation of new mayor roles would be discontinued The Mayor for Plymouth (MfP) campaign says it will take the government to high court over an announcement there will no be a directly-elected mayor for the city. The government announced on Tuesday...
Kate Whannel Political reporter Getty Images The UK must “actively prepare for the possibility of the UK coming under direct threat, potentially in a wartime scenario,” the government has warned. In its national security strategy, it said the nation was “in an era in which we face confrontation with those who are threatening security” and...
Steve Rosenberg Russia Editor Getty Images At the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, a Russian MP came up to me. “Are you going to bomb Iran?” he asked. “I’m not planning to bomb anyone!” I replied. “I mean you, the British…” “Don’t you mean Donald Trump?” “He’s told what to do by Britain,” the man...
In March, the former chair of funding agency UK Sport Dame Katherine Grainger told BBC Sport that it was “frustrating” that Britain was not staging more major events over the next decade, warning of “a big gap”. Her successor Nick Webborn said: “We welcome the government’s ongoing commitment to hosting the Tour de France, Tour...
BBC Labour MP Vicky Foxcroft has resigned as a whip over the government’s plans to cut disability benefits. In a letter to the prime minister, Foxcroft said she understood the need to address “the ever-increasing welfare bill” but said cuts to personal independence payments and universal credit should “not be part of the solution”. She...
On Tuesday, Boulter provided BBC Sport unprecedented insight into the volume and nature of abuse received by players, including sharing screenshots of her private inbox. “I think it just kind of shows how vulnerable we are,” the 28-year-old said. “You really don’t know if this person is on site. You really don’t know if they’re...
PA Media British embassy staff have been evacuated from Israel in recent days. Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel has called on the UK government to offer repatriation flights to British nationals who want to leave Israel. Dame Priti told the BBC there are “thousands upon thousands” of Britons in Israel, adding that the government’s...
PA Media The Reverend Clive Foster will take up the role on a three year term The first Windrush commissioner has been announced by the government – seven years after the scandal was first exposed and following the serious impact on thousands of Caribbean migrants in the UK. The Reverend Clive Foster, a senior pastor...
The Spanish government has said that the national grid operator and private power generation companies were to blame for an energy blackout that caused widespread chaos in Spain and Portugal earlier this year. Shortly after midday on 28 April, both countries were disconnected from the European electricity grid for several hours. Businesses, schools, universities, government...
After days of uncertainty and negotiations, the funeral arrangements for Zambia’s former president have been finalised. Edgar Lungu, who led Zambia from 2015 to 2021, died 11 days ago in South Africa where he was receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness. According to his family, he had left instructions that his political rival and current...