Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said he is appalled and sickened by the plight of civilians in Gaza, after the Israeli government rejected an international statement which warned suffering has “reached new depths”. On Tuesday, Lammy told the BBC that Israel’s response was “hugely disappointing” and described the situation in Gaza as “grotesque”. It comes after the UK and 27 other countries called for an immediate end to the war, and accused Israel of “drip feeding” aid to Gaza’s population. The statement was released after dozens were killed while waiting to access supplies in recent days – but Israel described…
Author: dmnews
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch is set to reshuffle her top team of shadow ministers later today. Sir James Cleverly, who previously served in government as the foreign secretary and home secretary, is expected to return to the front bench as part of the changes, while Mel Stride is set to remain as shadow chancellor. Badenoch had been expected to make small changes to her frontbench team in order to replace one or two shadow ministers who wanted to step down for personal reasons. However, BBC News understands Badenoch has opted for a bigger shake-up, with about half a dozen…
A vaccination programme to tackle respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is to be extended to cover premature babies born in Northern Ireland. A long-acting injection is to be offered for eligible children from this autumn. RSV is a common, but highly infectious, respiratory virus that affects the breathing system, particularly in young children and older adults. It infects 90% of children by the age of two and is one of the leading causes of hospitalisation in the first year of life. An RSV vaccine has been available to pregnant women in Northern Ireland since last September and is offered from 28…
John Horsley was gardening when he felt a wasp crawl down his T-shirt. “That stung me a few times in the back,” he says. “It wasn’t a pleasant experience.” Part of the British Pest Control Association, John is well-versed in the problems wasps can cause gate-crashing picnics or beer gardens on a summer’s day, and building bothersome nests. After a downtick in wasp callouts in recent summers, his industry has been busier than usual tackling problems caused by wasps this year, he says. These can include large nests appearing earlier in the season. Wasps are currently still raising their young, but later…
Parts of the UK are bracing for potentially dangerous flash flooding as thunderstorms and torrential rain are set to arrive over the weekend. An amber weather warning came into effect on Saturday morning, when more than a month’s worth of rain is forecast to fall in a matter of hours. The Met Office says fast-flowing and deep floodwaters are likely, leading to road and transport disruption, as well as power cuts. The warning for torrential downpours comes days after a third UK heatwave of the year that parched swathes of the UK and led to several hosepipe bans being declared.…
The government spent nearly a third less on hotels to house asylum seekers between April 2024 and March 2025, according to newly published figures. The Home Office’s annual accounts show £2.1bn was spent on hotel accommodation – an average of about £5.77m per day, down from £3bn or £8.3m per day, the previous year. Data obtained by BBC Verify shows the saving has been driven by a reduction in the average nightly cost per person housed, after a government move to use cheaper forms of accommodation and room sharing. But Dr Peter Walsh, from the Migration Observatory think tank at Oxford…
Thousands of premature babies in the UK can now be protected against a common winter virus which can cause a dangerous lung infection, and sometimes kill. The injection will provide them “with a protective bubble” against RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) in time for the colder months, NHS medics said. Most babies are protected via vaccination late in pregnancy, but babies born before 32 weeks are more vulnerable to life-threatening infections from the virus. From late September, 9,000 babies and young children at risk across the UK will be offered a dose of the drug nirsevimab through the NHS. RSV usually…
Former Conservative ministers have “serious questions to answer” over a data breach which revealed the details of thousands of Afghans who had supported British forces, Sir Keir Starmer has said. The prime minister said the failings inherited by his government included a super-injunction which blocked reporting of the breach, and a “secret route” for those affected to come to the UK “that has already cost hundreds of millions of pounds”. Details of nearly 19,000 Afghans who had applied to move to the UK after the Taliban seized power were mistakenly leaked in February 2022 by a British official. The previous…
The UK jobs market has continued to weaken, making the prospect of an interest rate cut next month even more likely, analysts say. The annual rate of pay growth in the three months between March and May slowed to 5%, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The unemployment rate has risen to 4.7%, its highest in four years, while the number of job vacancies has now been falling continuously for three years. The government said “we need to go further” to improve the economy, while the Conservatives said the unemployment rise was a “disgrace”. Earlier this week, in…
A new photograph of Queen Camilla has been released to mark her 78th birthday on Thursday. In the photo by Chris Jackson, the Queen is pictured smiling as she leans on a metal gate in a field at her private Wiltshire home, Raymill. She is wearing gold drop earrings and a turquoise dress made from fabric featuring a rainforest of monkeys, toucans and lemurs. The Queen was on duty on her birthday last year when she attended the State Opening of Parliament with King Charles III, but she is expected to spend this year’s birthday privately. The photo, taken earlier…