UK Independent
Tue, 16 Jun 2026 08:56:39 GMTThames Water edges closer to nationalisation amid minister’s concerns over rescue deal
Environment secretary Emma Reynolds is understood to be concerned the deal places an ‘undue’ burden on taxpayers
Tue, 16 Jun 2026 08:47:38 GMTMinister admits under-16s social media ban not a ‘silver bullet’ as Musk hits out at ‘censorship’
Liz Kendall, accepted that many children will succeed in getting around the ban but insisted the restriction would lead to a ‘significant change in behaviour’
Tue, 16 Jun 2026 08:38:27 GMTReform UK councillor quits party after branding defection ‘biggest mistake of my life’
Robbie Lammas declared the Conservative Party was ‘over’ when he defected to Reform UK in October 2025
Tue, 16 Jun 2026 08:22:06 GMTCouple awarded £3.3m after flood work damages medieval home that once hosted King Henry VIII
The compensation includes nearly £200k for a new swimming pool
Tue, 16 Jun 2026 08:14:14 GMTInside the forgotten ‘capital of Brexit’ – where Boris Johnson’s unkept promises have left voters feeling betrayed
In one of the biggest shocks of election night 2019, Labour lost its Stoke-on-Trent seats as the red wall collapsed amid a Boris Johnson pledge to get Brexit done. Seven years on, Alex Ross discovers a city feeling even further left behind
Tue, 16 Jun 2026 07:45:51 GMTTeen Googled ‘what happens if you kill’ minutes after stabbing girl to death, court hears
The teenager denies charges of murder and manslaughter
Tue, 16 Jun 2026 07:35:38 GMTVoices: ‘We had to watch him struggle for days’: Readers on end-of-life suffering as assisted dying bill returns
As the assisted dying debate reignites, our community shared deeply emotional accounts of relatives facing prolonged illness and distress at the end of life, alongside concerns about whether current laws provide sufficient dignity and protection for ...
Tue, 16 Jun 2026 07:30:59 GMTStarmer unveils fresh sanctions on Russian shadow fleet vessels and support for Ukrainian energy
The prime minister, who set out the plans as he arrived in France for the G7 summit, warned that Putin’s ‘aggression threatens not just Ukraine, but the security of all Europe’
Tue, 16 Jun 2026 07:19:40 GMTMajor M25 disruption as two lorry fires shut motorway
Emergency services are in attendance and a specialist recovery is ongoing to recover the vehicle between junctions 27 and 26
Tue, 16 Jun 2026 07:08:34 GMTLabour must change course or risk handing power to Reform, union leader warns
Andrea Egan urged the introduction of ‘progressive policies’, including investment in infrastructure, pay restoration and better public services
Tue, 16 Jun 2026 07:00:48 GMTaid
Ministers have been accused of offering "words over action" on protecting women and girls in conflict zones in the wake of MPs warning that aid cuts are undermining Britain's global leadership on women's rights.
Tue, 16 Jun 2026 06:24:44 GMTFull list of social media platforms included in Starmer’s under-16s ban
Platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook are set to be banned
Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:23:34 GMTHow eight beavers solved a Tube flooding problem engineers have been trying to fix for years
The creatures were reintroduced in 2023 after being hunted to extinction 400 years ago
Tue, 16 Jun 2026 02:58:14 GMTWeather map: Where temperatures could reach 29C this week as UK heat health alerts issued
Temperatures could reach 29C by the end of this week in south-east England
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 23:56:00 GMTFirst eight grooming gang cases sent back to police for reinvestigation
Operation Beaconport is reviewing cases from January 2010 to March 2025
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 23:01:00 GMTUK energy debt crisis deepens for millions ahead of price cap rise
13 per cent of those in debt or concerned about missing payments owed money to ‘someone who makes them feel scared’
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 23:01:00 GMTLeaking sewage, rats and bedbugs widespread in NHS workplaces, staff claim
Unison says its latest survey has revealed a concerning snapshot of a ‘dangerous and dilapidated’ NHS estate
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 22:27:42 GMTStreeting sets out plans to tear up planning rules and net zero policies if he becomes PM
The former health secretary plans to allow more drilling fr poil and gas and centralise decision making on major projects like energy plans and data centres
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 22:07:29 GMTIndian captain arrested in Russian shadow fleet oil tanker charged with contravening
The captain is scheduled to appear at Southampton Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 21:30:01 GMTJo Cox’s sister warns of UK’s ‘divisive rhetoric and dangerous language’ ten years after MP’s murder
‘You’ve got to decide if you want to take the debate forward and you want to work on solutions’, says Kim Leadbeater, a decade after her sister’s murder
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 20:01:10 GMT‘I believe my son, 14, died in an online challenge that went wrong – I cried when Starmer announced a social media ban’
Ellen Roome has been campaigning for online safety for children since her son, Jools Sweeney, died aged 14 in 2022
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 19:54:31 GMTReform plans to tear up key plank of Brexit deal as it vows to hike taxes for employers hiring foreign workers
Robert Jenrick says companies employing foreign workers will pay higher national insurance and a ‘migrant labour levy’
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 19:42:37 GMTHarry and Meghan issue tech firm warning over social media ban for under-16s
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed the ban but said the ‘measures do not fix the problem at its source’
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 18:22:39 GMTMysterious Russian-speaking handler orchestrated arson attack on Keir Starmer’s former home
Ukrainian builder Roman Lavrynovych, 22, was recruited by a Russian speaking Telegram account known as ‘El Money’
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 18:09:44 GMTMore than 100 arrested in London as court upholds Palestine Action ban
Protesters were seen being carried away by police officers
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 17:36:18 GMTSolicitor general appeals sentence of Henry Nowak’s murderer: ‘This case horrified me’
The court will now decide whether the sentence was unduly lenient
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 17:30:36 GMTRussian shadow fleet vessel formally detained off British coast after Royal Marine commandos seizure
Royal Marine commandos and officers from the National Crime Agency seized the tanker Smyrtos in the Channel in the first UK-led operation to capture a sanctioned vessel
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 17:07:52 GMTTeens react to Starmer’s UK social media ban for under-16s: the ‘right thing’ but ‘unlikely to make much difference’
Teenagers are reacting to the prime minister’s decision to ban them from social media from as early as next spring
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 17:06:46 GMT‘Degrading’ comments and conspiracies: The unearthed posts from Reform’s Makerfield candidate
Reform UK has stood by its candidate, who is taking on Andy Burnham in Thursday’s crunch Makerfield by-election
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 16:54:11 GMTFears Starmer’s ‘rush job’ social media reforms could send children to ‘darker places’ online
Campaigners and MPs have warned the PM is missing a ‘once in a lifetime’ chance to force platforms to introduce lasting change
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 16:24:13 GMTPalestine Action terror ban is lawful, judges rule in victory for Home Office
Five judges give their ruling after the Home Office appeals the previous decision that the Palestine Action ban was unlawful
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 16:03:16 GMTPreston Davey: Mother of tragic baby was jailed as a teenager for murder
Sarah Davey had some contact with her son and did register his birth
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 15:16:03 GMTTeacher guilty of murdering 13-month old baby he adopted with his partner
Jamie Varley, 37, adopted Preston Davey, at nine months old with his partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 15:12:30 GMTMillions of pensioners overcharged by HMRC for almost a year in £43.5m error
HMRC has apologised for the error and hopes to fix the problem later this summer
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 15:10:10 GMTChanges to UK defence plan ‘will not include more funding’
The government has been under pressure to look again at the plan after John Healey quit
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 14:33:48 GMTWhat we know about Palestine Action and why it came to be banned
The network, launched in 2020, is said to have 20,000 people on its mailing list
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 14:25:48 GMTStarmer warns Burnham not to throw UK into ‘chaos’ by launching bid for prime minister
Mr Burnham hopes to win Thursday’s Makerfield by-election and could then launch a campaign to replace Sir Keir as prime minister and Labour leader
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 14:17:53 GMTVoices: ‘Slippery slope’ or ‘generational reset’? Readers split on Keir Starmer’s social media ban for under-16s
Our community is divided over the prime minister’s plan to ban social media for under-16s, with some backing tougher regulation to protect children online and others warning it is unworkable and risks setting a precedent for greater government cont...
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 14:14:02 GMTWhy Keir Starmer’s allies still think he could win a Labour leadership election against Andy Burnham
‘Labour members are not Corbynistas any more, many of them joined because of Keir’
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 14:13:24 GMTHomes evacuated and man arrested after suspected explosive device found at property
Dorset Police have arrested a man on suspicion of firearms offences following the discovery in Suffolk Avenue, Christchurch
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 13:41:59 GMTShe once gave her mother a kidney. Now they’re embroiled in a £1m court feud
The mother claims she was left with ‘nothing’ after putting her home in her daughter’s name
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 13:37:39 GMTFamily pays tribute to ‘kind soul’ Radwan Shakur fatally stabbed in Chelmsford park
Radwan Shakur, from Wembley, north-west London, was found with stab wounds at Central Park in Chelmsford
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 13:27:45 GMTBoy, 2, suffers serious injuries after car hits nursery school playground
A 63-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving after a car drove through a fence
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 12:48:58 GMTMan arrested in notorious ‘Putney Pusher’ case
CCTV images from 2017 showed a jogger pushing a woman into the path of a bus
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 12:07:33 GMTBritain’s oldest Indian restaurant to take battle against eviction to court
The Michelin-starred restaurant Veeraswamy has been located on Regent’s Street for 100 years
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 12:01:09 GMTHow will under-16s be banned from social media in the UK and when will it start?
Around eight in 10 UK children aged three to 17 are estimated to have at least one active social media profile
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 11:42:44 GMTSadiq Khan takes on Trump and Vance as he launches £7m campaign to battle ‘scourge’ of disinformation about London
Mayor of London says city subjected to ‘unprecedented attack of lies and hatred’ on social media
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 11:15:49 GMTStarmer hails hugely significant ‘breakthrough’ as Trump announces US-Iran war peace deal
US president Donald Trump said the agreement meant ‘oil will flow’ freely once again through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital shipping route out of the Persian Gulf
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 11:00:05 GMTTrump’s Iran war costs UK drivers £4bn in higher fuel prices
Iran’s Strait of Hormuz blockade led to oil prices hitting their highest level since 2022
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 10:31:54 GMTGrandfather of Jesse Lingard dies ahead of trial for alleged child sex offences
The former Manchester United player flew to the UK from South Korea, where he was playing for FC Seoul, to give evidence in his grandfather’s defence last April
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 10:14:08 GMTUK children are spending at least two hours a day on social media, Ofcom finds
YouTube and Snapchat have emerged as the two most popular online platforms for children aged between eight and 14
Sun, 14 Jun 2026 15:52:20 GMTPolice arrest 14 after clashes at Israeli property protest outside synagogue
Individuals were seen carrying Palestinian and Israeli flags at the protest
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 09:06:43 GMTUK and Japan seal landmark deal worth £18bn as Starmer and Takaichi hail ‘new era’ in relations
Investment deal is expected to create thousands of new jobs in Britain
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 09:02:50 GMTSocial media ban for under-16s is yet another U-turn by Starmer as he tries to save his job
Political editor David Maddox explains why the bold move by Sir Keir Starmer is a further sign of his weakness