UK

The number of second homes being put up for sale in one part of Wales has increased by more than 250% – as homeowners and businesses criticise the Welsh government’s council tax premium. Many councils in Wales now charge an inflated tax rate for second homes, up to 300%, with the aim of freeing up

A man allegedly sexually assaulted a woman on the same day he was released from prison under the government’s early release scheme. He allegedly reoffended in Sittingbourne in Kent and was later arrested at an address in south London. He was among more than 1,700 inmates released from prison last week in a bid to

Families of more than 300 victims of the infected blood scandal are calling on the government to make changes to the compensation scheme, claiming they are being “excluded” from the current guidelines. Thousands became infected with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s, with more than 3,000 known to

BBC presenter Jay Blades – who appears on The Repair Shop – has been charged with engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour against his estranged wife, police have said. The 54-year-old appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court earlier today and was bailed to appear again at Worcester Crown Court on 11 October. The alleged coercive behaviour

Sir Keir Starmer has said that Russia started the Ukraine war and “could end the conflict straight away”. The prime minister is heading to Washington DC for talks with President Joe Biden at the White House on Friday over the ongoing conflict. Sir Keir has backed Kyiv’s right to defend itself after Russian leader Vladimir

The NHS will not get any more funding without reforming, Sir Keir Starmer has said as he laid out a 10-year plan to fix the health service. The prime minister stressed his plans to build an NHS fit for the future “do not just mean putting more money in”, and will take a decade to

Sir Keir Starmer will warn the NHS must “reform or die”, as the government publishes an independent investigation into the state of the health service. The report – ordered by Health Secretary Wes Streeting days after he took on the role – was carried out by peer and surgeon Lord Darzi. Politics live: Starmer and

The Renters Reform Bill is back in the commons, five years and four prime ministers after it was first promised. This time it’s Labour’s version – with the new party of government vowing to improve and complete the set of proposals the Tories pledged, then watered down, and then abandoned altogether before the general election.

If you want a sense of the “change” government, Sir Keir Starmer becoming the first prime minister in 15 years to address the Trade Union Congress is it. The Tories out and Labour in is what the trade union movement has yearned for. This has been a patient base, waiting for a new deal. But

MPs have voted to cut the winter fuel payment for all but the country’s poorest pensioners. A Tory move to block the measure was defeated by 348 to 228 votes – a majority of 120. Labour has a working majority in the Commons of 167. The division list showed Labour MP Jon Trickett supported the

The chief inspector of prisons for England and Wales has warned that today’s early release of around 1,750 offenders is going to be “risky”. It is being done to create space in the country’s overcrowded prisons and the government insists the alternative was “unthinkable” and would have led to a “total collapse of the criminal

The Princess of Wales has said her focus is to “stay cancer free” after finishing chemotherapy treatment. She made the announcement in her most personal family video to date showing her spending private time with Prince William and her children. The incredibly candid and intimate video shows the princess, Prince William, Prince George, Princess Charlotte

A loud crash jolts Paul Wheeler into waking up in the middle of the night. As he peers out of his bedroom window, which overlooks the park at the back of his home in a quiet, suburban part of Kent, he sees a shadowy figure setting fire to something. It’s a warm summer night, Labour

The health secretary has said he is “not remotely happy” about having to vote to cut the winter fuel allowance for some pensioners. Wes Streeting said he has apologised to his elderly constituents who it will affect, but said cutting the payment from those not on pension credit is essential to balance public finances. He

The deaths of around 2,000 mental health patients will be investigated as a long-awaited new public inquiry begins on Monday. Warning: The following article contains details some readers may find distressing Families of the patients who died in Essex have been campaigning for years, claiming they have not been told the truth about what happened

Police searching for a British man in a mountainous area of Majorca where a British woman was found dead earlier this week have found a body. Both are believed to have been swept away in a flash flood. Spain’s Civil Guard said both people were on a trail that leads through a small canyon to

England interim manager Lee Carsley has said he will not be singing the British national anthem before his side take on the Republic of Ireland on Saturday. The 50-year-old was born in Birmingham in the UK but represented Ireland during his playing career through his grandmother, who is from County Cork. Speaking in a news

An arsonist who stoked a fire outside a Rotherham hotel hosting asylum seekers during last month’s riots has been jailed for nine years. It is the longest sentence handed down so far over last month’s violence, which erupted across the UK following the killing of three children in a stabbing at a dance class in

More than 300 bodies have been discovered in a mass grave in Oldham, with the majority belonging to babies and children. The 12x12ft grave in Royton Cemetery was found by a woman looking for her brothers, with one stillborn and the other dying within five hours in 1962. According to councillors Maggie Hurley and Jade

A member of the Royal Navy has died after a helicopter ditched while conducting night-flying exercises with HMS Queen Elizabeth. In a statement the Navy said: “It is with great sadness that we must report a member of the Royal Navy has died following a training incident last night. “Our thoughts are with the family