Leicestershire County Council, currently under a Reform UK minority administration, has commissioned Progressive Masculinity Ltd to deliver workshops and training aimed at secondary school pupils and staff across the county. The contract is valued at £124,300 and runs from September 2025 to the end of December 2026. The programme involves creating what the company describes as “safe, non-judgmental spaces” for boys and young men to explore masculinity. According to Progressiv

A mother from Essex is urgently calling on Meta and Instagram to restore an account that documented her young daughter’s fight against a rare brain tumour, after it was permanently disabled in what she describes as an automated error.Louise Paterson-Rees, who created and managed the Instagram page @Dotties_journey, says the account was wrongly flagged as belonging to a child under 13. The page, which had more than 4,000 followers, served as a detailed diary of her daughter Do

Jeremy Clarkson has once again stirred debate with a characteristically blunt column in The Sunday Times, arguing that people claiming benefits should be required to send genuine thank-you emails to randomly selected working taxpayers each week—or risk losing their payments. In the piece, published around 1 August 2026 and titled along the lines of “The biggest welfare scroungers? Dogs,” the Clarkson’s Farm star and former Top Gear presenter compared some benefits claimants t

A landmark clinical trial examining the use of puberty-blocking drugs in gender-questioning children can begin recruiting participants from August after the High Court rejected a legal challenge seeking to halt it. On 31 July 2026, Mr Justice Chamberlain refused permission for a full judicial review, ruling that none of the campaigners’ claims had a realistic prospect of success. The decision clears the way for the NHS-funded Pathways trial, run by King’s College London, to s

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has disclosed that he currently smokes approximately 20 cigarettes a day, describing the figure as a reduction from his previous levels. In comments reported from an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Farage said: “I smoke far fewer than I used to. You’re probably in the ballpark [with 20 a day].” He also noted that he carries a portable ashtray in his pocket. The admission fits a long-established public image. Farage is regularly photographed w

In a major vindication for conscience, free speech and biological reality in the NHS, nurse Jennifer Melle has been cleared of all charges by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). The regulator has closed its investigations with a finding of “no case to answer,” confirming she presents no risk to the public and that her fitness to practise is not impaired. The decision, dated 1 July 2026 and widely reported in early July, brings to an end a nearly two-year ordeal that bega

George Finch, 19, vindicated after accusations over handling of Progress Pride flag request at Shire Hall In a significant ruling for local democracy and accountability, Reform UK councillor George Finch — the United Kingdom’s youngest-ever council leader — has been cleared of misconduct allegations linked to his 2025 request to remove a Progress Pride flag from Warwickshire County Council’s headquarters. The decision, highlighted in breaking reports today, centres on claims

An embarrassing morning for Good Morning Britain after Reform’s Robert Jenrick called his interview with Ed Balls and Susanna Reid a “waste of time.” His mic was still on after the interview ended. Jenrick was invited on mostly to talk about the video of Streeting and Mahmood by Guido Fawkes, which they reported on it yesterday. Instead he received hostile questioning about the Tories’ record on prisons. The presenters reacted to his hot mic remark: “Oh dear, I think it wasn

This week Britain votes again we have more by-elections in Britain; they are: East Devon – Exmouth Brixington (Defending: CONSERVATIVE) Medway – Cuxton, Halling & Riverside (Defending: CONSERVATIVE) South Gloucestershire – Longwell Green (Defending: CONSERVATIVE) Thurrock – Grays Town (Defending: REFORM) Thurrock – Grays Riverside (Defending: REFORM) Keep an eye out for the results on our website; you can see the results by clicking here

Andrew Tate, the controversial online influencer and former kickboxer, now faces a total of 42 criminal charges in the United Kingdom, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). His brother Tristan Tate faces 17 charges. UK authorities are seeking their extradition from the United States following their arrest in Florida. Details of the Charges The CPS authorised 38 new charges against the brothers on or around 19 July 2026, after receiving further evidence from Bedfor

The UK's annual inflation rate dropped to 2.6% in June, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This marks a welcome decline from 2.8% in May and came in below economists' expectations of 2.7%. The slowdown was primarily driven by falling fuel costs and moderating food prices. Diesel prices plunged by 10.7 pence per litre, providing significant relief at the pumps. Food inflation eased to 1.7%, with notable price drops in everyday items

Thames Water, Britain’s largest water supplier, has today announced a temporary hosepipe ban (also known as a Temporary Use Ban or TUB) that will affect approximately 10.1 million customers across London and the Thames Valley region. The restrictions come into force at 00:01 on Thursday, 23 July 2026. Customers are being urged to begin reducing non-essential water use immediately to help protect supplies. Why Now? Thames Water cited a combination of factors: • An exceptional

A major new UK study has delivered encouraging long-term evidence that focal therapy can effectively treat prostate cancer while dramatically reducing the life-changing side effects often associated with traditional whole-gland treatments.Researchers from Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust followed 3,477 men treated with focal therapy across 14 UK hospitals between 2004 and 2024. The results, published in the journal European Urology, show excel

A 28-year-old man from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, has been arrested and remains in custody over the murder of former Conservative minister and Reform UK spokeswoman Ann Widdecombe, with counter-terrorism officers now leading key aspects of the investigation after new evidence emerged. Joshua Kerry, who lived alone in a council house on the Kimberworth Park estate, was detained by armed officers at his home on Saturday evening, 12 July. He was initially arrested on suspicion

Two teenagers who carried out a sophisticated cyber attack on Transport for London (TfL) systems have been sentenced to five years and six months in prison. Thalha Jubair, 20, from east London, and Owen Flowers, 18, from Walsall, pleaded guilty in June to the August 2024 hack that caused widespread disruption across London’s transport network. They were sentenced today at Woolwich Crown Court. How the Hack Unfolded On the evening of 31 August 2024, the pair — then aged 18 and

The horrific murder of 13-month-old Preston Davey in July 2023 has sparked widespread outrage and renewed scrutiny of the UK's child safeguarding system, particularly around adoptions. Preston, born in June 2022, was taken into care shortly after birth due to concerns about his biological mother's circumstances. He was placed with foster carers and later adopted by Jamie Varley, a secondary school teacher, and his partner John McGowan-Fazakerley in April 2023. Just months lat

Olivia Hill, a 33-year-old former registered nurse from Glossop in Derbyshire, has been living in a camping tent on a public grass verge after High Peak Borough Council determined she is not in "priority need" for emergency housing. Hill, who has a documented history of severe and fluctuating mental health problems including borderline personality disorder, approached the council for support after becoming homeless. According to reports, she was provided with a tent and food

In recent years, the debate over mobile phones in schools has intensified across the UK, particularly in England. Concerns about distraction, bullying, mental health impacts, and declining attention spans have driven a strong push toward stricter policies. The UK government has responded with clear guidance and, more recently, moves toward making bans legally enforceable. Government Guidance and Policy Shift for a phone free school In 2024, the Department for Education (DfE)

A major rail incident occurred on Friday evening, June 19, 2026, when two passenger trains operated by East Midlands Railway collided south of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England, near the Elstow interchange (roughly a couple of miles south of Bedford, north of London). What Happened One train (a Corby-to-London service) struck the rear of a stationary Nottingham-to-London train that had stopped due to a technical fault. The collision involved a Class 360 and a newer Class 810 e