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[1/5] Britain's King Charles speaks to guests during a reception for overseas guests attending his coronation at Buckingham Palace in London, Britain, May 5, 2023. It will be the largest show of its kind in Britain since the coronation of Charles' mother. Once at the abbey, much of the ceremony will feature elements that Charles' forebears right back to King Edgar in 973 would recognise, officials said. Handel’s coronation anthem "Zadok The Priest" will be sung as it has at every coronation since 1727. After returning to Buckingham Palace, the royals will make a traditional appearance on the balcony, with a fly-past by military aircraft.

During a historic and solemn two-hour service, which dates back to the time of King William the Conqueror in 1066, Charles' second wife Camilla was also crowned queen. Charles, 74, automatically succeeded his mother as king on her death last September. GREAT AND GOOD[1/20] Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla wave on the Buckingham Palace balcony following their coronation ceremony in London, Britain May 6, 2023. Much of the ceremony featured elements that Charles' forebears right back to King Edgar in 973 would recognise, officials said. Not everyone who came to watch was there to cheer Charles, with hundreds of republicans booing and waving banners reading "Not My King".

[1/2] A view of a polling station sign at Barley Town House, which is acting as a polling station for local elections in Royston, Britain, May 4, 2023. REUTERS/Peter CziborraLONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - Voters in England will cast their ballots in local elections on Thursday in the first major electoral test for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak following a year when the governing Conservatives have suffered a cascade of scandals, strikes and economic chaos. But his party is still forecast to suffer heavy losses when the results are announced on Friday. "But if (Labour) want to be on course to win the next election, they should be hoping to get a lead in national vote share of 10 points or so." This will be the first set of elections in England where voters will be required to show a form of photographic identification to vote.

☆ Charles' coronation seized on by republicans as chance to ditch monarchy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Andrew Macaskill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

They believe Charles' accession to the throne presents their best chance of ending the monarchy, which traces its history back more than 1,000 years. Anti-monarchy protests are relatively small, and polls show the majority of Britons still want a royal family. Charles wants a slimmed-down monarchy which would be less expensive to run and his mother said the royal family only existed with the support of the people. Demonstrations against the monarchy are also planned in the capitals of Scotland and Wales on the day of the coronation. "Younger people are moving away from the royal family in their droves," he said.

in order to cast their ballot when polling stations open in local elections next week, sparking concern that some parts of the electorate will in effect be disenfranchised by the change. Large parts of England vote in local council elections on May 4, and a national election is expected next year. In Northern Ireland and many countries in Europe, the need to produce photo ID is established and not unusual. But rapid adoption of this new system in England leaves campaigners fearing that voters will be caught out by the change. "There's a lot of risk in doing what is essentially the biggest change to our elections for a generation," she said.

☆ UK parliament's standards watchdog expands PM Sunak investigation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - The British parliament's standards commissioner has expanded his investigation into Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, according to the latest list of open inquiries published on the parliament website on Monday. The investigation, over whether Sunak properly declared his wife's shareholding in a childcare company which stands to benefit from new government policy, was first opened on April 13. The commissioner is responsible for the House of Commons code of conduct and investigates any alleged breaches. At the time the investigation was made public, the prime minister's spokesperson confirmed it was linked to the childcare firm and said Sunak's wife's shareholding in Koru Kids had been transparently declared. "I am not going to speculate on what the commissioner is or isn't looking into," Sunak's spokesman said on Monday when asked about the extension to the investigation.

☆ UK military have evacuated diplomatic staff from Sudan, Sunak says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Sunday the country's armed forces evacuated diplomatic staff and their family members from Sudan. Sunak paid tribute to what he called a "complex and rapid" evacuation after he said there had been a significant escalation in violence and threats to embassy staff. But British nationals living in Sudan were not rescued. "We are continuing to pursue every avenue to end the bloodshed in Sudan and ensure the safety of British nationals remaining in the country." The foreign minister James Cleverly said a top priority remained the safety of British nationals.

☆ UK's Sunak launches charm offensive on business leaders
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Andrew Macaskill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sunak has made reviving the economy one of his five key priorities, after Britain's gross domestic product only regained its pre-pandemic size in February. Sunak, a former investment banker, along with finance minister Jeremy Hunt and business minister Kemi Badenoch will speak at a series of events on Monday to more than 200 executives representing sectors including technology and manufacturing. "We are bringing together some of the UK's biggest companies and investors for meaningful dialogue – and I'm a prime minister passionate about working with business to unlock opportunity and progress," Sunak said in a statement. In what his office called his first ever LinkedIn Live event, business leaders will on Monday morning also have the opportunity to ask Sunak questions about business policy. The prime minister will unveil an innovation category at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards on Monday evening, hosted by the finance minister at Downing Street.

☆ UK's Labour suspends Diane Abbott for saying Jews experience prejudice, not racism
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Andrew Macaskill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The equalities watchdog found in 2020 Labour had serious failings in the party’s handling of persistent antisemitism complaints. Abbott, 69, was responding to a writer's claims that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people suffered racism. This is similar to racism and the two words are often used as if they are interchangeable," she wrote. A spokesperson for Labour party said she had been suspended pending an investigation. Britain's equalities watchdog said earlier this year the Labour Party had made sufficient changes over the last two years to tackle antisemitism.

Sunak spent much of Thursday considering the findings of the independent investigation into claims against Dominic Raab, his most senior minister and ally. A spokesman for Sunak said the prime minister had received the report and was "considering the findings". One government official later said the report would not be published on Thursday as the prime wanted to go through the report thoroughly. The investigation was asked to establish the facts, but not to form a conclusion about whether Raab was guilty of bullying. The ultimate arbiter will be the prime minister, who will decide whether Raab has broken the ministerial code, which states ministers should treat officials with respect.

☆ UK PM Sunak considers bullying report into his deputy Raab
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 20 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has received an independent report into allegations of bullying against Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab and is considering his response, Sunak's spokesperson said on Thursday. "The prime minister has received the report from Adam Tolley the independent investigator. He is considering those findings," Sunak's spokesperson said. The spokesperson said that Sunak wished to publish his response as soon as possible, but did not say if that would be on Thursday. Raab, who is also justice minister, has said he was confident he had behaved professionally throughout, while Sunak initially defended his deputy when the reports surfaced, saying he did not recognise allegations that Raab had bullied staff.

☆ Police Scotland say man arrested as part of investigation into SNP funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, April 5 (Reuters) - Police Scotland said on Wednesday a 58-year-old man had been arrested as part of investigation into Scottish National Party's funding and the BBC reported the man was the husband of the former Scotland leader Nicola Sturgeon. The BBC said Peter Murrell, 58, was taken into police custody on Wednesday morning. The police investigation is looking at what happened to more than 600,000 pounds ($748,920) raised by Scottish independence campaigners in 2017, which was supposed to have been ring-fenced for spending on that issue but was missing from party's filed accounts. The SNP did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ($1 = 0.8012 pounds)Reporting by Andrew MacAskill, editing by Michael HoldenOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK considering new definition of sex in equality laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) - Britain is considering plans to create a distinction in equality laws between a person who was born a particular sex and someone who has transitioned to become that sex. Britain's minister for women and equalities, Kemi Badenoch, wrote to the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the equalities watchdog, to say she wanted her to consider the "benefits or otherwise" of changing the legal definition of sex. "Among these is the consideration about whether the definition of 'sex' is sufficiently clear and strikes the appropriate balance of interests between different protected characteristics," Badenoch wrote. The move comes after Britain's government earlier this year blocked gender reform laws passed by Scotland's devolved parliament. She also said further consideration of human rights implications would be needed.

☆ Humza Yousaf sworn in as Scotland's leader as bid for unity falters
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Andrew Macaskill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Newly elected leader of the Scottish National Party, Humza Yousaf (centre), signs the nomination form to become First Minister for Scotland, with his proposer Shona Robison and seconder Neil Gray, at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. MSPs will vote on Mr Yousaf's nomination to be Scotland's sixth First Minister later today. Yousaf had been expected to offer his leadership rival, whom he only defeated by only about 2,000 votes, a more senior role. During his leadership campaign, Yousaf had said he would depart from Sturgeon's "inner circle" style of leadership in favour of a "big tent" approach. Yousaf said on Tuesday that Shona Robison - a close friend of Sturgeon - will serve as his deputy first minister.

☆ UK Labour bars ex-leader Corbyn from standing as its candidate at next election
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Former British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks at the House of Commons in London, Britain, November 16, 2022. A Labour spokesperson said the party's governing body - the National Executive Committee - approved a motion proposed by Starmer not to endorse his predecessor as a candidate at the next election. His party membership was later reinstated but Starmer refused to allow him to join the parliamentary Labour Party and he currently sits as an independent lawmaker. Momentum, a group set up to support Corbyn, described the decision to bar him as a candidate as "a dark day for democracy". On Monday, Corbyn said Starmer had broken his commitment to respect the rights of Labour members and denigrated the party's democratic foundations.

☆ Scotland's next leader to be announced with independence movement in crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Andrew Macaskill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] Scotland's Health Minister Humza Yousaf and Scotland's Finance Minister Kate Forbes, contenders to become the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and Scotland's First Minister, attend the SNP leadership hustings, in Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain, March 12, 2023. REUTERS/Craig Brough/PoolLONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - The next leader of Scotland will be announced on Monday with the victor facing the challenge of uniting a country divided over its future and revitalising an independence movement that dreams of ending its three-centuries-long union with England. The Scottish National Party (SNP), which runs Scotland's semi-autonomous government, has been plunged into crisis since Nicola Sturgeon, the country's longest-serving leader, announced last month she was standing down after eight years, saying she had become too divisive to lead the nation to independence. Britain's vote to leave the European Union two years later when a majority of Scots wanted to stay, and Scotland's handling of the coronavirus pandemic brought new support for independence. However, an opinion poll showed the backing for independence dropped to 39% this month after touching a record 58% in 2020.

☆ Ex-UK PM Boris Johnson fights for career in testimony on lockdown parties
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, March 22 (Reuters) - Britain's former Prime Minister Boris Johnson will face hours of hostile questioning on Wednesday about whether he misled parliament over rule-breaking COVID-19 lockdown parties at a hearing where he will be fighting for his political career. Parliament's Committee of Privileges is investigating whether Johnson, who was ousted from Downing Street in September, intentionally or recklessly misled parliament in a series of statements about the rule-breaking parties. If the committee finds Johnson intentionally misled parliament then he could be suspended from the House of Commons, the lower house of parliament. The outcry and repeated allegations of lying eventually prompted the resignations of much of his top team of government ministers, including the current prime minister, Rishi Sunak. The committee said Johnson had submitted his evidence late, that it had contained errors and no "new documentary evidence".

☆ UK overhauls childcare, pensions and welfare to get people working
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) - British finance minister Jeremy Hunt on Wednesday expanded access to childcare and announced an overhaul of the welfare system under measures aimed at alleviating a tight labour market that has hampered the outlook for growth. In what he described as "the biggest change to our welfare system in a decade," Hunt said disabled benefit claimants would be able to seek work without losing financial support. "Today, I bring forward reforms to remove the barriers that stop people who want to from working," Hunt told parliament. Hunt said working parents with children over nine months old would be entitled to 30 hours of free childcare a week by Sept. 2025, expanding the existing scheme for three- and four-year-olds. The government said that in 2025, the cost of providing extra childcare for parents would be 4.5 billion pounds and reducing the taxes on high earners' pensions would cost more than 1 billion pounds.

☆ UK abolishes tax threshold on pension allowance to encourage people to work longer
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Machinist Yasemin Mehmet, aged 68, poses for a photograph on the factory floor of Fashion-Enter Ltd in London, Britain, February 15, 2023. The capped amount of money that can put in their pensions in one year without paying tax will also rise to 60,000 pounds from 40,000 pounds, he said. The move is designed to stop people, particularly doctors and other professionals, quitting the workforce or reducing the hours they work when their pensions surpass the tax thresholds. "I do not want any doctor to retire early because of the way pension taxes work," Hunt said. ($1 = 0.8279 pounds)Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; editing by William JamesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

WASHINGTON/SINGAPORE, March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities launched emergency measures on Sunday to shore up confidence in the banking system after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O) threatened to trigger a broader financial crisis. Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a mainstay for the startup economy, was a product of the decades-long era of cheap money, with unique risks that made it especially vulnerable. With the Fed poised to continue raising interest rates, investors said the financial system may not be fully out of the woods just yet. Goldman Sachs' analysts said they no longer expect it to raise rates at that meeting, amid the stress in the banking sector. A senior U.S. Treasury official said the actions taken would protect depositors, while providing additional support to the broader banking system, but officials and regulators were continuing to monitor financial system stability.

Two lawmakers with knowledge of the exports and two former officials said the approvals reflected Britain’s increased willingness to support Taiwan. One of the lawmakers, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said authorising the export licences amounted to giving a "green light" to better equip Taiwan. It shows the government authorised 25 export licences to Taiwan during the first nine months of 2022 under the categories "components for submarines" and "technology for submarines." Taiwan has for decades been unable to buy conventional submarines from other countries because of their concerns of angering China. Asked about the decision to approve the increase in export licences, the official said: "You just don't do something like this without thinking through the implications very carefully."

[1/2] A notice hangs on the door of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) located in San Francisco, California, U.S. March 10, 2023. "Silicon Valley Bank cannot be allowed to fail given the vital community it serves," Bank of London co-founder and CEO Anthony Watson said. But an executive at a major UK bank said it was unlikely a high street lender would buy SVB UK because its credit products would not be a good fit for a mainstream bank. EXISTENTIAL THREATMore than 250 UK tech firm executives signed a letter addressed to Hunt on Saturday calling for government intervention and warned of an "existential threat" to the UK tech sector, a copy seen by Reuters shows. Sunak has said he wants to turn Britain into the "next Silicon Valley".

☆ UK races to minimise SVB fallout amid reports of potential buyers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Andrew Macaskill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] A notice hangs on the door of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) located in San Francisco, California, U.S. March 10, 2023. SoftBank-owned lender OakNorth Bank is weighing a bid to buy Silicon Valley Bank UK Ltd, a person with knowledge of the talks told Reuters, confirming a Sky News report. EXISTENTIAL THREATMore than 250 UK tech firm executives signed a letter addressed to Hunt on Saturday calling for government intervention and warned of an "existential threat" to the UK tech sector, a copy seen by Reuters shows. Hunt reiterated comments by the BoE that overall, Silicon Valley Bank had a limited presence in Britain and did not perform functions critical to the financial system. Sunak has said he wants to turn Britain into the "next Silicon Valley".

As part of the new deal, Britain will help fund a detention centre in France while Paris will deploy more French personnel and enhanced technology to patrol its beaches. Officers from both countries will also look to work with countries along the routes favoured by people traffickers. The funding package will be paid in instalments, with Britain paying 125 million pounds in 2023-24. Britain said France would contribute significantly more. Later this month, King Charles will also travel to France on his first state visit as monarch.

☆ Britain denies plan to expel asylum seekers breaks law
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Andrew Macaskill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"We are confident that we are complying with the law, domestic and international," she told the BBC. Under the government's plans, almost all asylum seekers who reach Britain in small boats will be detained without bail before they are deported to their home country or, if this is not safe, another destination such as Rwanda. They will also lose the right to challenge their deportation while in Britain, and once deported will be automatically banned from returning. Last year, a record 45,000 people came to Britain in small boats across the Channel, mainly from France. If everyone who arrived in small boats last year were detained, this would be equal to about half of Britain's total prison population.

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