3 h. ago JASON GROVES: As Starmer visits China, how when Theresa May was in Beijing she was told to get dressed under the bed covers so local spies couldn't film her naked

When he sits down with Xi Jinping in Beijing's Great Hall of the People this week, Sir Keir will be the first British prime minister to visit China since Theresa May exactly eight years ago.

Culture

3 d. ago UK's saddest towns named – with the home of iconic TV character taking top spot

The British Gas study found nearly six in 10 people are craving sunlight and warmth, with four in 10 admitting they feel more depressed in January than any other month

Politics

3 d. ago British crown was world’s largest buyer of enslaved people by 1807, book reveals

Exclusive: Author of The Crown’s Silence tells how navy and monarchy protected slave trade for hundreds of yearsThe British crown and the navy expanded and protected the trade in enslaved African people for hundreds of years, unprecedented research into the monarchy’s historical ties to slavery has found.The Crown’s Silence, a book by the historian Brooke Newman, follows the Guardian’s 2023 Cost of the crown report, which explored the British monarchy’s hidden ties to transatlantic slavery. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Could a president deploy wartime law against the Beatles? Trump administration says “Yes”

The Trump administration is arguing the government could detain and deport British people under an 18th century wartime act if a president found there was a “British invasion” corrupting young Americans

Politics

4 d. ago Manchester named one of UK's 'saddest' cities as 21% say they're depressed

New research shows 57% of British people are craving more sunlight and warmth, with 42% saying they feel more depressed in January than any other month

Politics

4 d. ago What is the UK Government's Warm Homes Plan and will it bring down my bills?

The UK Government has called the programme “the biggest homes upgrade plan in British history” and said it will lower people’s energy bills.

Politics

5 d. ago 'Serious' ID law is catching British people out when visiting European country

People are urged to brush up on the rules and regulations for the country they're going to before heading to the airport

Politics

5 d. ago The pub that changed me: ‘I was snowed in there for four days’

We had a mass snowball fight and a disco, and I slept in a room full of drunk men with wet socks. It was fun, but in future snowstorms I won’t be rushing to the pubIn all my years of reporting, nothing seems to fascinate people more than the four days I spent snowed in at Britain’s highest pub last year. It was early January and the Met Office had issued severe warnings for snow. It dawned on me that people were about to live out a British fantasy of being snowed in at their local pub. I knew where I needed to be: The Tan Hill Inn, high up in the wilderness on the very northern edge of the Yorkshire Dales national park. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Why are British people so obsessed with bins? | Polly Hudson

Our nation’s fascination with rubbish knows no bounds – as was proved by one recent online debateEven if you’ve never been anywhere near it, the Mumsnet message board is legendary. Since it launched in 2000, it has changed the vernacular – “am I being unreasonable?” is not just a question, it’s a shorthand for the type of person who asks it – and introduced us to the penis beaker (one maverick husband’s postcoital hygiene regime, made infamous). It’s a screenshot of society, a cultural thermometer; if it’s happening on Mumsnet, it’s big news. And one of the most popular recent threads is about bins.The post that kicked it off was written by a woman who lived opposite an empty house where tenants had moved out. The landlord popped round late at night to drag the bins out for collection, and the next morning, at 6.45am, she could hear the lorry approaching. The coast was clear, and she still had a backlog of rubbish from Christmas. Deciding it was a victimless crime, she slipped one o...

Politics

5 d. ago So a cow can use a stick to scratch its backside. When will we learn that humans are really not that special? | Helen Pilcher

Veronika’s improvised grooming device has caused great surprise – but that tells us more about humans than cowsI have a farmer friend who regularly regales me with colourful stories of her cattle. Take the time when a beef cow called Noisette used her tongue to pull back the catch on the door of her pen so she could steal cattle nuts from the nearby feed bin. Or the time when she did it again, not to let herself out, but seemingly to stand back and watch as her freed compatriots “mooched around and caused mayhem.”Where others see a herd of cows standing around looking bored, my friend sees a soap opera, with characters and plot twists. Cows, she tells me, learn quickly, bore easily and have an indefatigable penchant for mischief.Helen Pilcher is a science writer and the author of Bring Back the King: The New Science of De-Extinction Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago AI translations of British Sign Language 'risks new barriers' for deaf people

Charities and MPs raised concerns about the use of AI to translate BSL, with Labour MP Jen Craft explaining deaf people were being brought in to road test the AI too late

Events

9 d. ago Downfall of huge drug cartel as coke kingpin is caught trying to flee UK in taxi

A total of 15 people have been sentenced for their involvement in a British drug gang after its leader and his right-hand-man were caught trying to flee in a taxi

Events

9 d. ago 'Welsh Labour's spectacular collapse like watching a drunk person stumbling to the floor in clumsy, uncoordinated stages'

'The Vaughan Gething saga was not the cause of Labour’s current malaise; instead, it exposed the fragility of a tired, fractious party that had had no break from governing. Welsh Labour has been wily in plastering over a worsening civil war between MPs and MSs (or, put another way, between those who resent devolution and those who support it).'

Politics

1 week ago UK town with 'friendliest people on Earth' where visitors arrive 'by the coach

Visitors stop by for breakfast, banter and the large market.

Politics

2 w. ago British talent fuels rise in value of home entertainment market

Streaming remains the audience’s top choice for watching at home but figures show that Blu-ray and DVDs are still the first choice for many customers.

Politics

2 w. ago Commuters have misheard the transport police's 'See it, Say it' slogan for years

The British Transport Police came up with a catchy slogan to encourage people to report suspicious activity while travelling by train – but many have been mishearing it for years

Events

2 w. ago Government urged to make nutrition labels on front of food packaging mandatory

Which? called on the Government to make the change amid what it described as an ‘obesity crisis’.

Politics

2 w. ago Two British Airways passengers break their ANKLES during horror turbulence on plane from LA to Heathrow

TWO people on a British Airways flight from London to Los Angeles suffered broken ankles after turbulence mid-flight. The shocking incident occurred just 20 minutes after the seat belt signs were switched off. Breaking News... More to Follow

Society

2 w. ago British Airways flight sees 2 people suffer broken ankles after plane hit by turbulence

A report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has revealed that two people on the same British Airways flight have both suffered broken ankles during turbulence

Events

2 w. ago 'I'm an American in the UK – British people are crazy over 1 confusing word'

Russell Valentin has been trying out all the different names Brits have for a 'bread roll' and has admitted that while being British 'is fun', it's also very confusing at times

Politics