2 h. ago Britain’s MI6 spy agency promotes ‘Q’ to be first female head 

Appointment of Blaise Metreweli comes as agents grapple with competing threats

Politics

35 h. ago Women Scotland group mulls more legal action after UK supreme court gender ruling

Campaigners say they have spoken to Scottish government about lack of action on prisons and schools guidance amid focus on toiletsFor Women Scotland, the group responsible for April’s landmark supreme court ruling on biological sex, is considering further legal action against the Scottish government as they warned the key motivation for bringing the case was being lost amid debates about policy on toilets.At a fringe event at the Scottish Conservative conference in Edinburgh, the gender critical campaign group’s co-director Susan Smith said there had been “extraordinary pushback” since five judges ruled unanimously that the legal definition of a woman in the Equality Act 2010 did not include transgender women who hold gender recognition certificates. Continue reading...

Events

53 h. ago Mossad video shows covert Israeli agents launching missiles from inside Iran

Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, has released footage allegedly showing Israeli covert agents inside Iran deploying missiles as part of an overnight strike against Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Events

55 h. ago Jail bosses investigate video showing 'prison governor walking out of city centre brothel'

EXCLUSIVE: Footage shows a man dressed in a grey suit and a white shirt walking out of a door between two shuttered shopfronts in Sheffield.

Events

58 h. ago UK government admits being ‘too slow’ to spot US mistreatment of prisoners after 9/11

Court admission comes in trial over claims British agents were complicit in CIA torture operationsThe UK government has admitted its intelligence agencies were “too slow” to realise the CIA was mistreating prisoners in its post-9/11 torture programme, acknowledging in court for the first time involvement in US detention operations.The admission was made during a trial that concluded on Friday at the investigatory powers tribunal, which has been investigating claims that British intelligence was complicit in the mistreatment of two men who were repeatedly tortured by the CIA in the early 2000s. Continue reading...

Events

58 h. ago UK spy agencies too slow to realise CIA was mistreating prisoners after 9/11, government admits

Government acknowledges UK involvement in detention operations for first time in Guantánamo inmates caseThe UK government has admitted its intelligence agencies were “too slow” to realise the CIA was mistreating prisoners in its post-9/11 torture programme, acknowledging in court for the first time British involvement in the US agency’s notorious detention operations.The admission was made during a trial that concluded on Friday at the investigatory powers tribunal, which has been investigating claims that British intelligence was complicit in the mistreatment of two men who were repeatedly tortured by the CIA in the early 2000s. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Germany’s main opposition party harbouring 20,000 extremists, says spy agency

The number of identified extremists within the AfD surged 77 per cent in 2024

Politics

6 d. ago Claims that UK spy agencies aided CIA torture after 9/11 to be heard in rare trial

Cases filed by two Guantánamo Bay prisoners allege MI5 and MI6 were complicit in their mistreatmentThe UK government’s decades-long efforts to keep details of its intelligence agencies’ involvement in the CIA’s notorious post-9/11 torture programme hidden will face an “unprecedented” challenge this week as two cases are brought before a secretive court.The cases, filed by two prisoners held at the US military prison at Guantánamo Bay, will be heard across a rare four-day trial at the investigatory powers tribunal (IPT), which has been investigating claims the UK’s intelligence agencies were complicit in their mistreatment. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Shocking moment 'controlling' boyfriend hurls abuse at sobbing girlfriend in doorbell footage as brute who monitored victim's TikTok is recalled to prison

'Controlling' Matthew Kowal, 34, was released early from prison under a government scheme to ease overcrowding, but was recalled within two months for breaching a no-contact order.

Events

1 week ago Former Charles Manson cult member recommended for parole after governor blocked her release from prison two years ago

Patricia Krenwinkel, 77, is serving multiple life sentences for role in the brutal killings of seven people during the ‘Manson Family’ murder spree in 1969

Events

2 w. ago Brits planning holidays in Egypt warned of 'real risk' of travelling to 'vindictive police state' by ambassador after UK citizen was locked up in hellhole prison

Alaa Abd-El Fattah, a vocal critic of the Egyptian government, was sentenced to five years in prison in 2019, but still has not been released

Events

2 w. ago Met Police chief Mark Rowley issues stark warning over government plan to let out prisoners early

Sir Mark Rowley said his force spent huge resources yesterday hunting for 'machete attack' teenager released on bail in London

Events

2 w. ago UK politics live: minister defends Labour’s justice record after warnings of threat to public safety

Housing minister says previous government left prison system in state of ‘criminal neglect’ amid warnings over early release plan The government is seeking to give a boost to smaller developers with faster planning decisions and financial backing to speed up building new homes.It will set out the detail of proposals to cut red tape and for planning decisions to be shifted away from councillors and towards expert officers as part of efforts to meet Labour’s pledge to build 1.5m homes by 2029-30.We’ve inherited, as you know, a housing system that’s not building enough homes part of the reason it is broken is that we’re overly reliant on a small number of large volume housebuilders. So we’ve got to diversify the housing market and get smaller housebuilders back in the game.In the 1980s they used to produce about 40% of all homes. Today it’s less than 10%, and so the package we’re announcing today allocating land specifically to SME housebuilders, providing them with more financial supp...

Events

3 w. ago Watch: Justice secretary update on prisons review as chemical castration considered for sex offenders

The justice secretary has said that many sentencing reforms aimed at easing prison overcrowding have been accepted by the government, including chemical castration for sex offenders.

Events

3 w. ago Paedophiles to be 'castrated' in Government's new prison plan that could be mandatory

Sex offenders could be forced to undergo chemical castration in a bid to curb their sexual urges and prevent reoffending, under plans being considered by ministers

Events

3 w. ago Legal bid over plans to use pepper spray in young offender institutions

Charity Howard League for Penal Reform has sent a letter before claim to Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood urging her to withdraw the decision.

Politics

3 w. ago Moment 'bubbly' prison governor arrested in flat after affair with drug lord unearthed

Kerri Pegg was confronted by cops at her flat in Orrell, near Wigan, where they found a tooth brush and Hugo Boss flip flops with the DNA of her crime boss lover

Events

4 w. ago ‘It’s a scandal’: Fury as inmates trapped on indefinite jail terms excluded from scheme to free up prison space

Exclusive: Seven in 10 recalled IPP prisoners have committed no further crime but are held for more than two years on average. Releasing them would free up a prison, but they have been left out of the government’s scheme to reduce the recall population

Events

4 w. ago Rose West's bizarre reaction when told serial killer husband Fred had died

A former prison governor has shared her belief that Rose West had immediately planned to pin hers and her husband's murders solely on Fred West when she was informed of his death

Events

4 w. ago ‘It’s a scandal’: Fury as prisoners trapped on indefinite jail terms excluded from scheme to free up jail space

Exclusive: Seven in ten recalled IPP prisoners have committed no further crime but are held for more than two years on average. Releasing them would free up a prison, but they have been left out of the government’s scheme to reduce the recall population

Events