UK News and Discussions

[weatheriscool]

[wjfox]

[firestar464]

Wikimedia Foundation brings legal challenge to new UK Online Safety Act requirements

https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/05/08/w ... uirements/

[firestar464]

Ousted Myanmar Envoy to UK Charged With Trespass in London Residence Row

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/ou ... e-row.html

wtf

[weatheriscool]

[wjfox]

UK to conclude Chagos Islands deal after court lifts last-minute injunction

Thu 22 May 2025 12.58 BST

The UK government is due to conclude its deal to cede sovereignty over the Chagos Islands after an eleventh-hour high court injunction was lifted.

Ministers are preparing to finalise the agreement to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after they were blocked from doing so for several hours by a court ruling in the early hours of Thursday.

A government spokesperson welcomed the decision to discharge the injunction and said the handover was “vital to protect the British people and our national security”.

Under the deal, Britain will cede control over the islands to Mauritius but lease Diego Garcia for 99 years to continue operating a joint US-UK military base there. Ministers have argued that the agreement provides the legal certainty for the continued operation of the base.

John Healey, the defence secretary, is expected to make a statement in the Commons about the future of the base on Thursday afternoon.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/ ... lands-deal

[weatheriscool]

[firestar464]

More on that by The Times:

https://archive.ph/OgcDO

[wjfox]

I used to be somewhat against raising the military budget, but unfortunately, I support it now.

The fact is, we're entering a more dangerous and unpredictable era. The UK needs to do its part to defend the free world.

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Healey expects UK to spend 3% of GDP on defence by 2034

31 May 2025, 02:03 BST

There is "no doubt" that UK defence spending will rise to 3% of GDP by 2034 at the latest, Defence Secretary John Healey has said.

In February, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer set out plans to increase defence spending to 2.5% by April 2027, with a "clear ambition" to reach 3% by 2034, economic conditions allowing.

A government source told BBC News the defence secretary had "full confidence" that ambition will be reached in the next parliament.

The government will unveil its major strategic defence review on Monday, which will outline its priorities for military and security spending in the coming years.

It is understood that the defence review is based on the assumption that the 3% target is the trajectory spending will follow.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2kq9qxde3go

[wjfox]

UK to build up to 12 new attack submarines

1 June 2025

The UK will build "up to" 12 new attack submarines, the prime minister will announce, as the government unveils its major defence review on Monday.

The new conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines will replace the seven-strong Astute class from the late 2030s onwards.

The review is expected to recommend the armed forces move to "warfighting readiness" to deter growing threats faced by the UK.

The prime minister is also expected to confirm the UK will spend £15bn on its nuclear warhead programme.

Sir Keir will say that, alongside the UK's nuclear-armed submarines, the new vessels would keep "Britain and Nato safe for decades".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g2jr1m49no



An illustration of what an SSN-AUKUS submarine will look like. Credit: PA Media

[wjfox]

[firestar464]

The Times- Spectre of Nigel Farage at No 10 fuels support for independence

https://archive.ph/jAYv9

[wjfox]

Spending Review to include £86bn science and tech package

1 hour ago

An £86bn package for the science and technology sector will help fund research into drug treatments and longer-lasting batteries, the government has said ahead of Wednesday's Spending Review.

The package also includes up to £500m for regions across the UK with local leaders having a say on how it is spent, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves, whose review will outline day-to-day departmental and investment budgets over the next few years, said investing in the sector would create jobs and boost security.

But research backers have warned that the government needs to do more to secure the UK's reputation for science on the world stage.

Reeves will set out departmental spending plans on Wednesday, with the package for science and technology expected to be worth more than £22.5 billion-a-year by 2029.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn7zngr6jn5o

[weatheriscool]

All civil servants in England and Wales to get AI training

Source: Guardian

All civil servants in England and Wales will get practical training in how to use artificial intelligence to speed up their work from this autumn, the Guardian has learned.

More than 400,000 civil servants will be informed of the training on Monday afternoon, which is part of a drive by the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden, to overhaul the civil service and improve its productivity.

At the same time, the size of the civil service is being reduced by tens of thousands of roles through voluntary redundancy and not replacing leavers. The government said officials would be tasked with figuring how they could use AI technology to streamline their own work wherever possible.

Officials are already piloting a package of AI tools called Humphrey – named after the senior civil servant Sir Humphrey Appleby from the 1980s TV sitcom Yes, Minister.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... i-training

[wjfox]

[firestar464]

[firestar464]

[firestar464]

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

Labor needs to do everything in its power to regain the trust of the people of the Uk or you're going to have a reform government in 4 years. Also I really don't see any recovery for labor in the past couple of months in those polls.



WTF did he do to get destroyed in the views of the public?