News 27/01/26

Great Western Railway has apologised for disruption caused during Storm Chandra.

The operator says a large sink hole has appeared between Dawlish and Teignmouth, which must be filled. The line between Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbott will be closed from 7pm tomorrow until 7am on Thursday to allow work to take place. GWR has confirmed that services on other routes have also been cancelled, with passengers urged to check before travelling.

The UK has returned 281 migrants to France so far under its one in, one out agreement, the home secretary has said.

Shabana Mahmood told LBC that 350 people had arrived in the UK from France through the pilot scheme’s approved route. The Home Office said an “operational complication on the French side” prevented a flight carrying migrants from leaving the UK. It added that subsequent flights would restore balance in the numbers.

Former Labour MP Conor McGinn has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman.

The Crown Prosecution Service said the allegation dates back to July 2022. McGinn, 41, represented St Helens North from 2015 until 2024 and sat as an independent after his suspension from Labour in December 2022. He later announced he would not seek re-election. McGinn, now living in Lambeth, south London, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 27 February.

A 14-year-old boy has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving after a crash involving the e-scooter he was riding and a car in Wythenshawe last March.

Greater Manchester Police said he is also charged with causing death by driving unlicensed and uninsured. The boy cannot be named for legal reasons and has been released on bail to appear at Manchester Youth Court on 24 February.

Nearly six hundred jobs have been lost after the owner of Revolution bars went into administration.

The Revel Collective said it had formally appointed FTI Consulting after filing notice of its intention to appoint administrators. It confirmed that fourteen Revolution bars, six Revolucion de Cuba venues and one Peach Pub are closing with immediate effect, resulting in the loss of five hundred and ninety one jobs across the business.

The chief federal judge in Minnesota says the Trump administration has failed to comply with court orders to hold hearings for detained immigrants.

Chief Judge Patrick J Schiltz has ordered the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to appear before him on Friday. He said Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, must attend court in person to explain why he should not be held in contempt over the handling of bond hearings.

Pubs and music venues in England will receive a fifteen percent discount on business rates from April and will not see increases for two years, the government has announced.

Treasury Minister Dan Tomlinson said the three year package is worth one thousand six hundred and fifty pounds for the average pub. UK Hospitality warned hotels and restaurants also face risk and wants the support widened.

A Slough rapist who supplied his victim with alcohol has been jailed for ten years.

Andrew Collins was sentenced at Reading Crown Court after being found guilty by a unanimous jury of one count of rape. The thirty five year old received an extended sentence of thirteen years, including ten years in custody and three years on licence. The court heard he followed the victim through Slough Town Centre on November twelfth twenty twenty four.

The Environment Agency says the last twenty four hours have been challenging as Storm Chandra affects the UK.

It says around fifty to seventy millimetres of rain has fallen in parts of the South West. Officials say most flood warnings should gradually be removed as rainfall eases and conditions improve.

The BBC is exploring ways to use iPlayer data to identify households that have not paid for a TV licence, according to Money.

Online BBC accounts could be linked with home addresses for the first time, helping to trace people believed to be avoiding payment. Any household that watches or records live television on any channel, or uses BBC iPlayer, must hold a TV licence costing one hundred and seventy four pounds fifty a year. The BBC says it has a duty to collect the licence fee and sends targeted letters or emails to people it believes should be paying.

Ground rents for leaseholders are set to be capped at two hundred and fifty pounds a year, before falling to a peppercorn after forty years, under government plans.

A peppercorn is a nominal amount, effectively meaning nothing. The changes will come into force from twenty twenty eight. New leasehold flats will be banned, while existing leaseholders will gain the right to switch to commonhold.

Around fifty Labour MPs have signed a letter opposing the decision to block Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham from standing in a parliamentary by election, BBC News understands.

They warned Sir Keir Starmer the move is a gift to Reform UK, with polling suggesting Burnham could be Labour’s chance of winning the Gorton and Denton seat. Sir Keir defended it.

The border commander who became the public face of the Trump administration’s ICE operation in Minneapolis is leaving his role.

A senior White House official said Gregory Bovino will return to a previous local position in El Centro, California. The move follows reports that some immigration enforcement agents are also set to leave the city on Tuesday. Protesters gathered outside the hotel where Bovino was reported to be staying, facing off with federal officers.

The number of people living in very deep poverty in the UK is at its highest level in more than thirty years, according to a charity.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation says figures up to the end of the twenty twenty three twenty four financial year show around fourteen point two million people are living in poverty. While that is a slight fall on last year, the charity warns poverty is deepening, with six point eight million people classed as living in very deep poverty.

A large UK study suggests the menopause is linked to changes in the brain similar to those seen in Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers say loss of grey matter in areas linked to memory and emotion may help explain why women are at greater risk of dementia. The findings are based on nearly one hundred and twenty five thousand women, including eleven thousand who had MRI brain scans. The study found hormone replacement therapy did not appear to prevent the grey matter loss.

Northern Ireland will become the first part of the UK to introduce graduated driver licensing in an effort to reduce fatal crashes involving young people.

The reforms, described as the most significant changes in seventy years, will be introduced in October and apply to seventeen to twenty three year olds. Measures include a six month wait before taking a practical test, along with restrictions on night time driving and passenger numbers.