News 02/07/26

Andy Burnham has stated he has not yet chosen his chancellor, amid speculation regarding his potential cabinet if he runs unopposed in the Labour leadership contest.

Speaking to LBC, the prime minister-in-waiting expressed frustration over Westminster’s focus on personalities rather than policy and direction. He insisted he is deliberately focusing on setting out a new direction for the country, which he outlined on Monday.

England have reached Sunday’s T20 World Cup final against Australia after a superb forty-run victory over South Africa at The Oval.

Coach Charlotte Edwards saw her team overcome early struggles at twenty-three for three. Returning from a calf injury, captain Nat Sciver-Brunt hit seventy-five runs, sharing a partnership of one hundred and thirty-three with Heather Knight, who made fifty-eight.

At least eight people have been arrested in the United Kingdom following investigations into online networks encouraging men to drug and rape women.

The National Crime Agency identified two hundred and seventy people linked to forums sharing footage of coordinated sexual abuse. Deputy director Nigel Leary warned that drug-facilitated sexual assault is increasingly organised, often perpetrated by long-term partners over decades.

Former champion jockey Frankie Dettori has confirmed he is resting after suffering broken ribs in a car crash near Newmarket on Wednesday evening.

The horse racing great posted an update from his hospital bed thanking the emergency staff who looked after him, alongside his wife Catherine Allen, stating he will take time to recover from his injuries.

A cast member from Married at First Sight UK has been arrested on suspicion of rape following a BBC Panorama investigation.

The individual and the alleged victims are not being named. The television programme, broadcast in May, revealed rape allegations from two female cast members, while a third woman alleged a non-consensual sex act. Channel 4 has commissioned a review into contributor welfare on the show.

Pubs in England and Wales will be allowed to stay open until five in the morning on Monday, allowing football fans to watch the Three Lions’ World Cup clash with Mexico.

The round-of-sixteen match kicks off at one in the morning UK time. In a government U-turn on Thursday, licensing laws were relaxed so fans can watch until the final whistle.

A twenty-two-year-old care leaver has criticised the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead for breaking a contract with support company Look Ahead Care.

Residents face leaving their Maidenhead flats by the end of August. The council defended its operational decision from August 2025, claiming the care provider was drastically overcharging and stating no public consultation was legally required.

A former police officer who raped two women and subjected a third to a campaign of abuse has been jailed for ten years.

Thirty-nine-year-old Cameron Ross carried out the sexual assaults in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis in 2012 and 2014, before abusing his third victim in Inverness between 2019 and 2022. Ross, who was suspended from Police Scotland in 2022, resigned last month following his conviction at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Gary Glitter has been charged in connection with four historical sex offences.

The Crown Prosecution Service announced today that the eighty-two-year-old, whose real name is Paul Gadd, faces one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under thirteen and three counts of indecent assault on a girl under fourteen. The charges relate to alleged offences against a child dating back to 1978.

A grooming gang leader at the centre of a deportation row has been released from prison.

Seventy-three-year-old Shabir Ahmed served fourteen years for multiple rape and sexual offences against young girls in Rochdale. Despite calls for deportation, a fifty-five-year-old law prevents his removal to Pakistan. Sir Keir Starmer has asked Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to review the case.

Two teenage boys have had their sentences for the rape of two girls increased after being found unduly lenient.

The pair, referred to as X and Y, will now serve four years in prison. Initially, they received non-custodial sentences for separate attacks in Hampshire, sparking public outrage. The sentence of a third teenager will remain unchanged, the court ruled.

The Financial Conduct Authority has partially suspended its motor finance scheme following an order from the Upper Tribunal.

Legal challenges will be heard between December and February, delaying potential compensation. Under the scheme, millions of motorists treated unfairly under car finance commission arrangements between 2007 and 2024 were expected to receive payouts averaging eight hundred and twenty-nine pounds.

Sir Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff has conceded that Labour failed to properly prepare for government before its landslide election win.

In his first media interview, Morgan McSweeney admitted the party had not given enough thought to how the world had changed since the 1990s, and failed to deliver results quickly enough for voters.

The NHS will be forced to divert around £45bn from essential services under a UK-US pharmaceuticals deal, increasing potentially preventable deaths by 229,000, according to analysis from a doctors’ union.

The British Medical Journal says the trade deal more than doubles the amount of money the health service will pay for new medicines over eleven years.

Sir Keir Starmer has apologised on behalf of the British state for its role in historical forced adoptions across England and Wales.

An estimated one hundred and eighty-five thousand babies were taken from their mothers in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. In a statement in the House of Commons, Sir Keir said what happened to tens of thousands of families was a stain on our history.

Government ministers have confirmed that officials are exploring every option to have a Rochdale grooming gang leader deported.

Ringleader Shabir Ahmed was jailed for twenty-two years in August 2012, but his victims were told he would be released on licence today. Despite a fifty-five-year-old law barring his deportation, ministers insist they are doing everything they can.

A teenager alleged to be a member of the criminal cyber hacking group Scattered Spider has been arrested, according to US authorities.

The FBI and Department of Justice announced that nineteen-year-old Peter Stokes has been detained after being extradited to face charges of conspiracy, cyber intrusion, and fraud. Stokes, who was linked to attacks on M&S and Transport for London, appeared in a Chicago court.

Another heatwave is likely to be declared in the United Kingdom within the coming days as temperatures are forecast to reach thirty degrees in places.

A large area of high pressure is currently building from the Azores, and heat is expected to build across southern Britain by the weekend. It follows provisional data confirming last month was the warmest June on record for England.

Renowned American actor Danny Glover has revealed he has been living with Alzheimer’s disease for several years.

The seventy-nine-year-old Lethal Weapon star said he received the diagnosis not long after an honorary Oscar designation in 2022. While his movements, speech, and memories have slowed, the actor stated that he still remains active and can live with it.