UK

Cancer campaigner Deborah James has said she’s had the “most surreal, mind-blowing, humbling five days” of her life after being made a dame and her fundraiser reaching more than £5.7m. The podcast host, who is receiving hospice-at-home care to treat her terminal bowel cancer, thanked the public for their “generosity” and the Duke of Cambridge

Prince William has personally given bowel cancer awareness champion Deborah James her damehood. The Duke of Cambridge visited her family home in Surrey to hand over the honour, and was seen beaming with the podcaster, who is also known as Bowel Babe. Ms James said she was “utterly honoured” that Prince William had joined her

A 12-year-old boy who suffered “catastrophic” brain damage should undergo a test so doctors can try to establish whether he is dead, a High Court judge has ruled Archie Battersbee, of Southend, Essex, has not regained consciousness after suffering brain damage in an incident at home more than a month ago. Mrs Justice Arbuthnot concluded

Jacob Rees-Mogg has said that plans to cut more than 90,000 civil service jobs in order to free up billions of pounds for measures to ease the cost of living crisis does not amount to the return of austerity. During an away-day with cabinet ministers in Stoke-on-Trent on Thursday, the prime minister asked cabinet ministers

Three men have been arrested on suspicion of child abduction after a missing 15-year-old girl was found by police in Bristol. Maddie Thomas disappeared on 26 April after leaving her foster parents’ home in Southmead, saying she was going to the shops. She has now been found by police and her foster parents and family

Tax cuts could now be announced before the summer recess, Sky News understands. Ministers have been forced to rethink plans after grim forecasts from the Bank of England suggested the economy was now at risk of recession. Inflation is also likely to be higher than expected just six to eight weeks ago, putting pressure on

A teenage girl in Bristol who has been missing since April is now believed to have been abducted, according to police. Maddie Thomas, 15, disappeared in the Southmead area on 26 April. Avon and Somerset Police said they are “no longer investigating Maddie’s disappearance as a missing person case but as a child abduction”. Officers

The government will not be bringing forward an emergency budget in light of the cost of living crisis, but “will be saying more and doing more to help people”, Michael Gove has said. Responding to the government’s Queen’s Speech on Tuesday, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer claimed the government was “bereft of ideas” as the

The government has set out its legislative agenda for the new parliamentary session in the Queen’s Speech. Laying out what new laws will shape people’s lives over the next year, it contains 38 pieces of legislation. For the first time in 59 years the Queen was forced to defer to her son Prince Charles and

Priti Patel has said her plan to send migrants to Rwanda sends a “clear signal” that those who arrive illegally have no right to remain – but admitted it will “take time” to implement. The plan has been described as “cruel and nasty” by charities and “opposite the nature of God” by the Archbishop of

A young unemployed man has admitted killing a police community support officer who died from “catastrophic” injuries after being beaten with a metal railway jack. Julia James, 53, was walking her dog Toby in woods near her home in Snowdown, Kent, when she was the victim of “a brutal and fatal” attack, Canterbury Crown Court

The royals will visit all parts of the UK over the bank holiday Jubilee weekend, with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Wales, Buckingham Palace has announced. The Earl and Countess of Wessex will visit Northern Ireland and the Princess Royal will be in Scotland. All will attend public events marking the platinum anniversary.

Labour’s Lisa Nandy has defended “Mr Rules” Sir Keir Starmer and said it was “not illegal to eat” after latest claims about alleged COVID rule breaking by the party leader. Sir Keir has said he was working and stopped to eat when he was filmed having a beer in a room in Durham in April

A treasure trove of footage of the Queen taken from her personal film archive is to be shown for the first time, including clips of the young princess showing off her engagement ring months before the announcement was made public. The monarch granted documentary-makers unprecedented access to hundreds of home recordings filmed by her, her

The Queen has decided that only working members of the Royal Family will join her on the balcony at Buckingham Palace for Trooping the Colour – meaning Prince Andrew, Prince Harry and Meghan will not be alongside her for the Platinum Jubilee moment. The confirmation from Buckingham Palace ends speculation about whether the public will

Sir Keir Starmer will be investigated by police over “beergate” – the allegation he broke lockdown rules while drinking with colleagues. The Labour leader has come under pressure since footage emerged of him drinking a beer and having curry with colleagues in Durham during campaigning for the Hartlepool by-election in April 2021. At the time,

This is not an easy election to analyse: the picture is mixed and messy. As dawn breaks on Friday, nobody – perhaps with the exception of the Lib Dems – should be overly happy with the results. Tories suffered losses – perhaps not as many as they might. Two losing council leaders, one in the

Sinn Fein has won control of the ball but the Democratic Unionists are still on the pitch. While an Irish nationalist party will be the biggest at Stormont, the DUP did not perform as badly as predicted. It had been under enormous pressure after Brexit resulted in a sea border between Great Britain and Northern

A British man who joined a controversial Ukrainian military unit says he is willing is spend the next year defending against Russia’s invasion – and he has not been deterred by the capture of other Britons. Mark Ayres has spent the past two months in Ukraine after joining the Azov Regiment, which has far-right origins

A man has been convicted of murdering his two-year-old son by shooting him repeatedly in the head with an air gun, before stabbing and smothering him. Lukasz Czapla killed his son, Julius, after discovering the child’s mother was in a new relationship. He was given a life sentence and will serve at least 23 years