UK News

Published: 24 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online. A proposed environmental levy on housebuilders in Norfolk is facing criticism from environmental lawyers, ecologists and conservation professionals, who argue that the charge is too low to adequately address the damage that could result from thousands of new homes being built in and around the protected Norfolk Broads. The draft Environmental Delivery Plan, prepared by Natural England under...

Published: 24 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online. Former British prime minister Tony Blair has called for Britain to work towards rejoining the European Union within the next decade, putting the question of EU membership back at the centre of Labour’s political debate and increasing pressure on Prime Minister Andy Burnham over the party’s long-term approach to Brexit. Blair’s intervention comes a decade after the 2016...

Published: 24 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online. Elif Eralp’s rapid rise from a Berlin state parliamentarian to a potential governing mayor has become one of the most closely watched developments in German politics after Die Linke emerged as the strongest party in the capital’s latest state election. For Eralp, a 45-year-old lawyer born to political migrants from Turkey, the result has transformed a campaign built...

Published: 24 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online. Greece’s long-running campaign to secure the return of the Parthenon marbles from Britain has entered another important phase, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis saying an agreement could still be reached if there is sufficient political will and courage on both sides. However, Athens has made clear that it would not accept an arrangement requiring Greece to recognise the...

Published: 23 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online. A judge should not have heard a legal appeal from his bed while recovering from surgery, the Court of Appeal has ruled, although it concluded that the unusual arrangement did not cause injustice in the case before it. Richard Clayton KC, who was sitting as a deputy High Court judge, conducted a hearing remotely from his bed after...

Published: 23 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online. Britain has put payments to Mauritius on hold and begun reassessing its agreement over the Chagos Islands after US President Donald Trump reiterated his opposition to the proposed transfer of sovereignty, with Defence Secretary Wes Streeting saying the arrangement cannot proceed in its current form without American support. Streeting said annual payments to Mauritius of at least £120...

Published: 23 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online. A policy designed to remove so-called “ghost patients” from GP practice registers in England is facing criticism from doctors who say the accelerated process is inadvertently removing some people who still live locally and depend on their surgeries for essential healthcare. The NHS routinely reviews GP patient lists because people move to different areas, change surgeries or die....

Published: 23 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online. The UK government is preparing to establish a new national centre dedicated to countering foreign disinformation, deepfakes and other forms of information warfare, with Prime Minister Andy Burnham saying Britain needs stronger defences against hostile state activity in the digital information environment. Burnham announced the creation of the National Centre for Information Defence during his address to the...

Published: 23 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online. Archaeological discoveries beneath Bath Assembly Rooms have opened a rare window into everyday life in Roman-era Bath, revealing evidence of ordinary residents who lived beyond the city’s celebrated baths and monumental centre. The unexpected finds were uncovered during restoration work at the historic Georgian building and include pottery, coins, glassware, animal bones, roof tiles and a fragment of...

Published: 23 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online. Members of the UK Parliament’s Treasury Committee have rejected calls for fundamental reform of the Office for Budget Responsibility, arguing that criticism of the independent economic watchdog should not become a way of blaming it for difficult decisions created by the country’s tight public finances. In a report published on Wednesday, the committee said policymakers should resist attempts...