Politics

Published: 28 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online Three people, including a 10-year-old child, have died and dozens more have been injured after an inflatable boat carrying more than 100 people got into difficulty while attempting to cross the English Channel from northern France to the UK. French maritime authorities said they received a distress call during the early hours of Monday after the inflatable vessel...

Published: 28 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online Avanti West Coast is set to return to public ownership in March 2027, marking another major step in the UK government's programme to bring passenger rail services under state control. The operator, which connects London with Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh and other destinations, will transfer into public ownership when its current contract ends on 7 March. The...

Published: 28 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online British counter-terrorism investigators are examining whether Iran could be connected to a suspected bomb plot near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, after five men were arrested and explosives were reportedly discovered in three vans close to the military airbase. The incident has triggered a major security operation in the surrounding countryside, with bomb-disposal specialists examining the vehicles and dozens...

Published: 28 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online Freedom of speech is emerging as an important issue for voters ahead of the next UK general election, with new polling indicating that a large proportion of the public could consider political parties’ positions on free expression when deciding how to vote. The research, commissioned by civil liberties organisation Liberty and conducted by More in Common, found that...

Published: 28 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online A Republican senator has questioned the use of US taxpayer money to broadcast television advertisements featuring President Donald Trump, adding a rare note of criticism from within the president’s own party as the administration expands a government-funded advertising campaign ahead of the November midterm elections. Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana said public officials should not use government money...

Published: 28 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online US President Donald Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping whether China would be interested in buying American weapons during Xi’s recent visit to Washington, according to US Ambassador to China David Perdue. The disclosure has drawn attention because it came at a time when Washington is simultaneously considering a major weapons package for Taiwan, while Beijing continues to...

Published: 28 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online A tense confrontation over a controversial Orange Order parade in Portadown, Northern Ireland, eased early Monday after hundreds of protesters dispersed from the Garvaghy Road following a day-long blockade. The standoff followed a late-night court ruling that allowed the loyalist parade to proceed along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road for the first time in almost three decades. The...

Published: 28 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online France’s National Rally has made a significant advance in the country’s Senate, with the party and its political allies securing a record number of seats in the upper chamber ahead of next year’s presidential election. The National Rally, commonly known by its French initials RN, and allies associated with Éric Ciotti’s Union of the Right for the Republic...

Published: 26 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online Labour must work to reunite voters across the centre-left and wider progressive political spectrum if it is to make the most of divisions among parties on the right, the party’s deputy leader Lucy Powell has said, as the party prepares for its annual conference in Liverpool. Powell argued that Labour now has an opportunity to rebuild its political...

Published: 26 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online Andy Burnham heads into the Labour party conference in Liverpool with a political message centred on hope and optimism, but the period immediately afterwards is likely to bring a series of difficult decisions across the economy, welfare, energy, public services, migration and foreign policy. The contrast between the tone of the conference and the pressures facing the government...