Author: Blake Anderson

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The UK’s independent rail regulator has rejected three applications to run new commercial private sector services along Britain’s West Coast, including from Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, but said it was not bowing to government pressure to turn them down. On Thursday the Office of Rail and Road said it had refused bids by Virgin, FirstGroup and a consortium backed by train builder Alstom to launch new trains on the West Coast main line linking London to cities including Liverpool, Birmingham and…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Four people have been charged by UK counterterrorism police after a break-in at a Royal Air Force base which damaged military aircraft.The charges come after members of Palestine Action in June broke into Brize Norton, the country’s largest Royal Air Force base, and sprayed red paint on aircraft to protest against Britain’s military support for Israel. The incident, which saw two people enter RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on electric scooters and leave undetected, prompted the Ministry of Defence to launch a security…

This article is an on-site version of our Inside Politics newsletter. Subscribers can sign up here to get the newsletter delivered every weekday. If you’re not a subscriber, you can still receive the newsletter free for 30 daysGood morning. Thanks for the kind messages about yesterday’s newsletter by Jonathan Eley, the FT’s longform editor. I am very grateful to him for writing it and will pass on your lovely words.Just me today. The government continues to count the cost of its defeat over the welfare bill — and one of those costs might yet be its chancellor. Some thoughts on…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.UK government bonds rallied on Thursday after Sir Keir Starmer said Rachel Reeves would be chancellor for a “very long time”, allaying investor fears over her position.The prime minister made the promise after he failed to back a tearful Reeves in the House of Commons on Wednesday, triggering a sharp sell-off in gilts and the pound.Investors said the prospect of Reeves’ departure had raised the spectre that the government’s fiscal rules could be ditched in favour of higher borrowing.The yield on the…

European CEOs are lobbying against AI regulations, and trade officials are rushing to make deals before US President Donald Trump’s tariffs take effect again. Plus, the Pentagon suddenly stalled some weapon shipments to Ukraine, and the UK’s watered-down welfare reform bill could mean higher taxes. Mentioned in this podcast:European CEOs urge Brussels to halt landmark AI ActUS narrows trade focus to secure deals before Donald Trump’s tariff deadlineUkraine summons top US diplomat after Washington halts some arms suppliesWhich UK taxes are expected to rise in the autumn Budget?Today’s FT News Briefing was produced by Sonja Hutson and Kasia Broussalian. Additional…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Lando Norris goes into Sunday’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone as one of the favourites for both the race victory and the Formula 1 World Championship. One of his main rivals standing in his way is his younger McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, who tops the leaderboard having won more races and been more consistent so far.Racing on home turf gives Norris the chance to reset the dial for the remainder of the season, if he can harness the crowd power of Silverstone,…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Ministers are set to shelve reforms to Companies House that would have required businesses to file their accounts in a more onerous way as part of the government’s attempt to reduce red tape on UK plc.Under legislation brought in by the previous government, small and micro companies would from April 1, 2027, have to disclose their profit and loss statements for the first time as part of their annual accounts.The proposals were designed to remove long-standing exemptions that allowed those companies to…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Sir Keir Starmer faces the potential for a second showdown with his MPs following this week’s humiliating welfare climbdown, when the issue of scaling back support for special needs support in schools comes before parliament later this year. After the summer recess, ministers will lay a white paper setting out big changes to special education needs and disabilities (Send) that will include plans to push more provision into mainstream schools and increase the number of specialist state schools. The most contentious aspect…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Private heathcare providers have warned the NHS against introducing “artificial” minimum waiting times for routine operations. Patients are facing further delays for treatment as a number of local NHS organisations — seeking to reduce their deficits — have started informing hospitals they will only finance procedures after a patient has waited more than three months. Patients have a right to choose a private provider to perform a procedure if the provider has a contract with an NHS hospital. The private sector currently delivers about…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.MPs have voted to proscribe the campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, despite criticism from UN experts, after its activists broke into a UK military base last month.The House of Commons on Wednesday voted by 385 to 26 to pass the order to proscribe the pro-Palestinian activist group, which will make it a criminal offence to belong to or express support for Palestine Action.People who do so will face penalties of up to 14 years in prison under the Terrorism…