Author: staff

One Reform official, granted anonymity to discuss electoral strategy, said that winning a symbolic victory in Greater Manchester’s first preference votes — even if they lose on second preferences — is “really the goal.” The same official said: “If it was first preference we’d throw the kitchen sink at the contest, but with preferential voting it’s a tough challenge.” Such a result — with Reform locked out by a progressive team-up — would at least allow the party to louden their cries of foul play. Labour’s legislation on the mayoral electoral system was introduced to Parliament in July last year,…

Published on 13/07/2026 – 8:00 GMT+2 European energy ministers signed the EU’s first-ever tripartite agreement on 26 June to expand the bloc’s energy storage capacity and strengthen Europe’s energy security. Europe wants to reach at least 42.5 per cent of renewable energy production by 2030. Its storage capacity remains insufficient to fully absorb it. The extra energy that Europe cannot store is wasted, forcing it to increase fossil-fuel power generation. This is why expanding storage capacity is important for absorbing surplus energy from renewables and using it when production drops during off-peak periods. It helps to respond rapidly to increases…

EU foreign ministers will discuss proposals on Monday to partially or fully ban trade with Israeli settlements, but the path to implementing any restrictions is fraught with difficulty, with some capitals accusing the European Commission of employing “delay tactics”. As first reported by Euronews, the Commission last week pitched a paper outlining three options to further restrict EU trade with the settlements, after a majority of EU capitals called for concrete measures in response to escalating violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law and by the EU. While the bloc does…

Capitals set to clash on settlement trade: EU Foreign Ministers are in town today with a range of issues, from Ukraine to the Middle East, on their agenda. They will also discuss the Commission’s proposal – scooped by Euronews last week – to further restrict or fully ban EU trade with Israeli settlements, which the bloc deems illegal. But here’s the catch: the Commission has suggested any measures should be treated as a foreign policy tool and therefore require the unanimous blessing of all EU member states — a threshold unlikely to be reached. It’s feeding the narrative that the…

Published on 13/07/2026 – 8:30 GMT+2•Updated 8:30 The British government has announced a £250 million (€293.5m) package to strengthen police protection for Jewish communities following a series of antisemitic attacks across the country. The funding, spread over three years, will pay for more than 500 additional police officers in areas with significant Jewish populations, including 300 officers in London. It will also support increased patrols outside synagogues and Jewish schools, as well as the deployment of more plain-clothes officers. Outgoing prime minister Keir Starmer said the announcement was part of a “coordinated response across every corner of our society” to…

As part of a new “purely defensive Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition,” Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom will back the Ukraine-led Project Freyja missile defense system being developed by missile-maker Fire Point. It is designed to integrate with existing NATO-standard radars, command posts and data links from all the participating countries rather than acting as a standalone national system. The goal is to deliver a cheaper, mass-produced alternative to the Patriot PAC-3. “What we are building here is not only for Ukraine. It is a demonstration that Europe can provide for its own security, defend its…

In the EU, surplus renewable electricity is sometimes wasted because there is not enough capacity to store it until it is needed. Fossil-fuel power plants are still required when renewable generation falls. Electricity demand is rising, from electric vehicles, heat pumps and AI-driven data centres. Expanding energy storage has become increasingly important to keep the power system reliable and green. EU energy ministers signed, on 26 June, the bloc’s first tripartite agreement on energy storage, bringing together member states, industry and financial institutions. Twenty-two countries committed to adding 30–35 gigawatts of new storage capacity by 2028, contributing towards the EU’s…

With parliamentary recess looming and Andy Burnham due to become prime minister, ministers have had little time to decide much beyond the overall thrust of the policy around restricting social media for children. The two people cited above said the update later this week won’t include any further information about the official definition of “social media” or exempt services.   While the government has already confirmed that household names including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram will be included in its ban for under-16s, the criteria floated so far — “capturing user to user platforms, whose purpose is to enable social interaction, which allow users to post material alongside algorithms” — is broad enough that smaller platforms, including Wikipedia, fear they could be in scope if the…

Published on 13/07/2026 – 9:38 GMT+2 Countries in Europe reported over 10,000 excess deaths during the extreme heatwaves that baked the west of the continent towards the end of June, new data shows. The vast majority of the fatalities, in excess of 9,000, were recorded among those aged 65 and over, according to data published by ‌EuroMOMO, the European mortality monitor which is backed by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organisation. The European heatwaves have seen temperature records broken in several countries across Europe and have caused thousands of excess deaths, according…

“All the 27 member states agree that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law,” Kallas said, adding that the EU’s existing policies have “not done much to limit trade with the settlements” because of inconsistent implementation. The Commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen, has resisted efforts to impose new trade barriers on Israel and did not present EU countries with formal measures for them to vote on at Monday’s meeting. It did provide an options paper for possible measures, including the trade ban, an import licensing system, and targeted tariffs. A group of EU countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands…