UK Watch

China Rewards UK With Trip For Mega-Embassy– www.breitbart.com

pgnewser January 28, 2026 0

Blurb:

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has arrived in Beijing, the first British leader to make an official trip to China since 2018, after he said he believes he can unlock business opportunities there despite security concerns.

A chartered British Airways jet carried the Prime Minister to Beijing overnight — allegedly to keep Chinese spies away from the Prime Minister’s own government plane — for the first of a three-day trip to China, which the Labour leader hopes will thaw relations after what he called an “ice age”.

The hurried trip was only officially announced by China on Tuesday and seems to be something of a reward for Starmer after the British government forced through permission for Beijing to build a new “mega-embassy” in London just last week. The new complex, which will be the largest embassy in Western Europe once completed, has been the subject of intense criticism over spying and national security fears, but was signed off on nevertheless by one of Starmer’s government ministers.

Russia names UK cities on WW3 nuclear hit list in chilling threat -‘Defenceless’ | World | News– www.express.co.uk

pgnewser January 28, 2026 0

Blurb:

A senior Russian politician has sparked fresh World War Three fears after claiming Europe is effectively “defenceless” against Moscow’s latest hypersonic weapons. The warning was posted on Telegram by Aleksey Aleksandrovich Zhuravlyov, a hardline nationalist MP and chairman of the Rodina party, who shared a German media report about a recent Russian missile strike in Ukraine.

Zhuravlyov referenced an article published by Berliner Zeitung reporting on the alleged deployment of Russia’s so-called “Oreshnik” hypersonic missile during strikes on Ukraine’s Lviv region. He claimed the attack had sent shockwaves through political and military circles across Europe. In his commentary, the Kremlin ally alleged the strike was a “clear signal” to the EU and NATO, insisting that Russia had demonstrated its ability to hit targets in “Western capitals” and at NATO military bases.

China Spied on UK Gov’t Phones over Multiple Administrations: Report– www.breitbart.com

pgnewser January 28, 2026 0

Blurb:

China reportedly hacked and surveilled the mobile phones of top officials in Downing Street for years as a part of a global espionage dragnet.

A report from London’s Daily Telegraph has claimed that a Chinese spying operation saw the communications of senior officials in the administrations of prime ministers Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak monitored between 2021 and 2024.

Although it is unclear if the phones of prime ministers were caught up in the surveillance scheme, a source is quoted by the broadsheet as saying that the Chinese infiltration reached “right into the heart of Downing Street”.

UK Government Threatens Potential Ban of Elon Musk’s X over AI Use– slaynews.com

pgnewser January 15, 2026 0

Blurb:

The socialist UK government is mulling plans to ban the social media giant X, owned by Elon Musk, over supposed online safety concerns.

UK Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has voiced support for regulator Ofcom to potentially restrict access to X if the platform fails to comply with national online safety laws.

The nation’s censors are specifically citing the use of X’s artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, Grok, which has been used to manipulate digital images.

The government argues that it is a crime to create AI-generated images of people without their consent.

BBC seeks to dismiss Trump’s $10-billion defamation lawsuit – National– globalnews.ca

pgnewser January 14, 2026 0

Blurb:

 

The BBC will file a motion to dismiss U.S. President Donald Trump‘s $10-billion lawsuit over its editing of a speech that made it appear he had directed supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol.

Court documents published late on Monday showed the broadcaster would argue that the court in Florida lacked personal jurisdiction in the case because it did not broadcast the program in the state, and that the president could not prove damages because he was re-elected after it aired.

Changes to Elon Musk’s AI Grok ‘insulting’ to victims, says No 10– www.bbc.com

pgnewser January 11, 2026 0

Blurb:

The UK government says Elon Musk’s platform X limiting Grok AI image edits to paid users is “insulting” to victims of misogyny and sexual violence.

Speaking on Friday, Downing Street said the move “simply turns an AI feature that allows the creation of unlawful images into a premium service”.

It follows significant backlash after Grok digitally altered images of others by undressing them – something it says it now can only do for those who pay a monthly fee.

But the prime minister’s official spokesperson told reporters on Friday it showed X – which has not yet commented – “can move swiftly when it wants to do so”.

Newspaper headlines: 'PM is turning UK into military pygmy' and 'Love Island wildfire crisis' – BBC– news.google.com

pgnewser January 11, 2026 0

Blurb:

  1. Newspaper headlines: ‘PM is turning UK into military pygmy’ and ‘Love Island wildfire crisis’  BBC
  2. Senior military chiefs warn Keir Starmer of £28bn defence shortfall  The Times
  3. No 10 defends military funding amid warnings of £28bn black hole  Peeblesshire News
  4. Demands on defence are rising following reports of £28bn shortfall, MOD warns  Forces News
  5. Labour’s refusal to prioritise defence over welfare leaves Britain exposed  The Telegraph

from news.google.com

UK’s embattled Starmer vows to see out five-year term– www.channelnewsasia.com

pgnewser January 5, 2026 0

Blurb:

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer insisted in an interview on Sunday (Jan 4) that he will complete his five-year term amid speculation his centre-left Labour Party could oust him after the upcoming local elections.

Starmer, who won power in July 2024, also argued Britain should pursue further alignment with the EU single market, saying it was in the country’s “national interest” to get “closer” to the bloc.

A decade after Britons voted narrowly to leave the EU, the stance is likely to draw criticism from Brexit advocates like Nigel Farage, whose hard-right Reform UK party has led in the polls for the past year.

Labor wants US to ‘set out the facts’ before passing judgment on Trump’s capture of Maduro | Australian foreign policy– www.theguardian.com

pgnewser January 5, 2026 0

Blurb:

The Australian government says it is waiting for the US to “set out the facts” on the operation to capture the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, before passing judgment.

The Labor ministers Jim Chalmers and Tim Ayres on Monday stressed the importance of international law after the US military intervention.

But when asked whether the extraordinary operation ordered by President Donald Trump to extract Maduro and his wife, and take them to the US to face charges of involvement in narco-terrorism, breached the United Nations charter, Ayres said the Albanese government was focused on “establishing the facts here and gathering evidence about what has occurred”.

UK Imprisons Man for 17 Days — for Each X View of His ‘Hate’ Speech – PJ Media– pjmedia.com

pgnewser December 17, 2025 0

Blurb:

British authorities sentenced a Dorset man to 18 months in jail for inciting hate and violence on X in the heated aftermath of the 2024 Southport stabbings that left three children dead and another 10 people injured.

Luke Yarwood’s posts were viewed a total of 33 times before being taken down. If I’ve done my math correctly, that’s nearly 17 days of jail time per view. If I know anything about people, half of those views were Yarwood checking his mentions.

There’s no denying the nasty nature of Yarwood’s posts, sent to X before the identity of the killer — 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana — was known, but was widely misreported to have been a Muslim immigrant. Rudakubana was born in Cardiff, but his parents were evangelical immigrants from Rwanda.

Yarwood’s posts called for “slaughter in the streets” of Muslims and encouraged people to “Head for the hotels housing them and burn them to the ground.”

Starmer rebuffs renewed talk of Andy Burnham leadership challenge | Politics– www.theguardian.com

pgnewser November 21, 2025 0

Blurb:

Keir Starmer has attempted to dampen the latest round of speculation about his leadership, insisting that one of his potential rivals, Andy Burnham, is doing a “really good job as mayor of Manchester” and warning colleagues not to waste their time briefing against each other.

The prime minister gave his backing to Burnham on Thursday night as he travelled to the G20 summit in Johannesburg, after the Greater Manchester mayor repeatedly failed to rule out challenging Starmer for his party’s leadership during interviews on Thursday.

Burnham’s comments reignited speculation over the prime minister’s future, with his party languishing in the polls and days away from a tax-raising budget that could define the rest of his term in office.

Starmer said: “Andy’s doing a really good job as mayor in Manchester and we work very closely together.”

UK Suspends Intelligence Sharing With U.S. over Caribbean Drug Strikes– www.breitbart.com

pgnewser November 12, 2025 0

Blurb:

The British government has reportedly suspended intelligence on Caribbean drug smuggling operations with the United States to distance itself from recent air strikes on cartel boats, seemingly siding with human rights lawyer maximalism over security interests.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s policy of using “kinetic strikes” to prevent drugs from making it to the streets of America has apparently been rejected by the human rights lawyer-led British government, evidently prioritising adherence to United Nations rules over its relationship with the nation’s most consequential ally.

Intelligence gathered from the string of British overseas territories and UK military intelligence assets stationed in the Caribbean is no longer being shared with Washington, according to CNN. The British government has refused to confirm or deny these claims, citing the importance of secrecy in intelligence matters, but the report cites an internal British source who states the UK stopped sharing intelligence a month ago, after the U.S. started sinking drug smuggler boats, and that his decision was reached because of human rights concerns.