UK

NEIL HALL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock By Jemma Dempsey BBC News Banks and building societies are to meet Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to discuss the upheaval in the mortgage market. It comes after Thursday’s shock decision by the Bank of England to hike rates to 5%, up from 4.5%, as it tries to tackle persistently high inflation. The government and

Getty Images By Daniel Thomas, Nick Edser & Faisal Islam Business reporters and economics editor, BBC News Interest rates have risen by more than expected in a shock move as the Bank of England battles to slow soaring prices. The Bank raised rates to 5% from 4.5%, the highest level in 15 years. Most analysts

PA Media The government should force banks to help homeowners struggling with mortgage payments, Labour has said. Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves says borrowers should be allowed to switch to interest-only payments for a temporary period to ease the crisis. Many lenders are already offering this after talks last year with the government, but Labour says

Getty Images By Michael Race Business reporter, BBC News Interest rates are expected to rise again after figures revealed inflation remained at a stubbornly high level. Inflation, which measures the pace prices rise at, was 8.7% in the year to May, the same rate it was in April. Prices for flights and second-hand cars rising

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. By Kate Whannel Political reporter, BBC News England’s former chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies was close to tears at the Covid Inquiry as she apologised to families bereaved by the pandemic. “It wasn’t just the deaths,

Getty Images By Matthew Davis BBC News British adventurer Hamish Harding is among those missing on a submersible that was diving to the wreck of Titanic, his family have said. Mr Harding, 58, chairman of aircraft firm Action Aviation, is a renowned explorer who has flown to space and holds three Guinness World Records. His

By Phil Kemp BBC Politics Conservative activists filmed dancing at a Christmas party during Covid restrictions in 2020 were invited to “jingle and mingle”, according to an invitation seen by the BBC. Thirty people were invited to the 14 December event at Conservative party headquarters. At the time London was under Tier-2 restrictions which banned

Reuters By Paul Seddon Politics reporter MPs will decide later whether to endorse a report that found Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament over lockdown parties in No 10. A year-long inquiry from the Commons privileges committee said the former prime minister committed repeated offences with his Partygate denials. It recommends he should have been suspended

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. By Tom Espiner & Laura Kuenssberg BBC News Help for people struggling with their mortgages is being kept “under review”, cabinet minister Michael Gove has said. But any financial assistance would be a decision for the Treasury,

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. By Jasmine Andersson & Sean Coughlan, royal correspondent at Buckingham Palace BBC News King Charles III has taken part in his first Trooping the Colour since becoming monarch. Princes Louis and George and Princess Charlotte joined other

The bodies of four people, including an 11-year-old, a three-year-old boy and a man and woman in their 30s, have been found in a flat in Hounslow, the Metropolitan Police said. All four, who were found at the property in Staines Road, Bedfont, are thought to be related, the force said. Police were called at

A man has been charged with the murders of Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates in Nottingham. Nineteen-year-old students Mr Webber and Ms O’Malley-Kumar and school caretaker Mr Coates, 65, were stabbed in the early hours of Tuesday. Valdo Calocane has also been charged with attempted murder after three people were injured, one critically,

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. By Lucy Adams BBC Scotland social affairs correspondent Leann Sutherland was 21 and suffering from chronic migraines when one of Scotland’s top surgeons offered to operate. She was told she would be in hospital for a few

Getty Images Oscar-winning actress and former MP Glenda Jackson has died at the age of 87, her agent has said. Jackson became an international star in the 1970s, winning Oscars for Women In Love and A Touch of Class, and receiving two further nominations. She also starred as Queen Elizabeth I in the acclaimed BBC

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. By Jon Welch and Caroline Lowbridge BBC News The fathers of two university students killed in attacks in Nottingham have paid emotional tributes to them in a vigil attended by thousands of people. Barnaby Webber and Grace

PA Media By Nick Triggle and Katharine Da Costa BBC News Health bosses are warning of major disruption and pressure on the NHS in England, as the hot weather combines with the latest junior doctor strike. British Medical Association members will walk out for 72 hours from 07:00 on Wednesday. It is the third strike