UK News Headlines - Yahoo! News UK

Scots begin push to be a nation once again

Fri, 25 May 2012 23:04:45 +0100

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - With rousing speeches, patriotic music and support from actor Sean Connery, supporters of independence for Scotland launched a campaign on Friday which they hope will lead to the demise of a 305-year-old union with England and the breakup of Britain. "This is the beginning of something really special - the beginning of the campaign to restore nationhood to Scotland," Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), told hundreds of supporters in a hall in the capital Edinburgh. "We want a Scotland that is fairer and more prosperous. ...

Scots begin push to be a nation once again

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:39:35 +0100

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - With rousing speeches, patriotic music and support from actor Sean Connery, supporters of independence for Scotland launched a campaign on Friday which they hope will lead to the demise of a 305-year-old union with England and the breakup of Britain. "This is the beginning of something really special - the beginning of the campaign to restore nationhood to Scotland," Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), told hundreds of supporters in hall in the capital Edinburgh. "We want a Scotland that is fairer and more prosperous. ...

Cameron defends role in Murdoch takeover deal

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:47:21 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron rejected calls to fire his Culture Minister on Friday after a public inquiry heard how the minister had ignored warnings from staff to lend his support to a major Rupert Murdoch takeover deal. Appearing on a morning television show more commonly known for light-hearted issues, Cameron was tackled on his judgment in appointing a minister to rule on News Corp's bid for BSkyB who he already knew supported the deal. ...

Scots' push for Britain breakup begins in earnest

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:05:54 +0100

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Supporters of independence for Scotland will launch on Friday what they say is the biggest grassroots campaign in Scottish history, a move that could result in the demise of a 305-year-old union with England and the breakup of Britain. Seeking to tap into a cocktail of historical rivalry, opposing political tastes, and a perception that the British parliament in London does not nurture Scotland's national interests, the "Yes Scotland" campaign says it wants to win a referendum on independence in 2014 and for the country to become fully independent by 2016. ...

UK appointed pro-Murdoch minister to News Corp bid

Thu, 24 May 2012 21:46:03 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron gave the job of ruling on a multi-billion dollar takeover by News Corp to a minister he knew supported the deal, an inquiry heard on Thursday, reigniting accusations he was in hock to Rupert Murdoch. Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary who was handed the task of deciding whether to support Murdoch's $12 billion bid for BSkyB, had previously sent a memo to Cameron detailing his view that the takeover would be good for Britain. ...

UK police head for Libya to probe 1984 murder

Thu, 24 May 2012 18:22:58 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - A Scotland Yard team is to fly to Libya to investigate the murder of police officer Yvonne Fletcher, who was shot dead outside the Libyan embassy in London in 1984, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday. Fletcher, 25, died after being hit by a shot fired from the embassy during a demonstration against former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. After an 11-day siege, 30 Libyans in the embassy were deported and no one was ever charged with her killing. Cameron told reporters the police team visit was a "really positive step forward. ...

The memo that brings Hunt scandal to Cameron's door

Thu, 24 May 2012 17:03:45 +0100

David Cameron was dragged further into the row engulfing Jeremy Hunt today after another explosive evidence session at the Leveson inquiry.

No eurozone answers as crisis drifts on

Thu, 24 May 2012 08:39:36 +0100

David Cameron has called for "decisive action soon" to resolve the ongoing eurozone crisis.

Iran face-off drives new naval small ship focus

Wed, 23 May 2012 13:31:35 +0100

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For decades, Western navies have built ever larger, more expensive warships. Those vessels now look increasingly vulnerable to thousands of small, fast Iranian attack boats that could dominate the Gulf in the event conflict there. In response, the U.S. ...

Cameron lashes out: Ed Balls branded a "muttering idiot"

Wed, 23 May 2012 13:10:06 +0100

David Cameron branded Ed Balls a "muttering idiot" in an angry outburst during PMQs today.

Myanmar's Suu Kyi to address UK parliament June 21

Wed, 23 May 2012 12:53:34 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will address both houses of Britain's parliament on June 21, the speaker of the lower House of Commons said on Wednesday. "At my request and that of the Lord Speaker she has kindly agreed to address members of both houses in Westminster Hall on Thursday 21 June at 3 p.m. (1400 GMT)," the speaker John Bercow told legislators. The Nobel peace laureate has accepted an invitation from Prime Minister David Cameron to visit Britain and will spend a week in the country from June 18. ...

Clegg sounds shift from austerity to growth - FT

Wed, 23 May 2012 05:13:17 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is looking at shifting its austerity programme toward a fresh emphasis on growth through state-backed investment in housing and infrastructure, Lib Dem Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said on Wednesday. Clegg said it's the government's "absolute priority" to use its strong balance sheet to inject credit into the economy, which would provide further support to lending for small businesses. He said the government is looking at "massively amplifying the principle of what we did on credit easing," referring to a similar 20 billion pound ($31. ...

MPs scared of News International - Watson

Tue, 22 May 2012 20:46:07 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - MP Tom Watson, an outspoken critic of Rupert Murdoch who played a prominent role in exposing phone hacking at his British newspaper business, said on Tuesday politicians had been scared of being targeted by the media mogul's tabloids. Watson, a member of the opposition Labour Party, said ministers and members of Parliament (MPs) had been unwilling to take on Murdoch's News International because of its "mystique" and the threat of "ridicule and humiliation. ...

Britain says GM given no special deal over Astra

Tue, 22 May 2012 20:41:48 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said it had not offered General Motors any special treatment to persuade it to build the next generation of its Astra compact in England rather than Germany. General Motors, which operates under the Vauxhall brand in Britain, said last week it would build the car in the UK after workers at its factory in Ellesmere Port, north-west England, agreed a new labour deal. The decision left a plant in Bochum, Germany, run by GM's Opel arm, in danger of closure. ...

Lord Clegg? Lib Dem leader won't rule out becoming a peer

Tue, 22 May 2012 15:25:21 +0100

Nick Clegg refused to rule out becoming a peer in an unreformed House of Lords today, during deputy prime minister's questions.

Britain 'too snobby', Clegg warns

Tue, 22 May 2012 10:02:13 +0100

Snobbery is "hobbling our economy", Nick Clegg has claimed.

Chillaxed Cameron broke off from Nato meeting to go sightseeing

Tue, 22 May 2012 09:30:24 +0100

David Cameron broke off at the end of the Nato summit in Chicago to go sightseeing, Barack Obama has joked.

Cameron urges euro zone action

Mon, 21 May 2012 20:20:06 +0100

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday not enough had been done to end the euro zone debt crisis but reassured savers worried by a downgrading of Spanish banks that British banks were well regulated and well capitalised. "While I would commend what has happened in the euro zone in terms of many of the steps they have taken to make their economies more competitive ... ...

Cameron says not enough done to resolve euro crisis

Mon, 21 May 2012 19:17:09 +0100

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday that not enough had been done to decisively resolve the euro zone crisis. Cameron, speaking during a NATO summit here, said he would be meeting later in the day to discuss the crisis with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Cameron stressed that British banks are well regulated and well capitalized. (Reporting by Adrian Croft. Writing by Warren Strobel; editing by Christopher Wilson)

Cameron says not enough done to resolve euro crisis

Mon, 21 May 2012 18:57:03 +0100

Commons to debate whether News International misled parliament

Mon, 21 May 2012 16:06:37 +0100

MPs will debate attempts by News International executives' to mislead parliament tomorrow, in a historic Commons session.

Cameron basks in Chelsea's triumph

Sun, 20 May 2012 19:45:30 +0100

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron savoured Chelsea's win over German club Bayern Munich in the Champions League final on Sunday after watching the deciding penalty shootout with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a summit in the United States. "It's not often you get the opportunity to watch a penalty shootout between an English team and a German team and watch the English team win," Cameron told reporters in Chicago before a NATO summit. ...

Weaker euro zone nations need more support from bloc's core - UK

Sun, 20 May 2012 10:15:16 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - Weaker euro zone countries need more support from the core of the single currency bloc to deal with their problems, Chancellor George Osborne wrote in the Sunday Times newspaper. "Euro zone countries must either stand behind their currency or face up to the prospect of Greek exit, with all the risks that could involve. "How can they stand behind the euro? First, those countries with high deficits and low competitiveness need to carry on confronting their problems head on. ...

Obama, Cameron hit the diplomatic treadmill

Sat, 19 May 2012 20:45:27 +0100

CAMP ROUND MEADOW, Maryland (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron resorted to a spot of treadmill diplomacy to tackle the world's problems on Saturday, sweating over the euro zone debt crisis while working out at the gym. Obama chose an unusual spot for an early-morning bilateral meeting with Cameron on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of Eight major economies at the U.S. presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland. Obama called for Cameron at his cabin at 7.15 a.m., before the main meetings started. ...

Cameron calls for euro contingency plans

Sat, 19 May 2012 19:59:37 +0100

CAMP ROUND MEADOW, Maryland (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron urged countries on Saturday to put in place strong contingency plans to deal with fallout from the euro zone debt crisis as fears grow that Greece could be forced out of the European single currency. Cameron, speaking at a summit of the Group of Eight major economies, also appeared to hint that the European Central Bank should follow the example of the Bank of England by embarking on an asset purchase program to try to boost the economy. ...

Myanmar's Suu Kyi to address British parliament in June

Sat, 19 May 2012 05:47:17 +0100

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be given the rare honour of addressing both houses of Britain's parliament when she makes her first trip outside Myanmar in 24 years next month, British officials said on Saturday. The Nobel peace laureate has accepted Prime Minister David Cameron's invitation to visit Britain and will spend a week there from June 18, officials accompanying Cameron at a summit of the Group of Eight leading economies in the United States told reporters. ...

Cameron urges action on euro, opposes Tobin tax

Fri, 18 May 2012 23:28:50 +0100

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron called on euro zone countries on Friday to take decisive action to stem a debt crisis and said Greeks must decide if they want to stay in the euro. He also said that he maintained his opposition to a financial transactions tax, backed by new French President Francois Hollande as a way to raise revenues. "We need decisive action from euro zone countries in terms of strengthening euro zone banks, in terms of a strong euro zone firewall and decisive action over Greece. That has to be done," he said, speaking in Washington before a G8 summit. ...

There may be trouble ahead: Cameron and Hollande finally meet

Fri, 18 May 2012 10:06:53 +0100

After months of snubs and thinly-concealed barbs, David Cameron and the new French president will finally meet in the neutral territory of Washington DC today.

DS refuses to apologise after disability row

Fri, 18 May 2012 10:06:24 +0100

Iain Duncan Smith has refused to apologise after suggesting unemployed workers at Remploy just made cups of coffee.

Cameron tells Europe to quell the turmoil

Fri, 18 May 2012 00:04:27 +0100

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron urged Europe's rulers on Thursday to do more to quell the euro zone debt crisis and raised the prospect of a Greek default to argue he must stick to his unpopular attempt to cut spending and reduce debt at home. Warning that the survival of the euro was now in question, Cameron showed growing alarm and frustration that the crisis was spinning out of control, threatening Britain's $2.5 trillion (1.58 trillion pounds) economy and his own electoral prospects in 2015. ...

Merkel agrees fiscal consolidation and growth needed

Thu, 17 May 2012 20:02:06 +0100

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel is in a "high level of agreement" with French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti that both fiscal consolidation and growth are needed, her spokesman said. Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement on Thursday the four leaders had taken part in a video conference call ahead of the G8 summit meeting together along with EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council. ...

Leadership ruffles backbench feathers in 1922 elections

Thu, 17 May 2012 09:44:13 +0100

David Cameron and George Osborne's bid to mute the rebelliousness of Conservative MPs in yesterday's 1922 committee elections has broadly succeeded - but at a cost.

UK begins to doubt Conservatives on economy - poll

Thu, 17 May 2012 02:45:24 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - Conservatives are losing their reputation for economic competence, according to an opinion poll issued on Wednesday, bad news for a party that has staked its reputation on an austerity plan to tackle the budget deficit. In the Ipsos MORI poll in the Financial Times newspaper, 31 percent of respondents said that the Conservatives still had the best economic policies, only one point ahead of the opposition Labour party at 30 percent. That lead was down from 10 points last September. ...

Cameron looks to shield Britain from euro break-up

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:13:42 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron will promise on Thursday to do whatever is needed to protect Britain's economy and banks from a break-up of the euro zone, and will urge leaders of the single currency bloc to "sort out its problems". Cameron's remarks, in a speech to business leaders in northwest England, are likely to irritate European leaders trying to keep the euro zone intact as Greece prepares for a new election and struggles to cope with its debt crisis. ...

Cameron gazes into the eurozone abyss

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:01:00 +0100

David Cameron will voice the possibility of the eurozone falling apart later, just days after George Osborne warned speculation about Greece was damaging Europe.

Cameron plays down differences with Hollande

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:59:54 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday he would hold talks with new French President Francois Hollande before an international summit this week, confident they would find "common ground" on how to tackle Europe's economic crisis. Like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Cameron has backed tough austerity policies to tackle Europe's debt and deficit problems while the newly-elected Hollande has vowed to shift the focus to growth. ...

PMQs: Cameron claims ally in Socialist Hollande

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:59:58 +0100

Ed Miliband has mocked David Cameron for claiming new French president Francois Hollande as an ally in this week's prime minister's questions.

Cameron welcomes fall in joblessness

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:17:42 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed figures on Wednesday showing the number of Britons out of work fell at the fastest pace in nearly a year in the three months to March. "It is welcome that we've had the largest rise in employment for over a year," Cameron told parliament. "We are not remotely complacent about this ... There's still too many people in part-time work who want full time work and also we still have the challenge of tackling long-term unemployment," he said. (Reporting by Adrian Croft; Editing by Matt Falloon)

EU studying impact of Iran ship insurance ban - UK

Tue, 15 May 2012 20:33:45 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain and France are studying a proposed European Union ban on insuring tankers carrying Iranian oil to see how severe an impact it would have on trade with non-EU countries, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Tuesday. Asked in parliament about a May 8 Reuters report that Britain was seeking to persuade fellow EU members to postpone a ban on insurance for cargoes of Iranian oil, Hague confirmed EU countries were discussing whether the insurance ban should apply from July 1, or later. ...

Left-winger promoted in Miliband's mini-reshuffle

Tue, 15 May 2012 17:07:19 +0100

Labour left-winger Job Cruddas has been promoted to coordinator of the Labour party policy review by Ed Miliband.