Inflation in the UK remained at 2.4% in May, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), after its fall was halted by a sharp rise in fuel costs. The ONS said that fuel prices increased by the biggest monthly amount since January 2011, rising by 3.8%.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she is proud of SNP MSPs who staged a mass walkout of the House of Commons in a row over the EU Withdrawal Bill. The MPs acted after the party's leader at Westminster Ian Bralckford was thrown out of the chambler by the Speaker. The row was prompted by a lack of debate on what Mr Blackford said was a power grab by the UK government.
Theresa May has seen off a potential defeat over her flagship Brexit bill, after last-minute concessions which could give MPs a bigger say on the final withdrawal agreement and make a “no-deal” exit much less likely. MPs voted by 324 to 298 to reject a House of Lords amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill which would have given MPs the power to tell the Prime Minister to go back and renegotiate the Brexit deal.
Campaigners have lost a High Court challenge over the legality of Article 50. They hoped to win permission for a judicial review which, they claimed, could result in Brexit negotiations coming to a halt. Lawyers for Elizabeth Webster, who spearheaded the crowd-funded effort, said there was clearly an arguable case to go forward to a full hearing.
Chief Minister Fabian Picardo told the United Nations on Monday that Gibraltar was ready to work with Spain’s new Socialist government for the mutual benefit of citizens on both sides of the border. This, he underscored, did not deviate from Gibraltar’s cast-iron position on sovereignty and the principle of self-determination.
UK prime minsiter Theresa May has appealed to Tory rebels not to undermine her negotiating position with the EU by backing amendments to Brexit legislation made by the Lords. Addressing a meeting of the backbench 1922 committee on Monday ahead of a series of crunch Commons votes, the Prime Minister told MPs to consider the signal that would be sent to Brussels if the Government was defeated.
Students from the UK Overseas Territories are being invited to submit minute-long videos about their territory and its ‘Identity’ as part of an event to be hosted at the Natural History Museum in London in November 2018. This will be the third event of its kind organised by the UK Overseas Territories Association (UKOTA), after events in late 2015 and 2017 hosted at University College London and the London Maritime Museum respectively.
Boris Johnson reportedly warned there may be a Brexit “meltdown” in comments made at a private dinner this week. The UK foreign secretary also referred to the Treasury as the “heart of Remain”, according to a report by Buzzfeed.
Theresa May has been fighting to keep her Brexit plans on track despite a Cabinet row over proposals for the Irish border and a potential revolt in the Commons. The UK’s proposals for a “backstop” arrangement for the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland are to be published “shortly”, although Brexit Secretary David Davis understood to have concerns about some of the details.
Terrorism has hit the UK’s economy harder than any other EU country in recent years, according to a study. Analysis found the UK lost an estimated 43.7 billion Euros (£38.3 billion) in GDP terms due to terrorist activity from 2004 to 2016, according to a report published by the Press Association.