UK

HS2 will start at Euston rather than Old Oak Common – but between Birmingham and Manchester it will not be high speed, Sky News understands. The rail line will stop in Manchester, but from Birmingham it will switch to use existing West Coast Mainline track. It will therefore not be high speed after Birmingham –

Thousands of rail workers and train drivers are going on strike this month – with an overtime ban beginning from Monday and mass disruption expected from Wednesday. But planned industrial action by London Underground workers has been cancelled, it was announced on Tuesday. RMT (the Rail, Maritime and Transport union) and ASLEF (The Associated Society

The northern leg of the HS2 line is set to be scrapped, Sky News understands. Rumours had been circling for weeks that the high-speed rail line between Birmingham and Manchester was going to be axed by the prime minister and chancellor due to soaring costs. Even the reports – which have been denied by Number

A consumer group has named its 12 best locations in the UK to retire – with a popular cathedral city and the home of English tennis making the list. Newcastle-under-Lyme – the Staffordshire market town once home to the designer of the Spitfire – featured on the list by Which? due to its large number

Drunken cell parties, fights, stabbings, prison guards with faulty equipment out of their depth. Welcome to HMP Five Wells in Northamptonshire, where staff Sky News has spoken to claim all these events have taken place, and one guard told us assaults on staff are “a daily event”. Three prison guards have blown the whistle on

A teenager who was on the coach which overturned in a fatal crash on the M53 in Cheshire says he is “happy to be alive”. Speaking to Sky News anonymously, he recalled how what started as a normal school day on Friday turned into a tragedy. “We were all just chatting on our phones,” he

Two men have been arrested after a young football fan who died from cancer was mocked at a match. South Yorkshire Police says a 27-year-old and a 31-year-old man are being held on suspicion of outraging public decency and remain in police custody. The incident happened during Sheffield Wednesday’s clash with Sunderland on Friday. Image:

The driver of a school bus who died when it overturned on a motorway has been named as Stephen Shrimpton, Sky News understands. On a crowdfunding page to pay for his funeral his sister in law, Emily, said he was “suffering medical issues” while at the wheel. By late Saturday morning just over £9,000 had

The 15-year-old girl killed in a school bus crash on the M53 in the Wirral has been named as Jessica Baker. The driver of the bus also died in Friday morning’s incident but has not yet been publicly identified. A total of 54 people were on board – with many assessed at the scene near

A 14-year-old girl and a school bus driver have died after the vehicle overturned on a motorway in Merseyside, police have said. It comes after major incidents were declared following “a number of casualties”, emergency services said earlier. A total of 54 people were on the bus – many were being assessed at the scene

A teenage girl who was stabbed to death outside a bus on her way to school has been named as Eliyanna Andam. The 15-year-old was stabbed in the neck with a foot-long knife near the Whitgift shopping centre in Croydon, south London, during the morning rush hour, a witness said. A 17-year-old boy, who knew

A 17-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of a 15-year-old girl who was stabbed near a bus stop on her way to school. Elianne Andam died on Wednesday near the Whitgift shopping centre in Croydon, south London, during the morning rush hour. Police responded to the incident in Wellesley Road within two minutes

A 15-year old girl has been stabbed to death during the rush hour in Croydon, the Metropolitan Police have said. Officers were called to Wellesley Road, in south London, at around 8.30am this morning and she died at the scene near the Whitgift shopping centre shortly after 9.20am. A white tent and a stationary number

The teenage boy being held after a 15-year-old girl was stabbed to death in south London was known to local community groups, according to a charity worker who works to combat youth violence. The girl, who has not been named, was stabbed in the neck with a foot-long knife while on her way to private

Mental health support for children struggling to attend school is “grossly inadequate”, a report by a committee of cross-party MPs has said. The number of children absent from school has more than doubled since the pandemic and a report by the Education Select Committee says ministers are not acting fast enough to get numbers down.

In what was a full cardiac ward just eight weeks ago, a phone rings constantly, a red-light flashes – but there is no-one there to answer. The nurses’ station is abandoned, dozens of beds are empty and heart monitors remain plugged in but covered by sheets. This is the reality of the RAAC concrete crisis

The risk of contracting long COVID may have been exaggerated due to flawed research, leading to unnecessarily high levels of anxiety about suffering from it, a new study has suggested. “Major flaws” in the literature on the condition likely exaggerated the true threat of contracting it, the new research argues. For most people with COVID-19,

The Metropolitan Police says it has received a number of sexual offence allegations against Russell Brand in London and elsewhere in the country. It says the alleged offences are all non-recent. A Met statement said: “Following an investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches and The Sunday Times, the Met has received a number of allegations of

The Ministry of Defence has placed the army on standby to support the Metropolitan Police after “more than 100” armed officers handed in their weapons. Home Secretary Suella Braverman has launched a review after a growing number of Scotland Yard officers turned in their firearms following a force marksman being charged with the murder of

A man has been taken to hospital after being bitten by a dog, believed to be an XL bully. The man, who is in his 40s, was attacked in Pasley Park in Southwark, southeast London, on Friday. He was taken to hospital with injuries to his arm. The owner of the dog, believe to be