Defence and security

His Majesty’s chief inspector of prisons has said one-in-10 prisons in England and Wales are barely fit for purpose and should be shut down if alternative spaces can be found. Charlie Taylor told the Guardian that Victorian-era inner city jails in particular “have got just far more prisoners than they were originally designed for.” Overcrowding and poor infrastructure has seen prisoners...

SAS on standby as Met police asks army for cover as...

The home secretary has ordered a review of armed policing after the army was put on standby to cover Met police officers who have downed their weapons. Suella Braverman has acted to try and quell what the Guardian calls a...

Sunak confronts China at G20 after Westminster spy arrest

Rishi Sunak has told the Chinese premier he has “serious concerns” about Beijing’s interference in Britain’s democracy after police arrested a suspected Westminster spy working for China. Sunak challenged Li...

Defence secretary Ben Wallace announces he will quit after battle with Braverman

Ben Wallace has announced he is quitting politics at the next general election and will step down as defence secretary in the next cabinet reshuffle. Wallace is reported to have...

China is UK’s ‘greatest risk’ but Govt response is ‘completely inadequate’

The UK government’s response to tackling the threat posed by China "has been completely inadequate,” a blistering report by one of parliament’s most senior committees has found. China is “prolifically...

Royal Navy’s HMS Glasgow ‘sabotaged’ in suspected ‘payment dispute’

An investigation has been launched after the Royal Navy’s HMS Glasgow was “damaged intentionally” with dozens of its cables cut at a Scottish shipyard. The UK Defence Journal reports “claims that a group of disgruntled...

TikTok banned by Greater London Authority and across Westminster

The Greater London Authority (GLA) has become the latest UK organisation to block staff from having TikTok on their devices. Security concerns over the Chinese social media app are being taken “extremely seriously” said the...
surveillance equipment

Surveillance cameras everywhere, UK watchdog warns

In a recently published survey, the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner (OBSCC) has said the UK government should be concerned about using Chinese surveillance cameras and equipment. Report authors suggest that UK police forces...

Russia warns of ‘bloody harvest’ if UK sends fighter jets to Ukraine

The UK prime minister has vowed “nothing is off the table” when it comes to the UK answering Vlodymyr Zelenskiy’s appeal for British fighter jets to Ukraine. The Russian Embassy in London warned there would...

British army no longer tier-one level fighting force, says US general

Defence secretary Ben Wallace has been told by a senior US general that the British army is no longer considered a top level fighting force. Decades of cuts to army spending – while huge investments...