(Reuters) -Talks on reducing strategic nuclear weapons must first be conducted between Russia and the U.S., but the arsenals of Britain and France will ultimately have to be included in negotiations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying on Sunday.
Peskov’s remarks come amid a Kremlin proposal to the U.S. this month to voluntarily maintain for a year the limits on deployed strategic nuclear weapons set out in their New START arms control treaty once it expires next year if the U.S. does the same.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Putin’s proposal sounded “pretty good,” but the issue was up to U.S. President Donald Trump. The U.S. president has said he wants to open denuclearisation talks with Russia and China.
“Naturally, we have to start talks at the bilateral level. New START is after all a bilateral document,” Peskov told TASS.
“But in the long term, you cannot remain abstract with these arsenals. All the more so that these arsenals are a component of the overall problem of global European security and strategic stability.”
New START was signed by then-presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev in 2010, came into force a year later and was extended in 2021 for five more years after U.S. President Joe Biden took office.
In 2023, Putin suspended Russia’s participation, but Moscow said it would continue to observe the warhead limits. Putin this month made his offer to maintain the treaty’s limits as Ukraine tries to convince Trump to impose harsher sanctions on Russia over its February 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbour.
Russia and the U.S. have by far the biggest nuclear arsenals in the world. New START caps the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads at 1,550 and the number of delivery vehicles – missiles, submarines and bomber planes – at 700 on each side.
France and Britain, which were never a party to New START or its precursor treaties, have much smaller arsenals numbering between 250 and 300 warheads each.
(Writing by Ron Popeski; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
What to know about Chequers, the U.K. prime minister’s country house
Chequers is the U.K. prime minister’s country house. Located about 40 miles northwest of London, it is a formidable estate, though no match for the environs of Windsor Castle where Mr. Trump spent Wednesday.
The home was constructed in the mid-1500s, about 200 years before the United States came into being, and it has served as the official country residence of Britain’s prime ministers since 1921.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (2nd left) and Lady Victoria Starmer greet President Trump at Chequers, near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England, on day two of the president’s second state visit to the U.K., Sept. 18, 2025.
Stefan Rousseau/Pool via REUTERS
Highly secured and well out of public view, Chequers has been the venue for a number of important meetings and negotiations. Famous visitors over the years have included many European leaders, U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In 1941, then-U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill was at Chequers when he learned that the Japanese navy had attacked Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II.
Trump arrives at Chequers for meeting with U.K. leader Keir Starmer
President Trump’s Marine One helicopter touched down on the grounds of the U.K. prime minister’s official country residence Thursday.
Mr. Trump was greeted by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria, and they walked into the house for a day of closed-door talks and a separate meeting with business leaders.
What are Trump and the U.K.’s Starmer expected to discuss?
Mr. Trump and Starmer are expected to discuss a range of issues Thursday, including trade. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump said Starmer’s government is hoping to negotiate “a little bit better deal” to ease trade restrictions including U.S. tariffs.
The leaders are expected to formally announce a U.S.-U.K. “Technology Prosperity Deal,” boosting ties in AI, quantum computing, and nuclear energy, with companies including Google, Microsoft and Nvidia on board to formalize some $42 billion of investments in the U.K.
The wars in Gaza and Ukraine are also likely to come up, as Starmer has joined several other countries in announcing plans to recognize a Palestinian state if Israel fails to meet certain conditions, including agreeing to a ceasefire with Hamas and letting in more humanitarian aid.
President Trump shakes hands with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the Trump Turnberry golf club, July 28, 2025, in Turnberry, Scotland.
Chris Furlong/Getty
On the war in Ukraine, Starmer and other European leaders have pushed Mr. Trump to take a harder line on Vladimir Putin, who’s blown past a series of deadlines issued by the president for Putin to meet directly with Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate a ceasefire.
Mr. Trump has recently said “it takes two to tango,” suggesting he could still impose new sanctions against Russia, but he said America’s NATO allies first had to halt all purchases of Russian energy.
By Tucker Reals and Sara Cook
What’s in store for Day 2 of President Trump’s second state visit to the U.K.
President Trump bid farewell to King Charles and Windsor Castle on Thursday and boarded his Marine One helicopter for the short flight to Chequers, the official country residence of the British prime minister, Keir Starmer.
He’s to hold a bilateral meeting, behind closed doors, with Starmer, and will also join a reception with business leaders, before the two leaders hold a joint news conference.
On Thursday afternoon, Mr. Trump will leave Chequers and fly back to the U.S.
What Trump did on Day 1 of his historic second U.K. state visit
President Trump and first lady Melania were feted by King Charles III on the first full day of their state visit, the British royals putting on the kind of display they have long been known for — giving their U.S. visitor full military honors and a glittering state banquet at Windsor Castle.
There were protests in London, and even at Windsor the night before the Trumps arrived, deriding the U.S. leader’s policies and highlighting his past ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But police estimated a crowd of only about 5,000, and as the protesters were in central London, about 20 miles from Windsor, they were well out of Mr. Trump’s earshot as he enjoyed the royal treatment.
(L-R) Queen Camilla, King Charles III, President Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive to attend a state banquet at Windsor Castle, Sept. 17, 2025.
DOUG MILLS/POOL/AFP/Getty
The day included a military honor featuring more than 1,000 British troops marching in formation, a military flypast — albeit toned down due to rain, a visit to the late Queen Elizabeth II’s tomb, and then a formal state banquet where Mr. Trump sat at the center of a dining table more than 150 feet long.
President Donald Trump will meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, the final day of the U.S. leader’s state visit to Britain, with tech investment, steel tariffs and potentially tricky topics on the agenda.
The president and first lady Melania Trump were feted by King Charles III and Queen Camilla on Wednesday at Windsor Castle with all the pageantry the monarchy can muster: gold-trimmed carriages, scarlet-clad soldiers, artillery salutes and a glittering banquet in a grand ceremonial hall.
British officials have festooned the trip with the kind of superlatives Trump revels in: It’s an “unprecedented” second state visit for the U.S. leader, featuring the biggest military honor guard ever assembled for such an occasion.
On Thursday it is Starmer’s turn to welcome the president to Chequers, a 16th-century manor house northwest of London that serves as a rural retreat for British leaders.
Trump’s British hosts want to celebrate the strength of the U.S-U.K. relationship, almost 250 years after its rocky start in 1776. Trump will be welcomed by ceremonial honor guard complete with bagpipers — a nod to the president’s Scottish heritage — and shown items from the archive of wartime leader Winston Churchill, who coined the term “special relationship” for the bond between the United States and Britain.
There’s also a lunch of Dover sole followed by key lime pie, and a display by the Red Devils army parachute team.
Trans-Atlantic tech partnership
To coincide with the visit, Britain said U.S. companies had pledged 150 billion pounds ($204 billion) in investment in the United Kingdom, including 90 billion pounds ($122 billion) from investment firm Blackstone in the next decade. Investment will also flow the other way, including almost $30 billion by pharmaceutical firm GSK in the U.S.
The two leaders will sign a “tech prosperity deal” that U.K. officials say will bring thousands of jobs and billions in investment in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and nuclear energy.
It includes a U.K. arm of Stargate, a Trump-backed AI infrastructure project led by OpenAI, and a host of AI data centers around the U.K. American firms are announcing 31 billion pounds ($42 billion) investment in the U.K.’s AI sector, including $30 billion from Microsoft for protects including Britain’s largest supercomputer.
British officials say they have not agreed to scrap a digital services tax or water down internet regulation to get the deal, some details of which have yet to be announced.
The British government is learning that when it comes to deals with the U.S. administration, the devil is in the detail. In May, Starmer and Trump struck a trade agreement that reduced U.S. tariffs on Britain’s key auto and aerospace industries.
But talks on slashing duties on steel and aluminum to zero from their current level of 25% have stalled, despite a promise in May that the issue would be settled within weeks.
The British Chambers of Commerce said failure to cut the tariffs would “greeted with dismay” by the British steel industry.
Potentially awkward conversations
Starmer wants a successful state visit to balance weeks of bad news that saw him lose not just an ambassador but Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner — who quit over a tax error on a home purchase — and a senior aide. Fourteen months after winning a landslide election victory, Starmer’s government is struggling to kickstart Britain’s sluggish economy and his Labour Party is lagging in the polls.
Leslie Vinjamuri, president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, said the trip was likely to be “a difficult visit for the prime minister, much more so than for the U.S. president.”
For Trump, “this plays well at home, it plays well abroad. It’s almost entirely to President Trump’s advantage to turn up to Britain and be celebrated by the British establishment,” she said.
Starmer will be bracing for awkward questions about Jeffrey Epstein when he and Trump hold a news conference at Chequers. Days before the state visit, Starmer fired Britain’s ambassador to the U.S., Peter Mandelson, over the envoy’s past friendship with the convicted sex offender.
Questions about Epstein overshadowed Trump’s last visit to the U.K. in July, when he sat with Starmer at his golf club in Scotland. As they took questions from journalists, Trump was repeatedly peppered with queries about Epstein as his government faced pressure from back home to release government records into the criminal case of the now-disgraced financier, who authorities say killed himself in 2019.
Difficult discussions on Ukraine, Middle East
There are also potentially difficult conversations to be had over Ukraine and the Middle East.
Starmer has played a major part in European efforts to shore up U.S. support for Ukraine. Trump has expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin but has not made good on threats to impose new sanctions on Russia for shunning peace negotiations. As he left Washington for the U.K. on Tuesday, Trump appeared to put the onus on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying, “He’s going to have to make a deal.”
Last week’s Russian drone incursion into NATO member Poland drew strong condemnation from European NATO allies, and pledges of more planes and troops for the bloc’s eastern flank. Trump played down the incident’s severity, musing that it “ could have been a mistake. ”
The king gave Trump a gentle nudge in his state banquet speech on the strength of the trans-Atlantic relationship. Charles noted that “as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine, to deter aggression and secure peace.”
Starmer also departs from Trump on Israel’s war in Gaza, and has said the U.K. will formally recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations later this month.
Trump has threatened to penalize Canada during trade negotiations for making a similar move.
___
AP Technology Writer Matt O’Brien contributed to this story.
[ad_2]
Michelle L. Price | The Associated Press and Jill Lawless | The Associated Press
President Donald Trump will meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, the final day of the U.S. leader’s state visit to Britain, with tech investment, steel tariffs and potentially tricky topics on the agenda.
The president and first lady Melania Trump were feted by King Charles III and Queen Camilla on Wednesday at Windsor Castle with all the pageantry the monarchy can muster: gold-trimmed carriages, scarlet-clad soldiers, artillery salutes and a glittering banquet in a grand ceremonial hall.
British officials have festooned the trip with the kind of superlatives Trump revels in: It’s an “unprecedented” second state visit for the U.S. leader, featuring the biggest military honor guard ever assembled for such an occasion.
On Thursday it is Starmer’s turn to welcome the president to Chequers, a 16th-century manor house northwest of London that serves as a rural retreat for British leaders.
Trump’s British hosts want to celebrate the strength of the U.S-U.K. relationship, almost 250 years after its rocky start in 1776. Trump will be welcomed by ceremonial honor guard complete with bagpipers — a nod to the president’s Scottish heritage — and shown items from the archive of wartime leader Winston Churchill, who coined the term “special relationship” for the bond between the United States and Britain.
There’s also a lunch of Dover sole followed by key lime pie, and a display by the Red Devils army parachute team.
Trans-Atlantic tech partnership
To coincide with the visit, Britain said U.S. companies had pledged 150 billion pounds ($204 billion) in investment in the United Kingdom, including 90 billion pounds ($122 billion) from investment firm Blackstone in the next decade. Investment will also flow the other way, including almost $30 billion by pharmaceutical firm GSK in the U.S.
The two leaders will sign a “tech prosperity deal” that U.K. officials say will bring thousands of jobs and billions in investment in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and nuclear energy.
It includes a U.K. arm of Stargate, a Trump-backed AI infrastructure project led by OpenAI, and a host of AI data centers around the U.K. American firms are announcing 31 billion pounds ($42 billion) investment in the U.K.’s AI sector, including $30 billion from Microsoft for protects including Britain’s largest supercomputer.
British officials say they have not agreed to scrap a digital services tax or water down internet regulation to get the deal, some details of which have yet to be announced.
The British government is learning that when it comes to deals with the U.S. administration, the devil is in the detail. In May, Starmer and Trump struck a trade agreement that reduced U.S. tariffs on Britain’s key auto and aerospace industries.
But talks on slashing duties on steel and aluminum to zero from their current level of 25% have stalled, despite a promise in May that the issue would be settled within weeks.
The British Chambers of Commerce said failure to cut the tariffs would “greeted with dismay” by the British steel industry.
Potentially awkward conversations
Starmer wants a successful state visit to balance weeks of bad news that saw him lose not just an ambassador but Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner — who quit over a tax error on a home purchase — and a senior aide. Fourteen months after winning a landslide election victory, Starmer’s government is struggling to kickstart Britain’s sluggish economy and his Labour Party is lagging in the polls.
Leslie Vinjamuri, president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, said the trip was likely to be “a difficult visit for the prime minister, much more so than for the U.S. president.”
For Trump, “this plays well at home, it plays well abroad. It’s almost entirely to President Trump’s advantage to turn up to Britain and be celebrated by the British establishment,” she said.
Starmer will be bracing for awkward questions about Jeffrey Epstein when he and Trump hold a news conference at Chequers. Days before the state visit, Starmer fired Britain’s ambassador to the U.S., Peter Mandelson, over the envoy’s past friendship with the convicted sex offender.
Questions about Epstein overshadowed Trump’s last visit to the U.K. in July, when he sat with Starmer at his golf club in Scotland. As they took questions from journalists, Trump was repeatedly peppered with queries about Epstein as his government faced pressure from back home to release government records into the criminal case of the now-disgraced financier, who authorities say killed himself in 2019.
Difficult discussions on Ukraine, Middle East
There are also potentially difficult conversations to be had over Ukraine and the Middle East.
Starmer has played a major part in European efforts to shore up U.S. support for Ukraine. Trump has expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin but has not made good on threats to impose new sanctions on Russia for shunning peace negotiations. As he left Washington for the U.K. on Tuesday, Trump appeared to put the onus on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying, “He’s going to have to make a deal.”
Last week’s Russian drone incursion into NATO member Poland drew strong condemnation from European NATO allies, and pledges of more planes and troops for the bloc’s eastern flank. Trump played down the incident’s severity, musing that it “ could have been a mistake. ”
The king gave Trump a gentle nudge in his state banquet speech on the strength of the trans-Atlantic relationship. Charles noted that “as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine, to deter aggression and secure peace.”
Starmer also departs from Trump on Israel’s war in Gaza, and has said the U.K. will formally recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations later this month.
Trump has threatened to penalize Canada during trade negotiations for making a similar move.
___
AP Technology Writer Matt O’Brien contributed to this story.
President Donald Trump received a historic royal welcome at Windsor Castle during his unprecedented second state visit.
[ad_2]
Michelle L. Price and Jill Lawless | The Associated Press
President Donald Trump will meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, the final day of the U.S. leader’s state visit to Britain, with tech investment, steel tariffs and potentially tricky topics on the agenda.
The president and first lady Melania Trump were feted by King Charles III and Queen Camilla on Wednesday at Windsor Castle with all the pageantry the monarchy can muster: gold-trimmed carriages, scarlet-clad soldiers, artillery salutes and a glittering banquet in a grand ceremonial hall.
British officials have festooned the trip with the kind of superlatives Trump revels in: It’s an “unprecedented” second state visit for the U.S. leader, featuring the biggest military honor guard ever assembled for such an occasion.
On Thursday it is Starmer’s turn to welcome the president to Chequers, a 16th-century manor house northwest of London that serves as a rural retreat for British leaders.
Trump’s British hosts want to celebrate the strength of the U.S-U.K. relationship, almost 250 years after its rocky start in 1776. Trump will be welcomed by ceremonial honor guard complete with bagpipers — a nod to the president’s Scottish heritage — and shown items from the archive of wartime leader Winston Churchill, who coined the term “special relationship” for the bond between the United States and Britain.
There’s also a lunch of Dover sole followed by key lime pie, and a display by the Red Devils army parachute team.
Trans-Atlantic tech partnership
To coincide with the visit, Britain said U.S. companies had pledged 150 billion pounds ($204 billion) in investment in the United Kingdom, including 90 billion pounds ($122 billion) from investment firm Blackstone in the next decade. Investment will also flow the other way, including almost $30 billion by pharmaceutical firm GSK in the U.S.
The two leaders will sign a “tech prosperity deal” that U.K. officials say will bring thousands of jobs and billions in investment in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and nuclear energy.
It includes a U.K. arm of Stargate, a Trump-backed AI infrastructure project led by OpenAI, and a host of AI data centers around the U.K. American firms are announcing 31 billion pounds ($42 billion) investment in the U.K.’s AI sector, including $30 billion from Microsoft for protects including Britain’s largest supercomputer.
British officials say they have not agreed to scrap a digital services tax or water down internet regulation to get the deal, some details of which have yet to be announced.
The British government is learning that when it comes to deals with the U.S. administration, the devil is in the detail. In May, Starmer and Trump struck a trade agreement that reduced U.S. tariffs on Britain’s key auto and aerospace industries.
But talks on slashing duties on steel and aluminum to zero from their current level of 25% have stalled, despite a promise in May that the issue would be settled within weeks.
The British Chambers of Commerce said failure to cut the tariffs would “greeted with dismay” by the British steel industry.
Potentially awkward conversations
Starmer wants a successful state visit to balance weeks of bad news that saw him lose not just an ambassador but Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner — who quit over a tax error on a home purchase — and a senior aide. Fourteen months after winning a landslide election victory, Starmer’s government is struggling to kickstart Britain’s sluggish economy and his Labour Party is lagging in the polls.
Leslie Vinjamuri, president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, said the trip was likely to be “a difficult visit for the prime minister, much more so than for the U.S. president.”
For Trump, “this plays well at home, it plays well abroad. It’s almost entirely to President Trump’s advantage to turn up to Britain and be celebrated by the British establishment,” she said.
Starmer will be bracing for awkward questions about Jeffrey Epstein when he and Trump hold a news conference at Chequers. Days before the state visit, Starmer fired Britain’s ambassador to the U.S., Peter Mandelson, over the envoy’s past friendship with the convicted sex offender.
Questions about Epstein overshadowed Trump’s last visit to the U.K. in July, when he sat with Starmer at his golf club in Scotland. As they took questions from journalists, Trump was repeatedly peppered with queries about Epstein as his government faced pressure from back home to release government records into the criminal case of the now-disgraced financier, who authorities say killed himself in 2019.
Difficult discussions on Ukraine, Middle East
There are also potentially difficult conversations to be had over Ukraine and the Middle East.
Starmer has played a major part in European efforts to shore up U.S. support for Ukraine. Trump has expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin but has not made good on threats to impose new sanctions on Russia for shunning peace negotiations. As he left Washington for the U.K. on Tuesday, Trump appeared to put the onus on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying, “He’s going to have to make a deal.”
Last week’s Russian drone incursion into NATO member Poland drew strong condemnation from European NATO allies, and pledges of more planes and troops for the bloc’s eastern flank. Trump played down the incident’s severity, musing that it “ could have been a mistake. ”
The king gave Trump a gentle nudge in his state banquet speech on the strength of the trans-Atlantic relationship. Charles noted that “as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine, to deter aggression and secure peace.”
Starmer also departs from Trump on Israel’s war in Gaza, and has said the U.K. will formally recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations later this month.
Trump has threatened to penalize Canada during trade negotiations for making a similar move.
___
AP Technology Writer Matt O’Brien contributed to this story.
President Donald Trump received a historic royal welcome at Windsor Castle during his unprecedented second state visit.
[ad_2]
Michelle L. Price and Jill Lawless | The Associated Press
Trump and royals ride state carriages to Windsor Castle
President Trump and the first lady Melania joined King Charles III, Queen Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales in a carriage procession to Windsor Castle.
The carriages will take the group through the Windsor estate. The first carriage will carry Mr. Trump and King Charles. The second will carry the first lady and Queen Camilla.
Britain’s King Charles III and President Trump sit in a royal state carriage during a procession through Windsor Castle grounds, in Windsor, England, Sept. 17, 2025.
Toby Melville/REUTERS
In the third carriage, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel with Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
A fourth carriage will transport other officials on Mr. Trump and the first lady’s teams.
As the procession began, the national anthems of both the U.S. and the U.K. were played by British military bands.
The route is lined by British military forces.
Trump greeted by Prince William and Kate as he and first lady arrive in Windsor
President Trump and first lady Melania arrived Wednesday at the British royal family’s sprawling Windsor estate, west of London, where they were greeted upon disembarking from the presidential Marine One helicopter by Prince William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales.
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump are greeted by Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales and Britain’s Catherine, Princess of Wales, upon their arrival at the grounds of Windsor Castle, in Windsor, Sept. 17, 2025, for the start of a second official state visit.
AARON CHOWN/POOL/AFP/Getty
Marco Rubio arrives in Windsor ahead of the Trumps
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived at Windsor Castle by car on Wednesday, not long before President and first lady Trump were due to touch down on the grounds of the royal estate by helicopter.
Rubio shook hands with staff before joining other officials to wait for Mr. Trump’s royal welcome. The British news agency PA said security in the area was at peak levels, with two sniper positions visible on a distant roof.
London’s Metropolitan Police said 1,600 officers would be deployed in central London on Wednesday, including 500 officers assisting from other forces, according to The Associated Press. At least 50 protest groups were expected to demonstrate against Mr. Trump’s visit.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan criticizes Trump on the eve of his state visit
Ahead of President Trump’s state visit to the U.K., London Mayor Sadiq Khan urged Britons to reject “the reactionary populists and nativists who are exploiting economic concerns, the atomisation of modern life and a growing distrust of political and media institutions — something we have seen in countries across Europe and, of course, in the U.S.”
In an opinion piece for The Guardian newspaper, Khan, who’s long been a vocal critic of Mr. Trump, said the U.S. president “and his coterie have perhaps done the most to fan the flames of divisive, far-right politics around the world in recent years.”
Khan said that six years after Mr. Trump’s first state visit, the Trump administration’s “scapegoating minorities, illegally deporting U.S. citizens, deploying the military to the streets of diverse cities… aren’t just inconsistent with Western values – they’re straight out of the autocrat’s playbook.”
Khan said that while he understood the U.K. government needed to be “pragmatic” and maintain ties with the U.S., “it’s also important to ensure our special relationship includes being open and honest with each other. At times, this means being a critical friend and speaking truth to power — and being clear that we reject the politics of fear and division. Showing President Trump why he must back Ukraine, not Putin. Making the case for taking the climate emergency seriously. Urging the president to stop the tariff wars that are tearing global trade apart. And putting pressure on him to do much more to end Israel’s horrific onslaught on Gaza, as only he has the power to bring Israel’s brazen and repeated violations of international law to an end.”
What’s in store for President Trump’s second state visit to the U.K.
President Trump and the first lady will be flown Wednesday by helicopter roughly 20 miles from central London, where they spent the first night of their visit at the U.S. ambassador’s official residence, Winfield House, to Windsor Castle, in time for lunch. After being greeted by the future king, Prince William, and his wife Catherine, the Prince and Princess of Wales, they will join King Charles III and Queen Camilla for lunch.
Later in the day Mr. Trump will lay a wreath at the crypt of the late Queen Elizabeth II, who died in Sept. 2022, before attending a musical performance and honorary military flyover at Windsor.
The night will be capped by a formal state banquet, hosted by the monarch.
Protesters greet Trump in the U.K. with massive images of Epstein
The protest group Led By Donkeys projected an enormous video onto the walls of Windsor Castle Tuesday night, hours before President Trump was due to arrive at the royal residence, depicting what it called “the story of Trump and Epstein.” A video shared by the group on social media included the narration, carried over loudspeakers in Windsor, detailing Mr. Trump’s previous ties to the late financier and convicted sex offender.
The Thames Valley Police confirmed in a statement that four people were arrested in connection with the demonstration.
An image of Jeffrey Epstein and President Trump is projected by political campaign group Led By Donkeys onto Windsor Castle, ahead of Mr. Trump’s second state visit to the U.K., Sept. 16, 2025, in Windsor, England.
Mark Kerrison/In Pictures/Getty
“We take any unauthorized activity around Windsor Castle extremely seriously,” the force said in a statement. “Our officers responded swiftly to stop the projection and four people have been arrested. We are conducting a thorough investigation with our partners into the circumstances surrounding this incident and will provide further updates when we are in a position to do so.”
“I love it,” Trump declares as he lands in the U.K.
President Trump landed at London’s Stansted Airport on Tuesday evening for his second state visit to the U.K. The President made his way to the official central London residence of the U.S. Ambassador to the U.K., called Winfield House, where he was asked by journalists how it felt to be back.
“I love it. I love Turnberry, I love Aberdeen, I love a lot of things here… they warm my heart, I want to tell you. They’re very special,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Trump has golf courses near Turnberry and Aberdeen in Scotland, which is part of the United Kingdom.
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump disembark from Air Force One after landing at Stansted Airport, near London, England, Sept. 16, 2025, for a two-day state visit to the U.K.
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty
When asked if he had a message for King Charles III, Mr. Trump said: “We’re going to see him tomorrow, and he’s been a friend of mine for a long time. And everybody respects him and they love him.”
The carriages are being polished, the family silver is being laid out, and diamonds are being dusted off as King Charles III prepares to offer a royal welcome to Donald Trump for what will be the highlight of the U.S. president’s unprecedented second state visit to Britain.
Hundreds of soldiers, gardeners and chefs are putting the finishing touches on their preparations to make sure the president and first lady Melania Trump get the full royal treatment. But it’s a spectacle with a purpose: to bolster ties with a world leader known for a love of bling at a time when his America First policies are putting pressure on trade and security arrangements globally.
The second leg of the visit will take place on Thursday, when Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer meet at Chequers, the 16th-century redbrick mansion in the Chiltern Hills northwest of London that serves as the official country estate of British prime ministers. The government hopes a technology deal to be signed during the trip will underline the trans-Atlantic bond remains strong despite differences over Ukraine, the Middle East and the future of NATO.
The backdrop for day one will be Windsor Castle, an almost 1,000-year-old royal residence with gilded interiors, crenelated towers and priceless artworks.
It’s a scene that has seemed to enchant Trump, who ditched his trademark bluster and described the invitation to Windsor as “a great, great honor.”
“I think that also is why he seems so visibly excited about the second meeting, because it isn’t an invitation given to (just) anyone,” said George Gross, an expert on the British monarchy at King’s College London.
Trump said Tuesday after arriving in London that he loved being back in the United Kingdom, calling it a “very special place.” Asked if he had a message for Charles, he said the king was a longtime friend of his and well-respected.
While Britain’s royals long ago gave up real political power, their history, tradition and celebrity give them a cachet that means presidents and prime ministers covet an invitation to join them. That makes the invitations, handed out at the request of the elected government, a powerful tool to reward friends and wring concessions out of reluctant allies.
State banquet
No U.S. president, or any other world leader, has ever had the honor of a second U.K. state visit. That won’t be lost on a president who often describes his actions with superlatives and has made no secret of his fondness for the British royals.
The day will begin when the king and Queen Camilla formally welcome the Trumps to Windsor Castle.
That will be followed by a horse-drawn carriage ride through the estate — 6,400 hectares (15,800 acres) of farms, forest and open space that includes a one-time royal hunting ground which is still home to 500 red deer.
Back at the castle, a military band will play “God Save the King” and “The Star-Spangled Banner” before Trump and the king inspect an honor guard of soldiers in traditional scarlet tunics and tall bearskin hats.
After a private lunch and a visit to an exhibit of documents and artwork illustrating the ties between Britain and the U.S., it will be time for the glitz and glamour of a state banquet.
Tiaras and medals will be on display as up to 160 guests in formal wear gather around a 50-meter long mahogany table set with 200-year-old silver to honor the president. Charles will deliver a speech, then the king and president will offer toasts.
Trump won’t, however, have the chance to address a joint session of Parliament as French President Emmanuel Macron did in July during his state visit, because the House of Commons is in recess. The president also missed out on that honor during his first state visit amid opposition from then-Speaker of the House John Bercow.
‘It’s very dreary’
Most state visits are staged in London, against the grand backdrop of Buckingham Palace and the broad, flag-lined boulevard known as The Mall. But this one is taking place in the cozier confines of Windsor, a historic town of just over 30,000 people about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of central London.
That makes it easier to control protests and protect the president at a time of increased international tensions, especially after the fatal shooting of Trump ally Charlie Kirk last week in Utah. Even so, British police have mounted a massive police operation to ensure the president’s safety.
When Trump was in London on his first state visit in 2019, he was met by thousands of protesters who filled the streets outside the Houses of Parliament as a balloon shaped like a giant, diaper-wearing baby Trump floated overhead.
Robert Lacey, a royal historian and the consultant on the Netflix television series “The Crown,” said Windsor is also a more “photogenic setting” for a state visit.
“Buckingham Palace has got its balcony, it’s got its façade,” he said. But “inside it’s very dreary and it’s currently being renovated, which is one reason why Mr. Trump will not be staying there. Windsor is a proper castle.”
The carriages are being polished, the family silver is being laid out, and diamonds are being dusted off as King Charles III prepares to offer a royal welcome to Donald Trump for what will be the highlight of the U.S. president’s unprecedented second state visit to Britain.
Hundreds of soldiers, gardeners and chefs are putting the finishing touches on their preparations to make sure the president and first lady Melania Trump get the full royal treatment. But it’s a spectacle with a purpose: to bolster ties with a world leader known for a love of bling at a time when his America First policies are putting pressure on trade and security arrangements globally.
The second leg of the visit will take place on Thursday, when Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer meet at Chequers, the 16th-century redbrick mansion in the Chiltern Hills northwest of London that serves as the official country estate of British prime ministers. The government hopes a technology deal to be signed during the trip will underline the trans-Atlantic bond remains strong despite differences over Ukraine, the Middle East and the future of NATO.
The backdrop for day one will be Windsor Castle, an almost 1,000-year-old royal residence with gilded interiors, crenelated towers and priceless artworks.
It’s a scene that has seemed to enchant Trump, who ditched his trademark bluster and described the invitation to Windsor as “a great, great honor.”
“I think that also is why he seems so visibly excited about the second meeting, because it isn’t an invitation given to (just) anyone,” said George Gross, an expert on the British monarchy at King’s College London.
Trump said Tuesday after arriving in London that he loved being back in the United Kingdom, calling it a “very special place.” Asked if he had a message for Charles, he said the king was a longtime friend of his and well-respected.
While Britain’s royals long ago gave up real political power, their history, tradition and celebrity give them a cachet that means presidents and prime ministers covet an invitation to join them. That makes the invitations, handed out at the request of the elected government, a powerful tool to reward friends and wring concessions out of reluctant allies.
State banquet
No U.S. president, or any other world leader, has ever had the honor of a second U.K. state visit. That won’t be lost on a president who often describes his actions with superlatives and has made no secret of his fondness for the British royals.
The day will begin when the king and Queen Camilla formally welcome the Trumps to Windsor Castle.
That will be followed by a horse-drawn carriage ride through the estate — 6,400 hectares (15,800 acres) of farms, forest and open space that includes a one-time royal hunting ground which is still home to 500 red deer.
Back at the castle, a military band will play “God Save the King” and “The Star-Spangled Banner” before Trump and the king inspect an honor guard of soldiers in traditional scarlet tunics and tall bearskin hats.
After a private lunch and a visit to an exhibit of documents and artwork illustrating the ties between Britain and the U.S., it will be time for the glitz and glamour of a state banquet.
Tiaras and medals will be on display as up to 160 guests in formal wear gather around a 50-meter long mahogany table set with 200-year-old silver to honor the president. Charles will deliver a speech, then the king and president will offer toasts.
Trump won’t, however, have the chance to address a joint session of Parliament as French President Emmanuel Macron did in July during his state visit, because the House of Commons is in recess. The president also missed out on that honor during his first state visit amid opposition from then-Speaker of the House John Bercow.
‘It’s very dreary’
Most state visits are staged in London, against the grand backdrop of Buckingham Palace and the broad, flag-lined boulevard known as The Mall. But this one is taking place in the cozier confines of Windsor, a historic town of just over 30,000 people about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of central London.
That makes it easier to control protests and protect the president at a time of increased international tensions, especially after the fatal shooting of Trump ally Charlie Kirk last week in Utah. Even so, British police have mounted a massive police operation to ensure the president’s safety.
When Trump was in London on his first state visit in 2019, he was met by thousands of protesters who filled the streets outside the Houses of Parliament as a balloon shaped like a giant, diaper-wearing baby Trump floated overhead.
Robert Lacey, a royal historian and the consultant on the Netflix television series “The Crown,” said Windsor is also a more “photogenic setting” for a state visit.
“Buckingham Palace has got its balcony, it’s got its façade,” he said. But “inside it’s very dreary and it’s currently being renovated, which is one reason why Mr. Trump will not be staying there. Windsor is a proper castle.”
The carriages are being polished, the family silver is being laid out, and diamonds are being dusted off as King Charles III prepares to offer a royal welcome to Donald Trump for what will be the highlight of the U.S. president’s unprecedented second state visit to Britain.
Hundreds of soldiers, gardeners and chefs are putting the finishing touches on their preparations to make sure the president and first lady Melania Trump get the full royal treatment. But it’s a spectacle with a purpose: to bolster ties with a world leader known for a love of bling at a time when his America First policies are putting pressure on trade and security arrangements globally.
The second leg of the visit will take place on Thursday, when Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer meet at Chequers, the 16th-century redbrick mansion in the Chiltern Hills northwest of London that serves as the official country estate of British prime ministers. The government hopes a technology deal to be signed during the trip will underline the trans-Atlantic bond remains strong despite differences over Ukraine, the Middle East and the future of NATO.
The backdrop for day one will be Windsor Castle, an almost 1,000-year-old royal residence with gilded interiors, crenelated towers and priceless artworks.
It’s a scene that has seemed to enchant Trump, who ditched his trademark bluster and described the invitation to Windsor as “a great, great honor.”
“I think that also is why he seems so visibly excited about the second meeting, because it isn’t an invitation given to (just) anyone,” said George Gross, an expert on the British monarchy at King’s College London.
Trump said Tuesday after arriving in London that he loved being back in the United Kingdom, calling it a “very special place.” Asked if he had a message for Charles, he said the king was a longtime friend of his and well-respected.
While Britain’s royals long ago gave up real political power, their history, tradition and celebrity give them a cachet that means presidents and prime ministers covet an invitation to join them. That makes the invitations, handed out at the request of the elected government, a powerful tool to reward friends and wring concessions out of reluctant allies.
State banquet
No U.S. president, or any other world leader, has ever had the honor of a second U.K. state visit. That won’t be lost on a president who often describes his actions with superlatives and has made no secret of his fondness for the British royals.
The day will begin when the king and Queen Camilla formally welcome the Trumps to Windsor Castle.
That will be followed by a horse-drawn carriage ride through the estate — 6,400 hectares (15,800 acres) of farms, forest and open space that includes a one-time royal hunting ground which is still home to 500 red deer.
Back at the castle, a military band will play “God Save the King” and “The Star-Spangled Banner” before Trump and the king inspect an honor guard of soldiers in traditional scarlet tunics and tall bearskin hats.
After a private lunch and a visit to an exhibit of documents and artwork illustrating the ties between Britain and the U.S., it will be time for the glitz and glamour of a state banquet.
Tiaras and medals will be on display as up to 160 guests in formal wear gather around a 50-meter long mahogany table set with 200-year-old silver to honor the president. Charles will deliver a speech, then the king and president will offer toasts.
Trump won’t, however, have the chance to address a joint session of Parliament as French President Emmanuel Macron did in July during his state visit, because the House of Commons is in recess. The president also missed out on that honor during his first state visit amid opposition from then-Speaker of the House John Bercow.
‘It’s very dreary’
Most state visits are staged in London, against the grand backdrop of Buckingham Palace and the broad, flag-lined boulevard known as The Mall. But this one is taking place in the cozier confines of Windsor, a historic town of just over 30,000 people about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of central London.
That makes it easier to control protests and protect the president at a time of increased international tensions, especially after the fatal shooting of Trump ally Charlie Kirk last week in Utah. Even so, British police have mounted a massive police operation to ensure the president’s safety.
When Trump was in London on his first state visit in 2019, he was met by thousands of protesters who filled the streets outside the Houses of Parliament as a balloon shaped like a giant, diaper-wearing baby Trump floated overhead.
Robert Lacey, a royal historian and the consultant on the Netflix television series “The Crown,” said Windsor is also a more “photogenic setting” for a state visit.
“Buckingham Palace has got its balcony, it’s got its façade,” he said. But “inside it’s very dreary and it’s currently being renovated, which is one reason why Mr. Trump will not be staying there. Windsor is a proper castle.”
A British woman from an aristocratic family and her partner were sentenced Monday to 14 years in prison each for the death of their newborn daughter, who died while they were living off-grid in freezing temperatures.
Passing sentence, Judge Mark Lucraft told Constance Marten, 38, and Mark Gordon, 51, that the way they treated their baby, Victoria, had been “neglect of the gravest and most serious type.”
The pair sat separately in the glass-fronted dock at London’s Old Bailey central criminal court, but had to be reprimanded by the judge for repeatedly gesturing and passing notes to each other, showing what Lucraft said was a “complete lack of respect” to the court.
“Neither of you gave much thought to the care or welfare of your baby,” Lucraft told the couple, according to BBC News. The judge added that the two had “no genuine expression of remorse.”
Police search the Roedale Valley Allotments, in Brighton, southern England, amid an “urgent search operation” to find the missing baby of Constance Marten, who has not had any medical attention since birth in early January, February 28, 2023.
Jordan Pettitt/PA Images/Getty
Marten and Gordon, who had denied all the charges against them, went on the run after police found a placenta in their burnt-out car by a motorway outside Manchester in northwest England.
They were arrested after a seven-week police hunt in January and February 2023 during which they spent time living in a tent.
Marten and Gordon were trying to keep custody of their daughter after authorities took their four other children into care due to the couple’s lifestyle, saying their attitude posed a “significant risk” to the children, the court heard.
Days after their arrest, baby Victoria’s body was found in a shopping bag on a vegetable patch. Marten told police Victoria died when she fell asleep on her in the tent, but the judge said he believed she died from hypothermia.
A pair of pink child’s earmuffs are found in Roedale Valley Allotments, Brighton, where an urgent search operation was carried out to find the missing baby of Constance Marten on Feb. 28, 2023.
Jordan Pettitt/PA Images via Getty Images
In a statement to the court, Marten’s mother, Virginie de Selliers said she had been horrified at how her daughter had been characterized, adding it did not reflect “the daughter I remember.”
Her lawyer, Tom Godfrey, said Marten felt genuine “sadness and remorse” over Victoria’s death.
Philippa McAtasney, defending Gordon, said he had not been thinking “properly or rationally” when he decided to go on the run, but would have to live with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life.
Becoming estranged from a wealthy family
Born into a life of wealth and privilege, Marten grew up in a 25-room mansion on a vast estate in Dorset in southwest England. Her aristocratic family had close links to the royal family.
Her grandmother was a childhood friend of the late Queen Elizabeth II, for whom Marten’s father also served as a page boy.
But Marten rejected her privilege, according to The Associated Press. She lived at times without paying rent and while on the lam scavenged food from trash bins.
Marten had told the court her family had been prejudiced against Gordon.
This handout combination photo provided by the Metropolitan Police on Jan. 18, 2023, shows Mark Gordon and Constance Marten.
Metropolitan Police via AP
“There’s a few people in my biological family who see me as an embarrassment and are scared I will speak out about them and will stop at nothing to get what they want,” she said.
She added, without fully explaining, that a member of her family “doesn’t want me alive” after she spoke out against them.
British-born Gordon’s early life was a world away from Marten’s and marked by poverty and violence.
In 1989, at the age of 14, he held a woman against her will in Florida for more than four hours and raped her while armed with a knife and hedge clippers, prosecutors told the London court. Within a month, he entered another property and carried out another offense involving aggravated battery.
He was sentenced to 40 years in jail but was released after serving 22.
In 2017, Gordon was also convicted of assaulting two female police officers at a maternity unit in Wales where Marten gave birth to their first child under a fake identity.
Ricky Hatton, the former world boxing champion who rose to become one of the most popular fighters in the sport, has died. He was 46.
Hatton was found dead at his home in Greater Manchester, CBS News partner BBC News and Britain’s Press Association reported Sunday.
The World Boxing Association mourned Hatton’s death on social media Sunday.
“With deep sadness, the WBA mourns the passing of Ricky ‘The Hitman’ Hatton,” the WBA wrote. “A true champion, an indomitable spirit, and a legend of the sport. Your legacy will live on in every fight and in the hearts of boxing fans around the world.”
Police said they were not treating the death as suspicious.
“Officers were called by a member of the public to attend Bowlacre Road, Hyde, Tameside, at 6:45am today where they found the body of a 46-year-old man,” Greater Manchester Police said in a statement to BBC News. “There are not currently believed to be any suspicious circumstances.”
Police would not reveal the identity of the man, but said they were working with his family to provide a statement for the media.
Friends of Hatton were quick to pay tribute Sunday morning.
Boxer Ricky Hatton stands by the pitch before Manchester City’s English Premier League soccer match against Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester, England, Sunday Sept. 22, 2013.
Jon Super / AP
“Today we lost not only one of Britain’s greatest boxers, but a friend, a mentor, a warrior, Ricky Hatton,” former world champion Amir Khan posted on X.
“Rip to the legend Ricky Hatton may he rip,” former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury said in an Instagram post, with photos of the pair together. “There will only ever be 1 Ricky Hatton. can’t believe this so young.”
News of Hatton’s death comes two months after he announced he would make a return to boxing in December in a professional bout against Eisa Al Dah in Dubai.
Hatton won world titles at light-welterweight and welterweight.
He rose through amateur and domestic levels and at the height of his career shared the ring with the best boxers of his generation, including Kostya Tszyu, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
Floyd Mayweather, left, fights Ricky Hatton in tge WBC Welterweight Title at MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, on Aug. 12, 2007.
Junior Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge/File Photo
Hatton’s down-to-earth demeanour also endeared him to fans across the world, and he was open about the mental health issues he endured upon his retirement from the ring.
“As fighters, we tell ourselves we’re strong – we train, we sweat, we take hits, we get up. But sometimes the hardest fight happens in silence, in the mind,” Khan added on X. “Mental health isn’t weakness. It’s part of being human. And we must talk about it. We must reach out. We must lean on each other.”
Hatton’s all-action style added to his popularity. He built up a passionate following in the UK before truly announcing himself on the world stage with his epic victory against Tszyu for the IBF world super lightweight title in 2005.
Pound for pound, great Tszyu had only lost twice before, but was forced to retire on his stool in front of 22,000 fans in Manchester.
Hatton later described it as his greatest win but it was just the start of a period when he fought at the top of the sport, with thousands of fans following him to America for huge fights.
In a post on X, his former manager, Frank Warren, described him as a “superbly talented fighter who inspired a generation of young boxers and fans in a way very few had done before,” adding he will “rightly go down as one of the modern greats of this sport.”
Hatton lost for the first time in his career against Mayweather at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in 2007.
After a sold-out homecoming at Manchester City’s stadium a year later, he worked his way back to the top of the sport to take on Manny Pacquiao in 2009, losing inside two rounds.
Hatton retired after that defeat, but made a remarkable comeback four years later after piling on weight and enduring issues with depression and drinking, as well as allegations of drug use.
While he lost to Vyacheslav Senchenko, the very fact that he managed to return to the ring was seen as a personal triumph.
Speaking to the BBC in 2022, Ricky Hatton discussed his struggles with his mental health over the years. After his knockout in 2009 he knew his career was over, despite a short-lived comeback in 2012.
“I had no boxing. My career was over. I’d fallen out with my parents. I’d fallen out with my trainer Billy Graham. That’s when it got to rock bottom,” he said. “I just went out on the warpath. It was horrible for people to see.”
He became an ambassador for the mental health charity Campaign Against Living Miserably in 2023, according to the BBC.
“If a boxer can come out and say they’re struggling and crying every day, it’s going to make a huge difference,” he explained to the BBC in 2020.
“Having gone through it, I now see it as my job to help those suffering with mental health.”
Outside of the ring, Hatton was a lifelong fan of Manchester City.
The club said there would be a minute of appreciation for Hatton at Sunday’s derby against Manchester United.
“Ricky was one of City’s most loved and revered supporters, who will always be remembered for a glittering boxing career that saw him win world titles at welterweight and light-welterweight,” City said in a statement. “Everyone at the Club would like to send our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends at this difficult time.”
The announcement of Hatton’s return to the ring later this year came after he had enjoyed success as a trainer, coaching Zhanat Zhakiyanov to a world bantamweight title win in 2017.
For more information about mental health care resources and support, The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) HelpLine can be reached Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–10 p.m. ET, at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264).
More than 100,000 people took to the streets in London on Saturday, in what’s believed to be the largest anti-immigration protest in British history. Organizers called it a “Unite the Kingdom” rally. Haley Ott has more.
A London march organized by far-right activist Tommy Robinson drew more than 100,000 people and became unruly Saturday as a small group of his supporters clashed with police officers who were separating them from counterprotesters.Several officers were punched, kicked and struck by bottles tossed by people at the fringes of the “Unite the Kingdom” rally, Metropolitan Police said. Reinforcements with helmets and riot shields were deployed to support the 1,000-plus officers on duty.At least nine people were arrested, but police indicated that many other offenders had been identified and would be held accountable.Police estimated that Robinson drew about 110,000 people, while the rival “March Against Fascism” protest organized by Stand Up To Racism had about 5,000 marchers.Anti-migrant themeRobinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, founded the nationalist and anti-Islam English Defense League and is one of the most influential far-right figures in Britain.The march was billed as a demonstration in support of free speech, with much of the rhetoric by influencers and several far-right politicians from across Europe aimed largely at the perils of migration, a problem much of the continent is struggling to control.“We are both subject to the same process of the great replacement of our European people by peoples coming from the south and of Muslim culture, you and we are being colonized by our former colonies,” far-right French politician Eric Zemmour said.Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and owner of X, who has waded into British politics several times this year, was beamed in by video and condemned the left-leaning U.K. government.“There’s something beautiful about being British, and what I see happening here is a destruction of Britain, initially a slow erosion, but rapidly increasing erosion of Britain with massive uncontrolled migration,” he said.Robinson told the crowd in a hoarse voice that migrants now had more rights in court than the “British public, the people that built this nation.”The marches come at a time when the U.K. has been divided by debate over migrants crossing the English Channel in overcrowded inflatable boats to arrive on shore without authorization.Numerous anti-migrant protests were held this summer outside hotels housing asylum-seekers following the arrest of an Ethiopian man who was later convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in a London suburb. Some of those protests became violent and led to arrests.Sea of flagsParticipants in the “Unite the Kingdom” march carried the St. George’s red-and-white flag of England and the union jack, the state flag of the United Kingdom, and chanted, “We want our country back.”U.K. flags have proliferated this summer across the U.K. — at events and on village lampposts — in what some have said is a show of national pride and others said reflects a tilt toward nationalism.Supporters held signs saying “Stop the boats,” “Send them home” and “Enough is enough, save our children.”At the counterprotest, the crowd held signs saying “Refugees welcome” and “Smash the far right,” and shouted, “Stand up, fight back.”Robinson supporters chanted crude refrains about U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, leader of the center-left Labour Party, and also shouted messages of support for slain U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk.Several speakers paid tribute to Kirk, who was remembered in a moment of silence, followed by a bagpiper playing “Amazing Grace.”One demonstrator held a sign saying: “Freedom of speech is dead. RIP Charlie Kirk.”Crowd covered blocks of LondonThe crowd at one point stretched from Big Ben across the River Thames and around the corner beyond Waterloo train station, a distance of about three-quarters of a mile (around a kilometer).The marches had been mostly peaceful, but toward the late afternoon, “Unite the Kingdom” supporters threw items at the rival rally and tried to break through barriers set up to separate the groups, police said. Officers had to use force to keep a crowd-control fence from being breached.Counterprotesters heckled a man with blood pouring down his face who was being escorted by police from the group of Robinson supporters. It was not immediately clear what happened to him.While the crowd was large, it fell far short of one of the biggest recent marches when a pro-Palestinian rally drew an estimated 300,000 people in November 2023.Robinson had planned a “Unite the Kingdom” rally last October, but could not attend after being jailed for contempt of court for violating a 2021 High Court order barring him from repeating libelous allegations against a Syrian refugee who successfully sued him. He previously served jail time for assault and mortgage fraud.
LONDON —
A London march organized by far-right activist Tommy Robinson drew more than 100,000 people and became unruly Saturday as a small group of his supporters clashed with police officers who were separating them from counterprotesters.
Several officers were punched, kicked and struck by bottles tossed by people at the fringes of the “Unite the Kingdom” rally, Metropolitan Police said. Reinforcements with helmets and riot shields were deployed to support the 1,000-plus officers on duty.
At least nine people were arrested, but police indicated that many other offenders had been identified and would be held accountable.
Police estimated that Robinson drew about 110,000 people, while the rival “March Against Fascism” protest organized by Stand Up To Racism had about 5,000 marchers.
Anti-migrant theme
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, founded the nationalist and anti-Islam English Defense League and is one of the most influential far-right figures in Britain.
The march was billed as a demonstration in support of free speech, with much of the rhetoric by influencers and several far-right politicians from across Europe aimed largely at the perils of migration, a problem much of the continent is struggling to control.
“We are both subject to the same process of the great replacement of our European people by peoples coming from the south and of Muslim culture, you and we are being colonized by our former colonies,” far-right French politician Eric Zemmour said.
Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and owner of X, who has waded into British politics several times this year, was beamed in by video and condemned the left-leaning U.K. government.
“There’s something beautiful about being British, and what I see happening here is a destruction of Britain, initially a slow erosion, but rapidly increasing erosion of Britain with massive uncontrolled migration,” he said.
Robinson told the crowd in a hoarse voice that migrants now had more rights in court than the “British public, the people that built this nation.”
The marches come at a time when the U.K. has been divided by debate over migrants crossing the English Channel in overcrowded inflatable boats to arrive on shore without authorization.
Numerous anti-migrant protests were held this summer outside hotels housing asylum-seekers following the arrest of an Ethiopian man who was later convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in a London suburb. Some of those protests became violent and led to arrests.
Sea of flags
Participants in the “Unite the Kingdom” march carried the St. George’s red-and-white flag of England and the union jack, the state flag of the United Kingdom, and chanted, “We want our country back.”
U.K. flags have proliferated this summer across the U.K. — at events and on village lampposts — in what some have said is a show of national pride and others said reflects a tilt toward nationalism.
Supporters held signs saying “Stop the boats,” “Send them home” and “Enough is enough, save our children.”
At the counterprotest, the crowd held signs saying “Refugees welcome” and “Smash the far right,” and shouted, “Stand up, fight back.”
Robinson supporters chanted crude refrains about U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, leader of the center-left Labour Party, and also shouted messages of support for slain U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Several speakers paid tribute to Kirk, who was remembered in a moment of silence, followed by a bagpiper playing “Amazing Grace.”
One demonstrator held a sign saying: “Freedom of speech is dead. RIP Charlie Kirk.”
Crowd covered blocks of London
The crowd at one point stretched from Big Ben across the River Thames and around the corner beyond Waterloo train station, a distance of about three-quarters of a mile (around a kilometer).
The marches had been mostly peaceful, but toward the late afternoon, “Unite the Kingdom” supporters threw items at the rival rally and tried to break through barriers set up to separate the groups, police said. Officers had to use force to keep a crowd-control fence from being breached.
Counterprotesters heckled a man with blood pouring down his face who was being escorted by police from the group of Robinson supporters. It was not immediately clear what happened to him.
While the crowd was large, it fell far short of one of the biggest recent marches when a pro-Palestinian rally drew an estimated 300,000 people in November 2023.
Robinson had planned a “Unite the Kingdom” rally last October, but could not attend after being jailed for contempt of court for violating a 2021 High Court order barring him from repeating libelous allegations against a Syrian refugee who successfully sued him. He previously served jail time for assault and mortgage fraud.
London — Prince Harry made a rare trip back to the United Kingdom this week, and while most of the visit was filled with public events at charities the Duke of Sussex supports, he also met with his father, King Charles III, for the first time since February 2024.
Harry has said previously that he wants to rebuild his relationship with his family, which has been strained since he and his wife Meghan formally stepped down from their roles as working royals and moved to California.
This meeting was at Buckingham Palace, the monarch’s official residence in London. CBS News has been told they met privately, for tea, but that all other details of the encounter were private.
While Harry hasn’t been a “working royal” for a couple years, he seemed keen to show on this visit to his home nation that he is still prince charming.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, arrives for a visit to the Community Recording Studio in St. Anns, Sept. 9, 2025, in Nottingham, England.
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty
The four-day visit was a clear effort to show he hasn’t lost any love for the causes he holds dear, including supporting sick children and wounded military veterans.
Absent on this trip were Harry’s wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and their children, Archie and Lilibet.
In an interview with CBS News’ partner network BBC News in May, Harry said he couldn’t envision bringing them all back to the U.K. with him since he has lost a legal bid to have his downgraded state security detail restored.
Harry said his battle with the U.K. government to get full state-security restored for himself and his family during visits back to Britain caused a rift between himself and his father.
“Life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has. He won’t speak to me because of this security stuff, but it would be nice to reconcile,” he told the BBC.
That reconciliation may have begun on Wednesday. Harry arrived at Buckingham Palace in the afternoon and was seen leaving less than an hour later.
Prince Harry is seen in the back of a vehicle as he arrives at Clarence House, the official residence of his father King Charles III, Sept. 10, 2025, in London, England.
Ben Montgomery/Getty
The father and son relationship is not the only bond that has been strained by the circumstances of Harry and Meghan’s departure — and the prince’s tell-all book “Spare,” and their interviews, and a documentary, in which they were highly critical of their treatment at the hands of the royal family.
It has been even longer since Harry met with his brother, Prince William, who is next in line to sit on the British throne.
This week, Prince William and Harry appeared at charity events at the same time, only about 10 miles from each other. But those who follow the royal family say they remain far apart.
“William and Harry haven’t seen each other in person since 2022, since the late queen’s funeral. And I believe they haven’t spoken personally for the same period. So, there’s been no contact,” Roya Nikkhah, the royal editor for the Sunday Times newspaper, told CBS News on Tuesday. “There’s no chance that William and Harry are going to meet up anytime soon… There is no desire on either side to do that. You know, the brothers haven’t seen each other for such a long time and relations are as bad as they’ve ever been — non-existent.”
David Jonsson is beaming with pride as he sits down to talk to The Hollywood Reporter.
It’s late August and the in-demand British actor has come to a local school in rural England to counsel the next generation of film creatives. He’s teamed up with BAFTA and EE for a new initiative, Set the Stage, where 16 teens have been selected to form a crew and produce a short film under the mentorship of Daisy Edgar-Jones and Jonsson, 2025’s recipient of BAFTA’s EE Rising Star Award.
“I’m relatively quite shy,” the Rye Lane and Alien: Romulus star says to THR. “I feel like I don’t really have anything of use to say most of the time. But it’s just not true. And I think Set the Stage and their initiative with BAFTA and EE, it’s just so pivotal in getting the opportunities that I got as a kid that really helped me go: ‘Oh man, I can do this.’”
It’s this experience that made it a no-brainer when Jonsson was asked to get involved with Set the Stage. The hand-picked group of 17-year-olds are on site attending a seven-day immersive programme where they were joined by Jonson and Twisters actress Edgar‑Jones. The actors led Q&As and on‑set workshops with the aim of igniting confidence, creativity and collaboration before the teenagers took to set themselves to produce their project Setting Sail.
The movie explores the theme “growing up as a teenager in Britain today” and follows the main character, Hannah, and her younger self, Peanut, on a nostalgic treasure hunt that rekindles memories of her late grandfather. Featuring a cast that includes House of Dragons actress, Carol Ball, Setting Sail will premiere in early 2026 and be made available to watch on EE’s YouTube channel.
David Jonsson talks with young filmmakers about the craft and wider industry for BAFTA and EE’s ‘Set the Stage’.
EE/BAFTA
“I think staying playful is everything,” continues Jonsson, who also leads the forthcoming adaptation of Stephen King’s The Long Walk. “It helps you to just continue to understand what you really enjoy. Life is short, art is long. With art, you want to continue to find what feels right to you, because the truth is you make a handful of them that really, really matter. If you’re too rigid, you’re limiting that.” His biggest advice for the kids: “Remain playful and be passionate. Find craft.”
His mission with Set the Stage is about “actively finding” opportunities for new voices in the film industry. “I’m a working class lad. I got excluded from school several times and I found my way into film in a way that feels like I shouldn’t have,” says Jonsson, “which is partially why I feel grateful to be in these rooms and doing what I’m doing. We can’t expect them to make it to the table, because odds are there’s not enough seats.”
It was advice from his mother, he continues, that motivates his work with aspiring creatives. “There’s something about being vivacious in your belief and holding to it. My mum always used to say, ‘Don’t wait to be told. Go and do it.’ So from both sides, if we can find some form of synergy there, the industry will be way better for it. And I’m all for that. I think Set the Stage is doing that.”
His newly-founded production outfit with producing partner Sophia Gibber, greyarea, is about finding emerging talent and encouraging them to push the boundaries. “We just produced a play up in Edinburgh — [greyarea] is a film company but we had a story that I wrote that felt like it could work on a stage, and I wanted to workshop it and try it and play with it,” he explains. “It doesn’t matter really what discipline you’re in, I think storytelling is storytelling. You can be an actor one day, and then you can be the perfect producer. That’s what making movies is. You mustn’t ever get too set in your ways.”
Daisy Edgar-Jones for EE and BAFTA’s ‘Set the Stage’ initiative.
EE/BAFTA
London-born Jonsson still can’t quite believe he’s a BAFTA Award winner, let alone asked to usher in the next batch of filmmakers. “I grew up watching the BAFTAs,” he says. “My parents [and I would] sit down on Sunday night and we’d get Chinese and watch these glamorous people in dresses [at the BAFTAs]. It’s partially because my dad loved film and partially because my mum just wanted to watch glamorous people be glamorous,” he recalls.
“For me, it was escapism. It was everything that I saw and loved in movies, watching these actors be celebrated for doing what they love… I don’t think there’s any better job. To be where I am now, winning the Rising Star Award — which is really all about the people — and BAFTA championing me in that way, I am humbled.”
North Yorkshire, England — The already-risky work of fire crews battling a wildfire in England’s North York Moors National Park has been made all the more dangerous by World War II-era bombs and tank shells hidden under the dense, dry vegetation. A local fire official said Wednesday that there had been nearly 20 explosions as the fire burns through brush to detonate the hidden weapons.
“As the peat continues to burn down, it is finding the World War II ordnance and therefore exploding, and we have now experienced over 18 ordnance explosions within key areas,” County Chief Fire Officer Jonathan Dyson said, according to CBS News’ partner network BBC News.
The Langdale Moor fire, which started on August 11, has charred about 10 square miles in the picturesque coastal region of North Yorkshire. Emergency fire crews have been tackling the blaze, aided by local farmers and game keepers who’ve swung into action with water tanks and tractors, dousing brush and helping cut fire breaks through the moorland, which is covered largely by dense shrubs and grass.
A firefighter helps combat a wildfire on heathland alongside the A171 road, Aug. 14, 2025, in Fylingdales, in the North York Moors National Park, northeast England.
Ian Forsyth/Getty
Dyson said part of the active fire area was a tank training ground during the 1940s, explaining why so many weapons were still lurking under the first layers of the rugged landscape. There is still a U.K. military site, the RAF Fylingdales radar station, in the immediate area.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense in London said an explosive ordnance disposal team had found “various World War II-era unexploded ordnance items,” declaring them to be “inert practice projectiles.”
Dyson said the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service had requested help from other agencies in the country, and that crews had adopted a “very defensive fire-fighting strategy” to protect members given the presence of unexploded bombs.
The scale of the wildfire has been atypical for northern England — a region often associated with heavy rainfall even within the U.K. But this year saw an incredibly hot, dry spring and early summer, leaving the moors (a British word for uncultivated hills) tinder dry. The U.K. is on track to see 2025 go down as the hottest year ever recorded.
As well as road closures, some rights of way have also been closed, due to the on-going wildfire. Please check this…
The North York Moors park covers more than 550 square miles of rolling hills abutting the Yorkshire coast. It is dotted with villages and seaside towns that are popular summer vacation destinations, including the ancient fishing town of Whitby, considered the inspiration for Victorian-era author Bram Stoker’s iconic tale of “Dracula.”
Along with many smaller towns, Whitby has been hit by road closures due to the fire that have kept some tourists at bay. Several campsites and other businesses in the region have been forced to evacuate and close up.
The moors are also used as grazing land for flocks of sheep, and seeing so much ground burn away — after weeks with little rain to grow fresh grass had already squeezed many farmers ahead of the winter months — has been distressing for local farmers.
Verity McLeod, 7, and her mother Vicky hold a placard thanking local farmers as they pass on their way to assist with the firefighting efforts on Langdale Moor, where a wildfire had been burning for more than two weeks, Aug. 27, 2025, in Fylingdales, England.
Ian Forsyth/Getty
“It’s people’s livelihoods,” farm worker Darren Coates told the BBC. “To see the moors and farmland burned to a crisp it is just devastating.”
Area farms and stables not impacted by the fire have posted messages on social media for weeks, offering to temporarily shelter horses and other animals displaced by the blaze.
Wednesday finally brought some desperately needed rain to the region, helping the fire crews and farmers gain some degree of control over the blaze, but the fire service warned residents on Thursday that many road and trail closures remained in place, and the fire was still active.
“They are working hard on containing the fire by firefighting, hotspotting and adding fire breaks,” the service said. “A helicopter is again in use today. We continue to ask people to avoid the area and not travel there to take photos and drone footage. This is an on-going operational incident and we want to make sure our crews, partners and the public stay safe.”
It said the cause of the fire had not been established.
There have been no reports of injuries or serious structural damage from the wildfire – or from old World War II bombs blowing up underneath it.
Tucker Reals is CBSNews.com’s foreign editor, based in the CBS News London bureau. He has worked for CBS News since 2006, prior to which he worked for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C., and London.
The Princess of Wales’ new blonde locks could reflect her wish to draw attention to them after hair loss — a change that may show she’s left her cancer treatment behind, according to an expert.
Kate Middleton unveiled her lightest hair color to date when she attended a Sunday church service at Crathie Kirk in Balmoral, Scotland.
Kate, 43, was photographed riding in the passenger seat of a Range Rover, while her husband Prince William, also 43, drove with their children Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7, in the back.
Her family was joined by other senior royals in Scotland, including King Charles III and Queen Camilla, Princess Anne and Sir Timothy Laurence, and Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie, for the annual service held near Balmoral Castle.
Princess Kate sat in the front seat of a car in Balmoral with her family and had blonder hair.(Getty Images)
British psychologist Carolyn Mair, PhD, told Fox News Digital that Kate may want to feel “brighter and more energetic” and said hair is a part of our identity.
“Hair is our crowning glory and a symbol of health and femininity,” Mair said.
Kate, the Princess of Wales, returned to Wimbledon in July and sported blonder hair.(Getty Images)
“Kate might want to make a fresh start by embracing a lighter outlook on life,” the psychologist added.
Kate Middleton gave a personal update on her treatment and recovery.(Will Warr)
In March 2024, the princess revealed in a video statement that she had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy.
By September, Kate announced she was cancer-free, describing the nine-month ordeal as “incredibly tough” for her family but one that left her with “a renewed sense of hope and appreciation of life.”
“I don’t know if Princess Kate lost her hair during her treatment, but if she did, she might want to color it blonde as a means of drawing attention to it,” added Mair.
“She may be reclaiming agency and visibility, and leaving her illness behind.”
Kate Middleton announced to the world she had cancer in a pre-recorded message shared in March 2024.(The Prince and Princess of Wales Twitter)
Kate’s style choices have often set trends in the U.K. and across the world, but few details are tracked as closely these days as the changing color of her hair.
The future queen’s new sun-kissed blonde tresses showed a dramatic evolution from the brunette hair that captured the public’s attention when she began her royal life and married Prince William nearly two decades ago.
In 2024, Kate appeared in warmer honey-blonde tones and by April of this year — timed with her and William’s 14th wedding anniversary — she debuted a lighter blonde shade during a royal trip to the Isle of Mull.
At Wimbledon in July, her golden highlights seemed brighter still.
The Balmoral appearance also comes as the Wales family prepares for another milestone: a move from Adelaide Cottage to Forest Lodge, an eight-bedroom estate in Windsor Great Park.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Kensington Palace for comment.
Britain’s top diplomat found himself in some hot water recently after he went fishing with U.S. Vice President JD Vance – but it wasn’t over anything the politicians discussed.
U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy was given a written warning by the country’s Environment Agency for fishing without a license, the agency said Friday.
Lammy had invited Vance and his family to his country estate south of London, where the pair had a photo op at a nearby river.
The pair also held a bilateral meeting during the visit to discuss international issues.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy fishes in Kent, England, with U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Aug. 8. (Suzanne Plunkett/Pool Photo via AP)
The agency said that anyone over 13 is required to have a license to fish in freshwater in the country. The agency didn’t say whether Vance had a license, citing privacy issues.
If he had been fined, the foreign secretary would have had to pay nearly $4,000.
Multiple postal services around Europe announced Saturday that they are suspending the shipment of many packages to the United States amid a lack of clarity over new import duties.
Postal services in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Italy said they will stop shipping most merchandise to the U.S. effective immediately. France and Austria will follow Monday, and the United Kingdom Tuesday.
India’s government also said the country will temporarily suspend postal deliveries to the United States starting Monday, except letters, documents and gift items of up to $100 in value, the AFP reported.
Under a decree signed by President Donald Trump last month, international goods that were previously exempt from U.S. tariffs — those valued under $800 — will be subject to import duties from Aug. 29. Letters, books, gifts and small parcels worth less than $100 will continue to be exempt.
A trade framework agreed by the U.S. and the European Union last month set a 15% tariff on the vast majority of products shipped from the EU.
Many European postal services say they are pausing deliveries now because they cannot guarantee the goods will enter the U.S. before Aug. 29. They cite ambiguity about what kind of goods are covered by the new rules, and the lack of time to process their implications.
Starting Saturday, Deutsche Post and DHL Parcel Germany said they “will no longer be able to accept and transport parcels and postal items containing goods from business customers destined for the US.”
Postnord, the Nordic logistics company, and Italy’s postal service announced similar suspensions effective Saturday.
“In the absence of different instructions from US authorities … Poste Italiane will be forced, like other European postal operators, to temporarily suspend acceptance of all shipments containing goods destined for the United States, starting August 23. Mail shipments not containing merchandise will continue to be accepted,” Poste Italiane said Friday.
Shipping by services such as DHL Express remains possible, it added.
Björn Bergman, head of PostNord’s Group Brand and Communication, said the pause was “unfortunate but necessary to ensure full compliance of the newly implemented rules.”
In the Netherlands, PostNL spokesperson Wout Witteveen said the Trump administration is pressing ahead with the new duties despite U.S. authorities lacking a system to collect them. He said that PostNL is working closely with its U.S. counterparts to find a solution.
“If you have something to send to America, you should do it today,” Witteveen told The Associated Press.
India’s communications ministry said in a statement that the executive order issued last month requires transport carriers or other “qualified parties” approved by US authorities to collect and remit the tariff duties, but “several critical processes relating to the designation of ‘qualified parties’ and mechanisms for duty collection and remittance remain undefined.”
“Consequently, US-bound air carriers have expressed their inability to accept postal consignments after 25th August, 2025, citing lack of operational and technical readiness,” the ministry said.
Austrian Post, Austria’s leading logistics and postal service provider, stated that the last acceptance of commercial shipments to the U.S., including Puerto Rico, will take place Tuesday.
France’s national postal service, La Poste, said the U.S. did not provide full details or allow enough time for the French postal service to prepare for new customs procedures.
“Despite discussions with U.S. customs services, no time was provided to postal operators to re-organize and assure the necessary computer updates to conform to the new rules,” it said in a statement.
The UK’s Royal Mail said it would halt U.S. shipments on Tuesday “to allow time for those packages to arrive before duties kick in.” Items originating in the U.K. will require a 10% duty for items over $100, it said.
PostEurop, an association of 51 European public postal operators, said that if no solution can be found by Aug. 29 all its members will likely follow suit.
In September 2022, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson claimed he was leaving office with “unemployment…down to lows not seen since I was about 10 years old and bouncing around on a space hopper.” In reality, the number of people who were economically inactive had risen by almost 400,000, and an enormous rise in the number of people claiming long-term sickness benefits was already underway.
How did Johnson get away with claiming unemployment was exceptionally low? Government unemployment statistics only look at those who are actively looking for work. If someone is studying, a caregiver, or categorized as long-term sick, they are classed as “economically inactive” and are not counted as unemployed.
In the United Kingdom, one-quarter of the working-age population is currently out of work. (For comparison, in the United States, a similar statistic finds that only 16.6 percent of people in prime working ages are out of the labor force.) Once someone becomes economically inactive due to health reasons, their chances of ever reentering employment within a year drop to 3.8 percent. Up to 3,000 new people per day are writing off work and being approved for sickness benefits, now totaling around 4 million people.
These are Britain’s invisible people.
According to a survey published in 2024, a quarter of all Britons say they are disabled. The Department for Work and Pensions says that’s a 40 percent increase in the past decade.
The real surprise is the tens of thousands of young people who are now economically inactive due to long-term sickness. A National Health Service (NHS) Confederation report showed that in 2021–22, over 63,000 people went straight from studying to being economically inactive due to long-term sickness. In 2002, mental and behavioral problems were the main condition for 25 percent of claimants. In 2024, that figure rose to 44 percent. More than half of the rise in disability claims since 2019 was due to mental health or behavioral conditions, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
What is going on?
About 69 percent of those who apply for sickness benefits mention depression, anxiety, or some other kind of mental or behavioral disorder. Mental illness is now being cited by 48 percent of disabled working Brits, making mental health the single biggest problem. Mental illness, quite clearly, is responsible for a large portion of the spike in claimants.
According to data collected by the TaxPayers’ Alliance, a total of 1.75 million people in England received enhanced personal independence payments (PIP) in April 2025, an increase from 734,136 in January 2019. PIP is just one of many types of social security available to working-age claimants, intended to help them deal with the extra costs of disability. It is available to those in work. However, only one-sixth of PIP recipients are working. Some are receiving these benefits for seemingly minor ailments, including acne, constipation, obesity, “old age,” irritable bowel syndrome, writer’s cramp, and food intolerances. (Thirteen people received PIP for factitious disorders in April.) The largest increases, though, were for mental health disorders. In 2019, the number of PIP claimants for autism was 26,256, and by April 2025, this number had jumped to 114,211. For anxiety and depression, it went from 23,647 in 2019, to 110,075 in April 2025. For ADHD, in the same period, it went from 4,233 to 37,339.
As ludicrous as this sounds, approximately 80 percent of PIP claimants are not in work at all. A person getting incapacity benefits and PIP could be getting 23,899 pounds (roughly $32,250), which is already more than the minimum wage. Someone with children is entitled to even more. When PIP is combined with housing benefits, universal credit, and other offerings, someone could be entitled to 27,354 pounds (roughly $37,000) without paying taxes.
Many of these people may well suffer from mental health conditions that make work a struggle. However, in economic terms, the incentives are entirely off. If you can earn more by claiming benefits than you can working, why would you try to work?
These are real people with real potential. Amy from Keighley is 30, looks after her 8-year-old son, and gets long-term sickness benefits. “I do suffer with mental health issues…[complex post-traumatic stress disorder], anxiety, and depression, and things like that,” she said in the documentary Britain’s Benefits Scandal. She has never held a full-time job. She expressed a desire to work but said she’s trapped by the system. “If I went and got a job tomorrow, everything I get would stop from today. Which would then mean that my rent, everything would stop….Where does that leave my 8-year-old?” She said that after taxes, she would need to earn 35,000 pounds ($47,292) a year to replicate the package she is on now.
People like Amy are simply making economic decisions. Would anyone be reasonably expected to risk swapping the security of welfare dependency for the uncertainty of low-paid work in the private sector?
This is the welfare trap.
It has left Britain in a situation where taxpayers are footing the bill for over 120 billion pounds a year on working-age benefits alone. This is financially unsustainable—not to mention immoral to expect the rest of society to bear the brunt of these costs.
It is also a tragic waste of human potential. These are people that the state has consigned to a lifetime of worklessness. Where is the evidence that, for those with poor mental health, the best thing for them is to be told to stay at home and never work? Work gives people dignity, structure, and a reason to get out of bed in the morning.
Well-intentioned politicians have failed. This year, the Labour Party government tried to make minor cuts to PIP and faced an enormous rebellion from within the party, resulting in a U-turn. It is a welfare policy crisis, a big government crisis, and a warning to the rest of the world that well-intentioned “generous” welfare benefits can inadvertently end up wasting so many people’s lives.
In the U.S., this is increasingly becoming the case. The American welfare system is costing well over $1.2 trillion a year, according to the Congressional Budget Office, encompassing more than 80 federal programs. The system discourages beneficiaries from seeking work. In 1979, American families living below the poverty line earned about 60 percent of their income from work. In 2021, that number had dropped to an all-time low of around 25 percent. Pandemic-era benefits and increased eligibility accelerated these trends. The increased size of the social “safety net” created a cycle of dependency, trapping people in poverty.
Almost half of the American population lives in a household where at least one person receives some form of government benefit. The increasing size of the welfare state, just as in Britain, is creating a culture of dependency.
There is nothing compassionate about a system that wastes millions of lives. Britain’s sickness is a warning to the world. When the state pays people to give up on themselves, many will. For people to flourish, they must not be told they are too broken to work; they should be told they are capable of so much more.
