The Metropolitan Police has said it will resume arresting people for showing support for Palestine Action, despite a High Court ruling that found the government’s ban on the group to be unlawful.
Party figures say Green Party membership in England and Wales rose from about 66,000 to more than 215,000 in six months under leader Zack Polanski. Officials link the surge to new activists after Labour took office and turmoil in Jeremy Corbyn’s Your Party, and say it helped deliver a Westminster by-election win in Gorton and Denton. Organisers also report practical strains and expect the 2026 budget to more than double.
Doctors, campaigners and human rights groups are urging NHS trusts and care systems to reconsider adopting the NHS Federated Data Platform, a £330m seven-year contract awarded in 2023 to a Palantir-led consortium. Critics including Medact and Amnesty International said they had privacy, ethics and supplier-conduct concerns, while Palantir said it can only process data under NHS instructions and NHS England said the platform is improving care and hospital operations.
New campaigning data and modelling, reported by GB News, suggest Labour could be left controlling as few as two of London’s 32 borough councils after the 7 May elections. Tony Travers of the LSE said the capital could be heading for a “political earthquake,” with the Greens targeting inner-London seats and Reform UK seeking gains in outer boroughs. The article also cites Labour’s third-place finish in February’s Gorton and Denton by-election.
UK defence officials said British air-defence personnel at the Erbil coalition air base shot down two drones during an overnight attack, while other UAVs struck the site. They said several US service members suffered minor injuries and no British personnel were hurt. Officials described the drones as “Iranian-linked” and said it was unclear whether Iran or aligned militia groups carried out the operation.
