5 important things happening in the UK today

Here are 5 important things happening in the UK today – 20 May 2025.

• UK-EU deal to ease price pressures: The deal signed on Monday sets out post-Brexit relations and will make it easier to do trade between the EU and UK. This should help ease a source of pressure on food prices, says Morrisons CEO Rami Baitiéh. [BBC]

• The growing threat of Reform: The new agreement between the EU and the UK continues to dominate the news but Prime Minister Keir Starmer is not out of the woods yet. He faces a growing threat from the Reform party and pledged on Monday that Labour has a ‘moral responsibility to make sure Farage never wins’. [Guardian]

• Warning over costs: There may also be additional costs attached to the new agreement for taxpayers who could lumped with a bill for participation. A Telegraph analysis shows that bill could amount to as much as £16 billion in the first year of the deal. [Telegraph]

• Funding for some university courses to be cut: The UK plans to cut down on high-cost university courses in a push to strategically boost other areas. Under the deal, support will be diverted from certain subjects including journalism and media studies towards lab-based courses. [Financial Times]

• On Tuesday, the pound was trading at £1.34 to the dollar, £1.19 to the euro and £9.64 to the yuan. Oil was trading slightly higher at $65.45 a barrel.