Here are 5 important things happening in the UK today – 8 July 2025.
- Starmer’s migrant plan under threat: Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s hopes of announcing a “one-in, one-out” Channel migrant returns deal with France this week are under threat after objections by other EU countries. Italy, Spain, Greece, Malta and Cyprus have expressed “serious concerns” over the implications for southern EU states, according to Government sources, who said the “complex” talks were “in the balance”. [Telegraph]
- Push to scrap two-child benefit cap: Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza says any Labour strategy to tackle deprivation must scrap the two-child benefit cap. Children in England are living in “almost Dickensian levels of poverty” where deprivation has become normalised, the children’s commissioner has said, as she insisted the two-child benefit limit must be scrapped. [Guardian]
- Downing Street leaves door open to Wealth taxes: Downing Street has left open the door to higher taxes on the wealthy to close a growing UK fiscal hole, as the Treasury promised to “protect working people” in what is expected to be a painful autumn Budget. Number 10 on Monday declined to rule out tax increases on the rich after former Labour leader Lord Neil Kinnock said a new wealth tax could help fill the hole in the public finances. Kinnock has called for a 2% tax on assets over £10 million, claiming it would raise more than £10 billion a year. [Financial Times]
- National Alert signal to be tested in September: The national system for sending emergency alerts to mobile phones in the UK will be tested again this September, the government has said. It will see compatible phones vibrate and make a siren sound for 10 seconds while displaying a message at 15h00 BST on 7 September, even if they are set to silent. The alerts are intended for situations in which there is an imminent danger to life, such as extreme weather events or during a terror attack. [BBC]
- On Tuesday, Oil was trading higher at $69.43. The pound was trading at £1.36 to the dollar, £1.16 to the euro and £9.78 to the yuan.
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