5 important things happening in the UK today

Here are 5 important things happening in the UK today – 8 August 2025.

Homelessness Minister Rushanara Ali quits over rent hike claims:
Rushanara Ali has resigned as homelessness minister, Downing Street has confirmed. The move comes after she was accused of hypocrisy over the way she handled rent increases on a house she owns in east London. There were calls for her to step down from homelessness charities and from opposition politicians. [BBC]

Police in England brace for disorder ahead of anti-migrant protests: Police are braced for potential disorder in towns across England this weekend amid the far right’s promotion of a range of protests against asylum seekers, with anti-racism activists planning counter-protests. Restrictions will be in place on Friday at locations including Norwich, while officers will patrol at least 12 other towns and cities that evening. [Guardian]

Ministers push ahead with a discount on bills for households near new pylons: The government is pushing ahead with a plan to offer those who live near new electricity pylons a discount of £2,500 from their energy bills over the next 10 years to ease the backlash against its clean power plans. [Bloomberg]

Middle-class children to be shut out of best schools in Labour’s equality crackdown: Middle-class children risk being shut out of the best schools as part of a Labour policy to impose equality on Britain, the Tories have claimed. Prime Minister Keir Starmer plans to update the Equality Act to give public authorities a new duty to consider a person’s “socio-economic background”. The changes could mean that schools are forced to give pupils from a working-class background priority when applying for school places, instead of judging applications based on how far away from a school someone lives. [Telegraph]
On Friday, Oil was trading lower at $65.20. The pound is trading at £1.34 to the dollar, £1.15 to the euro and £9.64 to the yuan.