5 important things happening in the UK today

Here are 5 important things happening in the UK today – 11 August 2025.

Elon Musk’s Tesla applies to supply power to British homes: Elon Musk’s electric car and energy company Tesla has applied for a licence to supply electricity to British homes. If approved by the energy watchdog Ofgem, it would allow Tesla to take on the big firms that dominate the UK energy market to provide electricity to households and businesses in England, Scotland and Wales as soon as next year. [BBC]

UK employers cut back hiring: UK employers are cutting back hiring in response to higher labour costs and the threat of further tax increases, according to several gloomy business surveys that will fuel concerns about the effects of government policies on the economy. Recruitment activity remained close to a two-year low in July, with agencies reporting a further sharp slowdown in placements of both permanent and temporary staff. [Financial Times]

A-level results in England expected to return to near pre-pandemic levels: Students in England are expected to receive A-level grades that are closer to normal for the first time since the Covid pandemic triggered school closures and exam cancellations. The grades will more closely resemble those given out in 2019, before the pandemic, with the proportion of A* to E grades linked to national results from the GCSE exams taken by the same pupils two years ago. [Guardian]

Chagos deal to cost 10 times what Starmer claimed: Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Chagos Islands deal will cost 10 times more than he claimed, official figures reveal. The government’s estimate of the cost of giving away the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius is almost £35bn, according to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act – far higher than the £3.4 billion figure Starmer has previously used in public. [Telegraph]