5 important things happening in the UK today

Here are 5 important things happening in the UK today, Thursday (20 November 2025):

Up to 50,000 nurses could quit UK over immigration plans: Up to 50,000 nurses could quit the UK over the government’s immigration proposals, plunging the NHS into its biggest ever workforce crisis, research suggests. Keir Starmer has vowed to curb net migration, with plans to force migrants to wait as long as 10 years to apply to settle in the UK instead of automatically gaining settled status after five years. [Guardian]

Paying failed asylum seekers to leave is value for money, says Mahmood: Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said she is willing to consider “a big increase” in payments to failed asylum seekers to persuade them to leave the UK voluntarily. She told the BBC this was often “better value for money for the taxpayer” than the cost of people remaining in the country. Mahmood also defended her plans to start deporting families who have been rejected for asylum, even where this includes children. [BBC]

Owners race to sell £1.5 million-plus homes before budget over tax fears: Worried owners of expensive homes are racing to get sales over the line before next week’s budget, fearing that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, may impose a tax charge on their profits. Lawyers and estate agents are reporting a flurry of last-minute panic from sellers of properties worth £1.5 million or more amid reports that primary homes may face a capital gains tax (CGT) charge for the first time. [The Times]

Reeves set to back £1.7 billion DLR extension in Budget: Rachel Reeves is preparing to announce funding for an extension of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in a bid to secure thousands of new homes. A Treasury source said the Chancellor is expected to back the extension of the DLR to Thamesmead, in south-east London, as part of next week’s Budget. The area has long been without public transport, which has been blamed for preventing the redevelopment of a riverside site that could include thousands of new homes. [The Standard]