5 important things happening in the UK today

Here are 5 important things happening in the UK today, Monday (12 January 2026):

EU demands ‘Farage clause’ as part of Brexit reset talks: The EU is demanding that any future British government pay significant financial compensation if they quit a post-Brexit “reset” deal as part of negotiations with Prime Minister Keir Starmer. EU diplomats have dubbed the stipulation a “Farage clause” that they said was designed to ensure the bloc against the risk of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage becoming prime minister and making good on his threat to reverse Starmer’s attempted move closer to Brussels. [Financial Times]

UK job market stalls: Hiring in the UK’s jobs market failed to bounce back after the budget, according to the latest figures showing permanent and temporary positions fell in December. A closely-watched survey of the labour market, compiled by KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), reported a four-month low for permanent staff placements at the end of the year, another monthly drop in vacancies, and a sharp climb in the availability of workers. [Telegraph]

Concerns grow over plans to ban protests in the UK: More than 40 civil society groups including the TUC, Greenpeace and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign have joined forces to oppose “dangerous” plans to increase police powers to ban protests in England and Wales. They said an amendment in the crime and policing bill, which would require police to consider the “cumulative impact” of repeated protests in the same area when imposing conditions on demonstrations, represented a “draconian crackdown on our rights to freedom of expression and assembly”. [Guardian]

Discussions to keep the wealthy in London: Civil servants are holding discussions with the City about initiatives to attract wealthy investors into Britain in the wake of the abolition of non-domiciled tax status. Non-dom status, used by some rich people to avoid paying tax on income they made abroad, has been replaced by a scheme that allows individuals to avoid tax for the first four years they are in Britain.
It is understood that ministers are listening to ideas for this scheme to be extended and for the government to adopt a visa scheme for wealthy individuals who would pay an annual fee to come to Britain. [The Sunday Times]