5 important things happening in the UK today

Here are 5 important things happening in the UK today, Tuesday (3 February 2026):

Door is open to customs union talks with UK, EU says: Brussels would be “open‑minded” about discussing closer trade ties with the UK, including the possibility of working together on a customs union. The European Commissioner for Finance, Valdis Dombrovskis, said the bloc was “ready to engage” if the UK wanted to explore the move, an idea Labour has faced growing pressure to consider. Speaking after high-level talks with ministers, including Chancellor Rachel Reeves, he also said Britain and the EU could remove “most” food checks between the UK and the bloc. [BBC]

Barnsley rebranded as the UK’s first ‘tech town’: In the latest move in Labour’s drive to inject AI into Britain’s bloodstream, the government has announced three US tech companies – Microsoft, Google, Cisco and Adobe – have agreed to help as the council pushes to apply AI to local schools, hospitals, GPs and businesses in Barnsley, an area of South Yorkshire which has struggled with unemployment and deprivation since the coal pits closed. The town and its 250,000 people have been chosen because they have already adopted AI faster than many places, said Sir Stephen Houghton, the Labour leader of Barnsley metropolitan borough council. [Guardian]

Tens of thousands more Londoners are now in temporary jobs: A growing number of Londoners are in temporary work, according to official figures. Thousands more people in the capital say they are doing this type of work as they are unable to find a permanent job. The analysis of hiring in London comes as unemployment in the city has risen faster than in any other region, hitting 7.2%. Tens of thousands of jobs have gone in retail, the hospitality sector, construction, and office administration. [The Standard]

SpaceX acquires xAI in record-setting deal: Elon Musk’s SpaceX has acquired his social media and artificial intelligence business xAI in a $1.25 trillion (£910 billion) deal to unite much of his business empire. In a statement on Monday, Musk said his rocket-launching business had acquired xAI, which owns both social media network X and the Grok chatbot, “to accelerate humanity’s future”. [Reuters]