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Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister, summoned cabinet ministers for a day at No. 10 North – Heron House in central Manchester, shared with intelligence agencies – which he reached by private jet to Glasgow, where he had an appointment, and another private jet south to Manchester. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine became the first international visitor to Mr Burnham, who told him: ‘You can count on the UK for as long as it takes.’ He decided to speed up the independent review of adult social care being undertaken by Baroness Casey of Blackstock. He said that he wanted schools to offer technical courses to children aged 14 and over. To encourage their children to start apprenticeships, some parents on benefits would be given up to £4,500 a year to make up for Universal Credit payments lost by the children starting jobs. A poll put Labour four points in front of Reform.
Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the opposition, called on the Prime Minister to bring in emergency legislation to prevent serious criminals being released early on 1 September. Angela Rayner, reappointed as Housing Secretary, said she would not repay a £16,876 ministerial severance payment that she received after resigning as deputy prime minister and housing secretary in September 2025 after failing to pay enough tax on her £800,000 flat in Hove. In the seven days up to 27 July, 881 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats, 165 on one dinghy. A water supply failure at Gatwick airport led to the closure of lavatories and restaurants and a lack of seating.
Wildfires led to the evacuation of the 700 people of Nethy Bridge in the Badenoch and Strathspey area of Inverness-shire. Fire set off a huge explosion at a store of fertiliser in an industrial unit near Rettendon in Essex; 100 firemen attended. In Northern Ireland, the cost of heating oil, used by about two-thirds of households, rose by 29 per cent in three weeks. The Jodrell Bank Observatory lost its funding from the UK Research and Innovation agency. Bill Oddie, the comedian and bad-tempered birdwatcher, died aged 85.
Abroad
The United States stopped attacking Iran after 12 nights, to give a chance to diplomatic efforts. But then Iran attacked an American base in Jordan and Saudi Arabia joined America in attacking Iran-backed militias in Iraq. A Russian missile killed 15 at an outdoor arms exhibition at a training ground near Kyiv. In a series of drone attacks on Wildberries warehouses, Ukraine hit sites in St Petersburg and Simferopol. Ukrainian drones hit an oil platform in the northern Caspian Sea, a Russian missile boat and an Iranian ship carrying components for drones and missiles from Iran to Russia. President Zelensky, in Washington for the funeral of Senator Lindsey Graham, had talks with President Donald Trump, as did Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel. The United States agreed to help Saudi Arabia develop nuclear energy, but Mr Trump said that this required Riyadh to recognise Israel. Four Palestinians and two Israeli settlers died in a clash near Tal in the occupied West Bank.
Wildfires reached within nine miles of Bordeaux and caused more than 220,000 to be evacuated. In Spain 70,000 were evacuated from an area west of Madrid and into the province of Avila. A van was driven into a crowd at an LGBT parade in Berlin, leaving one person dead and 29 wounded; the next day police shot dead the suspect, Abdul Ballout, 21, described as an Islamist. Three people were shot dead at the Bite of Seattle food festival. Gunther von Hagens, the German showman who preserved corpses to put on public display, died aged 81.
In India, the Cockroach Janta party protest movement ended its five-week protest after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as education minister. President Mohammed Shahabuddin of Bangladesh resigned and Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister sentenced to death in her absence, said she would return. Shares in ChangXin Memory Technologies surged on their launch on the Shanghai stock exchange. Globally tech shares slumped. An earthquake of 6.8 magnitude hit Kyushu island in Japan and trapped many in a collapsed shopping centre. More than 5,500 were confirmed dead from the Venezuelan earthquake of 24 June; tens of thousands of bodies had not been recovered. Uefa, the European football governing body, reacted angrily to a plan by Gianni Infantino of Fifa to sell commercial rights to its tournaments, including the World Cup, to private investors. CSH
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