Andy Burnham has opened the door to another major U-turn – this time over the future of the Chagos Islands.
The group of islands, thousands of miles away in the Indian Ocean, has been at the centre of a long-running dispute between Britain and Mauritius – with the latter arguing it was unlawfully forced to give them up in 1965.
Trump told Burnham at their first meeting that the current deal with Mauritius – which would see Britain hand sovereignty of the islands back but pay to lease a shared US-UK military base – was “terrible”.
Two pilots injured in RAF jet crash in Wales
A Royal Air Force jet has crashed in Wales in the Pencarnisiog area of Anglesey shortly after taking off this afternoon.
Everything we know
The force said helicopters from the Coastguard and the Wales Air Ambulance were deployed to the scene and the pilots, who ejected from the jet, are being treated for minor injuries.
“We watched it climb, then as it was parallel with us it started to pitch up violently twice… then both pilots ejected, and the Hawk crashed about a mile away,” a witness told North Wales Live.
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Investigation launched
The RAF has launched an investigation into the crash.
- An RAF spokesperson said: “An incident involving an RAF T2 Hawk aircraft, flying out of RAF Valley, occurred near Anglesey. An investigation is underway and we will not comment further at this time.”
AI offers poor financial advice ‘majority of the time’ – what to know
Major AI chatbots provide inaccurate financial advice in 57 percent of cases, new research has found.
This rose to 88 per cent when they were asked harder questions.
One answer would have cost £17,500
Tech research firm Saturn used a paraplanner to run 121 money-related questions through 18 chatbots. One of the answers would have cost them £17,500.
- Amal Jolly, Saturn’s chief executive, said: “The low quality of financial advice from mainstream AI models risks leading to widespread consumer harm.”
Why customers get less protection with AI advice
Human financial advisers must charge for their services, making it a regulated product that has to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. If they provided misleading advice, customers could get compensation.
There are no such protections for those who get information from a chatbot.
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The pinch points of the UK’s Chagos Islands deal
Defence secretary Wes Streeting has confirmed the UK is reviewing its deal to hand over the Chagos islands, home to the critical Diego Garcia base, to Mauritius after Donald Trump called it “terrible” at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
UK wants US support
We have to [review the deal] because the United States doesn’t support it […] We have to do more work with our American allies, with President Trump and his administration, to get the deal to a place where he can support it.
UK Defence secretary Wes Streeting
The original deal
Mauritius argues it was illegally forced to give away the islands in 1965 to gain independence.
A deal was agreed in 2025 where the UK would cede sovereignty of the territory to Mauritius.
It would then pay an average of £101m per year to lease back a joint US-UK military base there.
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US opposition
Opposition from Trump caused Starmer to pause the deal indefinitely in April.
- Trump had been a frequent critic, branding the deal as “a blight on our great ally” and an “act of total weakness”.
High costs
Starmer agreed to lease back the Diego Garcia base for 99 years, with official figures giving the total cost as £3.4bn.
However, opponents said the real cost could come to £35bn when adjusted for inflation.
Worries the deal could endanger the security of Diego Garcia
With sovereignty lying with Mauritius once the deal was done, critics argued that the country could impose restrictions on the joint UK-US military base.
- There were also worries that the move could embolden China to establish a presence in the archipelago.
Over 450,000 people projected to die from super El Niño
This year’s El Niño is estimated to cause 451,000 deaths due to the additional heat it will bring over the next six months, climate scientists have predicted.
What is El Niño?
El Niño is part of a natural cycle, called the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, and forms when warmer waters spread across the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. Brazil, India, Nigeria and Indonesia are some of the countries expected to worst affected.
The World Meteorological Organisation said there was an “exceptionally high likelihood of nearly 100 per cent” that this El Niño will last until February 2027.
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Experts say what it means for the UK
Professor Ilan Kelman of UCL’s department of risk and disaster reduction said that El Niño could bring wetter and milder weather to the UK through the autumn and winter.
“There’s nothing definite, but in general we would expect a milder, wetter, and stormier autumn, a colder winter, and then a possibility of a hotter summer next year,” he added.
- The more severe impact of El Niño on other countries could also have a knock-on effect on the economy and daily life in the UK.
- Kelman said that the weather event could lead to more plane turbulence, flooding and impacts to electronic supply chains and imported food.
- Rice, sugar or coffee imports could be affected by potential flooding in South America.
- The shift of rainfall brought on by El Niño can also cause severe droughts in South East Asia and Australia.
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Why HRT patches are safer than pills
Oral hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) causes a slightly higher rate of blood clots – but there was no such risk from therapies applied to the skin.
The context
Why women use HRT
HRT is used by women going through menopause or for several years afterwards to stop hot flushes and reduce osteoporosis – where bones become weaker.
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The new research
Previous studies found HRT may cause a slightly higher rate of blood clots, heart attacks and breast cancer.
- A Danish study found women had a 60 per cent higher risk of blood clots from oral HRT, and a 20 to 30 per cent higher risk of strokes or heart attacks.
- But the total risk of blood clots was still very low, about one extra blood clot per thousand women per year.
- There was no blood clot risk seen with patches, gels or spray forms of HRT.
- But there was a higher rate of heart attacks with skin-based HRT if it is “cyclic”, alternating between oestrogen and oestrogen and progestogen.
Why might patches be safer?
Oral HRT is transported by blood vessels connecting the gut to the liver. There, it seems to increase levels of certain liver proteins involved in blood clotting.
When HRT is applied through patches or gels, the hormones are absorbed straight into the blood and don’t reach the liver at such high levels.
The NHS says the benefits of HRT usually outweigh the downsides, and that the risks of serious side effects are very low.
HRT is especially helping for combatting osteoporosis in women experiencing early menopause, before the age 45.
How the licence fee could be scrapped for a new monthly charge
The licence fee could be axed and replaced by an £11-a-month internet levy – and viewers invited to become “BBC members” – under new proposals.
The licence fee is becoming increasingly unsustainable, with 3.7 million households claiming to not need one, while half a million households stopped paying last year, forcing the BBC to find £500m in cuts.
‘Home internet levy’ fairest solution
A “home internet levy” method of funding is most likely to command public consent, the report, commissioned by campaign organisation 38 Degrees, found.
A BBC internet levy would cost £11 per month, an average increase of 35 per cent on the current cost of internet bills, but would be £4 a month cheaper than the current licence fee.
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The other proposals for the BBC
The report looked at other funding solutions such as keeping the licence fee, but adding a “news and culture levy” of £2.30 on to internet bills.
Also proposed was a £12 a month “household levy” or putting the cost of the licence fee on to streaming subscriptions.
Make BBC a ‘mutual’ society
- The report also proposed radical changes to make the BBC more accountable to the public by becoming a “mutual-style membership” organisation.
- Members would be chosen by lottery to take part in a member council, where they would serve terms of up to three years and be paid for their time.
- They would “hold the board of the BBC to account, ensuring that the organisation is meeting its duties to the public”.
- Under the proposals, the council would have no control over editorial decisions, hiring talent or decisions on programming.
The four key moments from Burnham’s meeting with Trump
There was no shortage of trip-wires that could have derailed Andy Burnham’s first meeting with Donald Trump, but in the end, it produced remarkably little friction.
Even without the charm offensive, Trump liked Burnham better than Starmer
In July, when Trump met Sir Keir Starmer at the Nato summit in Turkey after he had announced his resignation, the US President said he wanted to “bring him back” and “make him great again”.
Two months on, that affection has evaporated. Asked about a special relationship that has been up and down, Trump said things were “more up than they were under your last prime minister”.
No Trump attack on UK migration policy
Trump has previously said Britain is “on the edge of disaster” because of “insane” immigration policies, but in New York, he called it “a worldwide situation”.
For a Labour Prime Minister under pressure on small boats, being spared a public rebuke on his first outing is significant.
Trump thinks Britain has ‘tremendous potential’
Trump has previously called the UK “essentially bankrupt” for refusing to fully exploit North Sea oil and for relying on green energy. He has also claimed the country is “dying” under alleged mass migration.
This time he said Britain had “tremendous potential” and compared it favourably with other countries whose leaders he meets but in which he sees little promise.
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Burnham swerved a Trump rebuke over West Bank
- Many expected Washington to condemn Britain’s sanctions on illegal West Bank settlements.
- When asked directly, Trump did not engage. He said he did not know about the move and left the question for Burnham to answer.
- It was an odd moment, but a useful one for No 10. A US president who wanted to punish Britain had an open invitation to do so and passed it up.
Vapes and prescription medicine now used to spike victims
Drug-laced vapes, as well as prescription and over-the-counter medications, are increasingly being used to spike victims, police have said.
Various drugs used in vapes
Cases have emerged where officers have encountered vapes containing THC, the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis, and the synthetic drug spice, alongside the use of high doses of common medications such as antihistamines and travel-sickness tablets.
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Victims targeted in private settings
We’re seeing offenders use a wider range of substances than ever before, including everyday medications and substances added to vapes, while increasingly targeting victims in private settings such as homes, parties and student accommodation
Metropolitan police spiking lead Detective Superintendent Dan Thompson
How widespread is the issue?
- Over the past year, more than 2,700 spiking-related offences were reported to the Met, but only 131 resulted in a charge, caution or summons.
- This marked a 20 per cent increase over the previous year.
- More than half the victims were aged 18 to 35.
- A YouGov poll from December 2022 found that 10 per cent of women and 5 per cent of men said they had had a drink spiked.
Now the Government is reviewing it – just a day after Burnham promised Mauritius he would do “everything possible” to see the deal through.
Any changes could have consequences for British taxpayers and the Prime Minister’s relationship with Trump.
What is the Chagos Islands deal?
The Chagos Islands are an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, around 300 miles south of the Maldives.
Britain took control of them from France in 1814 and ran them as part of its colony of Mauritius – an island around 1,250 miles to the south-west – for 150 years.
But in 1965, as Mauritius negotiated its independence, Britain separated the islands from Mauritius and kept them as a British territory so it could build a military base with the US on the largest island, Diego Garcia.
Today, around 3,000 UK and US military and civilian personnel are based on Diego Garcia, and its runway can host long-range US bombers such as the B-2 and B-52.
But Mauritius has consistently claimed ownership of the islands, arguing it was forced to give them up as the price of independence.
In 2019, the International Court of Justice found that Britain had unlawfully separated them, and said the UK should end its administration of them “as rapidly as possible”. The ruling was not legally binding, but successive UK governments feared a future binding ruling could disrupt how the base operates.
Eventually, Sir Keir Starmer’s government signed a treaty with Mauritius in May 2025. Under that deal, Mauritius would have full sovereignty – legal ownership – over the whole archipelago, including Diego Garcia.
Announcing the agreement, Starmer said it was “absolutely vital” for the “safety and security of the British people”.
The UK and US would be able to continue to use the joint military base on the Island for at least 99 years, with an option to extend, and Mauritius could not let other countries use the outer islands without UK agreement.
To use Diego Garcia for a military base, the UK would have to pay an average of £101m a year.
The deal needs a new law to pass Parliament before it can take effect, but its progress was paused in April following backlash from the US.
How this deal might change
Trump and Burnham met for the first time on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Asked about the Chagos deal, Trump said: “I don’t support it. I think it’s terrible.”
He added that he thought “the Prime Minister is going to be looking at it”, to which Burnham replied: “Yep.”
Trump’s objections go further than the terms of the deal. He questioned Mauritius’s claim to the islands, saying it had suddenly claimed ownership after “decades and centuries”, and called it “ridiculous”.
The US President also said the islands were “strategically very important”, complaining that US B-2 bombers had to fly from Missouri during strikes on Iran rather than use Diego Garcia.
On Wednesday, Wes Streeting, the Defence Secretary, said the treaty “can’t go ahead without American support”.
It is not exactly clear what a new deal might look like. But, to appease Trump, it could involve looking again with Mauritius at the terms of control – and how the US might use Diego Garcia in future.
For now, Streeting has said no money will be handed to Mauritius “at this stage”. He said the Government was looking for a deal “that maybe not everyone loves, but everyone can live with”.
Why is it so controversial?
Opponents of the deal, including the Conservatives and Reform, argue that Mauritius’s close ties with China could allow Beijing to set up on the islands near the base. Before he took office in January 2025, Marco Rubio, now the US Secretary of State, warned the deal could give China “an opportunity for communist China to gain valuable intelligence” on the base.
The Government puts the cost of the deal at around £3.4bn in today’s money, but the Conservatives say it will be closer to £35bn once inflation over the 99 years is factored in. Priti Patel, then the shadow foreign secretary, said in July that the deal meant spending “hard-pressed taxpayers’ cash”.
The Conservatives have described the deal as a “surrender” of British territory, with Robert Jenrick, then the shadow justice secretary, calling it “a strategic disaster for Britain” when the deal was announced. Some native Chagossians living in the UK also opposed it, saying they were not consulted on the decision to cede sovereignty of the islands.
What change could mean for the UK-US relationship
Trump has made clear he wants the Chagos deal looked at again – something Burnham has agreed to.
If changes are made, it could make the US president more amenable to favouring the UK in regard to trade and tariffs.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has imposed tariffs – taxes on goods coming into the US – on countries around the world.
When his relationship with Starmer was warmer, the UK struck a deal in May 2025 that lowered US tariffs on British steel and cars. But relations soured, partly over Trump’s opposition to the Chagos deal and Starmer’s refusal to let the US use the base for strikes on Iran.
Burnham is already seeking his own trade concessions from Trump, having used their meeting to ask for tariff relief for an unnamed factory in the north-east.
Reworking the Chagos deal could help keep Trump onside, while pressing ahead unchanged could risk a repeat of the falling-out with Starmer. No timetable has been set for a revised deal to come back to Parliament.
Why the deal matters for you
It is easy to see the Chagos row as a distant diplomatic spat, but it could have a closer-to-home impact.
The UK currently pays nothing to use Diego Garcia, and the US covers the running costs of the military base. Under the proposed deal, the UK would have to pay Mauritius around £101m a year. The Government has said this is less than 0.2 per cent of the annual defence budget. But, in practice, every pound paid to Mauritius is money that cannot be spent on public services, defence or tax cuts.
The UK will keep its base on Diego Garcia under the proposed deal, but it could have implications for the UK’s national security. Without a deal, the Government has warned future legal challenges could mean it loses control of the base. But opponents of the treaty are concerned about Mauritius’s close relationship with China, and fear handing over the islands could allow Beijing to set up a presence near the base. That matters to you because the base helps Britain and its allies respond to wars like the one with Iran.
Relationship with Washington: The row is also an early test of Burnham’s relationship with Trump. The US is Britain’s closest security ally and one of its biggest trading partners, so any falling-out can have knock-on effects. For you, that could mean the difference between lower or higher US tariffs on British goods.