PM pledges to put arms industry on ‘war footing’ with plan to raise defence budget to £87bn a year by 2030

Britain will boost its defence spending to 2.5% of national output by the end of the decade as Rishi Sunak pledged to put the UK’s arms industry on a “war footing” in response to global threats.

The prime minister’s plan, which he said would help the UK deal with an “increasingly dangerous” world, would steadily increase defence spending to £87bn a year by 2030.

UN and Council for Europe add voices to outcry as more people drown within hours of ‘cruel’ Rwanda bill being passed

Humanitarian groups have called for new safe routes to Britain after five people died trying to cross the Channel within hours of ministers passing the controversial Rwanda bill.

A child and four adults drowned on Tuesday while trying to reach the UK in a boat from Wimereux, in France. More than 110 people were said to have been on board the vessel when it left the French coastline at 5am.

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3 min: Chelsea are making a slightly nervous start. Cucurella heads back to his keeper Petrovic and only just gets enough purchase on the ball. Trossard was hovering.

2 min: … so but for an inch or two, Arsenal could be one up already and Chelsea a man down.

Minister admits mistakes have been made but says speed limit will remain in high-risk areas

Hundreds of roads and streets where a 20mph speed limit was introduced under a controversial law could be returned to 30mph, as the Labour-led government admitted mistakes had been made over the policy.

The Welsh government denied it had performed a U-turn and insisted the default 20mph for roads in built-up areas would remain to prevent deaths and save the NHS money.

Far-right supporters among those believed to be attending march on Whitehall, with at least six arrests made

Clashes have taken place in central London between police and participants in a St George’s Day event attended by crowds that included some far-right supporters.

Groups of men wielding flags pushed through lines of police attempting to hold them back in an area near Whitehall before the event, resulting in police on horseback being sent in.

Regional armed forces admit ‘difficult situation’ as Kyiv awaits western military aid

Russian forces have made significant advances in a narrow corridor in eastern Ukraine as an offensive by Moscow to take territory before western military aid arrives appears to be gathering pace.

Footage posted by Kremlin military bloggers shows a Russian tricolour flying above the shattered village of Ocheretyne. Russian troops reportedly entered the territory on Sunday, north-west of the town of Avdiivka, after advancing about 5km in 10 days.

Nick Read said to have repeatedly demanded pay rises from the government and described bonus as ‘intolerable’

The chief executive of the Post Office was “obsessed” with his pay and threatened to resign unless it was increased even as the Horizon scandal escalated, a former HR director at the postal service has claimed.

The former chief people officer, Jane Davies, said Nick Read repeatedly demanded pay increases from the government, the company’s sole shareholder, and described his bonus as “intolerable”.

Then home secretary’s decision in January 2023 to drop pledges was discriminatory, high court hears

A decision made by the former home secretary Suella Braverman to drop three recommendations intended to repair some of the “monumental harm” done to the Windrush generation was unlawful, the high court has been told.

The Home Office committed itself to a comprehensive improvement programme in response to the Windrush scandal, which had a severely discriminatory impact on a cohort of people who had lived in the UK since childhood, many of whom were arrested, detained, removed from the UK, or sacked from their jobs, made homeless and denied NHS treatment, the court heard.

Johnny Timpson says he wants to ‘take a stand’ after revelations thousands of unpaid carers are being forced to pay huge fines

One of Rishi Sunak’s dementia advisers has resigned over the government’s approach towards unpaid carers, describing the prosecutions of vulnerable people as “beyond the pale”.

Johnny Timpson, who advised No 10 on its dementia strategy, said he wanted to “take a stand” after the Guardian revealed that tens of thousands of unpaid carers were being fined huge sums and in some cases prosecuted for minor infringements of earnings rules.