LONDON

The U.K. rejoining the European Union (EU) was an option for the country, British Prime Minister Andy Bunrham said on Wednesday, a day after he told the Labour party conference in Liverpool that the country had to decide on the kind of long-term ties it wanted with the bloc.

The Prime Minister had said that Brexit had “caused more harm than good” yesterday in Liverpool. The question of reversing Brexit, Britain’s departure from the bloc in 2016, would likely be a deeply divisive process as Brexit itself was.

“We could stay as we are…if people think this is the right place to stay,” Mr. Burnham told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Wednesday. 

Other options would include looking at a customs union as suggested by former Conservative Chanceler George Osbone, or entering the Single Market (area for free movement of goods, services, people and capital) as suggested by the Liberal Democrats, Mr Burnham said.

“…Or we could go all the way,” he said, suggesting the U.K. could become part of the E.U. again.

The options would have to be weighed as per their pros and cons, Mr. Burnham said.

Prior to becoming Prime Minister, Mr Burnham had said he was not looking to take the country back into the bloc but had said he hoped the return to the E.U. would happen during his lifetime.

Under his predecessor, Keir Starmer’s administration, the U.K. was in the process of strengthening ties with the E.U. , its largest trading partner. The Starmer government had launched a new ‘U.K.-EU Strategic Partnership’ which sought greater collaboration on defence, security, youth mobility and agriculture among other sectors.

Anti-immigration demonstrators in southern England massed outside a hotel where Pakistan’s Under-19 cricket team were staying after mistaking them for asylum seekers, British media reported Wednesday (September 9, 2026).

The incident occurred on Tuesday (September 8, 2026) evening in a northern suburb of Portsmouth some 48 hours after protesters disrupted the disembarkation of scores of migrants near the port city and confronted the police in widely condemned scenes.

Immigration and the arrival of tens of thousands of asylum seekers annually on small boats from mainland Europe has become a politically toxic issue in Britain, sparking numerous protests in recent years, some turning violent.

Tuesday’s (September 8, 2026) incident came after reports online about a coach with young Asian men on board being seen at a Marriott Hotel in the Portsmouth suburb of Cosham drew protestors to the venue, according to media reports.

A councillor from anti-immigration party Reform UK went to the scene and helped disperse the crowd after confirming the men were in fact members of Pakistan’s teenage cricket team, The Guardian newspaper said.

The senior Pakistan men’s side are currently involved in the third Test against England at Birmingham’s Edgbaston ground.

A spokesman for Hampshire Police, which is responsible for the region, said the force “were notified that a group of people were starting to congregate” near the hotel Tuesday (September 8, 2026) evening.

“Officers subsequently attended and spoke to members of the public that had gathered who were expressing concerns about a coach that had been seen in the area,” the spokesman added.

“The officers explained that their concerns were not correct,” the spokesman said, without confirming the Pakistani cricketers were the mistaken target.

He noted the crowd of around 30 people dispersed a short time later and no offences were identified.

Michael Bradley, a national organiser from the Stand Up To Racism organisation, condemned the incident as showing “where the scapegoating of refugees and migrants can lead”.

“When a Pakistan U-19’s team is faced by protests because it ‘might’ in fact be a group of migrants, it means that effectively any group of black or Asian people coming into the city are being seen by the far right as a potential target,” he said.

“It’s obvious where all this is going to end — racist attacks and more violence.”

Veteran Labour politician and former Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is set to become the United Kingdom’s next Prime Minister on Monday (July 20, 2026), formally succeeding Keir Starmer, who announced his resignation last month.

Burnham was the only candidate to secure enough nominations from Labour lawmakers to contest the party leadership, effectively guaranteeing his election. As Labour commands a majority in Parliament, its leader automatically becomes the U.K. prime minister.

Burnham won the backing of 349 of Labour’s 401 MPs and was elected party leader at a special Labour conference on Friday (July 17, 2026). He will formally assume office on Monday after meeting King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, where he will be invited to form a government. Until then, Starmer remains caretaker prime minister.

Starmer announced his resignation as Labour leader on June 22 after less than two years in office, bringing to an end a tenure marked by a series of political setbacks. The most damaging was his appointment of a man with close ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as Britain’s ambassador to the United States.

Burnham’s appointment makes him Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade.

The rapid turnover of leaders began after the 2016 Brexit referendum. Since then, the U.K. has grappled with sluggish economic growth, high public debt, rising welfare costs and increasing geopolitical uncertainty while seeking to redefine its place outside the European Union.

Here is a look at Britain’s latest leadership transition and the key events that led to it:

A brief timeline on Andy Burnham

The 56-year-old projects the image of an approachable northern everyman, preferring T-shirts to suits and spending his free time playing football or DJing with 1990s music.

But Burnham is also a veteran politician. His career has taken him from senior Cabinet positions to serving as Mayor of Greater Manchester, and now to the brink of becoming Britain’s prime minister.

Here is a brief timeline on his career:

(This article is part of the View From India newsletter curated by The Hindu’s foreign affairs experts. To get the newsletter in your inbox every Monday, subscribe here.)

Six Prime Ministers in 10 years, that is Britain’s reality, amid persisting political turbulence, an economy under strain, and a sharply polarised society. When Keir Starmer resigned on June 22, 2026, it came hardly as a surprise. Tacking further to the centre, he found himself and his party in a position where a large constituency of its supporters were disillusioned and frustrated.  

Our London Correspondent Sriram Lakshman tracked the development closely. “Speaking outside No. 10 Downing Street on Monday, the Prime Minister said he had inherited a Labour Party that was “politically, financially, and morally bankrupt”. He spoke of leading the party in a landslide victory in 2024 and highlighted his record, citing growth in real wages, the fastest economic growth in the G7, reduced wait-times for medical appointments, a ban on social media for under-16s, trade deals and mending fences with the European Union,” he wrote. 

In this analysis, Sriram Lakshman notes that Mr. Starmer’s political fate was all but sealed when Labour’s ‘King of the North’, former mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham won a seat in Westminster (the U.K.’s Parliament) last week, after winning a by-election. 

The Hindu’s editorial on the resignation said Mr. Starmer’s “uncharismatic, technocratic centrism failed to withstand the rapid changes shaping British politics at a time when far-right parties were surging across continental Europe”. While the country’s economy saw incremental gains, Mr. Starmer “proved largely ineffective in addressing the economic anxieties of the working-class communities that delivered his majority, or the cultural grievances Reform UK had been amplifying,” it contended. Mr. Burnham, expected to be elected the next Prime Minister, “should recognise that the Starmerite centrism is unlikely to withstand the onslaught of a far-right cultural politics entrenched in English nationalism. He must unite a fractious party around a progressive economic and foreign policy agenda and build a government that works for all while standing firmly on the right side of global issues,” it further noted.

Top 5 stories we are reading this week

1. War on Iran | The story of a shipwrecked hegemon – The war the U.S. and Israel launched has come to a fragile pause with a preliminary agreement between Washington and Tehran, but it has already diminished America’s presence in the region, writes Stanly Johny in The Hindu Profiles.

2. PACOM, the deeper meaning behind a dropped prefix – The U.S.’s reversion from INDOPACOM to PACOM suggests that its regional shifts run deeper than a simple name change, writes Suhasini Haidar.

3. Wang Yi calls for India, China to accelerate resumption of stalled dialogue mechanisms – A lengthier Chinese readout of the talks between NSA Ajit Doval and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the Chinese leader noted that “India is an important neighbour of China, Ananth Krishnan reports.

4. Why is Sri Lanka’s dengue outbreak straining its public health sector? 

5. July opens the biggest chapter in India-U.K. trade relations –  The U.K.-India Free Trade Agreement, the ‘gold standard of modern trade deals’, comes into force on July 15, writes Harjinder Kang, His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for South Asia and the British Deputy High Commissioner for western India.

British Health Minister Wes Streeting resigned ‌from government on ​Thursday (May 14, 2026), saying ⁠he had lost confidence in Prime Minister Keir ‌Starmer’s leadership.

“It is now ‌clear that you ‌will ⁠not lead ⁠the Labour Party into the next general election ​and that ‌Labour MPs and Labour Unions want the debate about what ‌comes next to ​be a battle of ideas, not ⁠of personalities or petty factionalism,” ‌Mr. Streeting said in a letter published on X.

“It needs to be broad, and it ‌needs the best possible ​field of candidates. I support that ⁠approach and I ⁠hope that you will facilitate this.”

A leadership battle began brewing again in Westminster, with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham being blocked by the Labour Party from running in a parliamentary bye-election that could see him return to Westminster and challenge Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Labour’s governing body, its National Executive Council (NEC), voted 8 – 1 to deny Mr. Burnham permission to quit his post and run in the Gorton and Denton bye-election next month. Mr. Starmer, a member of the NEC, also voted with the majority.

The governing party — like the opposition Conservative Party — has had to contend with Reform UK, the anti-immigration and nativist party which has been surging at the polls. Reactions to Labour’s decision were mixed.

The Secretary of State for Scotland, Douglas Alexander, who is a Cabinet Minister, said not having a second mayoral election for Greater Manchester would save the party and public money and “months of psychodrama”.

Mr. Alexander said the decision was more about “focus than factionalism” given that Labour faced looming electoral battles for the Assemblies in Wales and Scotland and local elections in England, Scotland and Wales on May 7 this year.

“We need all our focus on those elections,” Mr. Starmer said on Monday (January 26, 2026), defending the vote to block Mr. Burnham from running in the bye-election. He said the Mayor was doing a “great” job in Manchester.

Left wing Labour MP John McDonnell called the NEC decision “disgusting”.

“If you think it strengthens you I tell you it will simply hasten your demise,” he told Mr. Starmer in a message on the social media site X.

Mr. Burnham said he was “disappointed” with the NEC decision and concerned about the elections. The media knew of the NEC decision before he did and told “you everything you need to know about the way the Labour Party is being run these days”, he said.

Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman Defects to Reform

Suella Braverman, former U.K. Home Secretary and Attorney General in the Conservative government, defected to Reform UK. Reform now has 8 MPs in the U.K. Parliament.

The news comes days after her former colleague, Robert Jenrick, the shadow Justice Secretary defected from the Conservative Party to Reform.

“I feel like I’ve come home,” Ms. Braverman, who is of Indian descent, said at a party rally, calling it the “honour of her life”. She said the Conservative Party would never take Britain out of the European Convention Human Rights, despite leaders saying they would, as she praised on Reform leader Nigel Farage.

New regulations come into force Monday (January 5, 2026) in Britain banning daytime TV and online adverts for so-called junk foods, in what the government calls a “world-leading action” to tackle childhood obesity.

The ban — targeting ads for products high in fat, salt or sugar — is expected to remove up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets each year, according to the Health Ministry.

Impacting ads airing before the 9 p.m. watershed and anytime online, it will reduce the number of children living with obesity by 20,000 and deliver around £2 billion ($2.7 billion) in health benefits, the Ministry added.

The implementation of the measure — first announced in December 2024 — follows other recent steps, including an extended sugar tax on pre-packaged items like milkshakes, ready-to-go coffees and sweetened yoghurt drinks.

Local authorities have also been given the power to stop fast food shops setting up outside schools.

The government argues evidence shows advertising influences what and when children eat, shaping preferences from a young age and increasing the risk of obesity and related illnesses.

It notes 22% of children starting primary schooling in England — typically aged around five — are overweight or obese, rising to more than a third by the time they progress to secondary schools aged 11.

Tooth decay is the leading cause of U.K. hospital admissions for young children, typically aged five to nine, according to officials.

“By restricting adverts for junk food before 9pm and banning paid adverts online, we can remove excessive exposure to unhealthy foods,” Health Minister Ashley Dalton said in a statement.

He added the move was part of a strategy to make the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) focus on preventing as well as treating sickness, “so people can lead healthier lives”.

Katharine Jenner, executive director of the Obesity Health Alliance, said it was “a welcome and long-awaited step towards better protecting children from unhealthy food and drink advertising that can harm their health and wellbeing”.

The charity Diabetes UK also welcomed the ads ban, with its chief executive, Colette Marshall, noting that type 2 diabetes is on the rise in young people.

“Obesity is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, and the condition can lead to more severe consequences in young people — leaving them at risk of serious complications like kidney failure and heart disease,” she added.

A local Labour Party politician from west London has been fined 40,000 pounds after she lost an appeal against an immigration law breach for hiring an Indian student as a nanny illegally.

Hina Mir, a councillor and a qualified solicitor, was found to have hired 22-year-old Himanshi Gongley for 1,200 pounds in cash a month despite her having no legal work rights in the U.K., according to a court report in ‘The Daily Telegraph’.

The 45-year-old former Deputy Mayor for the borough of Hounslow kept the Indian student on call “24 hours a day for six days a week” to look after her two children, the City of London County Court was told recently.

“Councillor Mir is a person of exemplary character. She is a solicitor, a councillor and is involved in the community,” the court report quotes Judge Stephen Hellman as saying.

“But the inconsistencies in the appellant’s (Mir) evidence mean I cannot place much reliance on her evidence as I normally would,” he said.

According to the newspaper, Ms. Mir nicknamed the student Ria and claimed she was a “social visitor” frequenting her home to “play video games, to watch TV and to chill” and to perform household chores.

However, the U.K. Home Office told the court the student appeared to be distressed when she “flagged down a police car for help” in August last year. She was then found to be in the country illegally since her visa expired in March 2023 and told the authorities that “physically abused” and felt “suicidal”.

Arif Rehman, representing the councillor, told the court: “This story was fabricated with an intention to claim immigration advantage and to present herself as a victim of modern-day slavery.

“Nothing was done with the allegations with the evidence of abuse because there was no evidence. This is not someone who can be trusted by the court.” However, the judge said he found it “unlikely” the student would have “concocted the quite detailed evidence she gave at short notice after she had been arrested by the police”.

After losing her appeal against an immigration ruling in January, Mir will have to pay the fine of 40,000 pounds as well as 3,620 pounds in court costs.

Meanwhile, the Opposition party representatives from her local Hounslow Council are calling for her resignation as a councillor.

“This is a serious breach of the law, and residents rightly deserve a lot better,” Conservative Party councillor Jack Emsley told the newspaper.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who is on a visit to the United Kingdom, met MP Catherine West, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Indo-Pacific), at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, where they discussed opportunities for deeper Tamil Nadu-U.K. collaboration across a range of strategic areas.

In a social media post, Mr. Stalin said they discussed opportunities in green economy, education, research, skilling, and maritime connectivity. “I highlighted Tamil Nadu’s strengths in renewables, e-mobility, IT & manufacturing, and invited deeper UK collaboration to build a sustainable and future-ready economy.”

An official release from the Tamil Nadu government, issued from London, said the meeting highlighted the State’s growing relevance as a key player in the India-U.K. partnership — not just in economic terms but also in areas such as green economy leadership, education and research, and resilient maritime connectivity.

The Chief Minister emphasised Tamil Nadu’s competitive strengths in electric mobility, renewable energy, IT services, and manufacturing, and invited greater U.K. participation in these sectors through trade and investment partnerships.

Discussions also explored strengthening the Tamil Nadu-U.K. ties in higher education, skilling, and climate cooperation. The Chief Minister underscored Tamil Nadu’s global leadership in green hydrogen, solar, and wind energy, and spoke about how the State could serve as a valuable partner in the U.K.’s climate diplomacy, it said.

“This meeting adds further depth to the Chief Minister’s UK engagements, which have already resulted in the signing of several strategic MoUs across aerospace, maritime intelligence, renewables, textiles, and design education,” the release stated.

Britain’s Green Party elected a self-styled “eco-populist” as its new leader on Tuesday (September 2, 2025), as it seeks to gain traction by exploiting dissatisfaction with the Labour government among left-wing voters.

Zack Polanski, a former actor, wants to make the Greens as noisy on the left as Nigel Farage’s anti-immigrant Reform UK party is on the right, at a time when British politics is fracturing into a multi-party system.

“My message to Labour is very clear. We are not here to be disappointed by you. We are not here to be concerned by you. We’re here to replace you,” he told supporters in central London after being elected.

Polanski, who does not sit in the U.K. parliament, was seen as the more radical candidate compared to his defeated opponents, MPs Ellie Chowns and Adrian Ramsay, who had stressed continuity.

Chowns and Ramsay said the party needed to appeal to a wide audience but Polanski’s election means the Greens will shift further to the left, where they will find competition from former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Mr. Polanski’s pugnacious approach and savvy social media campaign saw him win more than 20,400 votes compared to just 3,700 for the joint ticket.

The Greens increased their number of MPs from one to four in the 650-seat parliament at last year’s general election, which ousted the Conservatives and propelled Labour’s Keir Starmer to the premiership.

The party has the same number as Reform but has not been able to gain the same purchase as Farage, who taps into discontent over irregular immigration, now the issue that surveys say most concerns Britons.

“We should never ape the politics of Nigel Farage and Reform. But what Nigel Farage has demonstrated is bold communications that can cut through,” Polanski told reporters.

The 42-year-old added he “also” wants to “stop the boats”, echoing Farage’s number-one pledge to halt asylum seekers crossing the Channel from northern France in rudimentary vessels.

‘Left-wing populism’

“We can stop the boats today with safe and legal routes [for asylum seekers],” Mr. Polanski said.

The Greens advocate higher taxes for the super wealthy, the nationalisation of key industries including water, and has recognised Israel’s military actions in Gaza as a “genocide”.

It hopes to steal away voters angry at Labour’s continuation of a child benefits cap, its moves to reform the welfare system and its roll-back of some environmental pledges.

But a new party recently launched by Corbyn threatens to split votes on the left.

“There’s definitely space in the U.K. for some sort of left-wing populism,” said Chris Hopkins, director of polling firm Savanta.

“(But) they almost certainly will harm each other or, at the very least, put a cap on the other’s potential,” he told AFP.

Polanski, a member of the London Assembly whose role is to hold the capital’s mayor accountable, has repeatedly apologised for a 2013 article in the tabloid The Sun in which the then-hypnotherapist promised to use the power of the mind to try to enlarge a female client’s breasts.

Unlike other parties, the Greens normally hold leadership elections every two years, meaning Mr. Polanski may not lead the party into the next general election, expected in 2029.