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Welcome to this week’s update on the fast-moving world of global trade, digital policy, and transatlantic relations. Here’s what’s shaping the global agenda right now.

Intertrade UK is a non-statutory advisory body established by the UK government to advise on and promote trade within the United Kingdom

HMS Bulwark is to be sold to the Brazilian Navy, ending more than two decades of service with the Royal Navy, as UK focus turns to the future of amphibious assault ships.  

Restrictions eased in the Southwest Scotland BTV zone.

Welcome to this edition of the Dispatch from Brussels. The institutions are slowly emerging from their recess and the legislative machinery is preparing for a busy September. Below is a roundup of some of the developments that have taken place over the past two weeks and a quick look ahead at what to expect for September.  

Gillian Cooper, Director of Energy at Citizens Advice responded to the government’s latest smart meter statistics

The first young people in Wales to be supported by a new UK Government programme for the long-term unemployed have started their jobs.

Deadline for police forces to have specialist teams in place brought forward by 18 months.

The firearms licensing system in England and Wales is not fit for purpose and a new national firearms licensing authority should be created to better protect public safety, a new report from the policing inspectorate has found.

Review aims to widen access to NHS fertility treatment.

A MOD-backed UK start-up has developed the UK's first foot-launched military paraglider, which can take off with no runway, helicopter or drop aircraft required.

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) welcomes the Government’s commitment to clamp down on fraudulent builders, whose actions pose significant financial and health risks to consumers each year through substandard construction work.

Hundreds set to receive compensation after their orders were cancelled following the conflict in the Middle East.

APCC Joint Leads for Roads Policing, Joy Allen and Philip Seccombe, responded to the recent A66 crash that killed seven including two police officers and growing concerns around social media videos glorifying dangerous driving

New training and work placement opportunities.

Ofsted has published a new toolkit and guidance for inspecting education, skills training and work in prisons and young offender institutions (YOIs) in England under the renewed education inspection framework.

Border Force seized a record 1,298kg of ketamine in the first three months of 2026, the highest quarterly total for 15 years.

Food Standards Agency (FSA) and National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) officers attended an address in Essex on Thursday 20 August, supported by the Metropolitan Police Service who arrested one suspect.

New measures to clampdown on cowboy builders and rogue bailiffs to help ease cost of living

FM: Nobody will take better decisions about Scotland’s future than the people who live here.

Hard working families across the UK have saved millions of pounds over the summer thanks to the Government’s Great British Summer Savings.

University of Kent biotechnology available for commercial use could cut costs of producing proteins for everything from diagnostics to cancer therapeutics.

The Prime Minister met with the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland.

More than 22,000 tonnes of illegally dumped waste have now been removed from Oxfordshire site

A postgraduate biomedical student already serving eight-years for an unrelated offence of stalking a judge was yesterday jailed for a further three years for housing benefit fraud.

Alex Smith, Homeless Link's Head of Innovation and Good Practice introduces her team and their priorities.

US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand back a package of UK-led measures to strengthen international action against fraud and online scams

Four in 5 less experienced investors have used AI for help with investing – and around two-thirds report doing so occasionally or regularly.

The ICO has fined Elderly Aids Ltd (EAL) £190,000 for bombarding people with the very nuisance calls it claimed to protect them from.

With publication of the latest storm names for 2026/27 on 1 September, we look back at the storm season which has almost past.

The government has temporarily banned a Rembrandt painting worth £71 million from being taken out of the UK permanently

Issued on behalf of the Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland

The Welsh Government has taken significant action to eliminate child poverty in Wales, according to the latest human rights assessment from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).  

Earlier this year we consulted on draft proposed guidance for providers that may need to register with CQC to deliver health care and treatment at events. 

Householders who think their council tax bill is wrong may be entitled to challenge it through a free tribunal, but new guidance suggests many are never told this option exists, and can lose the right to use it by the time they find out.

HMRC publishes first official statistics on taxable cryptoasset gains.

AI is not (yet) fundamentally reinventing cybercrime. For bold predictions on how it will change, look to history to understand what drives criminal behaviour online.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has arrived in Northern Ireland as part of his summer tour of the United Kingdom.

UK to lead new international Countering Violent Extremism Hub based in the UK.

Pollen levels are expected to remain generally low across the UK over the next five days as we move further towards the end of the summer pollen season.

Their Majesties The King and Queen will undertake an Autumn Tour from Tuesday, 27th October to Wednesday, 4th November 2026. 

The Joint Committee on Human Rights has called for widespread reforms to the children’s social care system to improve the quality of support and life-long outcomes for people in care and care leavers.

The UK government has taken ‘inconsistent action’ – the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) lowest ranking – and failed to uphold the rights of migrants and asylum seekers in line with UN recommendations.  

Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) and INSPIRE IDs will be included with the monthly Price Paid Data dataset, making it easier to match and analyse property data.

Energy regulator Ofgem yesterday (Wednesday 26 August) announced a 4% increase of the energy price cap for the period covering 1 October to 31 December 2026.

Households can save hundreds on bills as plug-in solar panels become legal to use and buy across the country.

Package of funding to support reopening of Glasgow landmark.

A man who made death threats to two mosques was yesterday jailed.

ADHD and autism services are failing too many people because of the way they are designed, commissioned, and delivered, England’s Health Ombudsman has said, as complaints about care continue to rise.

TrydaNi gives drivers access to electric cars across Wales in a way that is affordable, convenient and beneficial to local communities.

David Dinsmore will stand down as the Permanent Secretary, Director of Communications, by mutual agreement on 30 September. 

Prime Minister Andy Burnham's statement in response to flooding along the Nepal-China border.

On 31 July 2026, the Cabinet Office published a statement, ‘Rewiring the State’, setting out the UK Government's plan to shift power, funding and accountability from Westminster and Whitehall to local elected mayors and combined authorities across England. 

New opt-in alerts will warn people when air pollution is high, or expected to be high, in their local area.

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee has written to TikTok, YouTube, Meta and Snapchat over concerns about content on video-sharing platforms promoting dangerous driving.

Statement given yesterday by Ambassador Sarah MacIntosh, UK Permanent Representative to the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East.

Company wound up following Insolvency Service investigations

Serious sexual and violent offenders could be confined to areas just a few miles wide after leaving prison under a world-first crackdown, launching in October to give victims greater freedom.

The first young people supported by a new Government programme for the long-term unemployed have started their jobs.

First Minister John Swinney has announced 24 more areas will benefit from new GP-led walk-in services across Scotland, bringing the number of centres planned or operational to 40.

Thousands of households on heating oil have applied for a heat pump, taking advantage of the £9,000 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant

For social care to be fit for the future, the workforce must be central to reform. 

Getting everyone in for Christmas is a crowd pleaser, and will galvanise the homelessness sector and local partners, but the scheme misses some bigger-picture thinking, writes Fiona Colley, Homeless Link's Director of Social Change, in an article for Inside Housing.

Fairness at the heart of how Scotland adapts to a changing climate.

The FCA has decided to ban 3 former senior figures at Dolfin Financial (UK) Limited (Dolfin) after finding they ran a scheme that helped clients bypass UK visa rules.

Sky-watchers across the UK will have the chance to see a striking partial lunar eclipse, also known as a blood moon, during the early hours of Friday.

Dstl analysts worked with the military, wider defence and industry partners to inform and develop the future vision for the Royal Navy.

A series of measures to modernise and simplify the compulsory purchase system in Scotland are set to move forward.

The proportion of private rented housing managed by a letting agent is the highest is has been for at least two years, according to new research.

Former West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford, plus three officers and a staff member, have been advised their conduct is being investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct relating to the Maccabi Tel Aviv supporter ban in Birmingham.

The US is exceeding its own plans for deployment of aircraft carriers, and the knock-on effects, and the strain, should be a cause for concern.

On 13 May 2026, the British Academy hosted Charity Archives and Records Now, a one-day event exploring new directions in research, policy and practice.

ExxonMobil Chemical Limited has been fined £267,000 after health and safety inspectors found corroded pipes had resulted in five leaks of flammable gas at its Fife Ethylene Plant.

The new SL12 between Gants Hill, Romford, Elm Park and Rainham will connect communities to the capital's transformative network of express bus services.

Experts at Public Health Wales are warning that the illicit drug market is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable, with more than one in three samples submitted to its Welsh Emerging Drug Identification Service (WEDINOS) containing substances other than what the buyer expected. 

Changes to the maximum amount energy suppliers can charge people on default tariffs for each unit of energy and the daily standing charge.

The Creative Trade Forum, a new partnership between government and industries to boost UK creative businesses, has been launched today in Edinburgh.

An Accredited Official Statistics publication for Scotland.

Find out how the VAT cut on household electricity bills will work for you.

Statement given yesterday by Ambassador Kate Foster, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on Food Security.

Many people are reporting a better experience of hospital inpatient care than a year ago, according to a national survey from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The Prime Minister recently (24 August 2026) met the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Kyiv following a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing.

For weeks, people across England and Wales have been asking the same question: where is the rain?

 The Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA), Hounslow Council and PayByPhone have launched Donate Your Device in Hounslow, creating a local route for unused laptops, tablets and smartphones to be passed on to people in the borough who need a device of their own.

This publication outlines the Scottish Government's proposals for taking forward compulsory purchase reform.

Without accompanying reforms, the risk is that President Tinubu’s plan only makes Nigeria’s army bigger but not better.

Retail sales volumes fell at a steep pace in the year to August, according to the CBI’s latest quarterly Distributive Trades Survey. Next month, sales are expected to decline at a slower rate.

Blog posted by: Steph Rowe, GDS Senior Events Manager, 24 August 2026 – Digital, Data and Technology, Events, People and skills, Service design.

Next steps announced for National Performing Company.

Britain's youth unemployment crisis is the symptom of a wider cost of doing business problem. The CBI's youth employment report, Opportunity in Every Postcode: Ensuring Young People Have Options, Wherever They Live, shows that growth is needed to move the dial for more than a million young people not in education, employment or training (NEET).

Statement given recently (24 August 2026) by Ambassador Sarah MacIntosh, UK Permanent Representative to the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on Sudan.

Foreign interference threats to democratic elections are evolving at increasing speed and scale. Australia demonstrates how to build institutions capable of keeping pace.

 Cllr Peter Mason, Chair of the LGA’s Improvement Committee responds to the Government’s announcement that they will provide £46 million over three years for the Capacity to Build programme.

World Cup Fund investment launched at Barclays Hampden.

The new Welsh Government has today marked its first 100 days in office, confirming key progress has been made in delivering on the promise to improve people's lives across Wales.

Thousands of young people across the UK will get the chance to gain work experience, build confidence and develop skills to help them get ready for work as Sainsbury's launches a major new “Modern Work Experience Programme” designed to help more young people into employment.

Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey statement on further Iran sanctions

FCDO launches Global Network Programme, giving UK businesses access to British diplomatic expertise to support international trade opportunities.

Cadets are helping young people to develop the skills, confidence and ambition they need for the future, ahead of the UK’s first National Cadets Week.