People living in the 100 flats in Royal Mint Court estate said they were "shocked" when the government did not disagree during a judicial review hearing brought by the residents that the land has been diplomatic - with access rights therefore subject to Chinese approval - since 2018. Their flats, built in 1978, are on the land belonging to Beijing after it bought the old Royal Mint site in 2018, but they say they have never been told if their homes are on diplomatic land, which would mean, if they are, the land is inviolable. Under international diplomatic laws, inviolability means UK authorities, including ambulances, police and fire engines, cannot enter inviolable land unless the head of an embassy consents. The residents have brought the judicial review over concerns about their safety and whether planning conditions attached to the government's planning permission, granted in January, can realistically be enforced. At a review hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice at the end of March, the government failed to deny diplomatic immunity applies across the entire site. Resident Mark Nyegate told Sky News the revelation was a "shock" and said they are concerned the Chinese could oust them from their flats. There are also concerns the conditions placed on the planning permission will not be enforceable due to the site being diplomatic land. Last October, a letter from then foreign secretary Boris Johnson to Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi was leaked, revealing he had granted the site diplomatic consent in 2018. He also gave Beijing assurances planning permission would be granted. The current government has refused to release the letter but a minister confirmed it is factual in parliament. In a copy obtained by Sky News, Mr Johnson makes no mention of whether the flats and any planning permission requirements and conditions are included in this diplomatic consent. Under UK law, as soon as diplomatic consent is granted, the land is inviolable. Luke de Pulford, co-founder of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which is helping the residents with the judicial review, told Sky News: "It is absolutely outrageous that the government failed to inform residents that they are living on Chinese diplomatic land. "Quite apart from possible safety implications, there are obvious consequences for the value of their properties. It's about time that this shady deal was fully dragged into the light." Read more:Everything we know about China's new super embassyProtesters march against new embassy The residents had been left wondering if their homes were on diplomatic land since the Johnson letter was revealed, but nothing was mentioned in the planning application for the new site, where much was made of a fence placed between their homes and flats to be built for Chinese embassy staff. Mr Nyegate, treasurer of the Royal Mint Court Residents Association, told Sky News: "It came as a bit of a shock to us. "I've always half joked about living in China since 2018, but that's a reality now. "That hearing shows we are definitely on diplomatic land, and if we had any issues then Tower Hamlets Council wouldn't be able to be involved, and police couldn't come onto the land. "We've always thought we would be covered by UK law and what we're trying to find out is have we lost our rights? "The planning application has a fence dividing us from the embassy flats, but that obviously isn't the case in terms of our rights." Mr Nyegate added: "What's to say tomorrow morning they just say 'you're moving off'? "And will any of us be able to sell our homes now that they're essentially owned by China?" Hong Kong dissident Chloe Cheung, advocacy manager at the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, said she and other Hong Kongers had protested against the embassy from the flats' car park. "It is outrageous that Hong Kong activists could step into what we believed was safe ground, only to later discover it was effectively treated as Chinese territory," she told Sky News. "People took those risks without informed consent. When governments strike arrangements with Beijing, the absolute minimum they owe the public is transparency. Instead, Hong Kong activists were left in the dark and exposed to danger." The residents' concerns about the planning conditions being unenforceable have previously been dismissed by the government, which says there are ways of enforcing planning conditions through diplomatic laws. The residents believe this is unlikely to happen because, under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, it would mean the British government having to declare Chinese diplomats persona non grata or terminating diplomatic relations entirely and expelling the entire mission. This would cause a major diplomatic row with a country the government is trying to stay on the right side of. The government said it does not comment on ongoing legal action. The Chinese embassy in London did not respond to requests for a comment.

The three months to February saw 0.5% growth in gross domestic product (GDP), the standard measure of the value of an economy and everything it produces, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. In just the month of February, the rise was also 0.5%. Revised figures, also published on Thursday, said there was no growth in the three months to December. February's growth was down to expansion in the largest part of the economy: services. In particular, wholesaling, market research, hospitality, and publishing all performed well in the three months to February, said the ONS's chief economist, Grant Fitzner. The government welcomed the latest figures, with chief secretary to the Treasury James Murray saying: "Growth only happens when the economy is on solid ground. That's why in a changing world our plan to restore stability, boost investment and deliver reform is the right one to build a more stronger more resilient Britain. "At the IMF meetings in Washington the chancellor has set out how we will go further and faster to boost Britain's competitiveness and build a stronger, more resilient economy, keeping costs down for families and businesses and taking back control of our energy costs as today we cut bills by up to 25% for 10,000 British businesses." UK car production also recovered from the August cyberattack at Jaguar Land Rover, which for more than a month forced a halt to production across its global operations. Overall, production in the UK grew 1.2%. Growth would have been higher but construction output fell, just more slowly than previously. Leasing and intellectual property licensing are also continuing to contract, Mr Fitzner added. Economic expansion of just 0.1% had been forecast for February by economists polled by the Reuters news agency. The government has repeatedly said its number one priority is economic growth but the rises in GDP have been slight. Last growth for some time? Yet it may be the last period of growth for some time. Despite the current two-week ceasefire, the Iran war is forecast to hit the UK economy more than others. Britain's economic prospects have been downgraded more than any other major economy in the International Monetary Fund's latest update on the state of the world. A similar downgrade was made by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The Tory leader said his father, Alphonse Rudakubana, and mother, Laetitia Muzayire, "knew their son was stockpiling weapons and planning an attack" but "chose silence" and "three little girls paid with their lives". Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were stabbed to death by Rudakubana, then 17, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop on 29 July 2024. Rudakubana, now 19, also tried to murder eight other children, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes at The Hart Space in the Lancashire seaside town. He is serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 52 years. In a 763-page report published on Monday, inquiry chairman Sir Adrian Fulford said Rudakubana would not have been free to kill had his parents "done what they morally ought to have done". The retired High Court judge said if the full extent of their concerns had been shared with authorities "it is almost certain this tragedy would have been prevented". He also blamed a string of agencies who failed to manage the risk, highlighting failures by police, the government's counter-terror Prevent Programme, social care and healthcare, and those involved with his education. Merseyside Police said Rudakubana's parents, were granted asylum in the UK in 2003 after fleeing the Rwandan genocide, would not face criminal charges. "There is no current legal duty on bystanders and/or parents to warn or report criminality," a spokesman said. In a post on X on Wednesday Ms Badenoch said "they should face the consequences of their actions, or indeed their inaction". "If they escape criminal charges on a technicality, the Government should deport them," she said, adding that the UK "must leave" the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) if the treaty stands in the way. She said in a video: "These were people who were refugees in our country, they fled a horrific genocide, they know what violence looks like and when they saw that someone in their household was very likely to do the same to other people's children they did nothing. "I think that is appalling, I think they have a lot of questions to answer. "I think we should look at every possible avenue, to look at what we can do if not from a criminal side, then potentially even from an immigration side." She also called on them to say sorry to the British public. Both Rudakubana's parents, who are British citizens so cannot be deported, apologised when they gave evidence to the inquiry from remote locations, but have not commented publicly since the report was published. Sir Adrian said they had faced "significant challenges" dealing with their son's behaviour but "ultimately failed" to report the risk in the week before the attack. He also said individual parts of his report should not be used "to vilify or unfairly attack any of the individuals or the bodies for whom they work", urging the same for Rudakubana's parents. He made 67 recommendations, including a Law Commission review into whether specified categories of persons ought to be under a legal duty to warn about, or a duty to report, the criminality of another.

A survey by the Economist Educational Foundation found that 22% of 15 to 17-year-olds had stopped themselves sharing political opinions because they were worried about criticism, along with 20% of 10 to 14-year-olds. Nearly one in four of the 4,000 students aged between 10 and 17 who took part in the survey said they have been asked to stop voicing their political views at school. The results also showed that 44% of 15 to 17-year-olds said they would not feel ready to vote in the next election. It comes after the government introduced plans last year to lower the voting age to 16, enabling up to 9.5 million more people to have their say at the next general election. The Economist Educational Foundation's chief growth officer, Tiffany Smyly, said the fear of being cancelled could push teenagers to online "fringe" communities where their views could become more extreme. She warned: "If teenagers are worried about being cancelled, then they are not going to be sharing their viewpoints at school or with friends. "Instead, they are likely to go into chat rooms or forums that do allow them to share a fringe opinion, and that might be where their views become more extreme. "We need to channel young people's political curiosity in more positive ways." Read more from Sky News:Social media bosses ordered to No 10BBC to cut up to 2,000 jobs The survey found the cost of living crisis and healthcare are the main concerns for younger people. Those who took part were more likely to say they were curious about politics than uninterested in it - and more than two-thirds of 15 to 17-year-olds admitted they would feel more confident voting if they knew more about different political policies. Flora Letanka, chief executive of the Economist Educational Foundation, called for more opportunities for young people to openly discuss the topics that matter to them. She added: "We need to ensure young people are given the chance to think critically about what's going on in the world, to explore different perspectives, and see the real impact of political decisions on the people around them."

As companies grapple with surging energy prices caused by the Middle East conflict, ministers said a further 3,000 businesses were to benefit from the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS). It is now expected that 10,000 manufacturers will get a 15%-25% bill reduction through being spared contributions to three existing policy cost elements, including the renewables obligation and feed-in tariffs. Money latest: Major airline raises ticket prices as fuel costs climb The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said qualifying companies - all intensive users of power - would also secure a one-off payment next year to make up for the BICS scheme not being in place during 2026. As its name suggests, BICS is aimed at bolstering UK factory competitiveness as the country has long suffered the highest industrial energy prices in the developed world. That burden has been the major force behind the gradual decline in UK manufacturing across sectors such as steel and chemicals, leaving the country more exposed to imports to meet its needs. BICS was the first major plank of the government's industrial strategy outlined last June when bills for businesses and households alike continued to reflect growing policy costs, alongside a stubbornly high wholesale element left by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Iran war means hard-pressed companies are already experiencing higher bills in many cases, as there is no price cap to protect them from the surge in oil and natural gas prices. Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who is in Washington DC for the International Monetary Fund spring meetings, agreed the additional but still-delayed support after warning over the impact of the war on inflation and economic growth. Read more: UK economic prospects suffer biggest downgrade "This government has the right plan for the economy: backing British industry, cutting electricity costs and building a stronger, more resilient future", she said. "Today's announcement will cut energy bills for over 10,000 manufacturers, helping businesses to compete, win and create good jobs across the country, and to deliver our modern industrial strategy." But Stephen Phipson, chief executive of the manufacturers' lobby group Make UK, said in response: "While this announcement acknowledges the problem of high UK industrial energy costs, it doesn't provide the immediate solution to the critical cost pressures companies are facing right now. "Manufacturers are staring down the barrel of huge increases in their energy bills this month as they renegotiate their energy contracts and, when combined with other cost increases, many simply can't wait until 2027 for relief. "Failure to provide help now risks substantial job losses and further deindustrialisation of a sector vital for our national security and resilience."