UK Politics

The birth of the first child in the UK to be born from a transplanted womb is a “medical breakthrough”, the Health Secretary has said.Wes Streeting said womb transplants could “possibly” be available on the NHS in the future.Just four womb transplants have been conducted in the UK so far, each of which were fully funded by the charity Womb Transplant UK.Grace Davidson, 36, from north London, received the organ from her older sister Amy in the UK’s first womb transplant in 2023, and she gave birth in February to her daughter, named Amy Isabel after her aunt and a surgeon who helped perfect the technique.Mr Streeting told LBC radio: “I think this is really exciting. It’s a really exciting possibility for women who might otherwise not be able to conceive a child.“I think this is amazing medical breakthrough.Asked whether the procedure will ever be provided by the NHS, he told Times Radio: “Well, quite possibly.“We have fertility treatment available and there are some people in our country and some aspiring parents who are not able to conceive – and that can be a really difficult moment in people’s lives and relationships, and that’s why novel medical research – IVF, for example – has been game-changing for people who otherwise would not have been able.”On birth rates, Mr Streeting added: “I’m anxious about the birth rate in this country – it does present long-term demographic challenges for our country, but beyond the hard-headed economics, there is also the joy and love and wonder of parents being able to have children, people being able to have children.”Other experts have hailed the news as a “huge milestone” and a “miracle” for the family.Stuart Lavery, consultant in reproductive medicine at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH), said: “This amazing event represents both a personal miracle for the couple involved but also a vindication for the team of surgeons and scientists who have for so many years worked tirelessly to get to this place.“Like so many milestones in UK reproductive medicine, it takes a combination of a courageous patient and a committed and supportive medical team to push the scientific boundaries in the hope of helping more couples have the families they desire.”Professor Alison Campbell, chief scientific officer at Care Fertility, said: “It’s truly incredible how science is making more families possible and to see this progress in reproductive medicine.“The success of uterine transplantation is a huge milestone for people who believed it was impossible to carry a child.“This news gives hope and promises to further expand reproductive freedom.”Dr Melanie Davies, professor of reproductive medicine and consultant gynaecologist at University College London Hospitals, said: “The first UK birth after womb transplantation is a fantastic achievement.“It is wonderful for the couple concerned, especially Grace, who never thought she could carry a child. Congratulations.“It must be immensely satisfying for the team of doctors and scientists to see this outcome.“In particular, congratulations go to Prof Richard Smith, who has held this vision for 25 years and had to overcome many hurdles on the way, not least raising the funds for the programme.“It required skills from many specialities: gynaecology, pelvic surgery, organ transplantation, IVF and maternal medicine. It is an exemplar of team work and dedication.”She said the birth of Amy Isabel gives hope to other women who have been born without a womb and may also help young women who have needed a hysterectomy.“The only alternative for these women is surrogacy, which is not easy to access and not always acceptable,” she said.“Womb transplantation remains a challenging process, involving major surgery for the recipient, who will go through IVF before the procedure, and afterwards needs immunosuppressive drugs to avoid tissue rejection.“The transplanted womb will need to be removed once her family is complete.“The ethical aspects are thoughtfully considered, including the risk to the living donor, who also undergoes major pelvic surgery.“This is not a world first, there have been a small number of successful births in other countries, notably in Sweden.“But for the very first patient having a womb transplant in the UK to give birth so soon afterwards demonstrates the care that has been taken in preparing for this well-deserved success.”Sarah Norcross, director of the Progress Educational Trust (PET), said: “We at PET could not be happier to learn of the birth of Amy Isabel.“This is a testament to many years of hard work and perseverance on the part of Professor Richard Smith, Isabel Quiroga and the rest of the team at Womb Transplant UK, plus remarkable determination on the part of Grace Davidson and Amy Purdie.“It has been little more than a decade since the world’s first ever live birth following a womb transplant, and now the UK has its own womb transplant success story.“This news will give hope to other women who wish to carry a pregnancy, but who have no uterus of their own.”Kate Brintworth, England’s chief midwifery officer, said: “I am so delighted that Grace, Angus and their whole family have been able to welcome the miracle of Amy to the world.“This is a momentous moment in NHS history, and an example of how we are constantly innovating and embracing the latest medical advancements so patients can benefit from groundbreaking care.“Led by specialist teams from across the NHS, we should all be very proud of the health service’s role in this UK first and the hope it will bring to so many women.” More

The UK’s medicine supply could be disrupted by sweeping tariffs imposed by Donald Trump, the health secretary has warned, saying cabinet ministers are doing their best to mitigate the impacts of an “extremely volatile and turbulent” situation. It comes after the US president said he is not looking to pause the tariffs which have plunged global markets into turmoil. Wes Streeting said there are a “number of factors at play” when it comes to the UK’s supply of medicines, including manufacturing and distribution challenges, but warned that tariffs pose “another layer of challenge”. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the situation is ‘extremely volatile and turbulent’ More

Energy firms and tech giants will meet Government ministers on Tuesday for the first round of talks on how to power the UK’s plans to expand its AI infrastructure.In January, the Prime Minister laid out plans to make the UK a “global superpower” in AI by expanding on the data centres and compute needed to power the technology, as part of the Government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan.The plan included the creation of an AI Energy Council, which will meet for the first time on Tuesday and, chaired by the technology and energy secretaries, will also discuss plans to boost the UK’s clean energy production.The Whitehall gathering will have representatives from the energy sector, including EDF, Scottish Power, Ofgem and the National Grid.They will be joined by tech giants such as Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google and British semiconductor firm Arm.The first meeting is said to be about members agreeing on the council’s objectives, specifically around improving clean power generation and improving AI and compute infrastructure.AI is seen as one of the key innovations of the coming years, but development of new technologies in the sector are notoriously power-hungry, as AI models require large amounts of energy to process data and help complete tasks they are set.The Government has set out plans to place the UK as a world leader in the sector to help boost the economy.Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: “The work of the AI Energy Council will ensure we aren’t just powering our AI needs to deliver new waves of opportunity in all parts of the country, but can do so in a way which is responsible and sustainable.“This requires a broad range of expertise from industry and regulators as we fire up the UK’s economic engine to make it fit for the age of AI, meaning we can deliver the growth which is the beating heart of our Plan for Change.”Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “We are making the UK a clean energy superpower, building the homegrown energy this country needs to protect consumers and businesses, and drive economic growth, as part of our Plan for Change.“AI can play an important role in building a new era of clean electricity for our country and as we unlock AI’s potential, this council will help secure a sustainable scale-up to benefit businesses and communities across the UK.”Andrew Bowie, the acting shadow energy secretary, said: “Labour may claim they are supporting UK AI, creating another quango will not disguise the fact that their net zero zealotry and punishing tax hikes are slamming the brakes on growth and investment.“The UK has the highest electricity prices in the world, and the government’s plans are going to send bills soaring even higher.“Businesses and families across the country are paying the price of Labour’s ideology first, national interest second approach with firms like Microsoft warning they might have to pull investments due to their inability to secure grid connections.“Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives are telling the truth about net zero by 2050 and what it will cost the country. Labour need to come clean.” More

Share prices plunged across the world on Monday as Donald Trump doubled down on trade tariffs despite warnings from economists of the growing risk of a recession in the United States and around the globe.The president dismissed market turmoil over his plans – saying “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something” – and threatened to raise import fees even further against China unless Beijing dropped its retaliatory measures. But banking giant Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, the US’s largest investment bank, warned the escalating trade war risked tipping the US and other countries into recession. Britain’s FTSE 100 index dived to a one-year low after Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell more than 13 per cent, and there was similar turmoil on Wall Street.Sir Keir Starmer pledged to “shelter British business from the storm” as he called for “cool heads” to prevail. Speaking at a Jaguar Land Rover plant in the West Midlands, the prime minister said: “These are challenging times, but we have chosen to come here because we are going to back you to the hilt.”Land Rover boss Adrian Mardell said his company faced “a significant threat” from the US tariffs.(PA Graphics) More

Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to back British businesses “to the hilt” amid the growing fallout from Donald Trump’s damaging global trade war. Days after Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) was forced to suspend shipments to the US, the prime minister visited the carmaker’s largest production plant to outline the government’s plans to support UK industry. With British and international markets suffering historic falls, the PM acknowledged Britain was facing “challenging times”. Keir Starmer vowed to back British business ‘to the hilt’ More

The prime minister has doubled down on David Lammy’s criticism of Kemi Badenoch after she defended Israel’s right to deny entry to two Labour MPs. Downing Street backed the foreign secretary’s criticism of the Tory leader, after he accused Mrs Badenoch of “cheerleading another country for detaining and deporting two British MPs”.The deepening row began after Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed were denied entry to the country, which Israel justified by claiming they planned to spread “anti-Israel hatred”.The deepening row began after Mrs Badenoch defended Israel’s decision to deny entry to two MPs More

Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to slash the number of days it takes to set up a clinical trial from “over 250” to 150, in a bid to strengthen the UK’s medical sciences industry.The Prime Minister also announced new investment of “up to £600 million” by both the Government and the Wellcome Trust, a health research charity, in a new health data research service.Sir Keir’s announcement came as he eased targets on some electric vehicles and after Donald Trump’s tariffs began hitting the car UK industry.Britain’s life sciences sector is a “shining example of British brilliance, absolutely pivotal part of our export economy”, Sir Keir said as he visited Jaguar Land Rover’s West Midlands plant.The Prime Minister said: “We’re going to rip up the red tape, cut the stifling bureaucracy that slows down clinical trials. Now, Britain used to be so much better than this, but we’ve taken our foot off the pedal.”Plans to standardise the contracts used to set up clinical trials are among the steps the Government will take, which it says will eliminate the need to negotiate a new agreement each time a trial is begun.In a bid to improve transparency across the NHS, trust-level data on clinical trials will be published for the first time.Sir Keir said: “The latest data says it takes over 250 days to set up a clinical trial, but I’m going to slash that to 150, and on top of that, I can announce a new investment: up to £600 million in new health data research service, a welcome partnership with Wellcome Trust, strengthen the genome cluster in Cambridge, making sure that patient data in our NHS is unlocked for the public good, an opportunity for growth, but more importantly, to save lives with cutting-edge medicine – and Britain is so good for this.”He added: “We saw that in the pandemic and now we need to pick up the pace again; this country has never waited around for history to shape us. We’ve shaped history, and we will do so again.”The new health data research service announced by Sir Keir will be based at the Wellcome Genome Campus in Cambridgeshire.It will bring together access to different medical research data in one secure location, allowing researchers to study it without having to make several applications.The Government believes this could speed up research into diseases such as cancer, dementia and arthritis, but insists patient confidentiality will continue to be held to a gold standard of security.John-Arne Rottingen, chief executive of Wellcome, said: “There is so much more we could learn from health data in this country by joining it up better.“The new service will give researchers a way to easily harness the data held across different parts of the NHS.“The simpler it is to analyse data or identify patients to join clinical trials, the more quickly we can improve our understanding of illness and develop new treatments.“Providing a single, secure service for approved researchers will take away the significant overhead associated with locating, accessing and comparing disparate datasets.“It will create opportunities for patients to access new treatments through trials that would otherwise have been hard to arrange or conduct.”The announcement was welcomed by medical research charities, with Cancer Research UK describing it as a “much-needed investment from the Government”.The charity’s executive director of policy, Dr Ian Walker, added: “The information held within NHS data could help to improve our understanding of diseases like cancer and contribute to the creation of effective new treatments.“Despite its huge potential, access to this data has long been a significant challenge for the research sector, and anything that unleashes the power of NHS data, whilst protecting the security and anonymity of patients, will help enormously.“The UK can lead the world in data science for the benefits of patients both at home and abroad. It will be essential to consult with patients every step of the way.”Kieran Winterburn, Alzheimer’s Society’s head of national influencing, said: “Dementia is the UK’s biggest killer. Research will beat dementia, but we need to make it a reality sooner – through more funding, more partnership-working, better access to data and more people taking part in dementia research.“That’s why Alzheimer’s Society welcomes the Prime Minister’s announcement today that red tape will be slashed for researchers, with a new secure, single access point to NHS data.“Dementia researchers can face gridlock with a lengthy and complex process to access NHS data, navigating through various systems to gather the information they need for vital population and clinical studies.” More