UK

NatWest faces 100 million cyber attacks attempting to breach its defences every month, MSPs have been told, as experts set out the “staggering” scale of digital crime.The bank also blocks around a third of emails coming into its system, Holyrood’s Criminal Justice Committee heard.Police and cyber crime agencies are increasingly dealing with fraudsters operating online, with gold scams and romance fraud becoming particularly prominent.The trend increased sharply during the pandemic – in 2020 Police Scotland recorded 7,710 cyber crimes, but in 2024 that increased to 18,280.Chris Ulliott, head of cybersecurity at NatWest, told the committee on Wednesday: “We analyse every single email coming into our estate, looking for malicious content.“About a third of the emails, millions a month, we actually block because they are believed to be the start of an attack against our staff.“If I look outside our network at the attacks that are probing our estate, we’re averaging about 100 million attacks per month just trying to break past the defences we have in the organisation”.He said this has led to a cybersecurity team with hundreds of staff and a budget of millions.Mr Ulliott said there is growing concern about fraudsters using artificial intelligence (AI) to make their approaches to people seem more credible.The technology could even be used to alter a fraudster’s appearance in a real-time online call to look like an “elderly British gent” to gain trust with a victim.Mr Ulliott said Scattered Spider, the group which may have been behind the recent attack on Marks & Spencer, is likely a loose international group in their teens and 20s who are sharing ideas on online forums.SNP MSP Rona Mackay said the numbers revealed by the NatWest official were “absolutely staggering”.Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston said law enforcement agencies around the world are collaborating to try and catch cyber criminals, with the FBI sharing intelligence on fraud and ransomware groups.Adam Stachura from the charity Age Scotland said many elderly people are not confident users of online technology.He said the impact of cyber crime can be devastating for the elderly, saying: “It can create financial destitution – that hit to confidence and self-worth.”David Keenan, chief information officer at Arnold Clark, discussed the serious cyber attack which crippled the car company’s network at the end of 2022.He said recovery was a months-long effort and the attack came despite the company having 12 staff dedicated to cybersecurity.The SNP’s Ben Macpherson said cyber crime is “the criminal justice issue of our time”.He said cyber criminals had even impersonated himself in order to contact constituents in Edinburgh Northern and Leith. More

Canada was “not impressed” by the King’s invitation to Donald Trump for an unprecedented second state visit to the UK, the country’s prime minister has said.Freshly elected leader Mark Carney said February’s invitation jarred with Canadians because it was delivered physically by Keir Starmer during an Oval Office press conference while Trump was challenging Canada’s sovereignty and suggesting America’s northern neighbour should become the 51st state of the US. The former British colony is also a key member of the Commonwealth and regards King Charles as its head of state.“I think, to be frank, they [Canadians] weren’t impressed by that gesture… given the circumstance,” Mr Carney told Sky News. “It was at a time when we were being quite clear about the issues around sovereignty.” Mr Carney, a former Bank of England governor, ran his election campaign on standing up to Mr Trump’s tariff plans and threats to make Canada a state of the US. He has reiterated to Trump that Canada will “never ever” become part of the US. A wave of anti-Trump sentiment in Canada in the wake of the US president’s comments about a takeover helped Mr Carney secure an unexpected victory. His party, the Liberals, won 168 seats out of 343 in Canada’s House of Commons. Sir Keir personally delivered the invitation during his White House visit in February More

Thousands of civil servants are set to be relocated outside of London as the government looks to reduce costs and “radically reform the state”.The move will see 12,000 civil service jobs shifted from the capital to new regional hubs, with 11 London office buildings slated for closure, including one of the government’s largest Westminster sites. The projected savings are estimated at £94 million annually by 2032.The major government shake-up, which is expected to provide a £729m boost for local economies, was first revealed exclusively by The Independent.Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden, stated the government is committed to decentralising decision-making, moving it “closer to communities all across the UK.”Government departments are now tasked with submitting relocation plans for their staff, including senior officials, as part of the upcoming spending review. The deadline for these submissions is 11 June.This initiative will lead to the establishment of two major new ‘campuses’: one in Manchester focusing on digital innovation and artificial intelligence, and another in Aberdeen specialising in energy.The number of civil servants working in London will fall by 12,000 in the coming years as the Government seeks to relocate staff outside the capital (Yui Mok/PA) More

The equalities watchdog has been threatened with legal action after saying trans women must use men’s toilets,The Independent can reveal. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)’s interim guidance was published in the wake of last month’s Supreme Court ruling on gender, which ruled trans women are not legally women under the Equalities Act. The guidance states that trans women “should not be permitted to use the women’s facilities” in workplaces or public-facing services such as shops and hospitals.EHRC chair Baroness Kishwer Falkner More

A 21-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life after two properties linked to Sir Keir Starmer were damaged in London.The Metropolitan Police said the suspect was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday, and he remains in custody.Emergency services were called to blazes at the doors of two homes in north London within 24 hours of each other – one just after 1.30am on Monday and the other on Sunday.Police are investigating a fire at Keir Starmer’s house More

A Tory MP has been charged with two counts of sexual assault at a posh London private members club. Central Suffolk and North Ipswich MP Patrick Spencer has been charged over the alleged incidents which are said to have happened at central London’s Groucho Club in August 2023.Senior Conservatives have already told The Independent that if a by-election is called the seat is likely to fall to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. A Tory spokesman said: “The Conservative Party believes in integrity and high standards. We have taken immediate action. Patrick Spencer MP has been suspended from the Conservative Party, and the whip withdrawn, with immediate effect.“The Conservative Party cannot comment further on an ongoing legal case.”He had been told by Tory whips to stay away from the parliamentary estate while inquiries were ongoing.The Metropolitan Police said Mr Spencer was interviewed at a London police station in March over the incidents, relating to two separate women. Patrick Spencer is the Tory MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich More

Sir Keir Starmer has doubled down on his inflammatory comments on immigration as Labour backlash over the language he used grows.The prime minister’s warning that Britain is becoming a “island of strangers” as a result of migration has sparked alarm with claims that it was almost word for word as a line from Enoch Powell’s infamous “rivers of blood” speech in 1968 that whipped up a frenzy of anti-immigration hatred across the UK.Downing Street has denied that any comparisons should be made with the rightwing Tory, who is a political hero of Nigel Farage, and the prime minister has already denied that his hardline approach on immigration is a reaction to Reform UK’s surge in popularity and crushing Labour in the recent local elections.A spokesman for the prime minister insisted that Sir Keir “absolutely stands by” his language including claims that mass immigration has done “incalculable damage” to the British economy.” He added: “We have set out a number of priorities, getting net migration down is one of those. The PM made his argument in his own language.”But veteran Labour MP and anti-racism campaigner Diane Abbott, a former shadow home secretary, has led the latest wave of criticism from Labour’s backbenches against Sir Keir’s stance.Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks during a press conference on the Immigration White Paper in the Downing Street Briefing Room More