UK abandoned plans to rejoin Euratom after concluding impact of absence ‘could not be reversed’– as it happened

Rishi Sunak at the University of Warwick on Thursday. Photograph: Reuters

5.37pm BST

Afternoon summary

• The UK is to return to the flagship Horizon Europe science research programme, Rishi Sunak has confirmed. But the government has decided not to join Euratom, the EU’s nuclear research programme. The European Commission said the UK took this decision because it assessed “its industry’s long absence from Euratom and F4E/ITER programmes cannot be reversed”. (See 3.27pm.)

• The former Conservative MP Chris Pincher has said he will quit the House of Commons, triggering a byelection in what was previously considered the safe seat of Tamworth in Staffordshire.

• More than one in seven English schools affected by dilapidated concrete were previously denied government funding to be rebuilt despite being deemed in emergency need, Guardian analysis of official data has shown.

• Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, has announced that an independent investigation will take place into the escape of Daniel Abed Khalife, a former soldier charged with terrorism offences, from HMP Wandsworth. There is full coverage on our separate live blog.

Updated at 5.48pm BST

5.28pm BST

Ireland will unite 'in my lifetime', says 44-year-old Irish PM Leo Varadkar

Leo Varadkar, the taoiseach (Irish PM), has said he expects to see Irish reunification in his lifetime. The 44-year-old told RTE that he expected Ireland to unite with Northern Ireland, but that respecting the concerns of the Northern Irish minority in a unified Ireland would be important. He said:

I believe we are on the path to unification.

I believe that there will be a united Ireland in my lifetime, and in that united Ireland there is going to be a minority, roughly a million people who are British.

And you judge the success and the quality of a country by the way it treats its minorities and that’s something we’re going to have to think about.

Because what is, you know, a republican ballad – a nice song to sing, easy words to learn for some people – can be deeply offensive to other people.

Varadkar was speaking in response to a question about the popularity of the Wolfe Tones, a band whose repertoire includes a song that includes a pro-IRA chant.

Updated at 5.34pm BST