England’s most senior judge says she is “deeply troubled” by Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch’s exchange about a Gazan family coming to the UK under the Ukraine scheme. The Lady Chief Justice voiced her concern after the prime minister said a judge had made the “wrong decision” by letting a family of six from
Politics
Sir Keir Starmer was the first leader to arrive at this meeting in Paris, strolling down the road from the British Embassy. When he emerged, after three hours of discussion, he looked sombre. Sir Keir, like the other political heavyweights who came to the Elysee Palace, knows that Europe has been battered and marginalised over
Kemi Badenoch has said failing to spend more on defence “is not peacemaking, it is weakness” as Sir Keir Starmer and other European leaders face pressure from Donald Trump to increase NATO contributions. The Conservative leader told the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference: “Totalitarian states like Russia, Iran and North Korea are coordinated in their
A Christian cabinet minister has said he doesn’t agree with JD Vance’s claim that “basic liberties of religious Britons” are under threat. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that the UK and America “don’t have to agree on everything” after the US vice president gave a speech criticising the
Unlike Theresa May, Sir Keir Starmer will not be the first world leader to set foot in the Trump White House, but he has at least now secured an invitation to Washington. It wasn’t issued on the most gracious of terms – with the president telling reporters “it was his request not mine” – but
Rachel Reeves says “no one ever raised any concerns” about her expenses when she worked at HBOS, as she responds to reports she was investigated while working for the bank. The chancellor was accused by former employees of being involved in an “expenses scandal” while working at Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) from 2006 to
A waiting game on tariffs is beginning to play out between the UK and the United States on tariffs, amid warnings that Donald Trump’s latest strategy could hit the UK especially hard. The US president on Thursday revealed he has asked his government to consider what tariffs should be applied to other nations – and
People who believe the things posted in a controversial Labour WhatsApp group shouldn’t have been MPs in the first place, according to Harriet Harman. Speaking on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the veteran Labour parliamentarian said the scandal was “very serious” as the public already thinks MPs are “contemptuous of their voters”. Politics live: Follow the
Farmers forced the prime minister to cut short a visit to a housing development as they drove tractors to the site in a protest against changes to inheritance tax. Sir Keir Starmer was in Buckinghamshire to announce more than 100 new towns could be built under the government’s plans for the “largest house building programme
A leak inquiry will take place following reports that economic growth forecasts have been reduced by the government’s financial watchdog. Bloomberg reported that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had reduced its growth forecasts in data sent to Chancellor Rachel Reeves last week. Reduced growth could force the government to cut further spending or increase
The man who killed Conservative MP Sir David Amess was released from the Prevent anti-terror programme “too quickly”, a review has found. Sir David was stabbed to death by Islamic State (ISIS) supporter Ali Harbi Ali during a constituency surgery at a church hall in Leigh-on-Sea in October 2021. The killer, who was given a
Angela Rayner has insisted the government can meet its target to build 1.5m homes over the next five years as ministers pledged an extra £350m for housebuilding. An extra £300m has been injected to the affordable homes programme, a move ministers believe will allow 2,800 additional homes to be built. More than half of these
Has Sir Keir Starmer picked a fight with a bat tunnel that – in time – he will eventually discover he just can’t win? For the last six months, the prime minister has singled out the most hated construction site in Britain for criticism – a kilometre-long, £100m shed to protect bats in Buckinghamshire from
Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has a ruthless streak when it comes to suspending MPs who’ve brought the party into disrepute or failed to toe the line. It’s no surprise that Andrew Gwynne was sacked before the story of his outrageous comments on WhatsApp had even been published, given that Sir Keir has built his
A Labour MP has said he “deeply regrets” comments he made on a WhatsApp group – a day after health minister Andrew Gwynne was sacked for alleged racist and sexist remarks posted on the same chat. Burnley MP Oliver Ryan is being investigated by the Labour Party over comments which a government source said were
Margaret Thatcher died on 8 April 2013. But the UK’s longest-serving post-war prime minister still casts a long shadow over politics today, more than a decade later. Only last week the Labour Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer cited her example in support of his deregulation plans. “In the 1980s, the Thatcher government deregulated finance capital…,”
Health minister Andrew Gwynne has been sacked over comments posted on a WhatsApp group. Mr Gwynne reportedly made antisemitic comments and ‘joked’ about a pensioner constituent, saying he hoped she died before the next election, according to the Mail on Sunday. In the WhatsApp chat, which contained Labour councillors, party officials and at least one
Keir Starmer was touring the UK National Nuclear Laboratory in Preston when the Bank of England halved its 2025 growth forecast, cut interest rates for the third time in six months, warned of an uptick in inflation and said the national insurance hike on employers would hit prices and jobs more than expected. It was
The Labour MPs who have set up a pressure group to counter the threat of Reform UK have been warned they risked promoting factionalism. Baroness Harman, a former deputy leader of the Labour Party, said setting up the group was also “problematic” because it gave the impression that those involved did not believe the leadership
The government has been accused of “ignoring” the voices of people who lost family in the Grenfell Tower tragedy in its decision to demolish the building. Grenfell United, which represents some bereaved and survivors, criticised the government’s conduct as “disgraceful and unforgiveable”. The news was announced in a meeting attended by deputy prime minister Angela