3 hours ago Labour minister confronted over government's alleged monitoring of Elon Musk's Twitter

Science secretary Peter Kyle was confronted over reports Labour is monitoring Elon Musk’s social media accounts.

Politics

54 minutes ago 'We're with you': Supermarket giant Morrisons backs farmers' protests against Labour's inheritance tax raid in fresh blow for Rachel Reeves

In a video posted on social media, the grocery chain told Britain's farmers it shared their concerns about the impact of Labour's action, adding: 'We're with you.'

Economics

22 minutes ago California fires latest: Selling Sunset star slams LA landlords for ‘taking advantage’ of homeless by hiking prices

Palisades and Eaton fires continue to rage with more than 36,000 acres burned

Events

4 hours ago Rachel Reeves 'making Britain a laughing stock' on China trip as she returns with 'puny' £600m investment deal

The Tories said the Chancellor had 'come back with next to nothing' from her trip to Beijing, which she ploughed ahead with despite fresh alarm at her economic plans.

Economics

50 minutes ago Selling Sunset's Jason Oppenheim reveals sick way landlords are profiting from LA fires

Selling Sunset star Jason Oppenheim has hit out at landlords in Los Angeles who are trying to benefit from the devastating wildfires as he makes telling gesture

Events

4 hours ago 'They don't give a s***': Fury over 'diabolical' plans for 15,000 newbuild homes on greenbelt land as debt

EXCLUSIVE: St Albans Council sent its proposal to use land including 800 hectares of green belt to build 15,000 homes by 2041 to Labour's Planning Inspectorate in December.

Politics

15 hours ago Rachel Reeves 'eyes hotel tax' to bolster UK's coffers: Families are facing surcharge on holidays to foot bill for Labour's economic chaos

Treasury officials are thought to have done 'modelling exercises' over the impact of introducing a 'tourist tax' similar to that in France as part of efforts by Rachel Reeves to stabilise finances

Economics

2 hours ago Labour MP breaks ranks and demands Starmer launches grooming gang inquiry

Liverpool Walton MP Dan Carden becomes the first Labour MP to demand an inquiry into the Asian grooming gangs who targeted white working class girls

Events

5 hours ago Britain is a weak link in Donald Trump’s new world order, so it needs to find friends fast | Will Hutton

Amid deepening debt and an onslaught by the president-elect, Labour must calm the markets, then think big economicallyIt’s certainly not 2008, nor even Truss 2022, but the men and women who move the financial markets are suddenly darkly pessimistic. Some of the private emails and WhatsApp messages circulating last week matched any efforts by Cassandra. The mood has turned against Britain.It is not one single thing, but a toxic mix. There is the prospect of a long period of stagflation, the consequence, as even the markets recognise, of 14 years of epic misgovernment. The problem now is partly that Labour does not have a plausible growth story, partly that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is painted as having an economic tin ear that douses capitalist animal spirits, and partly because Trump’s arrival has exposed just how dependent an indebted, economically wounded Britain is on the kindness of strangers. It’s not yet a crisis – the stock market has held up – but without some skilful e...

Politics

36 hours ago Rachel Reeves prepares to slash billions of pounds of disability benefits to calm debts crisis

Downing Street is said to believe that significant reductions are needed in the welfare budget, namely from personal independence payments (PIP).

Economics

2 hours ago Selling Sunset star Jason Oppenheim slams landlords taking advantage of LA wildfires

Selling Sunset star Jason Oppenheim said landlords were breaking the law by taking advantage of a natural disaster which has left thousands of people without a place to stay

Events

12 hours ago Labour must stop handing millions to Pakistan as country blocks removal of child sex abusers from Britain, former immigration minister claims

Robert Jenrick (left) has called for the financial aid to stop and for a visa ban to be implemented until the country cooperates with the deportation of citizens living in the UK such as Adil Khan (bottom right)

Politics

37 hours ago Britain's Treasury chief is heading to China to revive suspended economic and financial talks

Britain’s Treasury chief is travelling to China this weekend to discuss economic and financial cooperation between the countries, as the U.K.‘s Labour government seeks to reset frayed ties with Beijing

Economics

3 hours ago Another crackdown on illegal streaming means you'll struggle to watch Sky TV for free

A seller of dodgy Fire TV Sticks has been handed a prison sentence after his operation was closed down

Events

13 hours ago Minister's controversial academies reforms accused of being 'betrayal of Blair's legacy' in part of 'plot to succeed Keir Starmer'

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson faced claims her controversial school academy reforms are an attempt to play down her Blairite reputation and curry favour of Left-wing Labour MPs.

Politics

37 hours ago Reeves defiant over China trip in face of growing criticism and economic turmoil

Labour chancellor accused of ‘undesirable’ policies and ‘incompatible promises’

Economics

4 hours ago Elon Musk praises Labour MP for becoming the first to break ranks with Keir Starmer and call for a national inquiry into grooming gangs

The tech mogul, who has launched a barrage of attacks on the PM over Labour's rejection of a new widescale probe, praised Liverpool Walton MP Dan Carden.

Events

16 hours ago Badenoch calls on PM to sack Treasury minister over property allegations

Media reports have raised questions about a number of properties connected to Labour MP Tulip Siddiq and her family.

Politics

4 hours ago Another UK Fire Stick TV crackdown just made it harder to watch Sky TV for free

The crackdown on streaming content illegally continues to intensify with one seller of so-called 'dodgy' Fire TV Sticks feeling the full wrath of the law.

Events

17 hours ago The school which launched the Reeves sisters into politics would fail under Labour reforms, claim Tories

Tories claim improvements to the school which educated two of Keir Starmer’s cabinet ministers would not have been allowed by Labour’s education reforms

Politics

4 hours ago California fires live: 16 deaths confirmed as flames threaten UCLA campus and worsening winds predicted

Los Angeles county sheriff says death toll expected to rise, with firefighters racing to contain Palisades fireFull report: international crews arrive to battle raging wildfiresPoliticians quibbling as LA burns: Gavin Newsom’s latest beef with TrumpDetails emerge about the LA fire victimsCalifornia attorney general Rob Bonta has warned that it is illegal to engage in price gouging, looting or scamming of any kind and those who do in response to the fires will be held accountable by the law.“We’ve seen businesses and landlords jack up the price,” he told journalists at a press conference yesterday. “It’s called price gouging. It is illegal. You cannot do it. It is a crime punishable by up to a year in jail and fines.” Continue reading...

Events

17 hours ago Majority of British public believe Elon Musk having negative impact on UK politics, poll suggests

Nearly half of those polled by Opinium say Elon Musk’s claims on grooming gangs are ‘unhelpful’

Politics

6 hours ago A Second Act by Dr Matt Morgan review – what nearly dying can teach us about living

In this sequel to his bestseller, Critical, the intensive care doctor draws lessons on the joys of a ‘second life’ from the experiences of patients who have flatlined and been revived“We have two lives,” Dr Matt Morgan writes, before clarifying: “The second begins when you realise you have [only] one.” Sometimes, as the case studies in this book detail, this realisation comes more suddenly and profoundly than most of us can imagine. For more than 20 years, Morgan has been a specialist doctor in intensive care, labouring at the extreme margins of life. Just occasionally, in his day-to-day education in human mortality, he has witnessed what might, in other traditions, be thought of as supernatural events: people whose vital signs have flatlined, but who have returned to tell the tale. The stories in this book – a sequel to his bestselling Critical – are his accounts of those impossible second acts, and his reflections on what we can learn from those lucky few who have experienced both...

Events

17 hours ago Majority of public think Elon Musk has negative impact on UK politics – poll

Research also suggests almost half the British public think the billionaire’s comments about grooming gangs are ‘unhelpful’.

Politics

7 hours ago Anas Sarwar to harness Andy Burnham to 'do devolution better' if Labour win power in 2026

Anas Sarwar will learn lessons from Andy Burnham and other governments across Europe and the United States as Scottish Labour plan to “rejuvenate Scotland’s national, regional and local governments”.

Events

19 hours ago Majority of Britons believe Musk having negative impact on UK politics

More voters think tech tycoon’s comments on grooming gangs are unhelpful than those who back himMore than half of voters think Elon Musk is having a negative effect on British politics following his criticism of Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.The South African-born billionaire has spent much of the past week using his social media platform X to attack Starmer and the Labour government for their opposition to another national inquiry into grooming gangs. He accused Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, of being a “rape genocide apologist” and falsely claimed Starmer was “deeply complicit in the mass rapes in exchange for votes”. Despite strong suggestions that Musk is preparing to make a large donation to Reform UK, he also recently tore into Nigel Farage, saying he was not up to the job of leading the party. Continue reading...

Politics

16 hours ago Labour MP backs Andy Burnham and calls for national inquiry into grooming gangs

Liverpool MP Dan Carden has spoken out

Events

19 hours ago Gloom and pessimism take hold of Democrats as they look for new leaders

Questions about the viability of a female presidential candidate rise after a crushing presidential defeatDemocrats are harboring strong feelings of stress and gloom as the new year begins. And many are questioning whether their party’s commitment to diverse candidates – especially women – may lead to further political struggles as Donald Trump is sworn in for a second presidency on 20 January.A recent poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that a significant number of Democrats believe that it may be decades before the United States will get its first female president. Continue reading...

Politics

17 hours ago Former Labour MP Ivor Caplin arrested after 'paedophile hunter' Facebook live stream sting

Sussex Police have arrested ex-Labour defence minister Ivor Caplin, MP for Hove between 1997 and 2005, in Brighton on suspicion of engaging in sexual communication with a child

Events

19 hours ago Reeves says London is 'natural home' for Chinese finance and defends Bejing trip

Ms Reeves hailed the trip as a ‘significant milestone’ in Labour’s re-engagement with China, saying she had agreed deals worth £600 million over the next five years

Politics

21 hours ago Addicts struggling to buy drugs after police crackdown in one part of Wales

North Wales Police have conducted 35 raids and made 180 arrests made in just one part Rhyl in eight months

Events

19 hours ago Reeves says London is 'natural home' for Chinese finance and defends Beijing trip

Ms Reeves hailed the trip as a ‘significant milestone’ in Labour’s re-engagement with China, saying she had agreed deals worth £600 million over the next five years

Politics

21 hours ago Brits overwhelmingly reject Elon Musk as half say he's 'threat to democracy'

A new poll found both the erratic tech billionaire, and Tommy Robinson whom he championed on Twitter, are deeply unpopular with the public

Events

20 hours ago The backstabbing of Starmer begins: Labour insiders give their brutal verdicts on his THREE major blunders... and reveal the 'evisceration' that's the biggest blow: DAN HODGES

At the moment, Starmer doesn't seem to have the first clue. Last Monday, he was supposed to be shifting the focus on to NHS reforms. But he allowed himself to be blown off course.

Politics

22 hours ago Labour to make huge change banning 'heartbreaking' practice by greedy landlords

But more measures are expected to be added to Labour's landmark Renters Rights bill in the Commons - including one preventing guarantors of tenants who have died being chased for excessive amounts of future rent.

Events

21 hours ago Voices: Rachel Reeves is heading for the brick wall of an emergency Budget

The chancellor has only herself to blame for failing to give herself any escape routes from humiliation, writes John Rentoul

Politics

26 hours ago Grooming gangs row could spark UK version of New Zealand mosque massacre that killed 51 says Labour's Wes Streeting

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has shared his fears over the vilification of Britain's Muslim community in response to grooming gangs, referencing New Zealand's 2019 mosque shootings.

Events

23 hours ago Gloom and pessimism take hold of Democrats as they prepare to elect party leader

Questions about the viability of a female presidential candidate also rise after a crushing presidential defeat Democrats are harboring strong feelings of stress and gloom as the new year begins. And many are questioning whether their party’s commitment to diverse candidates – especially women – may lead to further political struggles as Donald Trump is sworn in for a second presidency on 20 January.A recent poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that a significant number of Democrats believe that it may be decades before the United States will get its first female president. Continue reading...

Politics

24 hours ago BBC Saturday Kitchen host Matt Tebbutt's outfit distracts fans as he issues three

Saturday Kitchen host Matt Tebbutt was told by guest Helen McGinn about the results of a poll which asked viewers if his outfit was 'midlife crisis'.

Politics

26 hours ago Americans stocking up on foreign goods before Trump tariffs: ‘a sense of urgency’

As inauguration day approaches, consumers scooping up iPads, building supplies, shelf-stable foods and electric carsTablets and appliances made in China, hybrid cars built in Canada, European wine. As Donald Trump’s second inauguration as president quickly approaches, Americans are stocking up on goods in anticipation of tariffs Trump plans to place on imports, according to a Guardian reader poll.Since the election, Trump has promised to immediately impose a 25% tariff on Mexican and Canadian imports, along with increasing existing tariffs on Chinese imports by 10%. On the campaign trail, Trump said he would put tariffs of 10% to 20% on all imports. Continue reading...

Politics

26 hours ago ‘I didn’t want to fit in a box of what an Aboriginal person should write’: how Alexis Wright found her voice

As her ground-breaking biography of Aboriginal activist Tracker Tilmouth is re-issued, the acclaimed Australian author remembers her late friend and talks about her latest novel, PraiseworthyOn the day she decided she had finally finished Praiseworthy, after almost a decade of writing and rewriting until she was happy with every one of its 700-odd pages, Alexis Wright went out to her garden in Melbourne’s north-east, and started furiously weeding. “It was like another edit!” she laughs. “And that garden was weeded within an inch of its life.”Wright, an Indigenous Australian novelist – one of the Waanyi people from the Gulf of Carpentaria – has written four novels since 1997. Her most recent, Praiseworthy, described by the New York Times as “the most ambitious and accomplished Australian novel of this century”, was an exhilarating, exhausting labour. “It took me a while to come down from it,” the 74-year-old says. “I didn’t realise how much emotional, physical ene...

Politics