The petition on the Parliament website, written by a pub owner and complaining that Keir Starmer has 'gone back on promises', is gaining over 100,000 backers an hour.

Hyundai and Kia are recalling over 208,000 electric vehicles to fix a pesky problem that can cause loss of drive power, increasing the risk of a crash

The motorway is closed between junction 4 and 5

The 42nd president’s latest book is a prolonged stroll down memory lane that never quite reaches a desired destinationIn 1992, Bill Clinton defeated George HW Bush, a sitting Republican president. In 1996, Clinton won re-election over Bob Dole. A former Democratic governor of Arkansas, Clinton had a flair for policy and retail politics. He felt your pain, garnering support from voters without a four-year degree and graduates alike. He played the saxophone, belting out Heartbreak Hotel on late-night TV. Redefining what it meant to be presidential, he told a studio audience he preferred briefs to boxers.He oozed charisma – and more. But his legacy remains deeply stained by allegations of predatory conduct and questionable judgment. He is one of three presidents to be impeached – in his ca...

Trump voters in the American heartland are excited, even as senior Republicans are less than enthusiastic about some of the president-elect’s choicesIn the American heartland, they’re excited. Finally, say voters who put Donald Trump into the White House for a second time, they are about to get the president they wanted all along.Even as leading Democrats decry Trump’s cabinet nominations as “agents of his contempt, rage and vengeance”, the former and future president’s supporters are interpreting the selections as evidence that he has finally broken free of the Washington establishment. Continue reading...

President-elect also made flurry of nominations on Friday night to form his new administration

Stronger ties with the single market is the only way to stop the president-elect from having the last laugh‘As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be occupied by a downright fool and complete narcissistic moron.”Those were the words of the great American journalist HL Mencken (in the Baltimore Evening Sun, 26 July 1920). The impending arrival back at the White House surely fulfils his prophecy. Continue reading...

Labour has got off to a shaky start in government. It’s time it told the truth about the state we’re inIt’s a running joke in Westminster that some on the British centre-left are fascinated by American politics to the point of obsession. So much so that it extends to the fictional: in 2006, a group of rebel Labour MPs inspired by the long-running US drama the West Wing borrowed tactics from its plotline to successfully defeat the government in a vote. It’s right, therefore, to be wary of over-extrapolating lessons for the Labour party from the Democrats’ presidential defeat.But with inflation again on the rise, there will be more parallels between the economic backdrops to the Kamala Harris 2024 campaign and a 2029 Labour general election campaign than the party would like. There have b...

Mr Zahawi did not contest his Stratford-on-Avon seat in this year's election and was sacked last year as Tory Party chairman over omissions about his tax affairs.

The online petition has surpassed 200,000 signatures, at the time of publication, after being widely shared on social media since being created on Wednesday.