6 h. ago ANDREW PIERCE: Celebrate Mrs T! Just what would grumpy Ted say?

What a nice surprise to learn that the Sir Edward Heath Charitable Foundation, set up to promote his memory, is to honour the Iron Lady.

Politics

25 h. ago Finding Margaret by Andrew Pierce review: A moving tale of abandonment

Andrew Pierce’s moving memoir is dedicated “to Betty and George, my real mum and dad”. That puts the story that follows in perspective. It’s about his search for his birth mother. But we know at the start that it has a happy ending, because Betty and George were there for the little boy, who grew up to be a distinguished journalist.

Politics

3 d. ago ANDREW PIERCE: Reform's precocious political ingenue will be back, but there is deep trouble at the heart of Farage's party

Nigel Farage hired the precocious political ingenue, a former Tory, after Zia Yusuf made a £200,000 donation to Reform.

Politics

6 d. ago Watch live: Starmer launches plan to ready UK for war as he warns of Russia threat

Watch live as Sir Keir Starmer launches the landmark Strategic Defence Review in Glasgow, unveiling new measures as the country moves to “warfighting readiness”.

Events

7 d. ago ANDREW PIERCE: Oh Kemi, you're getting too blue for the Commons

Keep an ear out for Kemi Badenoch's fruity language at this week's PMQs. I hear Commons clerks are worried that the Tory leader is pushing the limits of acceptable parliamentary language...

Politics

7 d. ago Keir Starmer to announce huge nuclear submarine expansion as UK told to be ready for war

Keir Starmer will make the announcement as he unveils the Government's new Strategic Defence Review, which is expected to recommend the Armed Forces move to warfighting readiness

Events

2 w. ago The Guardian view on sentencing reform: a landmark chance for change | Editorial

David Gauke’s review gives penal policy in England and Wales a once-in-a-generation opportunity to move in more constructive directionThe independent sentencing review for England and Wales under David Gauke is a landmark response to both an immediate crisis in the prisons and to an endemic criminal justice policy failure going back decades. It creates the platform for penal policy to take a much-needed new direction. As Mr Gauke says, this will take bravery from government. Encouragingly, the lord chancellor, Shabana Mahmood, has accepted most recommendations in principle, though with some exceptions. The need now, though, is for sustained action, investment and results.When the review was established in 2024, prisons for men had been at 99% of capacity for 18 months and a surge of further prison sentences was developing after the summer riots. Managed early-release measures eased some pressures, but demand for places is still projected to exceed supply by 9,500 in 2028. The inesca...

Politics

2 w. ago Chemical castration for paedophiles and other sex offenders will be piloted in 20 prisons and could be made mandatory, Justice Secretary announces

Shabana Mahmood announced the move in the Commons after a sentencing review found the measure was 'worthwhile' as a way to reduce reoffending.

Events

3 w. ago ANDREW PIERCE: Is a Tory grandee toying with a jump to Reform?

At the swish Westminster launch last week of Red Prince, the unauthorised biography of Sir Keir Starmer by Tory grandee Lord Ashcroft, there was a strong Reform turnout. So is he ready to jump ship?

Politics

3 w. ago The interview that will change your mind about our 'robotic' politicians: ED DAVEY opens up on becoming an orphan at 15, caring for his profoundly disabled son

The handwritten letter from a dying father to his four-year-old son could not have been more heartfelt.

Politics

4 w. ago ANDREW PIERCE: The reward for betraying your party? £600 a day

When Tory MP Natalie Elphicke defected to Labour last May, most of us assumed she would be rewarded for her treachery. How right we were!

Economics