30 h. ago Chinese spying amounts to interference in UK democracy, minister says, after MI5 warns MPs – politics live

Dan Jarvis, the security minister, says China is trying to contact MPs and peers to get sensitive information about parliamentBack at the Reform UK press conference, Zia Yusuf, the party’s head of policy, has just finished outlining his plan to cut spending on foreignersAs he finished, Yusuf claimed this was “treachery”.Labour is making the conscious and deliberate decision to continue funding extortionate amounts to foreign nationals, to the detriment of British citizens.And I don’t know what to call that. Frankly, in my view, it’s treachery. I think it’s appalling. British people are sick and tired of it.Just a few months ago, Rachel Reeves was saying she couldn’t afford to scrap the two-child benefit cap. Now it looks like becoming her latest U-turn.This isn’t because the economic circumstances have improved. Quite the opposite. Continue reading...

Politics

30 h. ago Foreign nationals should ‘bear the brunt’ of cuts, says Reform UK as it seeks to save £25bn

Rightwing populist party claims chancellor Rachel Reeves can avoid tax rises at next week’s Budget

Economics

32 h. ago Niclas Fullkrug targets West Ham exit in January as striker seeks Bundesliga move to save World Cup dream

German has struggled since £27m move to London Stadium

Events

34 h. ago Reform UK's Nigel Farage to address the nation today in 'bear the brunt' attack

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch will also accuse Labour chancellor Rachel Reeves of planning to increase taxes on working people to fund a bloated benefits bill

Events

34 h. ago Reform’s plan to cut EU citizens’ benefits would risk trade war with Europe, Labour claims – UK politics live

As Reform announces what it claims are £25bn in savings through cuts, Labour says ‘Farage’s fantasy numbers don’t add up’ Good morning. Yesterday, as the government announced drastic plans to curb the number of asylum seekers able to stay in the UK, it was accused of adopting the politics of Reform UK, the anti-immigration party with a big lead in the opinion polls. In response, ministers argued that Labour would be doing even worse if it just ignored the legitimate concerns of voters who are supporting Nigel Farage’s party.But, when mainstream parties move on to the territory of the more extreme parties, those parties often respond with a further lurch to the right, and we will see an example of that today. Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, is holding a press conference where he is going to announce proposals that cover immigration and the budget (the other huge story preoccupying Westminster politics at the moment). As Peter Walker reports, Farage will propose spending cuts whic...

Events

44 h. ago Reform UK targets EU citizens and overseas aid as it seeks to save £25bn

Populist party claims chancellor Rachel Reeves can avoid tax rises at the Budget

Economics

49 h. ago Reform council cuts back on litter picking and gardening in bid to fill shortfall

The measures underline the financial realities facing the party after its first six months in local government

Politics

3 d. ago Reform's plan to cut immigration is just 'gimmicks', says minister

Immigration minister Seema Malhotra has dismissed Reform's plans to tackle immigration numbers as "gimmicks" that have "unravelled on basic facts and figures"

Politics

3 d. ago Nearly 1.3m foreign nationals are now getting Universal Credit as Tories demand cuts to handouts instead of tax hikes

The latest government data show that 1,270,107 people who were not UK or Irish nationals were receiving the main jobless handouts as of last month.

Politics

4 d. ago ‘Death by a thousand cuts’: the people who could face deportation under Reform

As party’s rise fuels fears over future visa rules, people share how the lives they have built are in jeopardyAs Reform UK soars in the polls, Britain’s migrant communities are facing an uncertain future.The party has announced a swathe of hardline immigration policies, including its plans to abolish indefinite leave to remain – the right to settle permanently in the UK after five years of residence. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Prisoner ‘released in error’ was actually freed lawfully, minister says

Justice minister Lord Timpson said the foreign national was let out legally after checks were made

Politics

6 d. ago Ukraine war briefing: Fire sale of Lukoil assets before start of US sanctions on Russia

Foreign properties may be nationalised if Lukoil doesn’t sell, or the proceeds frozen if it does; Zelenskyy grapples with corruption scandal fallout. What we know on day 1,359The foreign oil refineries and other assets of Russian company Lukoil are attracting potential buyers as time runs out to strike cheap deals before US sanctions come into force on 21 November. The sanctions, put in place in response to Russia’s war on Ukraine, have already disrupted Lukoil’s operations in Iraq, at pump stations in Finland and a refinery in Bulgaria. Kazakhstan’s state firm KazMunayGas is studying a bid for Lukoil’s assets in the country, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Shell is interested in Lukoil deepwater assets in Ghana and Nigeria, two other sources said. Shell declined to comment to Reuters.The government of Moldova has started talks to nationalise Lukoil’s infrastructure at Chisinau airport, said the airport’s director, Serdgiu Spoiala. Bulgaria is working towards seiz...

Events

7 d. ago How World Cup expansion is driving Asia’s naturalisation arms race

As Asia’s allocation has now doubled, many nations look to foreign-born talent to push them towards qualificationWhen the United Arab Emirates line up against Iraq on Thursday for the fifth and final round of Asian qualification for next year’s World Cup, it is likely that over half of the home starting XI in Abu Dhabi will be foreign-born. The UAE are, however, merely another participant in a naturalisation arms race in the continent that has been boosted by the expansion of the World Cup from 32 teams to 48.Asia’s allocation has doubled from four automatic spots in Qatar to eight in North America, opening up the tournament to a new array of contenders desperate to play on the greatest stage of all. Japan, South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Australia have historically dominated World Cup qualifying, with North Korea the most recent outlier in 2010. Those six are the only teams from the Asian Football Confederation to make more than one appearance at the tournament. Continue readin...

Politics

7 d. ago UK’s Powell contacted Moscow in bid to build back channel to Putin

One-off phone call between national security adviser and Russia’s foreign policy aide said to have ‘not gone well’

Politics

7 d. ago Men bear brunt of jobs bloodbath as number out of work tops one million for first time in a decade

Official figures showed the jobless rate among men climbed to 5.4 per cent in the three months to September, up from 4.2 per cent when Labour came to power last summer.

Economics

8 d. ago Two dead and 36 injured as bus full of tourists crashes into truck near beach resort

Two people have died and 36 others have been injured after a bus full of tourists - including foreign nationals - crashed into a truck near a beach resort in Egypt

Events

1 week ago Does Trump truly care about Nigerian Christians? Of course not – he just knows faith sells | Simon Tisdall

In a bid to exercise absolute power, today’s crop of authoritarian leaders is recruiting – and exploiting – believersDonald Trump’s crusading threat to invade Nigeria and save Christians from Islamist terrorists is typical attention-seeking. Surely even he must realise that unilateral US military intervention would invite disaster. And he’s got his facts wrong. The threat of Islamist terrorism is real, but it affects Nigerian Muslims as much, if not more, than Christians. There’s no evidence of genocide, contrary to the alarmist claims of US far-right internet warriors. Trump’s intervention was about politics, not faith.In speaking out, he was massaging a key domestic constituency, not acting from genuine, God-fearing concern for “our cherished Christians” in a land he’s never visited. Christian nationalist votes helped clinch Trump’s two presidential victories despite the obvious insincerity of his professed beliefs. His support among white evangelical Protestants is much higher th...

Politics

1 week ago Another foreign criminal on the run: Nigerian man serving 21 years for kidnapping and GBH is hunted by police after walking out of open prison

Ola Abimbola, a foreign national, allegedly walked out of the open prison HMP Ford on October 16 and has not been seen since.

Events

1 week ago James Bond ‘fantasist’ jailed for seven years for trying to spy for Russia

Howard Phillips was convicted of assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act

Events

1 week ago ‘Fantasist’ jailed for seven years for attempting to help ‘Russian agents’

Howard Phillips was convicted of assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act.

Events