32 h. ago Suspend UK from oil oversight body over protests crackdown, say campaign groups

Groups question UK membership of Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative after actions of successive governmentsA coalition of civil society groups is calling for the UK government to be suspended from a key global body that oversees how oil and gas companies are run.The campaigners say Keir Starmer’s Labour party has overseen a “fossil-fuel sponsored crackdown” on peaceful protest and direct action in the UK since it came to power last year. Continue reading...

Events

53 h. ago Members of British Jewish body suspended after criticising Israel to launch appeal

Board of Deputies representatives hit by disciplinary action say they remain ‘deeply concerned’ about Gaza warMiddle East crisis – live updatesThirty-six elected representatives to the UK’s largest Jewish organisation are to appeal against disciplinary action taken against them after they criticised the Israeli government’s operations in Gaza, and have said they remain “deeply concerned” about the war.The Board of Deputies of British Jews announced on Tuesday that five of the group would be suspended for two years and 31 would be reprimanded for breaching its code of conduct after a two-month investigation. Continue reading...

Politics

60 h. ago Palestine Action raises more than £130,000 to fight government's bid to proscribe it as a terrorist organisation

As of Thursday, Palestine Action had raised a total of £130, 785, exceeding their target of £100,000

Politics

2 d. ago US government role to be excluded in review into Harry Dunn’s death

Commons review into handling of motorcyclist’s death will not scrutinise actions of US authoritiesA parliamentary review into how the UK’s Foreign Office handled the death of the teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn will not include scrutiny of the role or actions of the US government, it is understood. The 19-year-old’s family met senior officials at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) on Wednesday where they were told the probe will be led by former chief inspector of prisons, Anne Owers. The review is expected to examine the support the FCDO offered the Dunn family after Harry was killed by a former US state department employee in a road crash in 2019 in Northamptonshire, the PA news agency reported. The American driver, Anne Sacoolas, had diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf after the incident outside RAF Croughton before a senior Foreign Office official said they should “feel able” to put her on the next flight home. PA understands the review, which is sche...

Politics

3 d. ago Harry Dunn review ‘will not scrutinise actions of US government’

The 19-year-old was killed when his motorbike crashed into a car driven by American national Anne Sacoolas outside RAF Croughton in 2019.

Politics

3 d. ago British Business Bank back in the spotlight with £10bn UK growth mandate

Louis Taylor, CEO of state-owned lender, targets investment in eight key UK sectors as he prepares defence at Covid inquiryLouis Taylor is caught between two eras. The chief executive of the British Business Bank (BBB) has spent much of his tenure attempting to revive the state-owned lender’s image after a battering from the fraud-hit pandemic loan scheme under the last government, and will soon have to defend its actions at the Covid inquiry.But until then, he can focus on the BBB’s gleefully landed fresh £10bn mandate linked to the centrepiece industrial strategy Labour hopes will boost a flagging economy as it nears the end of its first year in power. Continue reading...

Economics

3 d. ago Big British Bank back in the spotlight with £10bn UK growth mandate

Louis Taylor, CEO of state-owned lender, targets investment in eight key UK sectors as he prepares defence at Covid inquiryLouis Taylor is caught between two eras. The chief executive of the British Business Bank (BBB) has spent much of his tenure attempting to revive the state-owned lender’s image after a battering from the fraud-hit pandemic loan scheme under the last government, and will soon have to defend its actions at the Covid inquiry.But until then, he can focus on the BBB’s gleefully landed fresh £10bn mandate linked to the centrepiece industrial strategy Labour hopes will boost a flagging economy as it nears the end of its first year in power. Continue reading...

Economics

3 d. ago Planning bill will boost development but not without investment in skills

UK Government action is welcome, but additional pieces of the construction jigsaw must be put in place, writes Richard Whitehead

Events

3 d. ago Post Office compensation happening far too slowly, damning report finds

A report by the cross-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found victims of the Horizon IT scandal are still not getting the payouts they deserve with the Government taking 'insufficient' action

Politics

4 d. ago AIMEE WALSH: 'Palestine activists aren't terrorists, as Labour seek to ban group lobbying for Gaza freedom'

Protest is a civil right, so why are the British Government planning to proscribe Palestine Action? Critic Aimee Walsh argues that the Labour government is weak on what matters: the genocide in Gaza

Events

4 d. ago ROBERT HARDMAN: I was in the midst of a mob of deluded conspiracy theorists united by a loathing of Israel, Trump and UK foreign policy

At one end of Whitehall, the Government was solemnly announcing plans to add the direct action group Palestine Action to the UK's current list of 81 proscribed terrorist organisations.

Politics

5 d. ago Holyrood candidate slams government inaction as adults with learning disabilities left without vital health checks

North Lanarkshire Labour councillor Ayeshah Khan, who is standing for the party in the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency at the 2026 Holyrood election, called for urgent action over the Scottish Government’s failure to turn promises into reality for adults with learning disabilities.

Politics

5 d. ago Palestine Action supporters clash with police after Government vows to ban group under anti

Arrests made as protest turns violent a week after two activists broke into an RAF base and damaged two Voyager planes

Politics

5 d. ago The Guardian view on Palestine Action: if red paint is terrorism, what isn’t? | Editorial

Labelling direct action as an act of terror criminalises dissent, chills speech and redefines nuisance as extremism under the banner of national securityThe UK government’s intention to proscribe Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 2000 marks a significant escalation in the treatment of civil disobedience. It elevates a group known for throwing red paint at buildings and military aircraft into the same legal category as al-Qaida and Islamic State. If there’s a serious threat from these activists, we’ve yet to see it – just a ministerial statement discussing civil disobedience in the language of counterinsurgency.If this is all that Palestine Action can be accused of, then the government is wrong. Ministers are setting a dangerous precedent by using terror laws to outlaw protest – and penalising protesters not for violence but for making a nuisance and vandalism. The cost will be felt in press freedom, political accountability and the right to resist. The home secretary’s statem...

Events

5 d. ago David Lammy ducks over whether UK supports US bombing of Iran... as he claims the government was NOT given legal advice on joining action

Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged Tehran to 'take the off ramp' of negotiations as he made a statement in the Commons on the burgeoning crisis in the Middle East.

Politics

5 d. ago 'Terrorist' protest group Palestine Action clash with police as government tries to ban them after they broke into RAF base and vandalised plane

Hundreds of activists waving Palestinian flags and holding placards gathered at Trafalgar Square today.

Events

5 d. ago Palestine Action protesters clash with police as government confirms ban on group under anti

Palestine Action protesters clash with police as government confirms ban on group under anti-terror laws  The Independent

Events

5 d. ago Who are Palestine Action and why is the UK government banning them?

The UK-based group has been targeting arms manufacturers in the UK since 2020

Politics

5 d. ago Banning Palestine Action may be ‘escalation too far’, says Labour peer

The concerns come as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will update Parliament on Monday on the Government’s plan to ban Palestine Action.

Events

5 d. ago David Lammy repeatedly declines to say whether British government believes US strikes on Iran were illegal – UK politics live

Keir Starmer backs strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities and calls on Tehran to return to negotiations but warns of ‘risk of escalation’ in Middle EastArmed forces minister Luke Pollard also appeared on the media round today, and stuck to the government line of not commenting on US action against Iran.He told viewers of Sky News that “it’s not for me to comment on the particular US action, but we’re assessing the battle damage at the moment to understand the true extent of the strikes.”I’m sorry that (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) has since been breached, of course I am, but that’s why the international community is ultimately committed to this. And let’s be clear, if Iran is able to enrich beyond 60%, is able to get a weapon, what we will see is nuclear proliferation across the Middle East, the world will be seriously more dangerous than it is at the moment, that’s why it must be stopped.I went straight to Geneva to sit with the Iranians. I spent seven hours in Geneva to ta...

Politics