70 m. ago No 10 says Starmer stands by claim Tories were jumping on far

Prime minister’s comments were about ‘ministers from previous government who sat in office for years and did nothing’, says No 10 spokespersonStarmer launches new grooming gangs investigationIn his interview on the Sky News this morning Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said that Keir Starmer should apologise for saying in January that those calling for a national inquiry into grooming gangs were jumping on a far-right bandwagon. Kemi Badenoch, his party leader, is also quoted today in an Daily Express splash story saying Starmer should apologise, but she is saying he should apologise for not agreeing to hold a national inquiry earlier.At the Downing Street lobby briefing this morning the No 10 spokesperson was asked if Starmer still thought that people who backed a national inquiry in January were joining a far-right bandwagon. In response, the spokesperson defended the phrase, and insisted that it only applied to Tories who were now demanding an inquiry they never set up whe...

Politics

2 h. ago ‘Hundreds of people’ could deserve jail over grooming gangs cover

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, says there was deliberate action by some police, council leaders, social workers and prosecutors to hide abuseStarmer launches new grooming gangs investigationIn a recent report the Commons defence committee said that the armed forces covenant, a legal promise to veterans saying that they should not lose out when accessing government services because of their service in the military, should be extended. It said:While some people had positive experiences to share, a worrying number [of veterans] felt that the covenant had been ineffective—or worse yet, had been disregarded—when they had cited it. As a result, many continued to face disadvantages as a result of their service in areas like healthcare, education, employment and welfare .We welcome the government’s intention to extend the covenant legal duty, which currently requires some public service providers to give due regard to the covenant’s principles when providing certain housing, health...

Events

4 d. ago Treasury minister dismisses claims spending review will lead to autumn tax rises – UK politics live

Darren Jones says such claims are ‘incoherent’ and the government is allocating money that has already been raisedSpending review: key points at a glanceGreen party MPs and activists joined a protest outside parliament today saying the government should use the spending review to announce a wealth tax. In a post on social media, Adrian Ramsay, the party’s co-leader, said:We expect the chancellor to take another axe to public spending today: decline by design from a govt that refuses to tax wealth to properly fund our overstretched public services & support the most vulnerable. We need to invest in a secure & fairer future. #TaxExtremeWealth Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Reeves says use of hotels for asylum seekers to end ‘in this parliament’ – UK politics live

Chancellor delivers spending review, claiming asylum move will save £1bn and says health spending represents a record cash investmentSpending review: key points at a glanceGreen party MPs and activists joined a protest outside parliament today saying the government should use the spending review to announce a wealth tax. In a post on social media, Adrian Ramsay, the party’s co-leader, said:We expect the chancellor to take another axe to public spending today: decline by design from a govt that refuses to tax wealth to properly fund our overstretched public services & support the most vulnerable. We need to invest in a secure & fairer future. #TaxExtremeWealth Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Reeves says use of hotels for asylum seekers to end ‘in this parliament’ and NHS spending to rise 3% a year – UK politics live

Chancellor claims asylum move will save £1bn and says health spending represents a record cash investmentSpending review: key points at a glanceGreen party MPs and activists staged a protest outside parliament today saying the government should use the spending review to announce a wealth tax. In a post on social media, Adrian Ramsay, the party’s co-leader, said:We expect the Chancellor to take another axe to public spending today: decline by design from a govt that refuses to tax wealth to properly fund our overstretched public services & support the most vulnerable. We need to invest in a secure & fairer future. #TaxExtremeWealthSenior SNP figures held a secret meeting on Monday night to discuss removing John Swinney as party leader, The Herald has learned, following last week’s defeat in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse byelection.One of the 25 attendees said the first minister had two weeks to come up with a new strategy on independence — or risk facing a leadership...

Politics

5 d. ago PMQs: Starmer says there is ‘no easy answer’ to finding way of seizing frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine – UK politics live

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, asks prime minister about frozen Russian assets in the UK after sanctioning of two Israeli ministers on TuesdayGreen party MPs and activists staged a protest outside parliament today saying the government should use the spending review to announce a wealth tax. In a post on social media, Adrian Ramsay, the party’s co-leader, said:We expect the Chancellor to take another axe to public spending today: decline by design from a govt that refuses to tax wealth to properly fund our overstretched public services & support the most vulnerable. We need to invest in a secure & fairer future. #TaxExtremeWealthSenior SNP figures held a secret meeting on Monday night to discuss removing John Swinney as party leader, The Herald has learned, following last week’s defeat in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse byelection.One of the 25 attendees said the first minister had two weeks to come up with a new strategy on independence — or risk facing a leadership ch...

Politics

5 d. ago Spending Review LIVE: Keir Starmer faces PMQs before Rachel Reeves sets out spending plans

There are fears the Chancellor’s Spending Review will see London miss out on key funding

Politics

5 d. ago Watch live: Starmer faces Badenoch at PMQs ahead of Rachel Reeves spending review

Watch live as Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at Prime Minister’s Questions ahead of Rachel Reeves’ much-anticipated spending review on Wednesday (11 June).

Politics

5 d. ago Rachel Reeves says she ‘chooses investment’ as she prepares to unveil Labour’s spending review – UK politics live

Chancellor will reveal how the government plans to spend almost £1.4tn in 2026-27, rising to almost £1.5tr in 2028-29In Wales politcians from almost all parties have been complaining for years about the UK governments decision to categorise HS2 as a project for England and Wales, even though the line does not go through Wales at all. Treating it as a project that nevertheless benefit Wales means Wales does not get equivalent money for its own infrastructure, under the Barnett formula.According to a report by ITV Cymru, Wales will get £445m for rail in the spending review. ITV quotes a Welsh Labour source as saying:This investment is more than Wales would have had so far had HS2 been Barnettised. It will make a massive difference economically and politically.We need to go much further and faster to get one step ahead of the tactics used by small boat gangs.That is why we will boost investment to secure our borders, with up to £280m per year in the Border Security Command by 2028/29. ...

Politics

5 d. ago Rachel Reeves says she ‘chooses investment’ ahead of unveiling Labour’s spending review – UK politics live

Chancellor will reveal how the government plans to spend almost £1.4tn in 2026-27, rising to almost £1.5tr in 2028-29Good morning. The government plans to be spending almost £1.4tr in 2026-27, rising to almost £1.5tr in 2028-29. Those annual limits are already agreed. Today, when Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, stands up at 12.30pm to present the spending review, she will explain how she has decided to divvy up that money between government departments over the next three years.This is not a budget, and she will not be announcing changes to tax policy. But it will feel like a budget because, like a budget, it will involve decisions that affect the public services people rely upon. And it is bound to intensify speculation about whether taxes will have to go up in the next budget, in the autumn.This government is renewing Britain. But I know too many people in too many parts of the country are yet to feel it.This government’s task – my task – and the purpose of this Spending Review – i...

Politics

8 d. ago Britain has escalated the global nuclear arms race – and is bringing us closer to armageddon | Simon Tisdall

The UK’s strategic defence review risks normalising nuclear warfare. Don’t believe the PR hype: these weapons are immoral, irrational and catastrophicPlans by Keir Starmer’s government to modernise and potentially expand Britain’s nuclear weapons arsenal, unveiled in the 2025 strategic defence review (SDR), seriously undermine international non-proliferation efforts. They will fuel a global nuclear arms race led by the US, China and Russia. And they increase the chances that lower-yield, so-called tactical nukes will be deployed and detonated in conflict zones.This dangerous path leads in one direction only: towards the normalisation of nuclear warfare.Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Continue reading...

Sport

9 d. ago Russia is already at war with Britain and we can no longer rely on Trump, defence adviser warns

‘Russia is at war with us’, one of the authors of Sir Keir Starmer’s flagship strategic defence review has warned

Events

9 d. ago Russia is at war with Britain and US is no longer a reliable ally, UK adviser says

Government defence expert Fiona Hill warns UK to respond to threats by becoming more cohesive and resilientRussia is at war with Britain, the US is no longer a reliable ally and the UK has to respond by becoming more cohesive and more resilient, according to one of the three authors of the strategic defence review.Fiona Hill, from county Durham, became the White House’s chief Russia adviser during Donald Trump’s first term and contributed to the British government’s strategy. She made the remarks in an interview with the Guardian. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Why is defence such a hard sell? The same reason Starmer is struggling in the polls | Martin Kettle

Decades of failures have left liberal democratic governments unable to command public confidence when it really mattersDefence reviews and foreign policy resets seem to turn up almost as often as the Sussexes’ lifestyle brand relaunches these days. Labour’s strategic defence review this week comes less than two years after the Conservatives’ hardly less detailed defence white paper in July 2023, which in turn was a “refresh” of Boris Johnson’s ambitious integrated review of defence and foreign policy of March 2021. By this measure, it must be doubtful if, come the 2030s, analysts will look back on Keir Starmer and John Healey’s review and say it broke the mould.The Labour government was entitled to try to put its own stamp on defence policy, of course, and its review team of George Robertson, Richard Barrons and Fiona Hill did a good, reasonably independent job. Yet this 2020s pattern of repeated strategic adaptation and refocus feels like the new normal now. It is also true that gr...

Politics

1 week ago Five ways Putin could bring UK to its knees within hours of World War 3 breaking out

Strategic Defence Review details methods that could be employed by the Kremlin if conflict broke out

Politics

1 week ago Watch live: Starmer faces Badenoch at PMQs after Reeves vows winter fuel U

Watch live as Sir Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs on Wednesday (4 June), days after unveiling the UK's defence strategy for the next decade.

Politics

1 week ago ‘We have no plans to attack Britain,' say Russia’s London diplomats as defence review lays out Putin threats

The Strategic Defence Review mentions Russia 33 times and tells of the ‘immediate and pressing threat’ posed by Putin’s regime

Politics

1 week ago Nato ‘will force Starmer to spend 3.5% of GDP on defence’ to keep Trump happy

PM under pressure from nuclear alliance and US president after row over funding threatened to derail the launch of strategic defence review,

Politics

1 week ago Defence secretary fails to rule out tax rises to fund defence spending uplift

While John Healey said he is ‘100 per cent confident’ the defence spending uplift would be achieved, he struggled to say how it would be paid for

Economics

1 week ago Crucial defence review warns Britain's Armed Forces aren't ready to fight a war against a foe with similar capabilities in stark assessment of UK's military prowess

Britain's Armed Forces aren't ready to fight a war against a military with similar capabilities, the authors of Britain's Strategic Defence Review have warned.

Events