33 h. ago Labour minister insists chlorinated US chicken ‘will remain illegal in the UK’

Treasury secretary James Murray says chlorinated chicken 'will remain illegal in the UK’, in light of Donald Trump’s demands for Britain to allow US chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-laced beef into UK markets in exchange for relief from his sweeping tariffs.

Politics

52 h. ago Dodds: No action taken over social media’s influence on Southport riots

Labour former minister Anneliese Dodds warned ‘there are many other canaries choking down the coal mine’.

Politics

53 h. ago Labour APPROVES expansion of Luton Airport after ministers overrule environmental concerns

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander gave the go-ahead to the Bedforshire airport's development consent order (DCO) application.

Politics

55 h. ago Starmer targets Reform as Labour kicks off local election campaign

The Prime Minister was joined by his deputy Angela Rayner and Labour chairwoman Ellie Reeves.

Politics

56 h. ago Shock poll shows Nigel Farage IS on track to be PM as Labour and Tories struggle but will YOU have a Reform MP?

Analysis of a survey of 5,180 people predicts Reform would secure 25 per cent of the vote if a general election was called now, with Labour and the Conservatives tied on 23 per cent each.

Events

64 h. ago Keir Starmer accused by union of trying to take credit for Grangemouth redundancy deal for workers

EXCLUSIVE: Unite blasted Labour ministers over what it claimed were "misleading and disingenuous" attempts to win plaudits for a deal the union negotiated with Petroineos.

Economics

3 d. ago ‘Fantasy figure’ to claim families £3,500 poorer under Labour, says Starmer

The Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch clashed over the UK economy in the Commons.

Economics

3 d. ago UK entering difficult period as country awaits Trump Liberation Day, minister warns

The UK is entering a difficult period as the country awaits Donald Trump’s tariff announcement on “Liberation Day”, a Labour minister has warned.

Politics

4 d. ago Kemi Badenoch warns UK should NOT retaliate if Trump brings in tariffs as Tory leader says Britain must 'stick closely to the US' and seek a trade deal

The Conservative Party leader warned that import levies 'just make everyone poorer' and demanded Labour ministers work flat out on a 'comprehensive' trade deal.

Events

4 d. ago Trumpism is sinking democratic values. It’s Starmer’s job to steer the UK back to safety | Polly Toynbee

US tariffs hit this week just as other costs start to bite in Britain. To meet these challenges, Labour will finally have to changeThe prime minister may pretend to “like and respect” Donald Trump, but elsewhere in parliament anti-Americanism is running hot. In a Lords debate on obesity last week, Labour’s Lord Brooke suggested imposing 25% tariffs on “American products which are causing us difficulties – Coca-Cola, Pepsi, KFC, McDonald’s”. The government replied that the US is an “indispensable ally”. That craven attitude may be politic today – right until it fails tomorrow.The outlook for Britain and other countries is bleak. Wednesday is “liberation day”, when Trump’s tariffs will hit a range of goods likely to send global economies tumbling. There is near-zero expectation that Britain’s genuflections will save us from the same punishment as the rest. As for Trump demanding no VAT on US imports to the UK, that’s extorting with menaces a benefit denied to our own producers. Even i...

Politics

5 d. ago Pharmacies to provide more frontline health services after £3bn funding boost

After a year of negotiations between pharmacies and Tory and Labour governments, health minister Stephen Kinnock described the new deal as an important step in fixing ‘a broken pharmacy sector’

Economics

6 d. ago Minister criticises expenses rules after Labour MP's £900 'pet rent' claim

The MP for Coventry North West Taiwo Owatemi reportedly made the claim after her landlord at her second home in London imposed a pet surcharge

Politics

7 d. ago UK commitment to free trade will be tested by US tariffs, senior MP warns

Dame Meg Hillier also said there had been ‘unrest’ among the Labour rank and file following welfare cuts announced by ministers in recent weeks.

Events

7 d. ago ‘Cabinet no longer feels safe’: Labour MPs criticise briefings against female ministers

Female MPs say they are unnerved by how women seem to be taking brunt of anger over government decisionsAs Keir Starmer’s cabinet gathered last week, a female minister spoke directly to the prime minister to complain about the leaks and briefings she saw directed against other women around the table.The women were listed by name, including the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson; the work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, and the home secretary, Yvette Cooper. Starmer was furious and said he would no longer tolerate malicious briefings, and that there would be consequences if it did not stop. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Nigel Farage wants huge change to how NHS is paid for that would hit families in the pocket

Nigel Farage has suggested that some British families could be forced to pay health insurance to use the NHS if he was Prime Minister - but Labour analysis shows eyewatering costs

Events

8 d. ago Keir Starmer is one of Labour’s most rightwing prime ministers. And one of its most leftwing, too | Andy Beckett

The PM offers a political hybrid designed for a fickle electorate. There are short-term electoral gains to be won, but risks in the long termFor more than eight months now, since shortly after Labour won power, more and more people have been outraged by the government’s moves to the right. Starting with its decision to keep the Conservatives’ cruel two-child benefit cap last July, the government has regularly given these critics reasons to feel shocked, betrayed or just disappointed.From deportation videos to Keir Starmer’s declaration that “I like and respect” Donald Trump, from repeated public sector cuts to the chancellor Rachel Reeves’s talk of “tearing down regulatory barriers” in this week’s spring statement, Labour has often behaved as if the boundaries between its supposedly centre-left politics and the politics of the right or even the far right have simply melted away. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Labour's betrayal of unpaid carers: Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing 'mother of all rebellions' as one in ten people looking after loved ones lose lifeline benefits

An estimated 150,000 unpaid carers looking after loved ones will have their weekly allowances taken away under the Chancellor's controversial welfare cuts.

Politics

9 d. ago Rachel Reeves swears this is not a return to austerity. And yet it does feel like one | Gaby Hinsleff

The ‘party of change’ says it’s bound by fiscal rules. What voters hear is that all governments are the same, and things will never get betterIt was change that won it. That was the single word to which Labour eventually boiled down all its complex ambitions; the six-letter slogan plastered triumphantly across its manifesto, because by the summer of 2024 change was pretty much the only thing the people of an exhausted country could all agree on. What kind of change exactly had by that point almost ceased to matter. Anything but this, millions of us told ourselves, as we scattered our votes in all directions.It was clear even at the time that there were tensions between that urgent, almost reckless hunger for change and the naturally careful, cautious instincts of a steady-as-you-go incoming prime minister and chancellor. But Labour papered over them with the impenetrable mantra that, actually, if you think about it, “stability is change”. Well, actually, it isn’t. That line was neve...

Politics

9 d. ago Rachel Reeves swears this is not a return to austerity. What matters is that it feels like one | Gaby Hinsliff

The ‘party of change’ says it’s bound by fiscal rules. What voters hear is that all governments are the same, and things will never get betterIt was change that won it. That was the single word to which Labour eventually boiled down all its complex ambitions; the six-letter slogan plastered triumphantly across its manifesto, because by the summer of 2024 change was pretty much the only thing the people of an exhausted country could all agree on. What kind of change exactly had by that point almost ceased to matter. Anything but this, millions of us told ourselves, as we scattered our votes in all directions.It was clear even at the time that there were tensions between that urgent, almost reckless hunger for change and the naturally careful, cautious instincts of a steady-as-you-go incoming prime minister and chancellor. But Labour papered over them with the impenetrable mantra that, actually, if you think about it, “stability is change”. Well, actually, it isn’t. That line was neve...

Politics

9 d. ago Labour minister apologises for comparing disability benefit cuts to children’s pocket money

A Labour minister has apologised for comparing disability benefit cuts to children’s pocket money.

Politics