3 h. ago Two arrested over phone hidden in Commons to reportedly play sex noises during PMQs

Police believe device was deliberately planted near frontbench to disrupt proceedings, prompting heightened security in parliamentPolice have arrested two men in connection with a mobile phone hidden in the House of Commons that was reportedly planted there to play sex noises during prime minister’s questions.The phone was found near the frontbench during a routine sweep of the chamber. It is believed to have been intended to interrupt the keynote weekly showdown between Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch in September. Continue reading...

Events

3 h. ago Labour MP becomes first to break ranks and call for Keir Starmer to be replaced by Andy Burnham as Prime Minister

Speaking to Channel 4 on Friday night, Mr Lewis said the Labour Party must put 'country before party' and boot out Starmer in favour of the current Mayor of Greater Manchester (pictured).

Politics

7 h. ago Keir Starmer must 'get a grip' in next three months or he is finished, Lord Blunkett says as Prime Minister's Cabinet is beset by leadership infighting and Budget chaos

Former Labour Home Secretary Lord David Blunkett has warned Sir Keir Starmer that he needs 'to get a grip' within three months or could face serious consequences.

Politics

8 h. ago Keir Starmer must 'get a grip' in next three months or he is finished, Lord Blunkett says as Prime Minister's Cabinet is beset by leadership intriguing and Budget chaos

Former Labour Home Secretary Lord David Blunkett has warned Sir Keir Starmer that he needs 'to get a grip' within three months or could face serious consequences.

Politics

9 h. ago Icelandic is in danger of dying out because of AI and English

Katrín Jakobsdóttir and her co-author want the 350,000 people who speak the language to fight for its futureIceland’s former prime minister, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, has said that the Icelandic language could be wiped out in as little as a generation due to the sweeping rise of AI and encroaching English language dominance.Katrín, who stood down as prime minister last year to run for president after seven years in office, said Iceland was undergoing “radical” change when it came to language use. More people are reading and speaking English, and fewer are reading in Icelandic, a trend she says is being exacerbated by the way language models are trained. Continue reading...

Events

11 h. ago Narendra Modi’s alliance wins key state election by a landslide

Bihar victory bolstering prime minister and his Hindu nationalist party after a reduced mandate in last year’s national election

Politics

13 h. ago Orbán’s claims of Trump summit triumph mask growing doubts over his grip on power

Embattled Hungarian leader says he won an indefinite reprieve from sanctions on oil and gas from Russia, but the US has since disputed thisAs Viktor Orbán would tell it, he had the perfect meeting with Donald Trump.After visiting the White House last week, the embattled Hungarian prime minister quickly declared victory, saying he had secured an indefinite exemption from US sanctions on oil and gas imported from Russia. The deal would shield Hungarians from skyrocketing energy prices ahead of parliamentary elections next year and potentially boost Orbán’s chances of extending his 15-year rule. Continue reading...

Politics

14 h. ago Russia increasingly targeting trains as attacks on Ukraine’s rail network intensify

Ukrainian minister says more than 800 attacks recorded since start of year as Moscow seeks to destroy country’s logistical capabilitiesUkraine has recorded a threefold increase in the number of attacks on its railway system since July, according to a senior minister, as Moscow seeks to scupper one of Kyiv’s key logistical systems.Oleksii Kuleba, a deputy prime minister with responsibility for infrastructure, said attacks on the network since the start of 2025 had caused damage totalling $1bn (£760m). Continue reading...

Events

25 h. ago No wonder Downing Street’s in chaos – you can’t even get a decent phone signal, say ex

In almost constant use by prime ministers for 300 years, the topsy-turvy townhouse at the heart of government has a plethora of frustrating issues due to its age and design

Events

26 h. ago ‘They all think Keir is done’: how push to protect Starmer’s job backfired spectacularly

Botched briefing operation was proof to many that PM is leading an ineffectual No 10. How did it go so wrong?If there’s one thing the Labour party can agree on this week, it is that efforts by Keir Starmer’s allies to shore up his position backfired spectacularly.By briefing journalists that he would face down any challenge and accusing Wes Streeting of leading an advanced plot to overthrow him, figures around the prime minister managed only to expose the weakness of his position. Continue reading...

Events

29 h. ago Who could be behind the phantom briefing and the tax rise that wasn’t? Inspector Starmer is on the case | Marina Hyde

Chaos and ineptitude dog our poor PM. Perhaps the explanation lies (very) close to homeAt this rate the only businesses who will want to invest in Britain after the budget are heroin dealers. No 10 used to have a news grid, now it has an apology grid. Even so, why did Keir Starmer apologise for a sensationally self-destructive round of briefing against Wes Streeting if he didn’t do it? This is like me apologising for accidentally releasing sex offenders from prison. I suppose there is the occasional previous example in public life. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor apologised for his association with Jeffrey Epstein and gave a woman he’d never met a reported £12m. Perhaps that provides the prime minister with the warming cover of precedent.If you’re just joining us, this is a week in which the government finally achieved the chaos spiral of several recent Conservative administrations. We can now officially say: same car, different clowns. We are less than two weeks out from the budget, wit...

Politics

30 h. ago Britons living abroad: tell us your views on UK politics today

We want to hear from Brits living overseas on their views on UK politics todayThe last decade in British politics has been marked by instability and fragmentation, with six prime ministers in ten years, and Nigel Farage’s Reform party now leading in the polls.A study this month from King’s College London and Ipsos found that 84 percent of people now say the UK feels divided, up from 74 percent in 2020. Continue reading...

Politics

31 h. ago POLL OF THE DAY: Would Wes Streeting be a better prime minister than Sir Keir Starmer?

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has long been tipped as a future prime minister ever since he led the National Union of Students and he has refused to rule out leadership ambitions.

Politics

33 h. ago Streeting says he and Starmer ‘extremely frustrated’ by leadership row

Health Secretary Wes Streeting was targeted by briefings suggesting he was plotting a coup against Sir Keir Starmer.

Politics

36 h. ago Prime Minister Streeting? The wheels are coming off! SARAH VINE lays bare Labour's 'Traitors plot' against Starmer

Keir Starmer is on a sticky wicket, he's had a terrible year and he's about to have a terrible, terrible budget.

Politics

42 h. ago Keir Starmer clears his chief of staff over 'toxic' briefings that branded his own MPs 'feral' despite growing calls for him to be sacked

The Prime Minister cleared Morgan McSweeney without even holding an investigation after he was accused of being at the centre of a disastrous briefing operation against Wes Streeting.

Events

43 h. ago Rachel Reeves to abandon plans to raise income tax rates in budget

Labour had laid the ground to break a manifesto pledge on taxes for working people but has now made a U-turnRachel Reeves is set to abandon a plan to raise income tax in her budget with the chancellor reportedly “ripping up” the main measures in the wake of turmoil in the party.A source told the Guardian that plans to break the manifesto pledge on income tax had been ditched by the prime minister, Keir Starmer, and the chancellor. Continue reading...

Economics

47 h. ago PM’s chief of staff ‘not involved’ in briefing against ministers – reports

Sir Keir Starmer has faced calls to sack his top adviser, Morgan McSweeney.

Politics

49 h. ago The Guardian view on 10 Downing Street: not up to the job | Editorial

The Labour leadership briefing furore highlights failures at the centre of government. Keir Starmer needs to raise his gameSir Keir Starmer went to north Wales on Thursday to announce the building of a new nuclear power station. This is a significant policy event, with local and national implications. However, the prime minister did not spend much time in Wales promoting solutions to UK energy needs. Instead, he spent it trying to draw a line under the Labour leadership briefing row, telling reporters that No 10 had not, in fact, briefed against the health secretary’s ambitions earlier this week.As such, Sir Keir’s day was a microcosm of what his prime ministership has now become more generally. On the one hand, he wants his government to be doing, and to be seen to be doing, important things. On the other hand, he is unable to achieve this because of the way he – and to an extent the country more generally – now does politics and government.Do you have an opinion on the issues...

Politics

49 h. ago As Labour implodes, who's going to stop Nigel Farage becoming the next Prime Minister?

Keir Starmer has frittered away confidence in his government at record speed

Politics