61 h. ago Police leaders say they will struggle to fulfil Labour’s promise to recruit 13,000 officers

Projected £1.2bn police funding shortfall expected to grow after spending review outlined fall in Home Office spending powerPolice forces will struggle to fulfil Keir Starmer’s promise to recruit an additional 13,000 officers and the public will “pay the price”, police leaders have warned, after the chancellor outlined a decline in Home Office spending power on Wednesday.The National Police Chiefs’ Council said it would be incredibly difficult to deliver the prime minister’s election pledge within the lifetime of this parliament, with a projected £1.2bn shortfall in police funding expected to grow. Continue reading...

Events

62 h. ago The Guardian view on Labour’s spending review: the chancellor tightened belts and loosened seams | Editorial

The government offers capital investment and fiscal prudence but real-terms department cuts and grand promises could strain political credibilityBrexit’s ghost haunts a Labour spending review intended to lay the foundations for a second term. Its headlines echo the twin themes of the referendum campaign: control immigration, fund the NHS. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said she would end the use of hotels for asylum seekers “in this parliament” saving £1bn a year, while NHS spending will rise by 3% a year. Ms Reeves framed it as a politics of security and compassion. Yet it reads as Brexit’s populist promises, filtered through Westminster orthodoxy.The risk is that this is all slogan and very little solution. The asylum savings are speculative, and the annual increase in NHS budgets is below its historical average. There are also real-terms cuts or essentially flat budgets for key departments such as transport, education and local government. The Home Office faces cuts deeper than a...

Politics

62 h. ago Labour promised people we would rebuild Britain – and that’s what we’re doing | Keir Starmer

This week’s spending review marks a new stage in the mission of national renewal, built on the foundations laid last yearKeir Starmer is the prime minister of the United KingdomThe mandate we received from the British people could not have been clearer. First, we had to stop the chaos and return Britain to economic stability. Second, we had to turn the page on Tory decline with clear Labour choices. Third, we were instructed to rebuild our country.Wednesday’s spending review turbocharged that rebuilding. It is an investment in Britain’s renewal, so working people have more money in their pocket, more pride in their community and more hope for their children’s future. It’s what people voted for. An NHS cutting waiting lists, with care closer to the community. Wealth and opportunity no longer hoarded by only a few towns and cities. Continue reading...

Politics

64 h. ago Britain will be ‘defence industrial superpower’ with extra cash, Reeves says

Defence is one of the areas of Government spending which benefited most at the spending review on Wednesday.

Politics

3 d. ago Why did Starmer and Reeves change tack on winter fuel payments? Every Labour U

The Independent looks at all the times Sir Keir Starmer has let voters down or outright U-turned on his promises on the journey from Labour leader to prime minister

Politics

3 d. ago The Guardian view on Labour’s nuclear bet: big promises, but bigger questions remain unanswered | Editorial

A bold state investment signals nuclear revival, but unresolved issues around cost, waste and safety demand urgent ministerial clarityThe government’s decision to invest £14.2bn in nuclear energy, on top of existing funds, marks a return to significant state funding of nuclear power after Hinkley Point C, financed by the private sector, was dogged by delays and cost overruns. It is also a decisive shift in energy policy. Ministers have high hopes of a nuclear energy renaissance. Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, described the prospect of a new reactor in Suffolk, Sizewell C, combined with new money for modular reactor development and fusion research, as a “golden age”. This was a striking choice of words from the greenest voice in the cabinet.The Climate Change Committee’s latest advice to the government took a more restrained view of nuclear, which drew industry ire. Mr Miliband’s commitment to renewable energy is not in doubt. The government has made good...

Events

3 d. ago Black sports trailblazer Billy Boston, 90, becomes rugby league's first knight

Billy Boston, who blazed a trail for Black sportspeople in Britain during the 1950s and ’60s, has become the first rugby league player to receive a knighthood in a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace

Sport

4 d. ago The Guardian view on Labour’s tough choices: they are costing the government dearly | Editorial

Austerity-era scepticism runs deep – and Labour’s abstract promises are falling flat as Nigel Farage rises in the pollsThe Labour government’s abrupt U-turn on winter fuel payments – restoring the benefit to more than three-quarters of pensioners – reveals less a change of heart than a sobering realisation in Westminster: after years of austerity, the public no longer gives politicians the benefit of the doubt. The irony is hard to miss. Labour set out to prove that “grown-up” economics means difficult decisions – only to find that once trust is lost, voters won’t accept vague promises without tangible results.It turns out many are sceptical that sacrifices will produce better results for society. That’s why ministers are struggling to justify cuts to disability benefits as a way to “fund” public services – or to convince the public that Britain can’t afford to lift the two-child benefit cap even as ministers claim they will reduce child poverty. There may be more conspicuous retrea...

Politics

4 d. ago Keir Starmer holds talks with Nato chief as he pushes Britain to agree £30BILLION hike in defence spending demanded by Donald Trump

Mark Rutte has been holding talks with the PM in London, and gave a speech warning of the need for a 'quantum leap' in investment.

Economics

6 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

8 d. ago Over 100 of Britain's biggest athletes send powerful letter to Keir Starmer: 'Not a risk'

In a powerful open letter to the Prime Minister, Olympic champions, global medallists and rising stars have called on the government to back the bid to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships at the London Stadium with £45million of funding

Events

1 week ago Keir Starmer is a soft and unimaginative man who cannot comprehend the true evil that Britain is facing. I fear for our future: STEPHEN GLOVER

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could one day genuinely praise Sir Keir Starmer. How I would love to say that, yes, for once our stodgy Prime Minister has shown a smidgen of vision and inspiration.

Politics

1 week ago 'Keir Starmer's psychotic defence review means Britain is no longer one of the good guys'

Keir Starmer's defence review suggests keeping the peace by being more aggressive. We've been here before, says Fleet Street Fox

Politics

1 week ago 12 new submarines set to be built in UK, the Government has announced

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was due to say today: 'This plan will ensure Britain is secure at home and strong abroad, while delivering a defence dividend of well-paid jobs up and down the country'

Politics

1 week ago Sir Keir Starmer has 'lost control of Britain's borders' after almost 1,200 small boat migrants cross the Channel in single day

One of Sir Keir's senior cabinet ministers admitted the latest Channel scenes were 'pretty shocking' as a surge in dinghy crossings overwhelmed French and UK border patrol vessels.

Events

2 w. ago Labour ministers under pressure as viral video shows broken promises to nuclear veterans

A video showing Labour ministers promising compensation to nuclear veterans has gone viral, putting the government under pressure to keep its word

Politics

2 w. ago Nigel Farage targets Labour voters with pitch to working class and tax cuts for married couples

The leader of Reform UK will accuse Sir Keir Starmer of lacking a connection with working-class Britain

Politics

2 w. ago Stephen Glover: Trump's the last man on Earth with the moral right to lecture us. Yet he's the one backing free speech in Britain

There is a long standing convention that democratic leaders shouldn't lecture other democratic leaders about how to run their countries.

Politics

2 w. ago Farage to park his tanks on Labour’s lawn with pitch to working

The leader of Reform UK will accuse Sir Keir Starmer of lacking a connection with working-class Britain.

Events

2 w. ago Kemi Badenoch warns Nigel Farage becoming PM would be 'very bad' for Britain as she accuses Reform leader of aping Keir Starmer by 'saying anything in order to win power'

The Tory leader accused her Reform UK rival of saying 'whatever he wants in order to get into power' and said he would 'bankrupt' the country if he enters Downing Street .

Events