8 d. ago Budget has preserved Starmer’s job until at least May elections, say Labour MPs

While some call budget ‘tactical victory’, few MPs believe it is enough for Labour to beat ReformUK politics live – latest updatesLabour MPs have said they believe Keir Starmer’s leadership is safe until at least the May elections, after a budget that avoided any major damaging measures but which few MPs believe will revive the party’s fortunes.More than a dozen previously loyal MPs told the Guardian they did not believe the budget would shift the fundamentals required for the party to beat Reform. “It only delays what is inevitable,” one minister said. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Starmer refuses to rule out freezing income tax thresholds in Budget

Starmer facing questions in Commons ahead of crunch Budget next week

Economics

2 w. ago Starmer to face final PMQs before Budget after rare boost for Rachel Reeves

Starmer facing questions in Commons ahead of crunch Budget next week

Politics

2 w. ago Reeves vows to cut cost of living after inflation boost before final pre

Starmer facing questions in Commons ahead of crunch Budget next week

Economics

2 w. ago Shabana Mahmood tells MPs asylum system is ‘out of control and unfair’ amid Labour backlash over proposals – UK politics live

Labour MP calls government’s asylum plans ‘dystopian’ as home secretary announces measures in CommonsMomentum, the leftwing Labour group, has also denounced the government’s asylum plans. In a statement it says:The home secretary’s new immigration plans are divisive and xenophobic.Scapegoating migrants will not fix our public services or end austerity.Draconian, unworkable and potentially illegal anti-asylum policies only feed Reform’s support.The government has learnt nothing from the period since the general election.Some of the legal changes being proposed are truly frightening:Abolishing the right to a family life would ultimately affect many more people than asylum-seekers. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Labour MP calls asylum plans ‘dystopian’ as government accused of ‘performative cruelty’ by rival parties – UK politics live

Nadia Whittome says government has sunk so low it is being praised by Tommy Robinson as SNP and Plaid Cymru criticise plansMomentum, the leftwing Labour group, has also denounced the government’s asylum plans. In a statement it says:The home secretary’s new immigration plans are divisive and xenophobic.Scapegoating migrants will not fix our public services or end austerity.Draconian, unworkable and potentially illegal anti-asylum policies only feed Reform’s support.The government has learnt nothing from the period since the general election.Some of the legal changes being proposed are truly frightening:Abolishing the right to a family life would ultimately affect many more people than asylum-seekers. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Labour accused of ‘performative cruelty’ over asylum plans – UK politics live

SNP and Plaid Cymru say government facilitating Farage’s agenda with proposals to drastically tighten rulesMomentum, the leftwing Labour group, has also denounced the government’s asylum plans. In a statement it says:The home secretary’s new immigration plans are divisive and xenophobic.Scapegoating migrants will not fix our public services or end austerity.Draconian, unworkable and potentially illegal anti-asylum policies only feed Reform’s support.The government has learnt nothing from the period since the general election.Some of the legal changes being proposed are truly frightening:Abolishing the right to a family life would ultimately affect many more people than asylum-seekers. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Starmer facing growing backlash from Labour MPs as Mahmood sets out asylum plans – UK politics live

Home secretary to announce a drastic tightening of rules, including requiring asylum seekers to wait 20 years before getting the right to permanently settle in UKMomentum, the leftwing Labour group, has also denounced the government’s asylum plans. In a statement it says:The home secretary’s new immigration plans are divisive and xenophobic.Scapegoating migrants will not fix our public services or end austerity.Draconian, unworkable and potentially illegal anti-asylum policies only feed Reform’s support.The government has learnt nothing from the period since the general election.Some of the legal changes being proposed are truly frightening:Abolishing the right to a family life would ultimately affect many more people than asylum-seekers. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Starmer braced for backlash from Labour MPs as Mahmood sets out asylum plans – UK politics live

Home secretary to announce a drastic tightening of rules, including requiring asylum seekers to wait 20 years before getting the right to permanently settle in UKMomentum, the leftwing Labour group, has also denounced the government’s asylum plans. In a statement it says:The home secretary’s new immigration plans are divisive and xenophobic.Scapegoating migrants will not fix our public services or end austerity.Draconian, unworkable and potentially illegal anti-asylum policies only feed Reform’s support.The government has learnt nothing from the period since the general election.Some of the legal changes being proposed are truly frightening:Abolishing the right to a family life would ultimately affect many more people than asylum-seekers. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Keir Starmer says 'probably the biggest announcement for a generation' has just happened in Wales

Sir Keir Starmer has made a visit to Coleg Menai in Anglesey after the announcement that Britain's first small modular reactor (SMR) will be built at Wylfa on the island

Politics

3 w. ago Minister says police and crime commissioners will be abolished in 2028 because system has failed – UK politics live

Elected policing roles will be phased out and their powers transferred to mayors in England in move that could save £100mPA Media has more on what the monthly performance figures from NHS England show. PA says:The data shows 180,329 people in England had been waiting more than a year to start routine hospital treatment at the end of September, down from 190,549 at the end of August.Some 2.4% of people on the list for hospital treatment had been waiting more than 52 weeks in September, down from 2.6% the previous month.The NHS waiting list is 230,000 lower than July last year, even as the health service ‘approaches its limit’ with A&E and ambulances facing record demand ahead of winter.The overall waiting list for September was 7.39m (an estimated 6.24m patients) down 15,845 compared to the previous month and 230,000 fewer than July 2024.Thanks to the investment and modernisation this government has made, waiting lists are falling and patients are being treated sooner The past ye...

Events

3 w. ago Live updates as Keir Starmer visits Anglesey after major nuclear announcement

The UK's first small modular nuclear reactor will be built at Wylfa, creating thousands of jobs

Events

3 w. ago Ed Miliband urges Labour to move on after Starmer apologises to Streeting for hostile briefings from No 10 – UK politics live

Fallout from extraordinary briefing operation against Wes Streeting continues as calls grow for Starmer to sack his chief of staff Morgan McSweeneyGood morning. In an interview around this time yesterday morning, Wes Streeting, the health secretary, said that if Keir Starmer were to ring him about the anti-Streeting briefing by Starmer allies reported by the Guardian and others on Tuesday, Streeting would reply: “Why are you bothering with this.” It was an attempt to play down a new episode of Labour turmoil that has turned out to counter-productive for Starmer, but helpful for Streeting, and by the time the two men did speak last night, the conversation took a different tone.Starmer apologised to Streeting, journalists have been told. The conversation was short, and they did not discuss Morgan McSweeney, Starmer’s chief of staff, whom Starmer is now under pressure to sack. The pair also agreed they would speak again soon – which doesn’t mean much (they both attend cabinet, and have...

Politics

3 w. ago Kemi Badenoch grills Keir Starmer over 'toxic culture' in Downing Street after Wes Streeting denies plot to oust PM: Live updates

LIVE UPDATES: Follow the latest from the Commons as Keir Starmer faces off against Kemi Badenoch as Labour frontbencher Wes Streeting denies a plot to topple the Prime Minister.

Events

4 w. ago Breakfasts at No 10: buttering up Labour MPs to avoid a budget backlash

Downing Street has been preparing MPs for going back on its manifesto pledge and raising income taxUK politics live – latest updatesIf Keir Starmer’s election campaign was carrying a ming vase across an ice rink, then this budget – according to one minister – is like “wrestling a squirrel across a minefield”.It is an allusion to the biggest risk for Rachel Reeves, not the markets or big business, but Labour MPs. It was those MPs who were the key audience for the chancellor’s highly unusual speech preparing the ground for possible income tax rises. Continue reading...

Politics