23 m. 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

69 m. ago UK should renegotiate Chagos Islands deal to allow islanders to return, UN argues

Chagossians were expelled from the islands between 1965 and 1973 to make way for a joint UK-US base

Economics

86 m. 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

2 h. ago Mother says Southport project a thank you to ‘community that saved us’

The Government has pledged £5 million for the work at Town Hall gardens.

Politics

10 h. ago England booed off again after Senegal humbling but Tuchel insists ‘no need to panic’

Tuchel: ‘We don’t go to the World Cup next week’Manager defends late introduction of Ivan ToneyThomas Tuchel insisted England should not panic over their World Cup prospects despite being humbled by Senegal one year and one day before the tournament starts.Tuchel suffered the first defeat of his reign at the City Ground and ­England their first loss to ­African opposition in 22 matches as ­Senegal ran out deserving 3-1 winners. Jude Bellingham had a goal controversially disallowed at 2-1 but, after the laboured win against Andorra in World Cup qualifying on Saturday, there was no disguising the paucity of England’s latest performance under their ­German coach. England were booed off for the second game in succession. Continue reading...

Politics

10 h. ago UN experts urge UK to negotiate new Chagos deal that allows islanders to return

The deal returns sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius, but will see the UK lease back a military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands.

Economics

10 h. ago Starmer and Reynolds meet US commerce secretary in push to implement trade deal

The Business Secretary took the opportunity to meet Howard Lutnick to push for progress on the US-UK trade deal announced last month.

Economics

13 h. ago MoD ‘dishonest’ to call 1994 Chinook crash an accident, say families

RAF Chinook ZD576 crashed in foggy weather on June 2 1994 on the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland.

Events

14 h. ago Government pledges £5m for renovation project in memory of Southport victims

Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner met the parents of Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King in Downing Street on Tuesday.

Economics

15 h. ago Keir Starmer's moving tribute to Southport families as he pledges £5m for memorial

Keir Starmer met the families of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Aguiar, who were murdered in July last year, and praised them for their courage and resilience

Economics

16 h. ago Why is sorry the hardest word? Keir Starmer joins Rachel Reeves in refusing to apologise for Labour's winter fuel chaos

The Prime Minister insisted it was 'the right decision' to originally axe the handouts, worth up to £300 a household, for around 10 million retirees last winter.

Events

18 h. ago What’s behind Keir Starmer’s decision to back nuclear power?

Does the UK need nuclear to keep the lights on? What has big tech got to do with it? And do the costs stack up?Keir Starmer has committed the UK to its first significant stake in a new nuclear power plant since the 1980s.The decision to invest almost £18bn of taxpayer money into the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk was welcomed by Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, as the beginning of a “golden age” of nuclear investment that would be critical to the government’s net zero goals. Continue reading...

Events

18 h. ago SNP minister demands higher immigration to Scotland as she urges PM to help Holyrood tackle country's ageing population

Equalities minister Kaukab Stewart reiterated the Scottish Government's call for PM Sir Keir Starmer to ditch a 'one-size fits all approach' to immigration to the UK.

Politics

19 h. 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

19 h. ago UK sanctions two Israeli ministers as it ramps up pressure over Gaza

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the security minister, and Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, will be subject to a travel ban and asset freeze.

Politics

19 h. ago Rugby league star Sir Billy Boston’s knighthood ‘a little bit late’, says son

The 90-year-old was knighted by the King in a private ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday after a campaign to get the player honoured.

Sport

20 h. ago Lib Dems denounce new Reform UK chair as ‘Trump sycophant’ – UK politics live

Daisy Cooper says doctor and presenter David Bull once appeared on TalkTV with his ear bandaged after the assassination attempt against TrumpReeves is now taking questions.The first comes from a delegate who says the proposed welfare cuts are wrong. Will the government think again? Continue reading...

Politics

24 h. ago Brits STILL face chaos at Faro airport as huge queues form at passport control despite new post

Faro Airport in Portugal has started the rollout of e-gate access to British arrivals after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed an agreement with EU leaders last month.

Events

25 h. ago In limbo: families hoping for change to UK income rules for spousal visas

The migration advisory committee is due to release a review of the UK’s minimum income requirement for family visas – currently set at £29,000. Many British families are in a state of enforced separation. Family visas represent just 5% of total UK visa applications, yet are a key focus of a migration crackdown. Working with Reunite Families, photographer Frankie Mills documents the lives of nine families whose stories illustrate the human cost of this policy thresholdThree weeks ago, Keir Starmer said the UK was at risk of becoming an “island of strangers”. But for countless British citizens across the country, that isolation is already a lived reality by design of immigration rules that force them to choose between their homeland and family.The minimum income requirement dictates how much a person needs to earn in order to bring their non-British partner here. Set at £18,600 for a decade, the Conservatives announced plans to raise it dramatically to £38,700 before backtracking afte...

Politics

25 h. ago Once again, British politicians want to ‘ban the burqa’. But this time, I’ve never felt so afraid | Nadeine Asbali

Since the riots last summer British Muslims have felt a deep unease in our own countryHere we are again, debating the right of Muslim women to wear what they want. Last week, the Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin asked the prime minister, Keir Starmer, if he planned to follow other European countries and prohibit burqas.Then the leader of the opposition, Kemi Badenoch, called for bosses to be able to ban the burqa in the workplace. Following the example of the former Labour minister Jack Straw, who in 2006 sparked the first burqa debate by asking constituents at his surgeries to remove their face coverings, she stated that she does not see constituents at her surgeries if they have their faces covered, “whether it’s a burqa or a balaclava”.Nadeine Asbali is a secondary school teacher in London and the author of Veiled Threat: On Being Visibly Muslim in Britain Continue reading...

Politics