1 hour ago Minister defending Labour’s £5bn benefits cuts admits he couldn’t live on £70 a week

Hitting back at left-wing Labour critics of the government, Torsten Bell accused them of ‘defending a Tory system’

Politics

3 h. ago Swinney: Sarwar’s words count for nothing amid ‘return to austerity’ with cuts

Scotland’s First Minister said Labour is ‘punishing the most vulnerable in our society’.

Events

5 h. ago DAN HODGES: The Labour minister whose disastrous Newsnight interview has made him the living embodiment of everything people hate about Keir Starmer's government

Torsten Bell and his colleagues can wave as many charts and statistics as they like. A storm is coming. The British people have had enough.

Politics

5 h. ago I could not live on £70 a week in benefits, says 'hypocrite' Labour minister as he defends Starmer cuts

Torsten Bell, the pensions minister, said he had a 'mortgage to pay' as he explained why he thought he could not live on that amount.

Politics

6 h. ago Marco Silva not surprised by Tottenham links as pressure mounts on Ange Postecolgou

The manager’s impressive work at Fulham has garnered plenty of admirers

Events

9 h. ago Minister accuses Labour left of ‘defending Tory system’ after benefits cuts

Hitting back at left-wing Labour critics of the government, Torsten Bell accused them of ‘defending a Tory system’

Politics

25 h. ago MATT RIDLEY: The media and scientific establishments called me a conspiracy theorist for insisting Covid leaked from a lab. Why do they STILL have their heads in the sand?

The CIA, FBI, German intelligence and the former head of MI6 all say they think Covid started with a lab leak. Why do members of the scientific and media establishments still have their heads in the sand?

Science

31 h. ago Minister vows ‘life on sickness benefits to end’ for millions as Labour looks to stave off rebellion over welfare cuts

Pat McFadden said the government will ensure the welfare state is ‘fit for 21st century’

Politics

34 h. ago Ministers brace to unveil £5bn benefits cuts TODAY despite Labour fury at 'shameful' plans

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is set to lay out moves to save around £5billion amid fears spiralling costs are 'unsustainable'.

Politics

36 h. ago What welfare cuts could Labour announce today? From PIP to Universal Credit

Estimates of Labour cuts continue to rise as MPs grapple with ministers

Politics

44 h. ago Ministers face Labour pressure to establish Waspi compensation scheme

MPs from the Government back benches and opposition parties offered their support for an e-petition pressing for compensation.

Politics

54 h. ago What welfare cuts could Labour announce tomorrow? From PIP to Universal Credit

Estimates of Labour cuts continue to rise as MPs grapple with ministers

Politics

56 h. ago Former Ofsted chief accuses Labour ministers of putting union wishes ahead of children's welfare by brutally attacking the freedom of academies

Amanda Spielman, who was chief inspector of the schools watchdog from 2017 to 2023, demanded Bridget Phillipson drop proposed reforms that would rein in academies.

Politics

56 h. ago Minister defends planned benefit cuts amid growing Labour backlash

Diane Abbott said planned welfare cuts are ‘not a Labour thing to do’ as backlash grows in the party over the move

Politics

66 h. ago Pressure mounts on Labour Minister Lord Patrick Vallance to explain why he 'rubbished' spy chief's Covid lab leak file

Lord Patrick Vallance, the Government's chief scientific adviser during the crisis, is accused of rubbishing claims in a dossier which warned the virus was engineered in a Wuhan facility.

Politics

3 d. ago It is mission critical that Labour repairs the contract between citizen and state | Andrew Rawnsley

Proving that government can be a force for good is essential if Sir Keir Starmer is to see off the populist rightListening to Sir Keir Starmer’s recent lament that the “flabby” state is failing Britain was to experience deja vu all over again. More than a quarter of a century has passed since another Labour prime minister, one Tony Blair, vented his frustration with the public sector by complaining that trying to reform government had left him with “scars on my back”. In similar vein, David Cameron’s lot used to excuse their struggles to get stuff done by blaming resistance from the amorphous administrative “Blob”. Dominic Cummings told Boris Johnson that the solution was to pack Number 10 with “weirdos”, “misfits” and “wild cards” – a self-description if ever there was one – while purging the senior civil service. He was still working his way through his “shit list” of mandarins when he got the boot himself. You will not recall the Johnson administration as an able and stable outfi...

Events

3 d. ago Starmer should apologise to disabled people over cuts uncertainty, says SNP

Kirsty Blackman MP said any planned cuts to disability payments should be scrapped.

Politics

3 d. ago Labour minister 'rubbished' spy chief's secret dossier on Wuhan lab leak theory during pandemic despite Boris demanding probe... to 'avoid offending China'

A former spy chief submitted a secret dossier to No 10 early in the pandemic reporting that the virus had originated with a leak from a Wuhan facility

Politics

5 d. ago Calls for inquiry after black children labelled 'subnormal' and 'made to wash white kids'

Labour MP Kim Johnson is calling on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to launch an inquiry for black children who were labelled 'educationally subnormal' and sent to schools for children with disabilities

Events

5 d. ago Paedophiles should lose their HOMES, ministers are told: Labour urged to follow Aussie example where online perverts have assets seized even if they aren't profiting from crimes

The UK should consider introducing laws to confiscate the homes of people who commit online child sexual exploitation, a senior police chief has said.

Politics