3 h. ago Angela Rayner’s exit proves it. Unless Starmer is able to meet this moment, Reform is on the path to power | John Harris

The prime minister increasingly looks like a man next to a burning house, offering to buy a new bookcase and rugSign up for our new weekly newsletter Matters of Opinion, where our columnists and writers will reflect on what they’ve been debating, thinking about, reading and moreOne hundred and twenty miles from Westminster, it felt like I had arrived at the perfect place to understand the meaning of Angela Rayner’s exit from the government: Reform UK’s brief conference, a giddy and surreal gathering of about 10,000 people in a hangar-like box on the edgelands of Birmingham.News of her resignation broke a couple of hours into the event’s first day, and the symbolism was glaring. Among midday pints, onstage pyrotechnics and a huge stand advertising the wonders of investing in gold, a party led by those bumptious public schoolboys Nigel Farage and Richard Tice was suddenly rejoicing in the departure of British politics’ most prominent working-class woman. The news, moreover, only boost...

Politics

25 h. ago PM shakes up Home Office in sweeping reshuffle after Rayner exit

Former borders minister Dame Angela Eagle and policing minister Dame Diana Johnson have been moved to other departments.

Society

30 h. ago ‘This is not chaos’: PM’s chief secretary defends reshuffle after Rayner’s exit

Darren Jones says Keir Starmer showed leadership by acting decisively after his deputy resignedUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer’s government is not in chaos, the prime minister’s new chief secretary, Darren Jones, has said following an emergency reshuffle triggered by Angela Rayner’s resignation as deputy prime minister.The cabinet reshuffle, which had been planned for later in the autumn, was brought forward by Starmer in an attempt to assert control after Rayner was forced to step down from all three of her roles, having been found to have breached the ministerial code over her tax arrangements. Continue reading...

Events

46 h. ago Crisis engulfs Labour as Angela Rayner is forced to step down as deputy PM

Starmer brings forward cabinet reshuffle to restore order but fallout likely to further damage party’s reputationKeir Starmer is battling to get a grip on the crisis that has engulfed his government, with his deputy prime minister Angela Rayner forced to step down after breaching the ministerial code over her tax arrangements.The prime minister brought forward a major cabinet reshuffle in an attempt to restore order and get back on the front foot after a damaging few days, with Yvette Cooper, David Lammy and Shabana Mahmood all moved to prominent new roles. Continue reading...

Events

50 h. ago Rayner’s exit is a bombshell. But the real crisis for Starmer may have only just begun | Jonathan Freedland

From the outset her role has been crucial, and her fall will exacerbate all the doubts about the PM and his ability to keep Labour in powerSign up for our new weekly newsletter Matters of Opinion, where our columnists and writers will reflect on what they’ve been debating, thinking about, reading and moreA government that was already reeling has sustained another massive blow. Elected in a landslide slightly more than a year ago, Labour hit the midterm blues within a few months, currently has the poll numbers of an administration in its dying days – and has now witnessed a scandal and resignation close to the apex of power.Perhaps the many New Labour veterans now installed in Downing Street will be reassuring Keir Starmer that the storm of Angela Rayner’s departure will pass, reminding him that the Blair cabinet saw the exit of one Peter Mandelson – also over his homeowning arrangements, as it happens – similarly early in the first term, but paid no electoral price. And yet, the pri...

Events

54 h. ago Angela Rayner resigns after failing to pay enough stamp duty on house sale

Keir Starmer's Government has been plunged into crisis after losing one of its most high-profile members.

Economics

55 h. ago UK politics as it happened: Cooper becomes foreign secretary in cabinet overhaul after Rayner exit

Sir Keir Starmer conducts sweeping reshuffle after his deputy resigns following breach of ministerial code

Politics

3 d. ago Pressure mounts on Rayner as Starmer refuses to back her staying in post as tax dodge crisis deepens

Sir Keir condemns 'appalling' graffiti attack outside Ms Rayner’s Hove flat – as the Commons watchdog prepares to give its verdict on whether she broke ministerial code

Events

3 d. ago Joel's real age on EastEnders explained as Zoe drops secret child bombshell

EastEnders fans are convinced they've 'worked out' who Zoe Slater's secret son is

Society

6 d. ago The Labour 'civil war' fuelling Angela Rayner sleaze crisis amid bitter infighting over who should succeed Keir Starmer

Shadow Cabinet minister Alex Burghart said it was 'very likely' damaging information about Ms Rayner's (pictured) personal life and tax affairs is being leaked by Labour rivals.

Events

6 d. ago Fresh crisis in Downing Street as Keir Starmer's comms chief QUITS amid desperate reset

No10 communications director James Lyons announced he is leaving the role after a year amid a desperate effort to 'reset' the PM's team.

Events

6 d. ago The Labour 'civil war' fueling Angela Rayner sleaze crisis amid bitter infighting over who should succeed Keir Starmer

Shadow Cabinet minister Alex Burghart said it was 'very likely' damaging information about Ms Rayner's (pictured) personal life and tax affairs is being leaked by Labour rivals.

Events

6 d. ago Angela Rayner sleaze crisis is being fuelled by Labour 'civil war' over who should succeed Keir Starmer, Tories claim

Shadow Cabinet minister Alex Burghart said it was 'very likely' damaging information about Ms Rayner's (pictured) personal life and tax affairs is being leaked by Labour rivals.

Events

1 week ago Now ANOTHER former Labour home secretary says Britain should 'decouple' from the ECHR to help tackle Channel migrant crisis as pressure piles on Keir Starmer

Jack Straw, who was Labour home secretary between 1997 and 2001, warned the ECHR was being 'misused' in some legal cases to prevent migrant deportations.

Events

1 week ago Labour's Starmer faces growing pressure over small boats crisis

This year has witnessed a record 28,288 individuals making the crossing of the English Channel in small boats

Events

2 w. ago Lord Blunkett says Starmer should suspend ECHR to deport thousands of rejected asylum seekers and 'get a grip' on migrant crisis

The ex-Labour home secretary urged ministers to take the 'radical' step as fury grows over the use of nearly 200 hotels to house 32,000 asylum seekers at taxpayers' expense

Events

2 w. ago Linking sex attacks to migration is 'dangerous racist diversion' warn women's rights groups

In a letter to Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper, organisations including Rape Crisis England and Wales, the End Violence Against Women Coalition and Refuge called on ministers to stand up to the 'dangerous narrative'

Events

3 w. ago Voices: Is Keir Starmer just one crisis away from a Labour coup?

Party strategists are busy working out how to escape the chancellor’s doom loop of tax rises – and to crush damaging speculation about her boss’s ability to lead his party into the next general election. But the race to replace the PM may already have begun, says Andrew Grice

Events

3 w. ago Keir Starmer ‘plans rise in inheritance tax’ to ease debt crisis

Critics see inheritance tax, charged on estates valued at more than £325,000, as being a wealth tax in all but name

Economics

3 w. ago It's not our fault! Ministers try to dodge blame as number of small

Keir Starmer was slammed for 'incompetence' over the handling of the Channel crisis.

Politics