3 h. ago Reeves suggests EU relationship is higher priority ahead of trade talks with US

The EU is the UK’s largest trading partner, with the US the second largest.

Politics

6 h. ago Reeves hints at priority as she says ‘trading relationship with Europe arguably more important’ than US – UK politics live

Chancellor said she understood the focus on possible deal with US, but added the EU remained ‘our nearest neighbours and trading partners’Water company bosses face up to two years in prison if they cover up illegal sewage spills under new laws coming into force, PA Media reports. PA says:The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said no prison sentences have been handed to water company executives since privatisation despite widespread illegal sewage discharges, and the tougher penalties were essential because some firms have obstructed investigations.Environment secretary Steve Reed said: “Bosses must face consequences if they commit crimes. There must be accountability. From today, there will be no more hiding places.”I’m now pretty optimistic that we are moving in a good direction.In the end, I think everybody understands that this is about our security in Europe. It requires cooperation between democracies, friends, allies, countries with the same values.The...

Politics

30 h. ago Group of 70 Labour MPs and peers demand 'youth free movement' deal with the EU as Rachel Reeves hints she backs scheme despite concerns it will fuel immigration

They made the call in a letter to Nick Thomas-Symonds, the minister in charge of the Government's ongoing negotiations with Brussels.

Economics

1 week ago After this, what more proof does Britain need that it cannot ‘cosy up’ to Trump? | William Keegan

With the US disengaging from its traditional relationship with Europe, we need to abandon our ‘red lines’ and rekindle ties with our neighboursAlas: that the infantile wrecker in the White House has “blinked” may be some relief; but the damage he is wreaking on his own country and the rest of us persists.Amid the chaos, conspiracy theories abound. Is Trump a “useful idiot” of even darker forces? What has Putin got on a president who succeeds a long line of (mostly) admirable predecessors, who saw Russian leaders as enemies with whom they had to coexist, not as friends? Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Indigenous Australian shell dolls let out for children’s play at UK museum

Twelve dadikwakwa-kwa given to Manchester Museum on condition they are not permanently kept behind glassThey represent a “beautiful friendship” that defies preconceptions, spanning 9,000 miles with a complicated, 70-year history. The 12 dadikwakwa-kwa shell dolls, traditionally used to teach kinship, literacy, numeracy and about women’s health – have been given by the Indigenous Australian Anindilyakwa community to a UK museum on one condition – that children play with them once a year.The relationship between Europe’s museums and the countries and communities where items were taken from has been replete with controversy in recent years. But Manchester Museum cemented a bond with the Anindilyakwa community, the traditional owners of the land and seas of the Groote archipelago in the Gulf of Carpentaria, off the northern coast of Australia, by returning 174 objects in 2023. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Key detail in Keanu Reeves' date with Alexandra Grant that hints they could be secretly married.. and sums up how she 'healed' him after tragic loss

Keanu Reeves has been going strong with girlfriend Alexandra Grant since 2018 with the low-key couple appearing happier than ever as they packed on the PDA this week.

Events

2 w. ago UK must improve trade relations with Europe amid US tariff wars, warns Reeves

Chancellor rules out rejoining customs union but says Britain must bolster post-Brexit trade with partnersUK politics live – latest updatesDonald Trump’s unfolding trade war makes it even more “imperative” for the UK to improve its post-Brexit trading relations with the European Union, Rachel Reeves has said.The government has ruled out rejoining the EU customs union, but the chancellor has insisted the UK wants to improve its trade relationship with “partners in Europe”, given the difficulties British firms have found in exporting their products around Europe. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Elon Musk pours money into key elections across the country as he rants about Soros’ influence

Musk has taken a role in American political life that arguably eclipses that of any billionaire in the modern era

Politics

3 w. ago Art can help remind US and Europe of special relationship, says director of reopening Frick Collection

After a $220m five-year renovation, the New York museum is set to showcase a trove of European masterpieces Can masterpieces of European art help smooth over the fissures between the old world and the new? It’s a hope, say officials at the Frick Collection in New York, which reopens next month after a five-year, $220m (£170m) renovation.Axel Rüger, the director of the museum, which began with a trove of European masterpieces including Rembrandt and Vermeer, hopes that its art could be a reminder of US-European ties in these turbulent political times. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Let's put it in language the Signal leakers will understand: what a bunch of pathetic sleazebags | Emma Brockes

The leaking of top-level military secrets was bad enough, but I’m obsessed with Maga’s fratboy lexiconThe Maga-fication of American political discourse, which started, arguably, with Donald Trump mocking a disabled reporter in 2015, peaked this week with news of Pete Hegseth referring to European countries in the leaked Signal chat as “PATHETIC”, and enjoyed a detour last Tuesday when Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota and former running mate of Kamala Harris, appeared at a town hall in Wisconsin and called Elon Musk “a dipshit”. (This is not the first time he has referred to Musk this way. Right before the election last year, Walz told a crowd: “Look, Elon’s on that stage, jumping around, skipping like a dipshit.”)Parking for a moment the perfection of the phrase “skipping like a dipshit” to capture Musk’s very particular style of movement and speech, the range of what can and can’t be said in politics has clearly, radically changed. When you look back on the phrase that caused Hi...

Politics