3 h. ago Vladimir Putin mouthpiece says UK 'perfect' target for nuclear weapons in rant

Vladimir Putin's propagandists have threatened to test nuclear weapons on Britain in response to Keir Starmer's announcement yesterday that the Government will spend 2.5% of GDP on defence by 2027

Events

3 h. ago Rachel Reeves warns European allies that global trade is at risk unless they follow UK's new ambition to spend 3% of GDP on defence as she attends G20 in South Africa

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will insist Western powers must 'step up and do more' or face huge penalties from disruption to trade.

Events

4 h. ago Starmer accused of fiddling the figures on defence spend increase

The defence secretary admitted Sir Keir’s figures were misleading as the Tories demand Labour to be ‘straight about the facts’

Politics

20 h. ago Keir Starmer bows to Trump pressure and increases UK defence spending by slashing foreign aid

PM brands Russia a ‘menace in our waters’ and says UK must stand by Ukraine to achieve lasting peace to avoid threats to economic instability

Politics

20 h. ago This is a hard choice. We believe in foreign aid – but we have to make cuts. We must keep the UK safe | David Lammy

Putin’s Russia is a threat to all Europe, including the UK. Vital aid work will be hit as we spend more on defence, but we must deal with the world as it isThere are moments in history when everything turns, but the extent of change is not perceived until later when the fog has cleared. These are hinge points that require clear leadership and bold action. In the late 1940s, my Labour predecessor and hero Ernie Bevin, alongside Clement Attlee, saw through the fog when they led Britain into Nato and the UN, and secured the development of Britain’s nuclear deterrent. In the 1960s, Harold Wilson saw through the paranoia of the cold war, refusing Lyndon Johnson’s request to send British troops to Vietnam. In the 1990s, Tony Blair understood that unless we stopped the president of Serbia, Slobodan Milošević, there would be no peace in the Balkans.Three years into Vladimir Putin’s brutal war, this is again a hinge point for Britain. Keir Starmer’s commitment to dramatically raise defence s...

Politics

21 h. ago Starmer slams accusation he is ‘Farage in disguise’ over defence spending increase

Sir Keir Starmer dismissed an accusation he is "Nigel Farage in disguise" over his plans to slash the foreign aid budget to hike defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP to counter “tyrants” like Vladimir Putin.

Politics

21 h. ago Starmer accuses Farage of ‘fawning’ over Putin as Reform MPs face ‘poodles’ jibe

Reform UK MP Lee Anderson also hit back over criticism of his party colleagues during a war of words with the SNP’s Stephen Flynn.

Politics

25 h. ago Starmer hikes defence spending to counter ‘tyrants’ like Putin

PM brands Russia a ‘menace in our waters’ and says UK must stand by Ukraine to achieve lasting peace to avoid threats to economic instability

Politics

25 h. ago Starmer hikes defence spending to 2.5% ahead of crunch meeting with Trump

Labour PM cuts foreign aid funding as he prepares to fly to Washington to meet the US President who has piled pressure on Britain to bolster its armed forces

Politics

25 h. ago Keir Starmer vows to slash aid spending to pump 2.5% of GDP into defence by 2027 in dramatic statement to MPs ahead of 'mission impossible' trip to meet Trump in White House

In a dramatic Commons statement, Keir Starmer finally laid out a trajectory for boosting the military amid rising alarm about America withdrawing support.

Events

28 h. ago Merz warned he must change tone during Germany coalition talks – Europe live

Friedrich Merz aiming to build government before Easter but SPD co-leader says man expected to be chancellor must change courseBut, but, but before we even get to the new Bundestag in late March, there is some plotting under way to change the country’s constitutional debt brake in this parliament before it finishes its term.Once the new parliament gets in, two opposition parties – the far-right AfD and the far-left Die Linke – will have a blocking majority for constitutional changes and are unlikely to be willing to agree to fund further defence spend this way. Continue reading...

Events

45 h. ago Jeremy Hunt says welfare cuts would let Starmer commit to 3% defence spend now

Mr Hunt said the UK raising defence spending to match the US relative to GDP would secure the future of Ukraine and of Nato.

Economics

3 d. ago Keir Starmer goes to war with Nigel Farage to accuse 'dangerous' Reform UK of 'fawning over Putin' and holding policies 'alien' to Brits following party's poll surge

The Prime Minister used a speech at the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow to launch an full-throated attack on Reform's 'dangerous right-wing politics'.

Events

4 d. ago Donald Trump attacks ‘nice guy’ Keir Starmer for ‘not doing anything’ about Ukraine war

Donald Trump has accused UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer of "not doing anything" to resolve the war in Ukraine triggered by Russia, as the US president continues to defend his controversial remarks about the country's leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

Events

4 d. ago Starmer urged to stand up to Trump’s ‘torrent of lies’ as he accuses UK of doing nothing to end Ukraine war

Starmer urged to challenge Trump over Ukraine lies as US president accuses Britain of ‘doing nothing to end the war’

Politics

4 d. ago Starmer urged to stand up to Trump’s ‘torrent of lies’ as he accuses Britain of doing nothing to end Ukraine war

Starmer urged to challenge Trump over Ukraine lies as president accuses Britain of ‘doing nothing to end the war’

Politics

6 d. ago Labour row over benefit cuts as Rachel Reeves 'plots to reduce spending by £5billion but resist calls to spend it on defence or back

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reported to want to cut the figure from state handouts for the disabled in her spring statement in March.

Economics

6 d. ago Denmark to spend billions on defence, citing fears over Russian rearmament

Mette Frederiksen says situation is ‘most dangerous’ in many years as she increases defence budget to 3% of GDPMette Frederiksen admitted that Denmark and other countries made a mistake by cutting their defence spending as she announced a 50bn Danish kroner (£5.5bn) package, saying: “It must never happen again.”The Danish prime minister increased defence spending to 3% of GDP in the next two years – up from 2.4% in 2024 – as she said Denmark needed a “massive rearmament” to avoid war. Continue reading...

Economics

8 d. ago Starmer vows to ‘spend more’ on UK defence but other areas face cuts

Departments asked to model savings of up to 11% as government battles chronic squeeze on public finances

Politics

8 d. ago Scottish MPs demand details after Sir Keir Starmer suggests sending troops to Ukraine

The Prime Minister has said the UK and Europe are facing a “generational challenge”

Politics