2 h. ago LORD ASHCROFT: 'We can sniff Starmer's fear of Farage' say voters as they back winter fuel U

Voters have been wondering what it was about Reform's surge in local elections that prompted Starmer to tighten his immigration policy and row back the winter fuel allowance cuts.

Politics

4 h. ago Diane Abbott says Starmer speech on Britain becoming 'island of strangers' is 'fundamentally racist'

Announcing his immigration white paper last  month, the Prime Minister said his new strategy would 'finally take back control of our borders and close the book on a squalid chapter'.

Politics

4 d. ago Love Island Sophie Lee's previous ITV show appearance revealed as she joins 2025 line

Love Island 2025 star Sophie Lee is no stranger to the small screen and has previously appeared on an ITV breakfast show Lorraine to promote her empowering book In My Skin following her accident

Culture

6 d. ago Defence review to say UK must be ready to fight a war in Europe or Atlantic

Review will call for ‘war-fighting readiness’ to deal with new threats, though army will not grow before next electionAnalysis: Labour pushes ‘military Keynesianism’ to win support for defence spendingBritain needs to be ready to fight a war in Europe or the Atlantic, a strategic defence review will conclude, though it is not expected to promise immediate increases in the size of the armed forces to deal with the threat.The 130-page document will call for a move to “war-fighting readiness” to deter Russian aggression in Europe and increases in stockpiles of arms and support equipment, some of which may only last days in a crisis. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Britain faces attacks from Russia ‘daily’, minister warns ahead of Starmer’s defence review

Defence secretary John Healey admits the size of the army will not start to grow until at least 2029 as he appears to confirm Labour want to buy fighter jets capable of firing tactical nuclear weapons

Events

1 week ago I did a road journey in England avoiding motorways – and discovered a whole new country | Adrian Chiles

Aston Clinton, Weedon, Maids Moreton – motorways bypass so many fascinating places. Maybe it is this that makes us an island of strangersI learned a lot driving to Hinckley in Leicestershire. I had some work there. That’s showbiz, folks. I didn’t do the journey as I’d normally do it – eyeballs out, gripping the steering wheel, fixating on the satnav ETA, on some motorway or other. If I’d done it that way, it would have taken less than two hours. For a change, I decided to take my time. And this change was as good as a rest. You’re unlikely to find London to Hinckley in any coffee table book about the World’s Best Road Trips, but this little odyssey lifted my spirits no end.It helped that I was on my motorbike. Wherever I’m going, I find motorcycling the shortest route to serenity. I think it’s partly an ADHD thing, with the relief that total absorption affords me. On a motorbike you have to be absorbed – hyper-focused, in fact – because your life is on the line. And while there’s ro...

Transport

1 week ago Rachel Reeves should refine fiscal rules to avoid emergency spending cuts, IMF says

The organisation, which has been assessing the UK economy, upgrades its growth forecast this year to 1.2%Rachel Reeves should refine her fiscal rules to prevent the need for emergency spending cuts, the International Monetary Fund has suggested in its annual review of the UK economy, as it upgraded its forecasts for UK growth this year.Adding to the clamour from backbench Labour MPs incensed by the government’s proposed welfare cuts, the Washington-based organisation said the chancellor should examine ways to avoid having to make short-term savings when there is a downturn in economic forecasts. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago 'Keir Starmer has got it wrong – here's why we're not an island of strangers'

Real Britain reports on All Souls church, which closed in 1986, became a magnet for anti-social behaviour, until community worker Inayat Omarji decided to try to do something about it

Politics

2 w. ago Labour Party under growing pressure to ditch its winter fuel payments policy after nearly 80 per cent of voters say it needs to change

The findings will pile pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to climb down over the cuts to the payments, worth up to £300 a year for vulnerable pensioners.

Events

2 w. ago Jeremy Corbyn criticises Starmer’s ‘island of strangers’ speech at festival

Speaking at the Wide Awake Festival, Mr Corbyn described the Prime Minister’s remarks as ‘nonsense’.

Culture

2 w. ago The least ‘integrated’ part of British society isn’t the immigrants – it’s the elite | Andy Beckett

Politicians and the rightwing press talk about integration in a selective and politically loaded way. The reality is quite differentAmid all the acrimony surrounding Keir Starmer’s recent remarks on immigration – a row that could follow him into retirement and beyond – there has been one little-examined area of agreement between the prime minister and his critics. “When people come to our country,” Starmer said, “they should also commit to integration.” You may believe that integration is not best achieved by government decree, yet in conversations about what sort of society Britain should be, it has long been generally accepted that integration is a good thing – not just for immigrants but for everyone.Mixing, empathising and collaborating with people who aren’t like you has benefits, the argument goes, for individuals and the country as a whole. Perspectives are broadened. Inequalities are softened, at least a little. Lives are enriched, and feelings of loneliness and alienation a...

Events

2 w. ago Net migration data due after Starmer’s warning on ‘island of strangers’

The Office for National Statistics will give its first estimate of net migration for the 12 months to December 2024.

Events

2 w. ago Rachel Reeves says Britain is targeting Gulf trade deal with six countries next as she claims Labour's growth push IS working

She told the BBC the agreement would be the Government's 'next deal' as it looks to continue to boost post-Brexit trade ties.

Economics

2 w. ago Almost HALF of Britons sometimes feel like they're living in Keir Starmer's 'island of strangers'

A shock report has revealed plummeting social cohesion across the country, with half of those questioned saying they felt disconnected from society.

Politics

2 w. ago A Labour lost in the weeds can’t rebuild this country. Starmer must regain his nerve | John Harris

Labour has good ideas and years left to change Britain. Why is it acting as if its time is almost up? Just under a week on from Keir Starmer’s latest pronouncements about immigration, plenty of people on his own side are still gripped by a queasy sense of fury and disappointment, and it shows no signs of fading away. His aides and allies will now try to gladden left-liberal hearts by emphasising gains from Monday’s UK-EU summit, and the prime minister’s remodelling of Brexit. But the acrid cloud hanging over Starmer will surely remain, and with good reason.Whatever the surrounding context – and whether or not he was consciously echoing Enoch Powell – his suggestion that Britain risked becoming an “island of strangers” still sounded like a horribly calculated provocation. The insistence that the government was set on closing “a squalid chapter for our politics, our economy, and our country” was even more brazen. So was the suggestion after years of “a one-nation experiment in open bo...

Politics

3 w. ago 'Dumbest of dumb politics' Nicola Sturgeon blasts Prime Minister's immigration speech

The former First Minister waded in after Sir Keir Starmer said the UK risked becoming an 'island of strangers' if immigration curbs were not implemented.

Politics

3 w. ago Reeves faces anger from her local party over plans to cut disability benefits

Labour members from Leeds West and Pudsey to write letter to chancellor over plans to reduce Pip paymentsRachel Reeves’ local Labour party will call for the chancellor to abandon her plans to cut disability benefits as rebellion among MPs over the policy grows.The Leeds West and Pudsey constituency Labour party (CLP), which campaigned to return Reeves to parliament last year as its MP, has agreed to write to her “as soon as possible” to make clear it does not support the cuts. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Senior faith leaders urge Starmer to tone down migration rhetoric

Exclusive: Christian, Muslim and Jewish representatives write to prime minister after ‘island of strangers’ speechUK politics live – latest updatesMore than a dozen bishops and other senior Christian, Muslim and Jewish faith leaders have written to the prime minister after his “island of strangers” speech, urging him to use a more “compassionate narrative” about migrants.The letter was sent to Keir Starmer after his speech on Monday, which preceded the publication of the government’s immigration white paper that has been widely criticised by migrant rights organisations and civil society groups. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Keir Starmer doubles down on benefit shakeup despite Labour rebellion

Keir Starmer ruled out softening disability benefit cuts when asked if rebel Labour MPs should 'lump it' as he faces a huge Commons rebellion over welfare changes

Politics

3 w. ago GMB's Susanna Reid clashes with Labour minister in tense exchange over 'petrified' people

GMB's Susanna Reid confronted Treasury minister Emma Reynolds about people being 'petrified' of benefits cuts amid a growing Labour rebellion over welfare reforms

Politics