33 m. ago Jeremy Corbyn says ‘discussions are ongoing’ after Zarah Sultana claimed she would ‘co

Sultana announced on Thursday she was quitting Labour to join Jeremy Corbyn’s Independent AllianceMy colleague Lauren Almeida, who is running the Guardian’s business live blog, has shared the following:Rachel Reeves has not given herself enough fiscal headroom to manage public finances, Charlie Bean, the former deputy of the Bank of England has said, and has to “neurotically fine tune taxes”.About £10bn – that’s a very small number in the context of overall public spending. Government spending is about one and a quarter trillion so £10bn is a small number and it is a small number in the context of typical forecasting errors.You can’t forecast the future perfectly both because you can’t forecast the economy and you can’t forecast all the elements of public finances . The forecasts are imprecise and there is no way you can avoid that. That is a fact of life.In light of reports of atrocities committed by the Israeli government in Gaza and reports of the UK’s collaboration with Israeli ...

Politics

84 m. ago Starmer and Macron to host coalition of the willing meeting next week

The Prime Minister and France’s leader will dial into a meeting with allies on Thursday, as Mr Macron makes his first state visit to the UK.

Politics

2 h. ago Home secretary rejects Zarah Sultana’s claim Labour failing to improve lives – UK politics live

Sultana announced on Thursday she was quitting Labour to join Jeremy Corbyn’s Independent AllianceMy colleague Lauren Almeida, who is running the Guardian’s business live blog, has shared the following:Rachel Reeves has not given herself enough fiscal headroom to manage public finances, Charlie Bean, the former deputy of the Bank of England has said, and has to “neurotically fine tune taxes”.About £10bn – that’s a very small number in the context of overall public spending. Government spending is about one and a quarter trillion so £10bn is a small number and it is a small number in the context of typical forecasting errors.You can’t forecast the future perfectly both because you can’t forecast the economy and you can’t forecast all the elements of public finances . The forecasts are imprecise and there is no way you can avoid that. That is a fact of life.In light of reports of atrocities committed by the Israeli government in Gaza and reports of the UK’s collaboration with Israeli ...

Society

4 h. ago Jeremy Corbyn’s new party is not something Starmer – or Farage – can afford to ignore

The damage done by pro-Gaza Independents at the general election last year shows what a threat to Labour a new party led by Jeremy Corbyn and Zara Sultana could be, says David Maddox

Politics

5 h. ago Trump reached out to console me after my brother’s death, Starmer reveals

The prime minister revealed that the US president reached out to offer his condolences after the death of his younger brother on Boxing Day last year

Politics

5 h. ago Can Starmer and Reeves hold the Labour Party together? Ask John Rentoul anything

The Independent’s chief political commentator, John Rentoul, is here to answer your questions as Labour grapples with a welfare reform crisis, mounting pressure on Keir Starmer’s leadership, and growing doubts over Rachel Reeves’s position

Society

6 h. ago ‘I understand what Trump cares about,’ says Sir Keir Starmer

The prime minister revealed that the US president reached out to offer his condolences after the death of his younger brother on Boxing Day last year

Politics

6 h. ago Keir Starmer opens up on Donald Trump's moving act after death of his brother

Keir Starmer said he understands what 'anchors' the US President, and said Donald Trump had called him following the death of his brother Nick on Boxing Day

Politics

7 h. ago Keir Starmer says he understands what ‘anchors’ Donald Trump

The Prime Minister said it was ‘in the national interest’ for him to have a connection with the US president.

Politics

8 h. ago Who’s really to blame for Labour’s troubles – Rachel Reeves or the invisible PM? | Gaby Hinsliff

The Treasury focuses on numbers when what’s needed is vision. The party and the country are crying out for leadership, but it’s nowhere to be seenShe is not the first chancellor to cry in public, and may not be the last. But Rachel Reeves is the first whose tears have moved markets. No sooner had the realisation dawned that she was silently weeping – over a personal sorrow she won’t be pushed into revealing, she insisted later, not a political one – as she sat beside Keir Starmer at Wednesday’s prime minister’s questions, than the pound was dropping and the cost of borrowing rising. The bond traders who forced out Liz Truss’s hapless chancellor still clearly rate her judgment and want her to stay, even if (perhaps especially if) some Labour MPs don’t. Yet it is an extraordinary thing to live with the knowledge that a moment’s uncontrolled emotion can drive up the cost of a nation’s mortgages, just as a misjudged stroke of the budget pen can destroy lives.The most striking thing abou...

Events

10 h. ago Keir Starmer must improve or Nigel Farage will be the next Prime Minister

Daily Record Political Editor Paul Hutcheon says Keir Starmer must learn from the failures of strategy and policy if he is to thrive as Prime Minister.

Politics

13 h. ago Starmerism DOES exist... It's Labour's same old spiteful politics of envy and class warfare dressed up for the modern age

Three days after Labour 's landslide victory in the General Election a year ago, when everyone was hailing Keir Starmer and his message of 'Change'...

Politics

21 h. ago Rachel Reeves insists she’s ‘cracking on with the job’ as she hugs Starmer after Commons tears

The prime minister and chancellor shared a hug as they moved to calm the markets after a tumultuous week which saw tears in the Commons during PMQs

Politics

23 h. ago How a tear or two spooked markets and dominated UK's political narrative

The weekly session in which the British prime minister is questioned by lawmakers in Parliament can be an ordeal for the government leader

Politics

23 h. ago New NHS plan shows ‘future already looks better’ under Labour – Starmer

Patients will be given more control of their health via the NHS app, while there will be less reliance on hospitals, the plan says.

Politics

24 h. ago Rachel Reeves’s brave face cannot mask the challenges she now faces

The chancellor has come out fighting after her teary PMQs moment... but much tougher challenges now await

Politics

25 h. ago You can’t fix the NHS without fixing social care, Streeting warned

Social care was described as a ‘very significant question’ hanging over the blueprint by the shadow health secretary.

Events

25 h. ago Steve Coogan says he now ‘admires’ Margaret Thatcher because of Keir Starmer’s politics

‘I never thought I’d say that,’ Alan Partridge star admitted

Politics

25 h. ago ‘Clearly I was upset,’ says Reeves as she responds to questions about tears at PMQs – UK politics live

Chancellor says tears due to ‘a personal issue’ but it was her job to be at PMQs supporting Keir StarmerStreeting says he has to go to the Commons to make a statement to MPs.But first he introduces Rachel Reeves, saying that she has put an extra £29bn into the NHS.It is thanks to her leadership that we’ve seen interest rates in our country fall four times. It’s thanks to her leadership that we see wages finally rising faster than the cost of living. And it’s thanks to her leadership we have the fastest growing economy in the G7.If Australia can effectively serve communities living in the remote outback, we can meet the needs of people living in rural England.If community health teams can go door to door to prevent ill health in Brazil, we can do the same in Bradford. Continue reading...

Politics

25 h. ago Rachel Reeves insists she is ‘cracking on with the job’ after Commons upset

‘People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday. Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job,’ the Chancellor said.

Politics