23 h. ago Six arrested after man's hand 'cut clean off' at house party

The 18-year-old man had been at a birthday party when he suffered the life-changing injury.

Society

23 h. ago Labour MPs face a serious dilemma on asylum seekers – but this is not the way out of it | Polly Toynbee

The party sees its harsh policies as politically necessary. But what happened to talking up the value of migrants for a thriving economy and society?This is how Labour MPs see it. They face brutal dilemmas and miserable choices. How to manage our asylum system is one of the worst. Through their constituency work, they will have met refugees with tragic stories of war and fear, of terrifying journeys across the world, of gangsters on night-time beaches. But MPs’ experience of hearing those heart-rending stories clash head-on with what they see as political necessity, demanding they block their ears and harden their hearts. A life in politics is not for the squeamish.Wes Streeting, a practising Christian, yesterday writhed while answering questions on LBC radio about the home secretary’s tough plans for deterring small boat arrivals. The flavour of his reply reflected how many on Labour’s benches feel. Confronted with the government’s intention to deport more families with children – ...

Events

23 h. ago Teen's hand 'cut clean off' at Merseyside house party as police make six arrests

An 18-year-old reportedly fled the party after being injured and ran into a nearby pub, where witnesses recalled seeing his horror injury

Events

25 h. ago Teen's hand 'cut clean off' at 18th birthday party as police make six arrests

An 18-year-old man suffered a potentially life-changing injury at an 18th birthday party in Huyton, Merseyside, with six people arrested in connection to the incident

Events

27 h. ago Former Reform leader in Wales is jailed for 10 years for accepting pro

Russia is seeking to bribe Britain's MPs to undermine our democracy, police warned today as the former head of the Reform UK party in Wales was jailed for taking cash to back Putin's allies.

Politics

45 h. ago California fraternity under investigation after student drowns in pool during massive party

19-year-old died at ‘overcrowded’ party where police said there was evidence of ‘heavy alcohol consumption’

Events

49 h. ago Police told they must now call prostitutes 'sexual entrepreneurs' under new guidelines

An all-party parliamentary group warned that National Police Chiefs' Council guidance telling officers how to deal with prostitution was 'normalising' commercial sexual exploitation

Events

3 d. ago Starmer’s squandering of a historic election victory is a tragedy nearing its finale | Rafael Behr

The tactics that gave Labour its huge majority in 2024 were no preparation for government – and the prime minister has proved he has nothing more to offerThe mood among Labour MPs these days follows Edgar’s law. This states that the scale of any misfortune can only be measured against unknown future disasters. As Shakespeare has the banished son of the blinded Earl of Gloucester say in King Lear: “The worst is not, so long as we can say ‘this is the worst’.”According to Edgar’s law, there is no opinion poll so gloomy for Labour that it can’t be followed by one even bleaker; no fiscal forecast so bad that the Treasury can’t aggravate it with contradictory signals on tax; no misgivings about Keir Starmer that can’t be amplified by malevolent briefing about a leadership challenge; no social policy so nauseating to the party faithful that it can’t be made grosser still with a relish of cruelty.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Chinese spying amounts to interference in UK democracy, minister says, after MI5 warns MPs – politics live

Dan Jarvis, the security minister, says China is trying to contact MPs and peers to get sensitive information about parliamentBack at the Reform UK press conference, Zia Yusuf, the party’s head of policy, has just finished outlining his plan to cut spending on foreignersAs he finished, Yusuf claimed this was “treachery”.Labour is making the conscious and deliberate decision to continue funding extortionate amounts to foreign nationals, to the detriment of British citizens.And I don’t know what to call that. Frankly, in my view, it’s treachery. I think it’s appalling. British people are sick and tired of it.Just a few months ago, Rachel Reeves was saying she couldn’t afford to scrap the two-child benefit cap. Now it looks like becoming her latest U-turn.This isn’t because the economic circumstances have improved. Quite the opposite. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago ‘Death by a thousand cuts’: the people who could face deportation under Reform

As party’s rise fuels fears over future visa rules, people share how the lives they have built are in jeopardyAs Reform UK soars in the polls, Britain’s migrant communities are facing an uncertain future.The party has announced a swathe of hardline immigration policies, including its plans to abolish indefinite leave to remain – the right to settle permanently in the UK after five years of residence. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Schoolgirl who was knifed to death in attack at home that also left her mother hurt 'had been looking forward to her 18th birthday', grandparents say

Lainie Williams, 17, was killed at her home in South Wales, at around 7am on Thursday, while her mother Rhian Stephens, 38, was airlifted to hospital for treatment.

Events

9 d. ago Reform council leader defends party colleague who called police ‘British hating scum’

Staffordshire County Councillor Peter Mason apologised for the posts on X, written before he was elected in May

Politics

9 d. ago Republicans are scrambling to reclaim affordability. Good luck with that | Judith Levine

Two problems stand in the way of the party’s efforts: their policies and their presidentTry as they might to present Zohran Mamdani as the exemplar of their opponents’ radical-left lunacy, the platform the New York mayor-elect and other Democrats won on was affordability – the same platform on which Trump ran, and has spectacularly failed to deliver.So in their panic, Republicans are scrambling to reclaim affordability.Judith Levine is a Brooklyn-based journalist, essayist and author of five books. Her Substack is Today in Fascism Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Reform council approves tax rise on second homes despite Farage calling it ‘extortion’

North Northamptonshire, one of nine councils led by rightwing populist party, will introduce policy in 2027

Politics

1 week ago Acting police sergeant slapped junior colleague's bottom at Christmas party

He's been given a final written warning

Events

1 week ago England footballer is unrecognisable in Hulk Hogan costume while celebrating daughter's 19th birthday

A former England footballer looked completely unrecognisable as he dressed up as Hulk Hagan while celebrating his youngest daughter's 18th birthday on Saturday. 

Politics

2 w. ago Tanzania police arrest opposition party official after deadly election protests

Chadema party says deputy secretary general arrested and calls election of incumbent president fraudulentTanzanian authorities have detained a senior official from the main opposition party Chadema amid a spate of arrests in connection to deadly protests during elections last week.More than 1,000 people were killed by security forces during the demonstrations, according to Chadema and human rights bodies. The Tanzanian government has said these figures were exaggerated but did not give its own figures. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Labour deputy leader’s views on party policy are ‘irritating’, says Labour peer

Thangam Debbonaire accused Lucy Powell of ‘giving a running commentary and undermining’ the government

Politics

2 w. ago Chaos as police swoop on two Halloween house parties after they were gatecrashed by hundreds of teenagers who spilled into streets

Hundreds of 'out of control' teenagers gatecrashed a Halloween house party - with police called to deal with 'disorder' which spilled into the street outside.

Events

2 w. ago Police swoop on Halloween house parties where hundreds of teenagers spilled into streets causing 'disorder'

Hundreds of 'out of control' teenagers gatecrashed a Halloween house party - with police called to deal with 'disorder' which spilled into the street outside.

Events