70 m. ago Forget working, you could be better off on benefits under Labour! How a couple with three children earning just £10,000 a year could 'game' the system to pocket the equivalent of a £140,000 salary

Benefit-claiming parents who work as little as a day a week are set for bumper pay packets worth the equivalent of £140,000 next year - and it's all thanks to Labour's 'Benefit Street Budget'.

Economics

7 h. ago Paul Nowak calls on Labour to forge closer relationship with Europe

In an exclusive interview, the head of the TUC says a customs union with the EU could boost the UK’s economyKeir Starmer should seek out a far closer relationship with Europe, including a possible customs union, the head of the TUC has said.Paul Nowak, TUC general secretary, said the British public recognised the need for a vastly improved trading arrangement and said it had become more urgent than ever because of the fickle nature of the relationship with Donald Trump’s United States. Continue reading...

Politics

7 h. ago Trade unions leader calls on Labour to forge closer relationship with Europe

In an exclusive interview, the head of the TUC Paul Nowak says a customs union with the EU could boost the UK’s economyKeir Starmer should seek out a far closer relationship with Europe, including a possible customs union, the head of the TUC has said.Paul Nowak, TUC general secretary, said the British public recognised the need for a vastly improved trading arrangement and said it had become more urgent than ever because of the fickle nature of the relationship with Donald Trump’s United States. Continue reading...

Politics

12 h. ago Trade union members turning to Farage because of failure to tackle cost of living, Starmer warned

The warning from TUC general secretary Paul Nowak comes as new polling shows one in five adults are skipping meals because of financial problems

Events

27 h. ago Reform should have seats in the House of Lords, top Tory says after Nigel Farage called on Starmer to give his party life peerages

In August, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage wrote to Sir Keir, calling for his party to be granted lifetime peerages.

Society

3 d. ago What happened next: how a shocking rape and murder case was solved – 58 years later

In Portishead, a dusty box of forgotten files led Jo Smith and her team to a criminal who had escaped justice for more than half a century. This was the longest-running cold case to be solved in the UK, and possibly the worldIn June 2023, Jo Smith, a major crime review officer for Avon and Somerset police, was asked by her sergeant to “take a look at the Louisa Dunne case”. Louisa Dunne was a 75-year-old woman who had been raped and murdered in her Bristol home in June 1967. She was a mother of two, a grandmother, a woman whose first husband had been a leading trade unionist, and whose home had once been a hub of political activity. By 1967, she was living alone, twice widowed but still a well-known figure in her Easton neighbourhood.There were no witnesses to her murder, and the police investigation unearthed little to go on apart from a palm print on a rear window. Police knocked on 8,000 doors and took 19,000 palm prints, but no match was found. The case stayed unsolved. Continue...

Events

3 d. ago 'Shut stores on Boxing Day and January 1 to give workers a break', union says

Trade union Usdaw made the call after a survey of its members in Scotland found 98 per cent support stores being shut on December 26 and January 1.

Politics

4 d. ago Wes Streeting's bid to cosy up to the EU is an 'early shot' at a challenge to Sir Keir Starmer

The Health Secretary was on Monday accused of rolling the pitch for a leadership challenge after he used an interview to make the case for a 'closer trading relationship' with Brussels.

Politics

5 d. ago Wes Streeting hints he will back rejoining the customs union with 'closer trading relationship with EU'

The Health Secretary on Sunday described the Prime Minister's 'reset' deal with Brussels, branded a surrender by the Tories and Reform, as a 'good start'.

Politics

5 d. ago Major Nigel Farage update as elections watchdog issues statement

Labour had called on the Electoral Commission to look into the Reform UK leader's spending in his constituency, alleging that an overspend could have breached electoral law

Politics

6 d. ago Friedrich Merz wants Berlin to be a geopolitical hub. Will German voters reward him?

The chancellor is pursuing a risky quest for European leadership, and last week’s setback over Russian reparations is unlikely to knock him off courseFriedrich Merz’s three-month bid to catapult Germany into the role of undisputed leader of Europe has come unstuck.His call for Europe to hand Ukraine access to €201bn (£176bn) in frozen Russian central bank assets via a reparations loan was rejected at a decisive European Council meeting in Brussels. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Top House Democrat demands immediate action to extend Obamacare subsidies after four Republicans help force vote – live

House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries calls on Mike Johnson to allow vote on legislation extending Affordable Care Act subsidies before recessFour Republicans join Democrats to force vote on bill that would extend Obamacare subsidiesThe Donald Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, will soon make his first appearance before Congress since sparking an uproar with comments seen as pressuring ABC to temporarily pull comedian Jimmy Kimmel from the air.ABC indefinitely suspended Kimmel’s show over statements he made following the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which prompted Carr to say that he wanted broadcasters to “take action” on Kimmel, and: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Top House Democrat demands immediate vote on extending ACA subsidies – US politics live

Hakeem Jeffries, House minority leader, calls on Mike Johnson to immediately allow vote on legislation before House is set to go on recessThe Donald Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, will soon make his first appearance before Congress since sparking an uproar with comments seen as pressuring ABC to temporarily pull comedian Jimmy Kimmel from the air.ABC indefinitely suspended Kimmel’s show over statements he made following the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which prompted Carr to say that he wanted broadcasters to “take action” on Kimmel, and: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Labour’s workers’ rights bill to become law after Lords battle

The ‘historic’ bill has been praised by trade unions and MPs who pushed to get it through the House of Lords

Economics

1 week ago Metropolitan Police call centre staff to go on strike on New Year's Eve in row over pay

Trade union Unite said 175 of its members were expected to walk out on one of the busiest days of the year, in a 25-hour-long protest.

Events

1 week ago STEPHEN GLOVER: If Reform and the Tories let Labour back in they would never be forgiven. When I asked Farage about a pact his answer was very revealing

Have there ever been two political parties in modern British politics that think alike on so many issues as Reform UK and the Tories?

Politics

1 week ago Labour deputy leader calls for her party to 'cut through all the noise' and unite behind Sir Keir Starmer amid growing Reform threat

She accused Reform of 'blaming all the ills of the country on immigrants' and said 'division and hate was ripping through our communities'.

Politics

2 w. ago Top nurse leader warns super flu ‘could soon overwhelm A&Es’

Boss of Britain’s nursing trade union warns NHS nurses are 'deeply worried how they will maintain the safety and dignity of patients’ amid super flu surge

Events

2 w. ago Anas Sarwar 'has serious questions to answer about Scottish Labour culture' after scandals, says SNP

The Nationalists called for the Scottish Labour leader “to come clean on why these revelations keep happening” after a string of scandals.

Events

2 w. ago Brits travelling to Portugal warned of flight chaos as major strike planned

Portugal's two main trade unions are calling for what could be the country's biggest strike in over a decade, with severe flight and rail disruptions expected to affect UK travellers

Events