27 m. ago Rachel Reeves strikes 11th hour deal with Angela Rayner to break cabinet civil war deadlock

Exclusive: The Treasury agreed a late deal with Angela Rayner’s Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government on Sunday evening, just days before Rachel Reeves publishes the spending review

Events

88 m. ago Rachel Reeves must do more than hope for the best when it comes to paying for Labour’s spending

Editorial: The chancellor has to balance the competing demands of ministers in her spending review but must make sure she keeps Britain’s finances on a secure footing

Economics

2 h. ago Israel Katz threatens to use ‘all necessary measures’ to stop Gaza

Israel’s defence minister says he’d instructed IDF to block humanitarian flotilla carrying climate activist Greta ThunbergThe Israeli defence minister has threatened to “take all necessary measures” to prevent a humanitarian ship carrying climate campaigner Greta Thunberg from reaching Gaza.The ‘Madleen’, a boat operated by the activist group Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), says it is attempting to reach the shores of the territory to bring in a symbolic amount of aid and raise international awareness of the continuing humanitarian crisis. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago Minister slams 'disturbing' and 'disgusting' online chat rooms exposed by the Manchester Evening News

He vowed to 'go after' these sickening online spaces

Politics

3 h. ago The Guardian view on child poverty: free school meals are a help, but not a panacea | Editorial

Giving lunch to more pupils is a good move – but poor nutrition points to deeper problems that ministers must faceIt was Ellen Wilkinson, education minister in the Attlee government, who announced in 1946 that free school dinners would be introduced, along with free school milk, at the same time as child benefit. No doubt Rachel Reeves, who has a picture of Wilkinson on the wall of her office, is aware of this – and also that the Treasury subsequently decided the policy was unaffordable. The meals were subsidised instead.Despite these initial charges, and later price rises, poorer children did gain, and keep, an entitlement to free school meals. The announcement last week that this is being extended in England to all those whose parents or carers claim universal credit – rather than restricted to families with incomes lower than £7,400 – should be welcomed by all objectors to child poverty. Being assured of a hot lunch in the middle of the school day makes pupils’ lives be...

Politics

3 h. ago Disability benefit cuts will affect Wales disproportionately, campaigners say

UK government declined to conduct Wales-specific impact assessment for plans, despite calls from first ministerDisability benefit cuts planned by the UK government will disproportionately impact the lives of people in Wales, campaigners have said.Research released by the data analytics company Policy in Practice last week estimated that 190,000 people – 6% of the population – could have their incomes slashed by up to 60% by the end of this parliament if eligibility for personal independence payments (Pip) is tightened as proposed in a March green paper. Continue reading...

Politics

4 h. ago Bryce Dallas Howard says director of 2005 film ‘insulted’ her father and threw water in her face

Lars von Trier directed Howard in the 2005 film ‘Manderlay’

Events

5 h. ago David Attenborough came close to drowning due to faulty 1950s scuba diving equipment

‘I thought, ‘This can’t be right’. And by the time [the water rose to my nose], I thought, ‘I’m sure this is not right’

Events

5 h. ago Police told to stop asking for more cash to fight crime and 'do their bit' to repair the economy by Labour minister ahead of Spending Review

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle declined to rule out the prospect of a real-terms squeeze on areas such as policing this week.

Politics

5 h. ago UK finance minister Reeves to meet China's vice premier on London trip

UK finance minister Reeves to meet China's vice premier on London trip  Reuters

Politics

5 h. ago Minister says AI ‘does lie’ but defends Government amid copyright row

Peter Kyle acknowledged the technology was ‘not flawless’ as he insisted the Government would ‘never sell downstream’ the rights of artists.

Politics

6 h. ago British soldier arrested in Kenya over alleged rape near training base

A British soldier has been accused of raping a woman in Kenya - the Ministry of Defence is cooperating with a Kenyan investigation into the incident.

Events

6 h. ago Thousands protest in Madrid against government of prime minister Pedro Sánchez

Ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ party has faced series of corruption allegations over past yearTens of thousands of people have gathered in central Madrid to protest against the government of Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, and to demand an early general election as his party, his administration and his family continue to be beset by a succession of corruption allegations.Sunday’s protest, called by the opposition conservative People’s party (PP) under the slogan “Mafia or democracy”, attracted between 45,000 and 50,000 people, according to the central government’s delegation to the region. Organisers, however, put the attendance at 100,000. Continue reading...

Politics

6 h. ago Thousands protest in Madrid against Pedro Sánchez’s government

Ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ party has faced series of corruption allegations over past yearTens of thousands of people have gathered in central Madrid to protest against the government of Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, and to demand an early general election, as his party, his administration and his family continue to be beset by a succession of corruption allegations.Sunday’s protest, called by the opposition conservative People’s party (PP) under the slogan “mafia or democracy”, attracted between 45,000 and 50,000 people, according to the central government’s delegation to the region. Organisers put the attendance at 100,000. Continue reading...

Politics

7 h. ago Minister dismisses US misgivings over Chinese 'super embassy' in London

Minister dismisses US misgivings over Chinese 'super embassy' in London - as Tories warn of 'espionage base'  Sky News

Politics

8 h. ago Adam Rickitt and GMB host wife Katy's new life in Sicily as the couple fulfil 'life long dream' of buying holiday home on Mediterranean island

The couple, both 47, own and run a craft beer and artisan gin bar called Dexter and Jones in their town of Knutsford - where they live with their two dogs.

Politics

8 h. ago Children could be handed a social media 'curfew' under 'app cap' plan to increase online safety being considered by ministers

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle indicated he was considering an 'app cap' to restrict how much time youths spend on their phones.

Politics

8 h. ago Manta man: film profiles unlikely bond between diver and giant sea creature

The Last Dive tells how a relationship with a giant Pacific manta ray turned a big game fish hunter into a conservationistLocated about 500km off the southern coast of Baja California lies a group of ancient volcanic islands known as the Revillagigedo Archipelago. Home to large pelagic species including whale sharks and scalloped hammerheads, the rugged volcanic peaks were also once the site of an unlikely friendship.It began in December 1988 when Terry Kennedy, a now 83-year-old American sailor with a storied past, met a six-meter-wide giant Pacific manta ray off San Benedicto island’s rugged shore. He would go on to name him Willy. “When I saw him beside the boat, as massive as he was, I just had to get in the water just to see him,” says Kennedy. “I threw a tank on and jumped over, but I didn’t see him anywhere. He couldn’t have vanished that quick. And then I looked straight down and he was coming up underneath me. He was about four feet away and rising so I had no way to get of...

Politics

8 h. ago Minister refuses to rule out cuts to police and housing budgets in spending review

As the Treasury continues to lock horns with Angela Rayner and Yvette Cooper over housing and police force budgets, Cabinet minister Peter Kyle sends a strong signal of the government’s intent

Politics

9 h. ago I was enjoying a midnight swim. Then my girlfriend kissed me – and the nightmare began

Seventeen years ago Nathan Dunne was locked out of his body, or at least that’s how it felt. He talks about his battle with depersonalisation disorder – and his sudden fear of waterOn a cold winter’s night, in a “fit of spontaneity”, Nathan Dunne and his girlfriend went for a midnight swim on Hampstead Heath in London. They had been living together for a few months and, although it was dark and chilly, they “had a summer feeling in that first flush of the relationship”, Dunne says. They shed their clothes and waded into the shallows. After diving into the icy water, Dunne’s girlfriend put her lips to his cheek, and as they pulled apart, his life changed beyond all recognition. “It was like being struck. Like something came down,” he says, slicing the air with his hand. “The flip of a switch.”Dunne’s transformation sounds like a fairytale in reverse: one kiss, and his life turned into a nightmare. Seventeen years have passed since that night, and he still mostly explains the change i...

Politics