8 h. ago Keir Starmer’s legacy could be electoral reform – or Farage as prime minister | Polly Toynbee

MPs are voting to get rid of first past the post in mayoral elections. Doing the same at a national level would be an antidote to Reform UKWake up to the peril. As MPs return to parliament, they should abandon that self-deluding pretence that it could never happen here in our “moderate” and “tolerant” land. On the contrary, Britain is at more risk of a populist right takeover than many of our European neighbours. With Labour in an electoral slough of despond, and the Tories looking dead already, the reptilian grin of Nigel Farage haunts the political landscape after his satisfactory summer spent stoking division and cynicism.Our first past the post (FPTP) elections make us particularly vulnerable. As Rob Ford, professor of politics at Manchester University, notes: “This is now a Farage-friendly electoral system.” Reform UK has reached the tipping point where winning as little as 30% support in our corkscrewed lottery of a voting system could propel him into No 10, however much that ...

Politics

14 h. ago The Labour 'civil war' fuelling Angela Rayner sleaze crisis amid bitter infighting over who should succeed Keir Starmer

Shadow Cabinet minister Alex Burghart said it was 'very likely' damaging information about Ms Rayner's (pictured) personal life and tax affairs is being leaked by Labour rivals.

Events

15 h. ago The Labour 'civil war' fueling Angela Rayner sleaze crisis amid bitter infighting over who should succeed Keir Starmer

Shadow Cabinet minister Alex Burghart said it was 'very likely' damaging information about Ms Rayner's (pictured) personal life and tax affairs is being leaked by Labour rivals.

Events

23 h. ago Angela Rayner sleaze crisis is being fuelled by Labour 'civil war' over who should succeed Keir Starmer, Tories claim

Shadow Cabinet minister Alex Burghart said it was 'very likely' damaging information about Ms Rayner's (pictured) personal life and tax affairs is being leaked by Labour rivals.

Events

5 d. ago Voices: When it comes to Reform, Labour and the Tories are making the same mistake

In directing their fire at Nigel Farage, Reform’s opponents risk building him up, helping him seize the agenda – and further exposing their own limitations and failures over immigration, says Andrew Grice

Politics

5 d. ago Voices: Want to see how quickly Farage’s migrant plan would unravel? Just look at Greece

Several of the draconian schemes that a Reform UK government would implement in Britain have already been tried by Athens – and failed, says Thimios Tzallas

Events

7 d. ago Voices: It’s time for Starmer to expose Farage’s snake oil on immigration

Nigel Farage and Reform UK have gone conveniently silent on Brexit while decrying small boats and asylum seekers – Keir Starmer needs to take significant measures to expose the reality of what they’re selling, while convincing the public that Labour is on course to do better, writes Andrew Grice

Politics

7 d. ago The Democrats are in deep trouble in the US – and Labour is on the way to joining them | Nesrine Malik

When millions of once-loyal supporters become disillusioned with a party, there can only be one result: electoral disasterThe measure of a political party’s failure lies not in how many agnostics and opponents it fails to convert, but in how many loyalists it fails to preserve. The endorsement of new, unnatural voters – Latinos in the US for Donald Trump, or Tories voting for Labour for the first time – might deliver big electoral swings but is ultimately not sticky. And these votes are only meaningful if the bedrock is solid. That bedrock is the people who consistently show up, no matter what, from generation to generation, for a party. And the Democrats are losing them.In extensive research published last week tracking voter registration, the New York Times identified an alarming pattern. The Democratic party has been “haemorrhaging” voters since way before election day. In the states that track voter registration by political party, Democrats lost to Republicans in all of them in...

Politics

9 d. ago Tories and Reform 'playing politics' on migration, Labour say

Labour’s Border Security Minister Angela Eagle pointed out both the Conservatives and Reform UK had voted against Labour’s tough border security bill at second reading

Politics

9 d. ago Voices: Starmer has to find a workable plan to ‘stop the boats’ or Farage will become prime minister

The only thing that will defeat Reform’s unworkable asylum policy is a workable one, writes John Rentoul. Looking at its numerous holes won’t work when symbolism is its main attraction to so many in Britain

Politics

1 week ago WASPI women feel 'totally abandoned' after 10 years as poll shows election threat

A snap poll of 5,000 1950s-born women found 80% feel Labour and the Tories take them for granted and 85% think Nigel Farage's Reform 'don't care'

Politics

1 week ago DAME ANGELA EAGLE: 'Labour taking decisive action after asylum system left in disarray'

Writing for The Mirror, Dame Angela Eagle, Labour’s Minister for Border Security and Asylum, says the asylum system 'collapsed' under the Tories, but Labour has taken 'decisive action' to fix it

Events

1 week ago Price of Labour is a leap in inflation: Tax raid on employers and minimum wage hike have driven up costs, with more pain to come

The Tories warned 'Britain can't afford Labour' after figures showed consumer prices rose by 3.8 per cent last month compared with a year earlier.

Economics

1 week ago That didn't take long: Labour now as unpopular as Tories were on the eve of wipeout

Just over a year after handing him a landslide win, only 13 per cent of Britons now approve of the Prime Minister's record in office, YouGov polling found.

Politics

2 w. ago Voices: You can’t demand seats in the Lords and still be an establishment rebel, Mr Farage

The Reform leader’s only problem with a ‘crony-filled House of Lords’ seems to be that they are not his cronies, says John Rentoul

Politics

2 w. ago Lords does not need ‘Putin apologists like Farage’, minister says

Defence Secretary John Healey said the voice of Reform UK is ‘conspicuously absent’ in Commons debates on Russia and Ukraine.

Politics

2 w. ago Now Rachel Reeves plots inheritance tax raid on Middle England to plug huge gap in public finances as Tories blast Labour's 'politics of envy'

The Chancellor is said to be looking at tightening rules on gifting of money and assets before someone passes away to address an estimated £50billion spending hole at the next Budget .

Politics

3 w. ago Voices: Why Starmer will be back for another stab at welfare cuts

Despite the humiliating U-turn on cuts to disability benefits, the prime minister has not given up on reducing ballooning social security spending. Ministers believe they have now found a way to proceed – and how to quash any rebellion, says Andrew Grice

Politics

3 w. ago Voices: ‘The whole tax system needs radical reform’: Readers weigh in on Reeves’ fiscal trilemma

Our community is split on how Rachel Reeves should resolve her fiscal trilemma, with readers divided between raising taxes, cutting spending, relaxing borrowing rules or boosting growth through closer EU ties

Politics

4 w. ago Tories demand Reeves ‘urgently rule out’ investment tax hikes

The Tories claim scrapping the £500 dividend allowance will drag an estimated 5.22 million more people into paying investment levies.

Economics