36 h. ago Whitehall attendance slumps in spite of Labour's pledge to crack down on civil servants working from home

As several civil servants continue to shun returning to the office, attendances fell or remained static in more than half of government departments over the first three-month quarter of this year.

Events

2 d. ago Tony Blair think tank urges Rachel Reeves to invest billions and not just ‘balance the books’ in spending review

Britain facing cuts after chancellor doubled down on her manifesto pledge not to raise taxes to fund Labour’s spending plans

Economics

3 d. ago Voices: Are Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer in denial about the ‘T’ word?

In a key speech in Rochdale, the chancellor stuck to Labour's manifesto pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance for employees and VAT, saying she had ‘absolutely no intention’ of repeating the £40bn tax hike in her first Budget. Her words may well come back to haunt her, warns Andrew Grice

Politics

4 d. ago Labour ‘at war’ over Reeves’ spending review amid fears manifesto pledges will be ditched

Chancellor is facing a push to consider wealth taxes instead of cuts before she publishes her spending review next week

Events

6 d. ago Labour is accused of making an embarrassing retreat on defence spending as Defence Secretary downgrades 3 per cent GDP military pledge to an 'ambition'

The Defence Secretary (pictured, with Sir Keir Starmer) has rowed back on a commitment to spend 3 per cent of GDP on national security by 2034.

Events

1 week ago UK politics live: minister defends Labour’s justice record after warnings of threat to public safety

Housing minister says previous government left prison system in state of ‘criminal neglect’ amid warnings over early release plan The government is seeking to give a boost to smaller developers with faster planning decisions and financial backing to speed up building new homes.It will set out the detail of proposals to cut red tape and for planning decisions to be shifted away from councillors and towards expert officers as part of efforts to meet Labour’s pledge to build 1.5m homes by 2029-30.We’ve inherited, as you know, a housing system that’s not building enough homes part of the reason it is broken is that we’re overly reliant on a small number of large volume housebuilders. So we’ve got to diversify the housing market and get smaller housebuilders back in the game.In the 1980s they used to produce about 40% of all homes. Today it’s less than 10%, and so the package we’re announcing today allocating land specifically to SME housebuilders, providing them with more financial supp...

Events

3 w. ago Labour's 'smash the gangs' pledge won't see Channel migrant crossings fall until next year

Officials are understood to be pessimistic about the prospect of making a significant impact on migrant crossing numbers this year, with measures not expected to start paying off until 2026.

Events

3 w. ago Grim report raises concerns over Labour's vow to cut violence against women and girls

The Commons’ Public Accounts Committee (PAC) cast doubt over Labour’s ability to achieve its pledge to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade

Events

3 w. ago Former Scottish Labour MP accuses party of 'losing its soul' after Keir Starmer pledges immigration crack down

Business chiefs and trade unions have warned Scotland "desperately needs to retain and attract more working-age people".

Politics