UK Politics

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorConservative MPs have pivoted to the right in, ditching centrist candidate James Cleverly in the race to succeed Rishi Sunak. The former home secretary was knocked out of the race on Wednesday afternoon, leaving Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch to face a vote of the party membership in November. Ms Badenoch and Mr Jenrick are both seen as candidates favoured by the right of the Conservative Party, while Mr Cleverly was thought of as a more centre-ground Tory.This comes despite Mr Cleverly – who was the bookmakers’ favourite to win the contest – surging into first place at Tuesday’s ballot, securing the support of 39 MPs. Many watchers expected him to battle it out with one of his more right wing rivals in the final head-to-head. But in today’s ballot, he lost two votes taking him to 37. Ms Badenoch secured 42 votes, while Mr Jenrick was one vote behind at 41. Tom Tugendhat, a former security minister and favourite of the One Nation caucus of Tory MPs, was knocked out on Tuesday after being backed by just 20 votes.The final two MPs will now face an online ballot of Tory members from 10 to 31 October, with the winner of the contest announced on 2 November.After Tuesday’s ballot, there was just one vote separating Ms Badenoch and Mr Jenrick, with the two MPs receiving 30 and 31 votes respectively. Responding to Wednesday’s ballot, Labour Party chair Ellie Reeves said Tory members have the “unenviable task of choosing between two of the architects of Tory failure”. “Both Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick are central figures in 14 years of hapless leadership and decline, and have already proven they’ve learned nothing from the mistakes that took the Conservative Party to its worst defeat in modern history.“While the endless bickering continues, Labour is fixing the foundations and sorting out the mess that these two deeply unimpressive figures left behind”, she said. More to follow… More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorIf the Tory leadership contest was based on pure likability then James Cleverly would have long ago been the runaway winner to take the job off Rishi Sunak.While his rivals are certainly not the monsters portrayed by social media, there is no doubt when it comes to sociability, small talk and making you just feel good about yourself, Mr Cleverly is streets ahead of most politicians. It is no surprise really that the former foreign secretary and home secretary’s political hero is the former actor turned one of the greatest US presidents, Ronald Reagan. He even quoted in his conference speech Reagan’s famous “It’s morning in America again” line, a brand of optimism, hope and, yes, as Cleverly said, “conservatism with a smile”. There is no doubting he possesses a high degree of emotional intelligence. But unfortunately for him, it is the basic sort of intelligence that his critics claim he lacks, with the regular jibe that the name Cleverly is some sort of oxymoron.Cleverly is now favourite to win the Tory leadership contest More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorThe government has been warned that a potential change to borrowing rules could spook the markets and trigger a Liz Truss-style meltdown.While No 10 has insisted it will “absolutely deliver” on its pledge to restore economic stability, financial experts warned the plans could trigger investor backlash.This comes amid speculation chancellor Rachel Reeves is preparing to overhaul the fiscal regime to unlock £50bn of extra spending.Ms Truss sparked gilt market freefall and a run on sterling after introducing unfunded tax cuts in her 2022 mini-Budget.Nigel Green, chief executive of deVere group – one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organisations – told The Independent: “In the weeks leading up to the Budget, UK gilt yields – widely seen as a barometer of investor confidence – have surged from 3.75 per cent to around 4.2 per cent. There is speculation chancellor Rachel Reeves is preparing to overhaul the fiscal regime to unlock £50bn of extra spending More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorRachel Reeves is thought to be considering making a major change to Labour’s fiscal rules at the budget on 30 October by borrowing billions for infrastructure investment.The move has sparked fears of the potential of rising debt, but the chancellor is reported to have told the cabinet she wants the Treasury to change how it accounts for capital spending to also reflect the benefits of investment.The change to Labour’s fiscal rule – laid out in the party’s manifesto – could unlock up to £57 billion for infrastructure spending, some experts predict.Ahead of the general election, Labour pledged to follow two rules. The first was that in the current budget, costs are met by revenues such as tax. This has proven much more of a challenge for Ms Reeves than she anticipated after she unveiled Treasury analysis in late July which showed a £22 billion shortfall in public spending.The chancellor has acknowledged this herself, saying at a Labour Party Conference fringe event that the measure would be “incredibly hard” to meet and require “tough decisions” to be made.The second rule is that debt must be falling as a share of the economy by the fifth year of the economic forecast. This measure rules out excessive borrowing to fill Labour’s black hole, as debt would be driven up as a result.However, during her speech at the conference, Ms Reeves said: “It is time that the Treasury moved on from just counting the costs of investments to recognising the benefits too.” The comment caused experts to speculate that she may be looking to alter Labour’s fiscal rules at the budget to deal with what Labour calls its unexpected “inheritance”.Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer at Labour’s 2024 conference More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorSir Keir Starmer declared the Falkland Islands are British and will remain British after a row about his decision to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.The prime minister last week refused to rule out ending British control of Gibraltar and the Falklands as he faced a backlash over a deal with Mauritius to cede control of the remote archipelago.Asked on Friday to guarantee no other British overseas territory would be signed away by the government, the PM dodged the question, pointing to a deal to secure the long-term future of a joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands.But, asked during PMQs about measures to make it easier for British citizens fishing off the Falklands to sell fish into Europe, Sir Keir said: “My uncle nearly lost his life when his ship was torpedoed defending the Falklands.” Keir Starmer said the Falklands are British and will remain British More