UK Politics

Support trulyindependent journalismFind 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 has said he is not in favour of banning mobile phone for under-16s, but suggested there should be stronger controls around what content children can access on the devices.The Prime Minister said his teenage children have phones but declined to say whether their use is restricted.It comes as Esther Ghey, the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, is campaigning for an age limit for smartphone usage and stricter controls on access to social media apps.I do think we should look at what is available online to childrenSir Keir StarmerAsked about whether he limits his 13-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son’s mobile phone use, Sir Keir told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “Our children have mobile phones and I’m not in favour of simply banning them for children under 16.“I think there’s a serious question as to what the content is and the control of the content and that is something where I think we need to look again.”The Prime Minister, who has repeatedly expressed concerns about his children’s privacy, refused to say whether their screen time is controlled.Speaking to the programme during his trip to Washington DC for the Nato summit, he said: “I’m not going to start introducing them into interviews if you don’t mind because I’ve taken a strong decision with my wife that we will not be bringing our children into politics.“But generally, I do think we should look at what is available online to children, but in relation to simply banning phones for under 16s, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I don’t think that’s a practical way forward.“But I do think I will sit down with anyone to look at how we’ll put in place better protections because all parents and everybody across the country is concerned about what can actually be accessed on a phone.”Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria have tried to shield their children from the public eye (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind 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 is facing an early end to his post-election honeymoon period as union leaders raise threats over public sector pay.Comments made by the prime minister at the Nato summit in Washington DC appear to confirm that he is prioritising economic stability and bringing mortgages down over meeting demands for wage rises.With junior doctors threatening more strikes over their demands for a 35 per cent pay rise and other pay review bodies on different sectors due to report shortly, Sir Keir was pushed on whether he is prepared to agree to above-inflation rises.Health secretary Wes Streeting, who has also warned against a 35 per cent pay rise, is in talks with the doctors as an urgent priority but others could be coming up if pay demands are not met.But the prime minister is also facing a number of other issues as he flies back to the UK:Junior doctors in England are to meet Wes Streeting More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind 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 ThomasEditorA former veterans’ minister is facing jail over his refusal to reveal the names of whistleblowers who told him about alleged special forces murders to a public inquiry.Johnny Mercer has repeatedly refused to hand over the names of “multiple officers” who told him about allegations of murder and a cover-up during his time as a backbench MP while giving evidence to the Afghanistan Inquiry in February and has reiterated his vows to “keep my word” to those who confided in him.However, the former Conservative MP for Plymouth Moor View could now be handed a prison sentence or a fine if he fails to disclose the names within two weeks after his application to withhold them was rejected by the probe’s chairman.Sir Charles Haddon-Cave’s ruling on Thursday quoted from the British Army’s values and standards by saying: “Integrity requires moral courage to do what is right, even when it may not be popular.”Mr Mercer claimed the ruling contained “multiple inaccuracies and assertions” and said he found it “extraordinary… that Mr Haddon-Cave considers it appropriate to repeatedly question my moral courage and integrity in public”.Sir Charles Haddon-Cave’s ruling on Thursday quoted from the British Army’s values and standards More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind 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 has insisted that Joe Biden is not senile as he leapt to the president’s defence amid growing calls for him to step aside from the US election race.The prime minister had his first bilateral meeting with the president in the White House on Wednesday in what proved to be a friendly meeting of political allies which both sides hope will mend the damage done by Brexit to the special relationship.But it came after actor George Clooney wrote an article in The New York Times urging Biden not to run against Donald Trump in November, while fellow Hollywood star Michael Douglas said it would be “hard to imagine” Biden serving his full term as president even if he is re-elected.Starmer and Biden met yesterday at Nato More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind 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’s new government has “no other alternative” but to release prisoners 40 per cent of the way into their sentence to ease the overcrowding crisis behind bars and avert the collapse of the criminal justice system, unions have warned.The new justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, is expected to announce such measures on Friday, with exemptions for more serious offenders, after Sir Keir described his shock at the extent of the mess he has inherited from the Conservative government.Rishi Sunak’s administration is understood to have drawn up similar plans before abandoning them prior to calling the general election in June. He had already been forced to release prisoners progressively earlier since October, reaching up to 70 days early in May.Describing the bringing forward individual prisoners’ release dates as having caused “absolute mayhem” for the probation service, Napo union chief Ian Lawrence said he hopes the new move of a more blanket recalculation of sentences will ease some of the pressure.Sir Keir Starmer described his shock at the state of the nation’s prisons More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind 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 has promised to send fewer people to jail in the long term while he prepares to oversee the mass early release of prisoners to ease the overcrowding crisis facing the UK’s jails.The prime minister hit out at the inheritance left for him by the Conservatives and branded Britain’s prison system “broken”, speaking of his shock at discovering the scale of the crisis.And Sir Keir warned he cannot build new prisons in just seven days.It has led to widespread expectations that the new justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, will use a major speech on Friday to unveil measures aimed at easing the crisis.The prime minister said he was “pretty shocked” at the scale of the situation More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind 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 ThomasEditorDefence secretary John Healey has warned that the west is facing “a decade or more of growing aggression” Vladimir Putin’s Russia as Labour seeks to drawn Britain closer into EU defence arrangements.The new defence secretary was speaking to journalists at the Nato summit in Washington DC after a series of meetings with the other 31 allies and Ukraine.Mr Healey has committed to UK £3 billion of aid to Ukraine for the war to be transferred within the first 100 days of the government.He denied that the UK’s bid to draw back on some of the Tory Brexit arrangements would see the UK joining an EU military force but he confirmed that work on a security pact will start next week when Britain hosts the European Political Council summit.John Healey (right) with Starmer and Europe minister Nick Thomas-Symonds More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind 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 ThomasEditorPrime minister Sir Keir Starmer would not commit to an extra bank holiday if England win Euro 2024. The Labour leader said the UK should “certainly mark the occasion” but said he did not want to “jinx anything” by pre-empting the result of Sunday’s final. The Liberal Democrats led calls for an extra bank holiday after England claimed a last-minute 2-1 victory over the Netherlands on Wednesday. Gareth Southgate’s side will now play Spain in the finals. Sir Keir previously supported calls for a bank holiday when England’s women’s football team made it to the World Cup final last year.Asked whether he would back a bank holiday if Southgate’s team is victorious, the prime minister told broadcasters in Washington DC: “We should certainly mark the occasion, I don’t want to jinx it. I went to the last Euros final, I don’t want to go through that again.“I don’t want to jinx anything but we must mark it in some way. But the most important thing is getting it over the line on Sunday.”Sir Keir, an Arsenal supporter who regularly plays five-a-side football, said England’s win on Wednesday night was “fantastic”.The Labour leader said the UK should “certainly mark the occasion” More