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 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 ThomasEditorWatch again as Sir Keir Starmer faced a PMQs grilling on the turmoil surrounding his Labour party today (Wednesday 9 October).Sir Keir headed into a tense session, already grappling with a rebellion within his party north of the border over winter fuel payments.Two senior Scottish Labour MSPs, Richard Leonard and Alex Rowley, defied their leadership by backing a motion in Holyrood calling for the government to reverse its cuts to the benefit.The prime minister faced questions over Sue Gray’s shocking resignation as his chief of staff, following internal disputes, and controversy over his acceptance of hospitality freebies.PMQs came as Tom Tugendhat’s elimination saw the Tory leadership contest narrow to a final three contenders, with James Cleverly receiving a significant boost in support in Tuesday’s vote.Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, and Cleverly will now battle it out to become leader of the Conservatives. More

Sir Keir Starmer declined to rule out raising employers’ national insurance contributions as Tory leader Rishi Sunak attacked the prime minister over Downing Street personnel changesMr Sunak told MPs: “When he talks about security at work, once again, it’s one rule for him and another rule for everyone else.“But I know that not everything or everyone has survived his first 100 days in Government, so can he confirm that when he promised not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT, that commitment applies to both employer and employee national insurance contributions?”The prime minister replied: “We made an absolute commitment in relation to not raising tax on working people.” More

Conservative leader took a swipe at Sir Keir Starmer claiming the prime minister is “a convert to fire and rehire”, as he referred to the resignation of his former chief of staff Sue Gray.Addressing the Commons during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) today (9 October), Mr Sunak said: “Tomorrow the Government will publish their anticipated changes to employment law, given the weekend’s events, when did the Prime Minister first become a convert to fire and rehire?”Sir Keir responded: “I’m very pleased and proud that tomorrow we will publish the Bill which will be the biggest upgrade of workers’ rights in a generation.” 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

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 ThomasEditorA wounded Israeli soldier urged the UK not to forget the mistake of Neville Chamberlain by being more like Churchill and standing up against “the evil of Iran”.Barak Deri, an Israeli Defence Force reservist, has been hailed as a hero in his country and is visiting London this week as part of a mission to win support for Israel’s struggle in the ongoing war on multiple fronts in the Middle East.The 32-year-old, who was wounded and is likely to be disabled for the rest of his life, arrived in the UK with a simple warning that “Israel’s war is the West’s war” and the demand: “We cannot be quiet, we must send a clear message that another Holocaust is not an option.”He said: “I think that for me, I grew up on [Winston] Churchill. Coming here to the UK, it amazes me how people forget all this [Neville] Chamberlain deal in 1938.“When you see so much evil from Iran to Syria, everything that they touch is just a black hole of tears, blood and suffering. I think to myself, didn’t we learn anything from history?”Barak Deri fought in the IDF special forces More