UK Politics

Minister says accepting freebies is different in governmentYour support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseMy recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyondEric GarciaWashington Bureau ChiefA furious row has erupted between Labour and the Conservatives over a deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.Sir Keir Starmer’s government has announced that Britain will return the territory but will still have sovereignty over the Diego Garcia military base in the Pacific Ocean.But the Conservatives have condemned the decision, with Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick accusing Sir Keir Starmer of “surrendering” Britain’s strategic interests. Former foreign secretary James Cleverly has also joined the backlash, branding Sir Keir Starmer “weak, weak, weak” despite being behind the first negotiations over the agreement when he was in cabinet.A Labour source hit back accusing Rishi Sunak’s administration of putting the key UK-US base on Diego Garcia at risk during their negotiations. They branded the territorial dispute a “legal car crash” left by the previous government which was “damaging the UK and the US’ national security”. It comes as Boris Johnson revealed how he dismissed warnings over Dominic Cummings and the Barnard Castle row as “lefty journalists angry over Brexit”. In his new book ‘Unleashed’, the former prime minister explained why he refused to sack his then-political adviser despite his infamous trip at the peak of the pandemic.Show latest update 1727954157Furious Tories condemn Starmer’s Chagos deal despite them opening talks More Tory leadership candidates have joined Robert Jenrick in criticising the British Indian Ocean Territory decision.James Cleverly said: “Weak, weak, weak! Labour lied to get into office. Said they’d be whiter than white, said they wouldn’t put up taxes, said they’d stand up to the EU, said that they be patriotic. All lies!”Fellow rival Tom Tugendhat said: “This is a shameful retreat undermining our security and leaving our allies exposed.”He claimed the Foreign Office had “negotiated against Britain’s interest” and it was “disgraceful that these negotiations started under our watch”.Mr Tugendhat added: “Lord Cameron rightly blocked them only to see it back under David Lammy’s complete failure of leadership.”But the Tories were responsible for starting the negotiations over the deal when they were in power. Former foreign secretary Mr Cleverly opened talks on the sovereignty of the archipelago in November 2022. Salma Ouaguira3 October 2024 12:151727966660Britain treated Chagossians ‘shamefully’, says envoyThe envoy behind the Chagos Islands-Mauritius deal has said Chagossians were treated “shamefully” when they were removed from the islands in the 1960s.Jonathan Powell told BBC Radio 4’s World at One: “What we did in the 60s, what Britain did, was wrong. We treated them shamefully.“And that’s why previous governments have given them British nationality, British citizenship, and so on.“So we setting up a fund that will be administered by the Mauritian government because this is now Mauritian territory, so we can’t say who goes back.”But under the deal, Chagossians are not able to return to Diego Garcia, the UK-US military base in the Pacific Ocean. He added: “Many of Chagossians are either Mauritian citizens or have the right to Mauritian citizenship.“Going back to the islands … it’s going to be difficult. They’re very remote and very hard to live on, and the life there before was very difficult.“But yes, we are committing ourselves to help on visits, and we’re committing to a fund to help on resettlement if that’s possible.”Salma Ouaguira3 October 2024 15:441727965211Salma Ouaguira3 October 2024 15:201727965068We inherited ‘legal car crash’ with Chagos IslandsA Labour source has hit back at the Tories’ after the fierce criticism from leadership candidates over the government’s decision to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. They said: “Labour inherited a legal car crash that could have left this vital military base in the hands of the court, damaging the UK and the US’ national security.”In 2021, the Conservative government was urged to end its “unlawful occupation” of the Chagos Islands by the prime minister of Mauritius after Britain’s claim to sovereignty was rejected by the UN court. But the Foreign Office argued it had not been party of the court proceedings so it was under no obligation to comply with the ruling. The UK then underwent a long period of negotiations with Mauritius to settle the issue. The source added: “James Cleverly and the Tories tried and failed in 11 rounds of negotiations, putting our national security interests at risk. “The new government did the deal to secure the base and shut off a potential illegal migration route.“You wouldn’t get the US President applauding the deal if it put US interests at risk.”Salma Ouaguira3 October 2024 15:171727964603COMMENT | Laura Kuenssberg’s Boris Johnson gaffe was bad – but these are worseThe BBC presenter accidentally sent the former PM her notes: cue, cancelled interview. And Ryan Coogan has a few confessions of his own…Salma Ouaguira3 October 2024 15:101727963403ICYMI: Boris Johnson regrets not sacking ‘homicidal robot’ Dominic Cummings over Barnard Castle debacleBoris Johnson has branded his former chief of staff Dominic Cummings as “weird” and compared him to a “homicidal robot” as he blamed him for his downfall as prime minister.In his new autobiography Unleashed, the Mr Johnson charted the collapse of his relationship with Cummings from the high point of them working to win the EU referendum in 2016.But he has alleged that Cummings lack of gratitude for his efforts to defend him over potentially breaking lockdown rules with an infamous trip to Barnard Castle in 2020 led to the former chief of staff using Partygate as a form of revenge.Our political editor David Maddox has the full story below:Salma Ouaguira3 October 2024 14:501727962200THE INDEPENDENT DEBATE: Who should be the next leader of the Tory party?All you have to do is sign up and register your details — then you can take part in the discussion. You can also sign up by clicking ‘log in’ on the top right-hand corner of the screen.( 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 ThomasEditorBoris Johnson has branded his former chief of staff Dominic Cummings as “weird” and compared him to a “homicidal robot” as he blamed him for his downfall as prime minister.In his new autobiography Unleashed, the Mr Johnson charted the collapse of his relationship with Cummings from the high point of them working to win the EU referendum in 2016.But he has alleged that Cummings lack of gratitude for his efforts to defend him over potentially breaking lockdown rules with an infamous trip to Barnard Castle in 2020 led to the former chief of staff using Partygate as a form of revenge.Cummings’s role in Brexit was pivotal 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 ThomasEditorLouise Haigh has appointed the woman who will be responsible for driving through Labour’s renationalisation of the railways.The transport secretary has picked Laura Shoaf, chief executive of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), to run Shadow Great British Railways (SGBR).The body, part of the Department for Transport, is a skeleton for what will eventually become Great British Railways (GBR), when Labour’s Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill passes into law.Transport secretary Louise Haigh praised Laura Shoaf’s experience 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 ThomasEditorJames Cleverly has condemned Sir Keir Starmer as “weak, weak, weak” for handing the Chagos Islands to Mauritius – despite having kicked off negotiations over the deal when he was foreign secretary.After a barnstorming conference, which catapulted Mr Cleverly to second favourite in the Tory leadership contest, the mis-step threatened to derail his momentum.Rival Tom Tugendhat piled in with a tweet claiming it was disgraceful that the talks had started “under our watch” as a Tory government and without naming Cleverly he noted that his successor Lord Cameron had briefly halted them.A senior Tory source said: “This was Cleverly’s Chagos deal! David Lammy just got it over the line.”James Cleverly came out of Tory conference with the most momentum behind him 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 minister has claimed accepting freebies in opposition is “different” from doing so in government as she attempted to explain why Sir Keir Starmer has paid back the value of some Taylor Swift tickets, but not thousands of pounds worth of other gifts.Industry minister Sarah Jones suggested Sir Keir and other Labour frontbenchers were taking free tickets to concerts and festivals while in opposition to “build relationships” with businesses.It included Sir Keir’s £2,800 trip to see Taylor Swift and business secretary Jonathan Reynolds, who accepted Glastonbury tickets worth more than £3,000 from Google.But Ms Jones said: “There is a difference between government and opposition when you’re building relationships in opposition, it’s different for when you’re a government minister with real levers of power.”Ms Jones was sent out to defend Sir Keir’s decision to pay back more than £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality. The move, which followed weeks of criticism of Labour ministers over freebies, was made as an updated register of MPs’ interests revealed thousands of pounds of additional freebies accepted by Sir Keir’s top team.Keir Starmer’s decision to pay back some freebies raised more questions than it answered 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 BBC has cancelled an interview with Boris Johnson after presenter Laura Kuenssberg accidentally sent the former prime minister her briefing notes.Ms Kuenssberg, presenter of the BBC’s flagship Sunday political interview show, said she sent Mr Johnson the notes “in a message meant for my team”.The BBC’s political editor between 2015 and 2022 said it was “embarrassing and disappointing”, adding the error meant it was “not right for the interview to go ahead”.Writing on X, she said: “While prepping to interview Boris Johnson tomorrow, by mistake I sent our briefing notes to him in a message meant for my team. That obviously means it’s not right for the interview to go ahead.“It’s very frustrating, and there’s no point pretending it’s anything other than embarrassing and disappointing, as there are plenty of important questions to be asked. But red faces aside, honesty is the best policy. See you on Sunday.”Mr Johnson, prime minister between 2019 to 2022, has an upcoming memoir, Unleashed, that will be published next week.Ms Kuenssberg previously investigated his government in Panorama – Partygate: Inside the Storm, and looked back at the recent Conservative years in a three-part BBC Two series, Laura Kuenssberg: State of Chaos.A BBC spokesperson said: “Tomorrow’s interview with Boris Johnson won’t be going ahead. As Laura has explained, interview briefing notes meant for colleagues were inadvertently shared with him.“This makes an interview tomorrow untenable. Under the circumstances, both the BBC and Mr Johnson’s team have agreed this is the best way forward.”Snippets of Mr Johnson’s new book – set to release on 10 October – have already been shared, with the former politician discussing Covid, the Queen, and his Conservative colleagues in Parliament.Former prime minister Boris Johnson wearing a mask during Covid lockdowns (PA) 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 has paid back £6,000 in gifts and hospitality as the so-called “freebies row” threatens to spiral out of control and plunge his government into chaos.The prime minister’s gesture came on a day when Tory leadership candidates described his government as “the most venal in history”.This was shortly followed by the announcement of an investigation launched into the probity of billionaire Labour donor Waheed Alli who was responsible for many of the gifts to Starmer, his wife Victoria and many members of the cabinet.And while Sir Keir was trying to end the criticism and get his government back on track, the row appeared to intensify as it was revealed that deputy prime minister Angela Rayner received £836 worth of hospitality while partying in Ibiza. Added to that, foreign secretary David Lammy headed a group of Labour MPs and senior figures receiving Taylor Swift concert tickets.Keir and Victoria Starmer at aTaylor Swift concert 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 ThomasEditorKeir Starmer faced a reality check on his first trip to Brussels as he appeared to come away from the European capital with only an agreement to hold further meetings with EU leaders.The prime minister travelled to Belgium for talks with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, as well as European Council chief Charles Michel and the European parliament’s Roberta Metsola, with a promise to “put the Brexit years behind us” and form a closer relationship with the bloc.But speaking at a press conference following the discussions, Sir Keir revealed plans for further talks this autumn followed by a summit early next year while unable to answer journalists’ questions on how the “reset” agreement could look like.Earlier, after what amounted to a meeting about a meeting, Sir Keir and Ms Von der Leyen promised in a joint statement to take forward an “agenda of strengthened cooperation at pace over the coming months”.Starmer hailed ‘very productive’ talks on his first trip to Brussels as PM More