More stories

  • in

    Moment Labour’s Gen Kitchen wins Wellingborough by-election: ‘People desperately want change’

    This is the moment Labour’s Gen Kitchen wins the Wellingborough by-election, overturning a Conservative majority of more than 18,500.Ms Kitchen said she was “ecstatic” at the result, and the double by-election win for Labour shows people are “fed up” and want change.The candidate said she cut short her honeymoon to begin campaigning when she was told former Conservative MP Peter Bone had been suspended from the Commons.She was announced as the winner on Friday (16 February) just over two hours after Labour also triumphed at Kingswood and she achieved the second-largest swing from Tory to Labour at a by-election since the Second World War. More

  • in

    Watch moment Labour’s Damien Egan wins Kingswood by-election: ‘Tories sucked hope out of our country’

    This is the moment Labour’s Damien Egan is pronounced the winner of the Kingswood by-election.As the party overturned a Conservative majority of more than 11,000, Mr Egan claimed “The Tories have sucked the hope out of our country”.In his victory speech in the early hours of Friday morning (16 February), Mr Egan thanked the activists who helped him win and the people of Kingswood for putting their trust in him.He said: “It’s a trust that I promise to repay, to show you that politics can be different and it can make a difference.” More

  • in

    David Cameron calls Vladimir Putin an ‘aggressive dictator’ during diplomatic visit to Warsaw

    David Cameron labelled Russian President Vladimir Putin an “aggressive dictator” during his diplomatic visit to Warsaw today (Thursday).The British Foreign Secretary met with Polis Foreign Affairs Minister Radoslaw Sikorski to address the media following discussions on increasing defence production for Ukraine and bolstering support in the ongoing conflict with Russia.Lord Cameron said: “I see this as the challenge of our generation. Two foreign ministers standing here today, it’s like two foreign ministers standing here in the 1930s, where we faced a similar challenge from a similar aggressive dictator who was trying to change Europe’s boundaries by force.” More

  • in

    UK recession: Jeremy Hunt insists Tory party ‘must stick to our guns’ over economy

    Jeremy Hunt insisted prioritising tackling inflation was the “right thing to do” after the UK slid into a recession.“We always expected growth to be weaker while we prioritised tackling inflation, that means higher interest rates, and that is the right thing to do because you can’t have long-term healthy growth with high inflation,” the Chancellor said today (Thursday).Mr Hunt continued: “The underlying picture here is an economy that is more resilient than most people predicted, inflation is coming down, real wages have been going up now for six months.“If we stick to our guns, independent forecasters say that by the early summer, we could start to see interest rates falling and that will be a very important relief for families with mortgages.” More

  • in

    Starmer insists Labour ‘has changed’ amid Rochdale candidate row

    Sir Keir Starmer said he took “tough” and “decisive” action to withdraw support for Labour’s Rochdale by-election candidate, after a storm of criticism about remarks Azhar Ali made about Israel.The Labour leader insisted the party had “changed” under his leadership after it was confirmed on Monday (12 February) that Mr Ali, who is understood to be suspended pending an investigation, would have Labour’s backing withdrawn.Mr Ali had apologised after he was recorded in a meeting of the Lancashire Labour Party suggesting that Israel had taken the October 7 Hamas assault as a pretext to invade Gaza.Labour, however, said it moved to end its backing of the candidate “following new information about further comments”. More

  • in

    Israel should ‘stop and think very seriously’ before further action in Rafah, says David Cameron

    David Cameron has said that Israel should “stop and think very seriously” before taking further action in the city of Rafah The British Foreign Secretary was speaking to reporters in East Kilbride, Scotland on Monday (11 February).The comments came after airstrikes in southern Gaza killed over 100 Palestinians, according to local health officials.The city is the last refuge of around one million displaced civilians. “We are very concerned about the situation and we want Israel to stop and think very seriously before it takes any further action. But above all, what we want is an immediate pause in the fighting and we want that pause to lead to a ceasefire,” Lord Cameron said. More

  • in

    Sunak insists views on issues facing trans people ‘not controversial’

    Rishi Sunak insisted his views on issues facing transgender people are “not controversial” after facing criticism for a jibe during Prime Minister’s Questions last week.The prime minister faced backlash after accusing Sir Keir Starmer of not being able to “define a woman” while Esther Ghey, the mother of murdered transgender teenager Brianna Ghey, was visiting Parliament.Speaking to the public during a GB News forum on Monday, Mr Sunak said: “When it comes to questions over women’s safety… biological sex is important”I really don’t think that anything I just said is controversial.” More

  • in

    Sunak accuses Starmer of ‘standing by’ Azhar Ali after Israel remarks

    Rishi Sunak accused Sir Keir Starmer of standing by Labour Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali as he spoke to members of the public during a GB News forum on Monday, 12 February.The prime minister said the Labour leader “stood by” the politician and “sent cabinet ministers to support him, until literally five minutes before I walked on tonight under enormous media pressure.”Labour withdrew its support for Mr Ali following criticism of remarks he made about Israel.Mr Ali apologised after he was recorded suggesting that Israel allowed the October 7 Hamas assault and used it as a pretext to invade Gaza.”The Labour Party hasn’t changed. It’s a con,” Mr Sunak added. More