News

Watch the moment MPs voted in favour of the assisted dying bill which will legalise the right for terminally ill people in England and Wales to end their own life with medical assistance.Following a debate on the The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in the House of Commons on Friday (20 June), MPs voted 314 to 219 in favour of the legislation.It will now transfer to the House of Lords for several more stages of scrutiny.Kim Leadbeater, who proposed the bill, was seen crying in the chamber as it was passed. More

Chris Philp demanded that Angela Rayner apologise for Sir Keir Starmer’s “far-right bandwagon” remark on grooming gangs during a fiery Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday (18 June).Facing off at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday (18 June), the shadow home secretary told the deputy prime minister that “standing up for rape victims is not far right” and asked for an apology for the remarks made by the prime minister in January.In January, Sir Keir accused Kemi Badenoch of jumping on a bandwagon in her calls for a new inquiry into grooming gangs.The PM has now confirmed that he will order a new public inquiry into grooming gangs despite previously dismissing calls from opponents. More

Angela Rayner and Chris Philp got into a fiery clash over immigration and housing during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday (18 June).Filling in for their respective party leaders, the pair flung jabs at one another as Philp accused Rayner of having a “brass neck” for saying that illegal immigration under Labour is under control.The deputy prime minister called out what she said was the Conservatives’ “rubbish” and demanded an apology, with the speaker soon having to call for order during the heated exchange.Philp then accused Labour of priorisiting “housing illegal immigrants over young people”, to which Rayner replied by slamming the Tories for “spiffing £1million up the wall” on asylum hotels. More

Sir Keir Starmer has said he could “go on all morning” about Labour’s achievements in government – in his Prime Minister’s Questions speech, which started at 12 noon.The prime minister made the gaffe in his address to the Commons before Rachel Reeves delivered her much-anticipated spending review on Wednesday (11 June).The chancellor told the ministers the spending review “would invest in economic growth, creating jobs and backing British industry in all parts of the country”.She promised “investments in defence, protection of our borders, and energy security; and public services including health and education”. More

New Reform UK chairman David Bull was shown a previous tweet he posted calling Nigel Farage an “idiot” during a live breakfast TV interview.Dr Bull appeared on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday morning (11 June), where host Susanna Reid showed him a tweet he made from 2014, calling Mr Farage an “idiot”, stating comments made by him were “dangerous”.The tweet was over comments Mr Farage made about migrants with HIV.Dr Bull replaces Zia Yusuf, who resigned as Reform’s chairman last week. More

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle brushed off a new football chant where England fans reportedly called Keir Starmer a c*** during the World Cup qualifier against Andorra on Saturday (7 June).Supporters altered the 1982 song Give It Up by KC & The Sunshine Band, inserting the swear word and Starmer’s name, according to The Telegraph.When asked about the chant on Sky News by Trevor Phillips on Sunday (8 June), Kyle said it was “part of the spirit of the game.”Phillips replied, “The England manager says he thinks it’s pretty unacceptable, and even my team, which is pretty rough, I don’t think we do that.” More

Richard Tice has defended a Reform UK MP’s call for a burqa ban, after party chairman Zia Yusuf branded the argument “dumb” and quit.Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Friday (6 June), Mr Tice said: “What you should be able to do in a democracy, in a world of free speech, is have a sensible, respectful debate,” adding he wants to “find out where the British mood is on this”.On Wednesday (4 June), newly elected MP Sarah Pochin called on Sir Keir Starmer in the Commons to ban burqas in “the interest of public safety”.Mr Yusuf said announced his resignation on Thursday (5 June), stating that he “no longer believes working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time”. More

A group of “animals” took over a council meeting in the hopes of giving non-human voices more prominence.Southampton National Park City campaigners donned costumes at an “interspecies democracy meeting” in the city last week as part of the Urban Wild festival.The campaign says it has a vision for the city to be “an urban setting where vibrant biodiversities are woven into the fabric of our daily lives, where people, culture and nature can coexist harmoniously.”Outgoing lord mayor, Councillor Dave Shields, dressed up as an owl. Other costumes included a foxglove, a salmon, and a butterfly. More