UK Politics

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentDiane Abbott has said Peter Mandelson declined to give her media training when she was a Labour Party candidate, claiming he and others at the top of the party “tried to ensure black people failed”.Ms Abbott, who is the longest serving black member of Parliament, was elected alongside three other black Labour MPs in 1987.In her book, A Woman Like Me, the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington recalls being asked to appear on BBC Question Time in 1986 while she was a parliamentary candidate.The Labour politician claims she contacted Lord Mandelson, who was the party’s director of communications, four weeks in advance to ask for a media briefing – but she said it never came. Ms Abbott claims in the book: “Weeks passed and no briefing came. With just a week to go, I was beginning to panic, so I rang him once more, but still Mandelson did not send a briefing.Veteran MP Diane Abbott said Parliament should be recalled because MPs ‘don’t know’ what ministers are doing to tackle the riots (Ian West/PA) More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentWatch live as MPs in the House of Commons debate Labour’s proposed cuts to the winter fuel allowance on Tuesday, 10 September.Sir Keir Starmer has faced fierce criticism over the plans, but has said he will not apologise for the changes his government have made.Addressing the Trades Union Congress on Tuesday, the prime minister said: “I make no apologies for any of the decisions we have had to take to begin the work of change and no apologies to those still stuck in the 1980s who believe that unions and business can only stand at odds leaving working people in the middle.”TUC president Matt Wrack has warned that a second wave of austerity will boost the rise of the far right in Britain’s left-behind communities and spoke out against the winter fuel allowance cut.Labour’s Cabinet is united behind plans to dramatically scale back the allowance, Downing Street has insisted amid mounting calls, including within party ranks, for the government to soften the policy.However, Sir Keir is likely to face a backbench rebellion in a Commons vote; some 17 Labour MPs have now signed a motion put forward by Neil Duncan-Jordan, one of the parliamentary party’s newly elected members, calling on the government to delay implementing the cut.The motion has also been backed by six of the seven MPs who lost the party whip in July after voting against the King’s Speech over the government’s refusal to abolish the two-child benefit cap.Labour insists the cut is necessary to help fill a £22bn “black hole” in this year’s budget left by their Conservative predecessors. More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentBoris Johnson’s former top aide Dominic Cummings has accused him of binning a solution to the current prisons crisis three years ago. In an extraordinary move thousands of prisoners are set to be released early on Tuesday to prevent the UK’s jails running out of space. Mr Cummings said emergency action was taken in 2020 after the prime minister was warned that within just a few years the country’s prisons would be full.But Mr Johnson “binned” the measures in 2021, he added. “The early release disaster is the opposite of ‘shocking’. It was predicted years ago and our Idiocracy has done it deliberately,” he said. The UK’s spending watchdog raised the alarm over prison capacity in 2020Labour ministers have said they had no option but to free offenders, blaming the Tories for the state of the justice system.The policy will prevent the “unchecked criminality” that would erupt if the courts were no longer able to send criminals away because prisons are full, Downing Street has said.But the prisons watchdog has warned it is “inevitable” some of those released will reoffend.Around 1,700 prisoners in England and Wales are set to be let go, on top of the around 1,000 prisoners normally freed on an average week.Mr Cummings, who spectacularly fell out with Mr Johnson before he left Downing Street, said on X, former Twitter, that the then PM had been warned in 2020 that “prisons would run out of space by winter 2023. We started emergency action.” But he added that Mr Johnson “binned” that action just a year later, in 2021. Subsequent prime ministers Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss ignored the problem and “refused to act”, he said. “The early release disaster is the opposite of ‘shocking’. It was predicted years ago and our Idiocracy has done it deliberately. When you see child abusers, killers and repeat rapists released early, remember *The system is working as intended*.”Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson’s former top aide (James Manning/PA Images) More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentWatch as Sir Keir Starmer addressed the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Brighton on Tuesday, 10 September, after its president warned that a second wave of austerity will boost the rise of the far right in Britain’s left-behind communities.The prime minister is braced for backlash as he continues to back removing winter fuel payments from 10 million pensioners.Labour’s Cabinet is united behind plans to dramatically scale back the allowance, Downing Street has insisted amid mounting calls, including within party ranks, for the government to soften the policy.However, Sir Keir is likely to face a backbench rebellion in a House of Commons vote on Tuesday; some 17 Labour MPs have now signed a motion put forward by Neil Duncan-Jordan, one of the parliamentary party’s newly elected members, calling on the government to delay implementing the cut.The motion has also been backed by six of the seven MPs who lost the party whip in July after voting against the King’s Speech over the government’s refusal to abolish the two-child benefit cap.Labour insists the cut is necessary to help fill a £22bn “black hole” in this year’s budget left by their Conservative predecessors.Matt Wrack, the Fire Brigades Union general secretary and current president of the TUC, has warned Sir Keir that his mandate for power is based on a collapse in support for the Tories “not love for Labour”.“People are in despair, and that’s how [far-right] elements have won support here in the UK and elsewhere in Europe,” he warned. More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentThe state pension is set to rise by four per cent in April, giving an extra £460 a year to recipients.As a result of the triple lock, the payment rises by the highest of average weekly earnings, inflation or 2.5 per cent.The state pension is set to rise by four per cent in April, giving an extra £460 a year to recipients More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House Correspondent British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces a battle of nerves with his Labour Party on Tuesday, when lawmakers vote on a contentious decision to cut a payment that helps millions of pensioners pay winter heating bills.Starmer says the decision to remove the winter fuel allowance, worth between 200 and 300 pounds ($262 and $393) a year, from all but the poorest retirees is needed because of the dire state of the public finances left by the previous Conservative government.But the decision to hit people on fixed incomes in one of the government’s first economic moves since winning a landslide election victory in July has caused disquiet in the center-left Labour Party. Seventeen Labour lawmakers have backed a call to postpone the cut.“Tough decisions are unpopular decisions,” Starmer told his Cabinet on Monday, telling ministers that “we have to fix the foundations of our economy and that means tough choices.”Labour’s large House of Commons majority means the measure should easily be approved, but the government is trying to deter unhappy Labour legislators from rebelling or abstaining.Treasury chief Rachel Reeves addressed scores of lawmakers on Monday evening and urged unity, telling them, “We stand, we lead and we govern together.”During the summer election campaign, Starmer vowed to get the country’s sluggish economy growing and restore frayed public services such as the state-funded National Health Service.Since winning, he has struck a gloomy note, saying there is a 22 billion pound ($29 billion) “black hole” in the public finances left by the previous government, and warning that “things will get worse” before they get better.The Conservatives accuse Labour of penalizing vulnerable older people. Conservative leadership candidate Mel Stride said the cut would hit “millions of pensioners … who are on extremely low incomes.”The cut is expected to reduce the number of pensioners receiving the winter fuel allowance from 11.4 million to 1.5 million. The government argues that pensioners will be better off even with the cut, because the state pension, which is indexed to wages and inflation, is due to rise by 460 pounds ($600) next year.Starmer is also facing criticism over the early release of more than 1,700 inmates to make space in Britain’s overcrowded prisons. Starting Tuesday, some prisoners are being freed after serving 40% of their sentences, rather than the usual 50%. Inmates convicted of serious violence or sexual offenses are not eligible.Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor said the government had no choice because “the bath was in danger of overflowing, and they either had to turn the taps off or they had to let some water out.” But he warned it was likely some of those freed early would go on to commit new crimes.Space is needed partly to accommodate scores of people sentenced over anti-immigrant unrest that erupted in August. Starmer, a former public prosecutor, has vowed a tough response to the violence, in which crowds attacked police, vandalized businesses and attempted to set fire to a hotel housing asylum seekers. More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentAround 16,000 people could not vote in the general election because of the photo ID requirements, a watchdog has found. Others were put off from going to the ballot box entirely, it added.The Electoral Commission said the vast majority of voters were able to cast their ballots in July’s contest despite the need to show ID.But 0.08% of people who tried to vote in Great Britain were unable to do so, the watchdog said.Photo ID rules were brought in by Boris Johnson’s government as part of the Elections Act 2022, as the then-government said they were necessary to combat the risk of in-person voter fraud.Mr Johnson was himself turned away from a polling station at the May 2024 local elections after forgetting to take a photo ID.The commission’s analysis, compiling polling station data and public opinion research, found 0.25% of people were initially turned away, but two-thirds returned later with the necessary documentation.Polling for the commission also suggested that around 4% of people who did not vote in the election said their decision was related to the voter ID requirement.The evidence suggests that people from poorer backgrounds who did not vote were more likely to say it was because they did not have any accepted ID, the commission said.Electoral Commission chief executive Vijay Rangarajan said: “This was the first time all voters across the UK were required to show photographic ID at a general election, and the data shows almost everyone was able to do so successfully.“However, our research shows that the need for ID discouraged some people from voting – and we don’t want to see any voters lose their say.“Public awareness of the need for voter ID is high across the UK, but there are still groups of voters that are less likely to be aware of the need to show ID or that do not have an accepted form.“Everyone eligible should have the opportunity to vote, which is why we are recommending changes that will support those who do not currently have ID and improve the accessibility of elections, while maintaining the security of the process.“The commission will review how our public campaigns and other work can continue to support the effective implementation of voter ID and minimise the barriers to voting.”A dog waits outside a polling station as voters go to the polls More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House Correspondent Suella Braverman has been criticised for comments on the policing of a pro-Palestinian march in a report she herself ordered.The sacked home secretary should not have publicly lambasted the Metropolitan Police as she pressured the force to ban a pro-Palestinian march, a watchdog has found.Chief inspector of constabulary Andy Cooke said Ms Braverman’s comments over the Armistice Day march in which she accused the force of bias and playing favourites in policing protests – ultimately leading to her dismissal from government – should have been delivered in private if deemed appropriate.In a report published on Tuesday, which Ms Braverman herself ordered, his findings also detail how police chiefs warned they were often subject to “improper” interference from significant political figures.It also called on senior politicians to ‘take great care to make sure they are in possession of the full facts before making public statements that can have a detrimental effect on the public perception of police impartiality.’Then-prime minister Rishi Sunak fired Ms Braverman amid the furore last year as she stood accused of stoking tensions ahead of protests in London and defied Downing Street by writing an unauthorised opinion piece for The Times newspaper.epa1096861 Police officers stand by the Cenotaph war memorial in London, Britain, 10 November 2023 More