UK Politics

Theresa May has delivered a thinly veiled rebuke to Robert Jenrick after he launched an attack on British judges earlier this month.In a wide-ranging critique on the direction of her party, the former Conservative prime minister warned against using “populism” for a “short-term political end”. She challenged the Tories’ approach to net zero, the judiciary and human rights, urging the party to show leadership instead.And she appeared to take aim at Conservative shadow justice secretary Mr Jenrick who criticised what he called “activist judges” in immigration courts in a speech to the Tory conference earlier this month.The former prime minister called on her party to show ‘responsible leadership’ More

Rachel Reeves could be facing a larger-than-expected black hole in the nation’s finances as she prepares for next month’s Budget amid reports that the fiscal watchdog could be about to downgrade the UK’s productivity performance.The BBC reported on Tuesday that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is expected to downgrade the UK’s performance on productivity, with fears that it could represent a further £20bn gap in the pubic finances. This followed revelations by The Independent in September that the chancellor was bracing herself for bad news on productivity which in turns hits economic growth.It comes less than a month before the chancellor’s Budget, due on 26 November, with the OBR set to deliver their final draft forecast in the coming days. But Ms Reeves has doubled down on blaming Brexit for the country’s economic woes as she was pushed on the latest news this morning on a trip to Saudi Arabia.Fresh data compounds the dilemma facing Rachel Reeves as she prepares for a challenging November Budget More

Labour has fallen to its lowest rating in a YouGov poll, with Sir Keir Starmer’s party almost level with the Conservatives, Greens and Liberal Democrats. The new poll, commissioned by The Times, found that just 17 per cent of voters back Labour, the same number that would vote for Kemi Badenoch’s Tories, while Reform UK continue to surge ahead on 27 per cent. The Greens sit at 16 per cent, the party’s highest level of support, closely followed by the Liberal Democrats on 15 per cent.It comes as Sir Keir has been warned that he could struggle to turn the party’s fortunes around following last week’s defeat in a Welsh by-election. Labour faces threats from the left and the right, with concerns about voters being lost to Reform or the surging Greens. Tuesday’s figures represent the lowest rating that Labour have recorded in YouGov figures, and show support for the Greens is surging among younger voters. The data suggests that 40 per cent of people aged 18-24 currently intend to vote for Zack Polanski’s party, with Labour lagging in second at 21 per cent, and the Liberal Democrats in third on 13 per cent. Labour’s popularity has dropped significantly since Keir Starmer was elected last year More

An independent investigation into how a sex offender was wrongly set free instead of being deported will be launched and report its findings within weeks, justice secretary David Lammy has announced.Dame Lynne Owens, a former deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and ex-director general of the National Crime Agency, will look into what went wrong and make recommendations to stop similar cases, Mr Lammy told MPs.Police had to urgently hunt for Hadush Kebatu over the weekend after he was set free from HMP Chelmsford in a blunder that sparked widespread anger.Lynne Owens, ex-Met Police deputy chief, will chair the investigation More

The refusal of the government to describe China as an active threat to national security in its evidencewas a “total roadblock” to the progression of the case against two alleged spies, the prosecution’s lead barrister has said.Tom Little KC told MPs and peers on the Joint Committee on National Security Strategy (JCNSS) that the question of whether or not China was a threat to national security was “the million-dollar question in the case” and the failure to describe it as one “brought this case effectively to a crashing halt”. Meanwhile, director of public prosecutions (DPP) Stephen Parkinson suggested that deputy national security adviser Matt Collins, who gave evidence on behalf of the government, knew the case would collapse if he did not offer evidence that China was a threat.Tom Little KC speaking to MPs on Monday More

Rachel Reeves has been warned that her reported plans for a mansion tax would not fill the £50bn Budget black hole – and that UK property taxes need a much wider overhaul.The chancellor is said to be considering a levy on owners of properties worth at least £2m, who would face an annual charge of 1 per cent of the amount over that threshold – meaning a £10,000-a-year fee for homes worth £3m.But Ms Reeves is now facing calls to go even further, with economists and MPs calling for a comprehensive reform of property taxes in Britain. It comes as housing secretary Steve Reed repeatedly refused to rule out a mansion tax ahead of the Budget. Rachel Reeves is leading a UK delegation to Saudi Arabia as she searches for economic growth More

Britain has agreed to sell 20 Typhoon jets to Turkey in a deal worth up to £8 billion. Sir Keir Starmer signed the agreement in Ankara on Monday, calling it “a win for British workers, a win for our defence industry, and a win for Nato security”. It is the largest fighter jet deal in almost 20 years and the first new UK Typhoon order since 2017, supporting thousands of British jobs.Sir Keir said the deal also represented a boost for Nato security, telling broadcasters in Turkey: “Having that capability locked in with the United Kingdom is really important for Nato.”The first delivery of the new jets is expected to take place in 2030 More

Nigel Farage has described one of his MP’s comments as “ugly” and “wrong” after she said “it drives me mad when I see adverts full of black people, full of Asian people”. The Reform UK leader said he was “unhappy” with what Sarah Pochin had said, but stopped short of calling her remarks racist. He told a press conference in London: “I understand the basic point, but the way she put it, the way she worded it, was wrong and was ugly, and if I thought that the intention behind it was racist, I would have taken a lot more action than I have.”During an appearance on TalkTV over the weekend, Ms Pochin, the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, responded to a viewer complaining about the demographics of advertising by saying they were “absolutely right”.Sarah Pochin has since said her comments were ‘phrased poorly’ More