UK Politics

Support trulyindependent journalismFind 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 ThomasEditorWatch as Rachel Reeves and treasury ministers answer questions in parliament a week after Sir Keir Starmer said the upcoming October Budget “would be painful”.The chancellor will be speaking amid facing backlash from her own party and fresh Tory attacks over the decision to strip the winter fuel payment from millions of pensioners.Only those receiving pension credit or other means-tested benefits will be eligible for the payment in England and Wales as a result of the government’s decision, which ministers have said is needed to help fill a £22 billion black hole in the public finances.Sir Keir has defended the move, which is intended to save around £1.5 billion this year.“I don’t want to cut the winter fuel allowance … but we’ve got to fix the foundations of our economy and that’s what this is all about – making sure that we fix the foundations and then, having done that, that we can build a better future that pensioners and so many other people voted for in this election,” he said. More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind 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 ThomasEditorWatch as Tom Tugendhat launches his Conservative Party leadership campaign in central London on Tuesday 3 September.Mr Tugendhat, one of the six Tory MPs vying to be Rishi Sunak’s successor as leader, will promise to reset the party’s relationship with the public.The race for the Tory leadership has begun to heat up as MPs return to Westminster after the summer recess, with James Cleverly and Kemi Badenoch launching their campaigns on Monday.Former ministers Robert Jenrick, Mel Stride and Dame Priti Patel are also running for the leadership, though Mr Stride is yet to hold a launch event.In his speech, Mr Tugendhat will insist that only under his stewardship can the Conservatives win back the trust of the public after “recent games” at Westminster which have plagued the party.The senior Tory is expected to emphasise the importance of public service, telling the audience: “My pledge, as leader, is to return to the honest state, the responsible state.“I will set out the agenda for government to win back the trust and confidence in the future because I know that this country has the greatest building blocks for future success.” More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind 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 former frontbencher has hit out at the government’s plans to strip the winter fuel payment from millions of pensioners as Keir Starmer faces a growing Labour backlash over the issue.Melanie Onn has called on ministers to consider changes to the policy to ensure older people are “not left in the cold this winter”. Her warning comes as pressure mounts on the prime minister over the decision to remove the allowance from 10 million people, after the regulator Ofgem announced household energy bills will rise by £150 in October.This has led to fears that bills this winter will be the highest on record for older people who were previously eligible for the cash, worth up to £300.The chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the cuts earlier this year, saying they were necessary to fill a £22bn black hole in the nation’s finances left by the last Conservative government.Energy bills are set to rise (Jacob King/PA) More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind 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 ThomasEditorDowning Street’s Larry the cat now faces competition for his job as No 10’s chief mouser following the news that Sir Keir Starmer is bringing a new kitten home.Sir Keir Starmer has let his children get the kitten after “a long summer of negotiations”, meaning Larry will welcome a long-awaited recruit. The prime minister said he had come around to getting the new family pet after his children had pleaded with him to get a dog, he revealed in a BBC 5 Live interview with Matt Chorley.The Siberian kitten will join Larry who has become something of a celebrity figure over the last decade, often appearing in the street amid important political moments.The cat will be the third in Downing Street after Sir Keir and his family moved into No 10 when he became prime minister with their family rescue cat, named JoJo.The prime minister has brought home a Siberian kitten More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind 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 ThomasEditorBritain’s top civil servant has rebuked the Conservatives for suggesting Labour exaggerated the scale of the black hole in the public finances when Sir Keir Starmer took office.Cabinet secretary Simon Case said Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt’s failure to hold a spending review in its last year in office added to the uncertainty facing the Treasury.It came after Mr Hunt, who served as chancellor until the general election, wrote to Mr Case in July to criticise what he described as “deeply troubling” statements by Rachel Reeves about the state of the public purse.Cabinet Secretary Simon Case rebuked the former chancellor More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind 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 ThomasEditorWatch as Labour cabinet ministers arrive at Downing Street for a meeting on Tuesday 3 September.Sir Keir Starmer gathers his top team as he faces facing party backlash and fresh Tory attacks over the government’s decision to strip the winter fuel payment from millions of pensioners.The decision by the prime minister and chancellor Rachel Reeves would result in a “bureaucratic and unpopular means test” for older people, Poole MP Neil Duncan-Jordan said as he tabled a Commons motion calling for the government to delay the move on Monday.Only those receiving pension credit or other means-tested benefits will be eligible for the payment in England and Wales as a result of the government’s decision, which ministers have said is needed to help fill a £22 billion black hole in the public finances.But Tory leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch accused ministers of being “dishonest” about the state of the finances, claiming they were trying to “pull the wool over the eyes of the British public”.Sir Keir has defended the move, which is intended to save around £1.5 billion this year. More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind 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 boys school in London is believed to be the first state school in the county to ban smartphones for pupils aged 16 and under as pressure mounts on Keir Starmer’s government to introduce wider restrictions.Fulham Boys School will start the new school year with a policy of so-called “brick” phones for pupils aged between 11 and 16 amid concerns that smartphones were being used to watch porn and harmful influencers.It comes as two-thirds of parents (62 per cent) said they want their child’s school to remove or ban smartphones according to a major survey by Human Mobile Devices (HMD).Starmer is under pressure to restrict access to smartphones for children More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind 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 ThomasEditorRobert Jenrick has hit back at claims from his rivals that he is looking for “easy answers” in saying he would call for leaving the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).The former home office minister, who resigned from Rishi Sunak’s government because he thought that the prime minister was too soft on the controversial Rwanda scheme, has emerged as the leading candidate for the Tory right-wing.He has claimed that “reforming the ECHR” would take decades and that if voters gave the Tories another chance to fix immigration they “will not give us another chance” if the party failed again.And he said his experience of travelling across Europe had led him to believe leaving the convention was the right move for the country.Robert Jenrick believes the UK must pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights (Aaron Chown/PA) More