UK Politics

The person thought to be the last remaining candidate to chair the grooming gang inquiry has withdrawn from contention, plunging the probe into fresh chaos.Jim Gamble, a former police officer, has taken his name out of the running.A Home Office spokesperson said on Wednesday that they are “disappointed that candidates to chair that inquiry have withdrawn”. In a letter to the home secretary, Mr Gamble said that there was a “highly charged and toxic environment that has surrounded and influenced the appointment process”. He also said that “among some” victims and survivors there is a “lack of confidence due to my previous occupation exists”.Mr Gamble went on: “The reaction to the appointment process has been defined more by the vested interests of some, as well as political opportunism and point-scoring, rather than by the cross-party consensus required to address such a serious national issue.“Victims and survivors, who have been let down so often in the past, deserve better than to be used as leverage for short-term gain by anyone. Moving forward. I hope they remain at the absolute centre of this inquiry.”A former police officer in Northern Ireland, where he was head of the Belfast region for the now-disbanded Royal Ulster Constabulary Special Branch, Mr Gamble led the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command of the National Crime Agency until 2010.Mr Gamble’s departure follows Annie Hudson, a former director of children’s services for Lambeth in London, who was reported to have pulled out on Tuesday. Four survivors have also resigned from the inquiry’s victims and survivors panel. They cited concerns that the individuals being considered to chair the probe had connections to the police or social services.They also cited a “toxic environment” and proposals to widen the scope of the inquiry.The Home Office spokesperson said on Wednesday: “The grooming gang scandal was one of the darkest moments in this country’s history. “That is why this government is committed to a full, statutory, national inquiry to uncover the truth. It is the very least that the victims of these hideous crimes deserve.”We are disappointed that candidates to chair that inquiry have withdrawn. This is an extremely sensitive topic, and we have to take the time to appoint the best person suitable for the role.“The home secretary has been clear: there will be no hiding place for those who abused the most vulnerable in our society.”Earlier on Wednesday Sir Keir had attempted to save the struggling probe by announcing that Baroness Louise Casey was being brought in to “support the work” of the inquiry. He told MPs that “injustice will have no place to hide”, adding that the “door will always be open” to those survivors who quit the probe’s survivors’ panel, should they wish to return. Responding to Kemi Badenoch at Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir said: “The inquiry is not and will never be watered down. Its scope will not change.” He also said: “I can tell the House today, Dame Louise Casey will now support the work of the inquiry and it will get to the truth.“Injustice will have no place to hide.”Baroness Casey previously led a “national audit” of group-based child sexual exploitation that found “many examples” of organisations shying away from discussion of “ethnicity or cultural factors” in such offences “for fear of appearing racist”.Her findings, published in June 2025, prompted Sir Keir to order the creation of the national inquiry. More

Sir Keir Starmer has backed calls for Prince Andrew to be hauled in front of MPs to give evidence in parliament, following revelations about his living situation. Amid mounting pressure on the disgraced royal to give up his 30-room Windsor mansion after it emerged he had paid only a peppercorn rent for more than 20 years, the prime minister called for “proper scrutiny”. Addressing Sir Keir at Prime Minister’s Questions, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey asked: “Given the revelations about the Royal Lodge, does the prime minister agree that this House needs to properly scrutinise the crown estate to ensure taxpayers’ interests are protected? A new poll showed that four out of five Britons want Andrew to be formally stripped of his titles More

The most senior civil servant in government is on the verge of being sacked, it is understood, adding to a growing image of turmoil in Sir Keir Starmer’s Downing Street operation. Cabinet secretary Sir Chris Wormald is understood to be at risk of being ousted in the new year, amid growing concerns about his performance in the role. It comes despite the prime minister reorganising his top team just last month, conducting a full cabinet reshuffle, days after replacing the top civil servant in his No 10 team, Nin Pandit, who previously served as Sir Keir’s principal private secretary. One senior Labour source told The Times that Sir Chris is now seen to be the “embodiment of Whitehall groupthink”, with ministers privately criticising the civil servant for a lack of dynamism and an excess of caution. There are growing concerns about Chris Wormald’s performance as cabinet secretary More

Lawyers, GPs and accountants will reportedly face higher taxes as Rachel Reeves looks to top up the Treasury’s coffers by targeting the wealthy.In her Budget next month, Ms Reeves is expected to announce a charge on workers who use limited liability partnerships, raising £2 billion as she tries to fill a hole in the public finances estimated at between £30 billion and £50 billion.The UK has 355,760 partnerships, with 86,030 of them having employees, according to Money.co.uk. They are particularly common in the legal world. Partnerships do not pay employer’s national insurance of 15 per cent because partners are treated as self-employed. Partners also pay a lower rate of employee NI.But Ms Reeves is preparing to announce changes to the system in her Budget, as reported by The Times.She will impose a new charge on partnerships in an effort to “equalise the tax treatment”. But the charge is expected to be levied at a slightly lower rate than employers’ rate of national insurance.Lawyers commonly work in partnerships so escape employer NI More

There’s an old phrase in south Wales: “A one-legged donkey could run for Labour and people around here would still vote for it”. But on a rainy morning in the former mining town of Caerphilly, it is clear that the saying no longer rings true. Two days before a crucial by-election, there is no doubt that Sir Keir Starmer will struggle to retain this constituency, which has been considered a Labour stronghold since 1918. Polls currently show the governing party is heading for a total washout, with a two-horse race emerging between Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform party and the Welsh nationalists, Plaid Cymru. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage with candidate Llyr Powell during a visit to Caerphilly More

It is 731 years since the Welsh constituency of Caerphilly has seen a siege by insurgents attempting to seize power from the established rulers.Back in 1294, Madog ap Llywelyn attacked the great 13th-century castle which stands in the midst of Caerphilly in a bid to end the previously unchallenged authority of Edward I.Where Madog failed, Nigel Farage’s Reform now expect to succeed. The siege by insurgents in 2025, though, looks set to mark the dramatic collapse of Labour’s previously unassailable hold on Wales, with Plaid Cymru also expected to be a serious challenger to the incumbent party.Nigel Farage has been out on the campaign trail for the Caerphilly Senedd by-election, using the opportunity to spread the party’s plans ahead of the Welsh elections next year More

Robert Jenrick has been accused of “anti-British” comments after he suggested he would ban the burqa in Britain. The shadow justice secretary, tipped as a potential successor to the struggling Kemi Badenoch, pointed to Italy where prime minister Giorgia Meloni had recently proposed outlawing the traditional Muslim dress in public places.Labour MP Sam Rushworth hit back, denouncing the comments that put Mr Jenrick at odds with Conservative Party leader Ms Badenoch as “anti-British” and going “against what our nation stands for”. Robert Jenrick’s comments on the traditional Muslim dress are at odds with his party leader More

Brexit had an even bigger impact on Britain’s economy than critics predicted, Rachel Reeves has said, as ministers become increasingly bold in blaming the dire state of the nation’s finances on the decision to leave the European Union. Speaking at the government’s regional investment summit in Birmingham, the chancellor said Brexit “needlessly” added costs to UK businesses, saying ministers are now “unashamedly rebuilding our relations with the European Union”. It comes with just over a month to go until the Budget, where the prime minister and the chancellor are expected to blame Nigel Farage and Brexit for Britain’s ailing economy. In the upcoming Budget the chancellor and the PM are expected to blame Nigel Farage and Brexit for Britain’s ailing economy More