UK Politics

Wes Streeting has said he will consider leaning more heavily on the private sector as he bids to clear NHS waiting lists.The health secretary said he will not be “bound by outdated ideological battles” when tackling the crisis in the service, where 7.39 million people are currently waiting to be seen by doctors. He said it would be “foolish to turn away” from the private healthcare sector, but cautioned that “we must see it for what it is”. Wes Streeting said he would not be ideologically opposed to expanding the use of the private sector in the NHS More

Sir Keir Starmer has indicated he will not agree to recognise a unilateral Palestine as a state, as a civil war over the issue threatens to erupt in his party.With tensions mounting in the Middle East, given the ongoing blockade of Gaza by Israel and the region on the brink of all-out war between Israel and Iran, Sir Keir made it clear that the UK government will not budge.The prime minister said: “Our position on recognition of Palestine as part of the process hasn’t changed for us. I hold very strongly to the belief that the only long-term solution to the conflict in the Middle East is a two-state solution. However hard that may seem at the moment in the current circumstances, that is the only way to peace. So that continues to be our position.”His comments came as the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Labour’s biggest financial backer, issued a joint statement with its Canadian and French counterparts calling on the UK government to change its position.The prime minister is not currently planning to change his position on Palestinian recognition More

Rachel Reeves has insisted Britain is not at war despite sending more RAF jets to the Middle East amid devastating strikes between Iran and Israel. The chancellor said the UK could play a military role defending Israel from ongoing Iranian attacks, but said moves so far “do not mean we are at war”. Speaking to Sky News, she said: “We have, in the past, supported Israel when there have been missiles coming in. I’m not going to comment on what might happen in the future, but so far, we haven’t been involved, and we’re sending in assets to both protect ourselves and also potentially to support our allies.” Rachel Reeves said Britain is not at war More

Keir Starmer is to put trading relations with Canada back on track with a rebuke to Donald Trump and the tariffs which have sent global trade into turmoil.The prime minister has flown out to Ottawa for a bilateral meeting with newly elected Canadian PM Mark Carney ahead of a G7 summit in Alberta next week.Downing Street has made a point of wanting to “retain Britain’s status as a free and open trading nation”, as Sir Keir flew across the Atlantic.The line was a direct rebuke to the strategy pursued by Donald Trump with his tariffs ahead of an expected bilateral meeting with the US president at the summit.Sir Keir Starmer welcomed Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney to 10 Downing Street More

Keir Starmer is to launch a statutory national inquiry into the grooming gang scandal, following months of mounting pressure over the issue.The prime minister told journalists on the flight to the G7 in Canada that he had accepted the new recommendation from Louise Casey, who led the original review into the grooming gang scandal, which has hit communities all around the UK.Sir Keir and Labour ministers, including Jess Phillips, the minister for domestic abuse, have faced criticism for previously refusing to commit to such an inquiry. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer spent Friday speaking to world leaders about the situation in the Middle East More

There may not be enough maple syrup in Canada to sugarcoat any diplomatic misstep by Keir Starmer as he joins arguably the most important international summit of his premiership so far.The last time the word “Canada” passed the prime minister’s lips on a trip to North America, it caused a diplomatic storm with one ally even as he was carefully trying to get another one on side.This weekend, the prime minister joins fellow leaders from the world’s biggest economies, including Donald Trump, for the G7 summit in Alberta.While the leaders, hosted by recently reelected Canadian PM Mark Carney, will discuss a number of issues, top of the real agenda will be the hot topics of US tariffs, the war in Ukraine and now the combustible situation in the Middle East with Israel’s America-backed attacks on Iran.Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump announced a UK-US trade deal at the start of May More

There are growing fears Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill could be defeated when it returns to the Commons next week, as MPs claim confidence in it is rapidly being lost. The warning comes as Ms Leadbeater suffered her first major defeat on Friday, after MPs voted to introduce new safeguards to prevent health professionals raising the subject of assisted dying with children. They voted 259 in favour and 216 against an amendment tabled by Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier stating “no health professional shall raise assisted dying with a person under 18”.It is understood Ms Leadbeater didn’t support the amendment because she agrees with the British Medical Association, which has said doctors should not be put in the position where they are barred from raising it with patients.Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying Bill is back in the Commons for further debate (Jordan Pettitt/PA) More

British and Irish political leaders discussed the potential of AI at a conference in Co Down on Friday.There was a particular focus on artificial intelligence at the 43rd meeting of the British-Irish Council (BIC), which was established as part of the Good Friday Agreement.Leaders discussed the potential of AI to enhance cancer screenings and help address the challenges of aging populations.At a press conference which was dominated by issues including race riots in Ballymena and legacy issues, political leaders were asked about the threat AI poses to jobs.Irish premier Micheal Martin said he had a “glass half full” approach to AI and technology, but said it “will change the nature of work”.“I remember the 1980s when I was a young, emerging politician, I picked up a book on the bookshelf called The Jobs Crisis by the late Colm Keane.“In that book, he was predicting that we would have to train and educate for leisure, that at best, we would be working about three days a week because of the technological revolution that was then about to happen.“And then Jack Charlton took over the Irish (football) team, and we did very well in Italia 1990 and the Irish economy took off, and lots more jobs came on stream.“I’m not being facetious, but I’m wary of the prophets of doom about technological change.“We’ve had waves of technological change throughout history that have changed the nature of work, but actually created new opportunities for different kinds of work.“So I would be the glass-half-full person here saying there will be different type of work.”Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill said governments would need to work with trade unions to “take workers with us”.“It has to be of benefit, and it has to assist. It can’t be a replacement of what we do traditionally,” she said.“Some of the examples that we’ve cited today are around breast screening and how that can be done efficiently with AI supporting an individual.”Northern Ireland deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said AI was developing at a “remarkable rate”.She said they needed to “seize the opportunity” while being aware of the risks and ethical concerns.“The reality is that the AI revolution is happening. We can’t ignore that,” she said.“That’s why Michelle and I have created the AI unit right at the heart of government to take a look at how we can harness the potential of that, particularly in public services.“We do need our public services to be more efficient. We need that increased productivity.“But yes, you’re absolutely right. For a lot of people, there will be an apprehension that this is about replacing people with that technology.”She added: “This is not about just simply getting rid of people and making them redundant. This is about doing things better and harnessing an agenda which is happening at the moment. We cannot deny that reality.”Scottish First Minister John Swinney said one of the challenges facing Scotland is the size of its working age population.“So there is obviously a debate which we are engaged in about the importance of migration, because we value that, and we think it’s important.“We’ve lost a lot of the opportunities for that because of Brexit.“But what AI provides the ability to do is to, for example, address some of the limitations and restrictions of our working age population, to enable us to meet need and demand within society, particularly in relation to some of the innovations we talked about in relation to health screening and the use of AI for early intervention to reduce demand on health services and to and to fill gaps in provisions.“There are multiple challenges that will come at governments, one of which will be the ethics and the deployment of AI, but they’ll also collide with other issues such as the challenges of the size of our working age population, which for Scotland, is a very significant strategic issue that we are trying to address.”Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn, Ireland’s deputy premier Simon Harris and representatives of the Governments of Wales, Jersey and the Isle of Man also attended the conference in Co Down.Mr Martin said relations across the islands are in “a good place” but more can be done to “deepen cooperation and unlock potential” to everyone’s benefit. More