UK Politics

The Green Party is now neck and neck with Labour, a new poll has shown, as the party climbs in the polls following the election of Zack Polanski – but both are lagging behind Reform UK. A new poll, conducted by FindOutNow, put Nigel Farage’s party on 32 points, a fall of two points since this time last month. The Conservatives are on 16 points, having seen no change since last month. Following closely behind are both Labour and the Greens, with Labour having seen its approval rating fall by one point, while the Greens have surged by three points in Mr Polanski’s first month as the party’s leader. Leader Zack Polanski told the Green Party conference: ‘The alarm bells of authoritarianism are ringing’ More

The head of MI5 has said “Chinese state actors” present a national security threat to the UK “every day” and he admitted he was frustrated by the collapse of the case against two alleged Westminster spies. Sir Ken McCallum set out how the Security Service carried out an operation against a threat from China within the last week amid growing questions around the failure to prosecute.In a speech at MI5’s London headquarters, the service’s director general said that the UK needed to “defend itself resolutely” against China while also being able to “seize the opportunities” having a relationship with Beijing brings.“The UK-China relationship is, by its nature, complex, but MI5’s role is not: we detect and deal, robustly, with activity threatening national security,” Sir Ken said.He highlighted attempts by China to carry out “cyber espionage”, “clandestine technology transfer”, efforts to “interfere covertly in UK public life” and the “harassment and intimidation of opponents” including pro-democracy activists.“When it comes to China, the UK needs to defend itself resolutely against threats and seize the opportunities that demonstrably serve our nation,” he said.It was a choice for ministers to decide where the balance lies, he said, “informed by expert security advice”.Asked if he was frustrated by the collapse of the case against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry, he said: “Of course I am frustrated when opportunities to prosecute national security-threatening activity are not followed through, for whatever reason.”Sir Ken’s comments came after it emerged the government’s deputy national security adviser had repeatedly described the “threat” posed by China in witness statements, published on Wednesday night, amid the extraordinary row over the collapse of the case.A key allegation against the government was that it refused in its evidence to the CPS to describe Beijing as a threat to Britain’s national security. MI5 chief Ken McCallum says he is ‘frustrated’ by the case collapsing More

Boris Johnson has admitted he “loves” AI and ChatGPT, and revealed that he uses it while writing his books.The former prime minister praised the AI platform for answering his questions, and said he appreciated it calling him “brilliant” and “excellent”.Mr Johnson has had a number of books published since 2001, including his most recent autobiography, Unleashed, which was released in 2024.Speaking to Al Arabiya English, he said: “One thing that really encourages me is AI. I love AI. I love ChatGPT. I love it. ChatGPT is frankly fantastic.”When asked what he uses it for, he said: “I’m writing various books. I just use it. I just ask questions. You know the answer, but ChatGPT always says, ‘Oh, your questions are clever. You’re brilliant. You’re excellent. You have such insight’.“I love it. I see great promise in this technology because we’re all simple. We’re human beings.”Boris Johnson praised the AI platform for answering his questions More

Sir Keir Starmer has published a series of witness statements given by the deputy national security adviser to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in the collapsed China spying case. The prime minister had hoped publishing the evidence would draw a line under the saga, which has dogged his government for weeks.A key allegation was that the government refused, in its evidence to the CPS, to describe Beijing as a threat to Britain’s national security, leading the case against the two alleged spies to collapse. Keir Starmer faces further questions about the collapse of the China spying case More

British spies have begun work on tackling the potential risk posed by rogue artificial intelligence (AI) systems, the head of MI5 said.Sir Ken McCallum said it would be “reckless” to ignore the potential for AI to cause harm.In a speech at the Security Service’s Thames House headquarters, he insisted he was not “forecasting Hollywood movie scenarios” but the intelligence agencies had to consider the risks.He said: “MI5 has spent more than a century doing ingenious things to out-innovate our human – sometimes inhuman – adversaries.“But in 2025, while contending with today’s threats, we also need to scope out the next frontier: potential future risks from non-human, autonomous AI systems which may evade human oversight and control.“Given the risks of hype and scaremongering, I will choose my words carefully: I am not forecasting Hollywood movie scenarios.“I am, on the whole, a tech optimist who sees AI bringing real benefits.“But, as AI capabilities continue to power ahead, you would expect organisations like MI5 and GCHQ and the UK’s ground-breaking AI Security Institute, to be thinking deeply, today, about what defending the realm might need to look like in the years ahead.“Artificial intelligence may never ‘mean’ to cause us harm. But it would be reckless to ignore the potential for it to cause harm.” More

The government has published witness statements in the now-collapsed case against two men accused of spying for China, following an extraordinary row over the saga. Three statements provided by deputy national security adviser Matthew Collins as part of the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) case, which repeatedly describe China as a threat, were published as part of an attempt to draw a line under growing questions about the government’s evidence. The statements came after the CPS dropped the case, deeming the evidence did not show China was a threat to national security.But the evidence also reveals extraordinary new details about the allegations – including that one alleged China spy told another: “You’re in spy territory now.” Mr Collins also alleges in his statement that information was leaked to China about the Tory leadership race. Christopher Berry (left) and former parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash deny wrongdoing More

The government’s deputy national security adviser repeatedly described the “threat” posed by China in witness statements Sir Keir Starmer has been forced to publish as part of an extraordinary row over a collapsed spying case. Matt Collins said Chinese intelligence services were “highly capable and conduct large scale espionage operations” against the UK, which “threaten the UK’s economic prosperity and resilience and the integrity of our democratic institutions”.But he added that the government was “committed to pursuing a positive relationship” with Beijing. In the three witness statements, he also told prosecutors it was his assessment that the two men accused of spying for China acted in a way that was a danger to the “safety” and “interests” of the UK, handing over material that would be “useful” to the Chinese state. They deny any wrongdoing. The documents said ‘Chinese espionage operations threaten the UK’s economic prosperity and resilience and the integrity of our democratic institutions.’ More

Rachel Reeves has suggested higher taxes on the wealthy will be part of her Budget next month. The Chancellor was speaking in Washington on Wednesday, when she acknowledged she was looking at potential tax rises and spending cuts to fill a hole in her Budget which she said was partly due to the lingering impact of Brexit. It came amid speculation on the measures she will take to fill the estimated £50m blackhole, with a cut to the cash ISA allowance for savers reportedly among the ideas. When asked whether higher taxes on the wealthy would feature as part of her November 26 statement, Ms Reeves, who was in the US for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting, said: “That will be part of the story. “In the budget next month, there won’t be a return to austerity. We know that we face a changing global environment in terms of the economy at the moment.”The autumn budget is scheduled for 26 November More