UK Politics

The Conservatives have received twice as much money from donors as Reform in the first three months of this year, even as they sink in the polls. The financial backing will come as a boost to the under-pressure Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, days after her party dropped to fourth place in a major poll. Ms Badenoch’s party took in £3.36m, Reform £1.5m, Keir Starmer’s party £2.3m and the Liberal Democrats £1.5m, the Electoral Commission statistics show. The Tories hit out at Reform — also under pressure after losing and regaining its chairman in recent days — saying it had “failed to secure the donations they claimed were coming” and had a “fantasy approach to finances”. The Conservatives said Reform UK party sources had in January “claimed a dinner in Mayfair had secured over £1 million in pledges yet there is no evidence in the latest Electoral Commission figures that support this.” They also pointed to figures which show 42 per cent of Reform UK’s donations during the three months rely on £613,000 from deputy leader Richard Tice’s company. But Mr Farage hit back, accusing Labour and the Conservatives of having relied on their ability to hand out peerages to bankroll their parties for decades. However, a Conservative source said much of the money raised is to pay off election debt.They said: “We were told there was no money that’s why they had to sack so many people.”Asked about the donation figures, the Reform leader said: “Is it easy to raise big money in politics? It’s not… because I have not got any peerages to give out. “The honours system is corrupted beyond belief, we don’t have any gongs to give out.” Mr Farage went on to stress he is confident he is building relationships with the donors Reform needs, while stressing that the bulk of its revenue comes from supporters giving between £25 and £50.That almost a third of the money raised by the Conservatives came from one donor, however, will do little to ease Tory MPs fears their leader is not doing enough to build the kind of wide support needed to win the next election. The largest single donation was £1m from former Labour supporter Jez San, a computer game entrepreneur. David Ross, the founder of Carphone Warehouse, who halted donations to the party during its post-Boris Johnson years, is also listed as giving £40,000, in two separate donations. Mr Ross, who once “facilitated” accommodation for Mr Johnson on the island of Mustique, will become the party’s senior treasurer later in the year. Reginald Collins, a longtime member of Labour, was the party’s largest individual donor, leaving it £350,000 when he died. The Liberal Democrats had the most individual donors, at 246. The Tories had 122, Labour 93 and Reform 70. The Tories said the latest figures build on the momentum of the previous quarter, where the party raised £1.9 million – more than all the other major political parties combined. ( More

Hundreds of jobs are set to be created across the UK as part of a raft of investments in the technology sector, the Government has announced.It comes as Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle told an audience at London Tech Week that the UK must be at “the cutting edge” of rapidly growing technologies, such as AI.The technology sector is a key area of the Government’s efforts to accelerate growth in the UK economy, in a bid to support efforts to increase spending.Liquidity is planning over the next five years” data-source=”” >On Tuesday, a number of “significant investments” in the sector were announced in areas including AI and fintech, which will see some companies setting up in the UK for the first time.Liquidity, a US-based AI fintech business, revealed it will launch its European headquarters in London as part of a plan to invest an additional £1.5 billion over the next five years.Meanwhile, Capgemini said it will expand UK operations with a new London headquarters.Netcompany, a Danish IT consultancy, will also invest £2 million to expand its Leeds office and is launching a new site in Edinburgh, which will ultimately create 150 jobs.Other investments include InnovX AI, a major European start-up hub, investing £14.7 million in a new London technology site, creating 30 jobs.Mr Kyle said: “We have all seen over the last few years, just how rapidly and profoundly technologies like AI are transforming the economy, and our society.“Britain can – and must – be at the cutting edge of this change.“The era of hesitancy is over: we can be the masters of our fate, and through the measures I am announcing today, we will harness the vast potential of our trillion-pound tech sector to help remake our country for the better.”The Government said on Tuesday that it was opening its Science and Technology Venture Capital Fellowship for a second cohort and round of applications, to increase the capacity of the UK financial sector to invest in start-up businesses in the sector.Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “Securing valuable high-tech investment is an integral mission of this government and seeing global investors put billions in the UK economy shows the plan for change is working, with more and more companies choosing Britain.“With tech being identified as a key growth sector in our upcoming modern industrial strategy, we’re not only helping attract and secure investment, but delivering long-term, stable growth that supports skilled jobs and raises living standards across the UK.” More

China will be blocked from investing in the new Sizewell C power station, the energy secretary has said. It comes as the chancellor announced plans to pump billions of pounds into Britain’s nuclear energy sector, putting £14.2bn towards the new plant’s construction. Asked whether China would be able to invest in the new power station, in Suffolk, Ed Miliband told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “No”. But he declined to rule out investment from other foreign governments, saying: “I’m not going to go into who the private bidders are. We’ve got a process at the moment. Ed Miliband said new nuclear power capacity was needed to deliver a ‘golden age of clean energy abundance’ (Kin Cheung/PA) More

Rachel Reeves has agreed to pump billions of pounds into Britain’s nuclear energy sector, putting £14.2bn towards construction of the new Sizewell C nuclear power station. The multi-billion pound investment will be confirmed by the chancellor at the GMB union’s annual congress on Tuesday, just days before she is expected to make sweeping cuts to unprotected departments at Wednesday’s spending review. The Suffolk plant, which ministers said would power the equivalent of six million homes, is expected to take around a decade to complete, with officials hoping it will be operational before the end of the 2030s.Investment aims to boost clean energy and create 10,000 jobs, but critics warn of spiralling costs More

Rachel Reeves has approved £14.2 billion in funding to support construction of the new Sizewell C nuclear power station, as part of her first major spending review.The investment will be confirmed by the chancellor at the GMB union’s annual congress on Tuesday, in a move aimed at boosting the UK’s energy security and cutting carbon emissions.Energy secretary Ed Miliband said the new plant was central to delivering a “golden age of clean energy abundance” and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.Trade unions welcomed the move, which the Treasury said would go towards creating 10,000 jobs, including 1,500 apprenticeships.But campaigners criticised the move, warning that the full cost of the development remains unclear and could far exceed the initial investment.Nuclear plants are seen as increasingly important electricity sources as the government tries to decarbonise Britain’s grid by 2030, replacing fossil fuels with green power.The last time Britain completed one was in 1987, which was the Sizewell B plant.Investment aims to boost clean energy and create 10,000 jobs, but critics warn of spiralling costs More

Labour backbenchers are urging the Government to reconsider planned disability benefit cuts following the restoration of winter fuel payments to the majority of pensioners by Rachel Reeves.The chancellor’s £1.25 billion initiative, revealed on Monday, will provide automatic payments of up to £300 to pensioners with an income below £35,000 annually.This decision reverses last year’s removal of the universal scheme for pensioners, which was reinstated for those claiming specific benefits like pension credit.Nadia Whittome, Labour MP for Nottingham East, cautioned ministers against repeating a “similar mistake” by tightening eligibility criteria for Personal Independence Payments (PIP).Richard Burgon, MP for Leeds East, implored pensions minister Torsten Bell to heed the concerns of backbenchers, offering their assistance to help the Government “get it right.”Pensions minister Torsten Bell More

Nato chief Mark Rutte has called for a 400 per cent boost to air and missile capabilities – and his demand to raise defence spending across the alliance to 5 per cent has raised the voices of doom to a scream.A return to Cold War levels of defence spending is not, however, a hysterical plea from a lackey of the military-industrial complex.It is a sad acknowledgement that the peace dividend that came with the collapse of the Soviet Union has been squandered by the West in a pointless war in Afghanistan and a criminal conflict in Iraq which expanded the list of peoples with a good reason to hate democracy.But there were plenty around already. Vladimir Putin is one of them, Xi Jinping is another – Donald Trump is rushing to their ranks. Autocracy is on the rise around the world while democracies have been consumed by complacency.“Wishful thinking will not keep us safe,” said Rutte, who called for Nato to become a “stronger, fairer and more lethal alliance”.Russian soldiers ride an Akatsiya self-propelled gun in an undisclosed location in Ukraine More

British people “better learn to speak Russian” if Sir Keir Starmer does not massively ramp up defence spending, the Nato secretary general has warned. Mark Rutte said he was “really impressed” by the prime minister’s strategic defence review unveiled last week. And he called for Nato countries to set a “credible path” towards spending 5 per cent of their national incomes on defence amid the growing threat from Russia. Speaking at London’s Chatham House, Mr Rutte said it is “not up to me” whether that means Rachel Reeves should consider tax hikes to pay for the commitment. He added: “I mean, what I know is that if we want to keep our societies safe… look, if you do not do this, if you would not go to the 5%, including the 3.5% core defence spending, you could still have the National Health Service, or in other countries their health systems, the pension system, etcetera, but you had better learn to speak Russian.” Sir Keir Starmer welcomed Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte to Downing Street (PA) More