UK Politics

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind 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 ThomasEditorNigel Farage has U-turned on his claim that he was told not to hold the face-to-face meetings with voters as a result of security concerns in his Essex constituency.The Reform UK leader found himself at the centre of a row after parliamentary sources disputed the suggestion he was given such advice from security teams, given it would interfere with his democratic duties.When asked on Monday, “which one of you is lying” – in reference to conflicting claims from himself and parliamentary sources – the Reform UK leader responded: “The Speaker’s Office is always right.”Nigel Farage found himself at the centre of a row about security guidance More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind 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 ThomasEditorLabour election guru Morgan McSweeney will take over as Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff after Sue Gray quit, citing fears she was “becoming a distraction” to the government.The ‘Partygate’ report author has been a high-profile figure in Sir Keir’s top team since she was appointed while Labour was in opposition last year. However, in recent weeks Sir Keir’s Downing Street operation has been plagued by reports of infighting, and rows over Ms Gray’s £170,000 salary dominated headlines. Ms Gray’s departure on Sunday triggered a wider reshuffle of Number 10. She will be replaced as chief of staff by Mr McSweeney, one of the key figures in Labour’s election campaign who is reported to have clashed with Ms Gray.Sue Gray resigned as Downing Street’s chief of staff and has taken on a new role More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind 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 ThomasEditorAn unlikely alliance of independent schools, trade unions and tax experts are heaping pressure on Rachel Reeves to delay a tax raid on private education.Fears are growing that if the government goes ahead with its plans to introduce VAT on school fees in the middle of the school year it will cause job losses and put children’s education in chaos.It comes as the government has insisted that it will stick with the plans which were in the Labour manifesto at the election to help fund an extra 6,500 new teachers at state schools.Reports over the weekend suggested that there had been a wobble on the issue similar to one with tackling so-called non-doms because it appeared VAT would not raise as much as previously expected. Details are expected to be confirmed in the Budget on 30 October. Reeves plans a tax raid on private school fees More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind 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 ThomasEditorSir Keir Starmer is under growing pressure as Labour heavyweights warned he has lost his grip on the political narrative, after he was forced to accept the resignation of his chief of staff over the weekend. Sue Gray resigned from her position after weeks of reported tensions in Number 10.Labour grandee Baroness Harriet Harman has said the turmoil that culminated in her resignation has been “uncomfortable” for the prime minister, warning that nobody wants to see political infighting on the front pages of newspapers.But she added that missteps and “clunkiness” should be expected by a new government in its early weeks.Alastair Campbell, who was Tony Blair’s communications chief in No 10, denied that the current situation is a “complete irrecoverable shambles”, but warned: “You cannot make too many missteps in government.”He said: “Government is harder than opposition. Labour governments are held to a much higher standard than Tory governments. I hope this is the reset that is needed”.Mr Campbell said the “winter fuel announcement dropping out of the sky” is an example of Labour not talking to the country.“You add that to the freebies stuff it again spoke against the narrative with which they won the election which was all very high standards in public life”, he added.John McTernan, who was Sir Tony’s political secretary, also piled in on Sir Keir’s administration, saying the government has “completely lost grip”, warning it is “delivering drift” rather than change.He told Times Radio the government has “lacked a political narrative and the political drive and the momentum that drove them through the election to a great victory”.Baroness Harman said she hoped Ms Gray’s resignation would mark a reset, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This has been a squall. It has been uncomfortable.Labour former cabinet minister Harriet Harman More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind 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 ThomasEditorSue Gray, the former senior civil servant who rose to fame when she was handed responsibility for untangling the ‘Partygate‘ saga, has resigned as Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff and will take up a new role in government.Ms Gray said she was standing down because it had “become clear to me that intense commentary around my position risked becoming a distraction to the government’s vital work of change”.Concerns over the power of Ms Gray in government were recently raised when it was revealed she is paid more as chief of staff than the prime minister.The BBC revealed last month that Ms Gray asked for and was given a salary of £170,000 after July’s election – about £3,000 more than Sir Keir.Tensions flared in Sir Keir’s Downing Street operation after the salary revelation, although the party said at the time she “had no involvement in any decision on her pay”.A power struggle had reportedly been playing out between Ms Gray and Sir Keir’s election guru Morgan McSweeney since Labour’s general election win. Mr McSweeney will now replace Ms Gray as the prime minister’s chief of staff.Sue Gray said she looked forward to continuing to support the prime minister in her new role More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind 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 ThomasEditorSir Keir Starmer has said that “we must unequivocally stand with the Jewish community” and reiterated his calls for a ceasefire as he marked the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks.Monday is one year since the Hamas attacks in Israel, which triggered Israel’s subsequent conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon.Sir Keir described October 7 2023 as “the darkest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust” and said that “collective grief has not diminished” in the year since.“Over a thousand people were brutally murdered. Men, women, children and babies killed, mutilated, and tortured by the terrorists of Hamas. Jewish people murdered whilst protecting their families, young people massacred at a music festival, people abducted from their homes,” he said.“Agonising reports of rape, torture and brutality beyond comprehension which continued to emerge days and weeks later.“As a father, a husband, a son, a brother – meeting the families of those who lost their loved ones last week was unimaginable. Their grief and pain are ours, and it is shared in homes across the land.“A year on, that collective grief has not diminished or waned.”Writing for the Sunday Times this weekend, the prime minister said that the “sparks” from the conflict in the Middle East “light touchpapers in our own communities” as he called out “vile hatred” against Jews and Muslims.A group of Muslim and Jewish women during a minute silence after lighting a candle an event at St Johns Church, central London, to remember those who have died or are displaced and missing since 7 October More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind 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 ThomasEditorFormer cabinet secretary Lord Gus O’Donnell has said the £200,000-a-year salary for the head of the civil service is “massively underpaid”.Lord O’Donnell is involved in the process of hiring Simon Case’s successor after the current cabinet secretary announced he will stand down at the end of the year on health grounds.Lord O’Donnell told BBC Radio 4’s The Westminster Hour: “It’s massively underpaid in my view – given I’ve been paid a lot more since, to do a lot less.”Senior civil servants’ salary is set based on recommendations from the independent Senior Salaries Review Body.The cabinet secretary acts as the senior policy adviser to the prime minister and is responsible for the efficient running of government.Mr Case was diagnosed with a neurological condition last year, and said that “whilst the spirit remains willing, the body is not”.His resignation came following reports of tensions at the heart of No 10 between Mr Case and Sir Keir’s chief of staff Sue Gray, who quit the role this weekend.Lord O’Donnell said the person who replaced Mr Case would need to have a “good relationship” with the prime minister’s chief of staff.Tony Blair appointed Lord O’Donnell as cabinet secretary in 2005 where he earned a reputation for smoothing tensions at the highest level of government. In his time he had floated ideas about open primaries, which encourage people without political affiliations to stand for Parliament, and the reform of the House of Lords – even though he is now a member.He stepped down in 2011, under the David Cameron-led coalition government.Ms Gray said she was looking forward to continuing to support the Prime Minister in her new role (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind 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 ThomasEditorThe Treasury has confirmed it will go ahead with a controversial VAT tax raid on private schools in what is being seen as a victory for education secretary Bridget Phillipson.The senior minister came out fighting last night as the Treasury initially refused to commit to the Labour manifesto pledge in Rachel Reeves’ budget on 30 October.The Guardian reported government plans to impose VAT on private schools from 1 January next year may have to be delayed, following warnings that meeting the deadline could cause administrative chaos and job losses, as well as putting pressure on the state sector.In response, the Treasury initially failed to confirm that the plan to impose VAT on private schools would go ahead from the start of 2025, instead saying it would be introduced “as soon as possible”.Ms Phillipson said: ‘Our state schools need teachers more than private schools need embossed stationery’ More