UK Politics

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentLisa Nandy has snubbed the wife of a former Tory MP who was on course to become chair of London’s Royal Parks.The culture secretary has cancelled the appointment of Lady Archer to the prominent role, reappointing ex-MasterChef presenter Loyd Grossman instead.Lady Archer is married to novelist and former Tory MP Lord Archer and was handed the prestigious job by Rishi Sunak’s government in May.Lady Archer is married to novelist and former Tory MP Lord Archer More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentSir Keir Starmer’s wife accepted two free tickets worth hundreds of pounds each to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, it has emerged.It was previously known that Lady Starmer attended the popstar’s Wembley concert with the prime minister in June.But it has now been revealed that she went to a second concert at Wembley Stadium without Sir Keir in August.Lady Starmer attended one show with Sir Keir Starmer and one without him More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentSir Keir Starmer has said plans for an independent football regulator will not see England banned from Euro 2028, despite the body warning it could breach rules on government interference in the game. The prime minister said he was sure ministers would “find a way through” in talks with the governing body after it voiced concerns that the proposals could threaten the autonomy of sport.It follows a warning from UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis that the plans, set out in` the Football Governance Bill, could lead to England’s exclusion from the union.Sir Keir Starmer said the Government’s plans are ‘consistent’ with the rules (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentFormer Tory prime minister Sir John Major has described Rishi Sunak’s government as “unconservative” and “un-British” in the way it tried to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.Speaking to the BBC’s Amol Rajan, Sir John admitted that he had not made any public pronouncements for some time because he found little to like about the last Tory government under Rishi Sunak.He said the Sunak government’s plans to fly asylum seekers to east Africa was worse than the 18th century deportations of convcts fo Australia.And, in a devastating assessment of Brexit, he agreed with former Labour prime minister Sir Tony Blair that far from reducing immigration as promised by Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson and others, it had in fact increased immigration and replaced Europeans with more people from other parts of the world.Former prime minister John Major More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentSir Ed Davey has set out plans to “winterproof the NHS”, calling for a taskforce to be established to end the annual winter crises facing the health service.The Liberal Democrat leader used his conference speech to urge Sir Keir Starmer to “make this year the last winter crisis in our NHS”.After opening the speech by singing “Take a Chance on Me” by ABBA, Sir Ed pointed to the £376m which is spent on average each year tackling the winter crisis in the NHS, calling instead for the cash to be invested in shoring up the service.His proposed taskforce would spend £1.5bn in the next four years to build resilience in hospital wards, A&E departments, ambulance services and patient discharging.Addressing activists and MPs gathered in Brighton, Sir Ed said: “Practically every year I can remember, governments have ended up announcing hundreds of millions of pounds of emergency funding to help the NHS through another winter crisis. To paper over the cracks.Lib Dem leader Ed Davey kicked off proceedings by singing ABBA’s ‘Take a Chance on Me’ More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentOne of Britain’s leading trade experts has warned that the new border checks system for goods traded between the UK and the EU could make already dire trade figures even worse.Marco Forgione, director general of the Chartered Institute of Export and International Trade, has welcomed plans to delay bringing in those checks for fruit and vegetables at the border which could have had a devastating effect on UK supply chains.But he has said that if the implementation of the the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) for checks is badly handled then there could be serious problems.His warning comes as new research released by Aston University shows that Brexit is having a profoundly detrimental impact on UK trade.Sir Keir Starmer and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni held a joint press conference on Monday (Phil Noble/PA) More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentDavid Lammy has warned that climate change is a more urgent threat than terrorism or Vladimir Putin in a major speech in which he pledged to put the emergency at the centre of British foreign policy.Tackling the crisis, which is “accelerating towards us”, will also boost growth in the UK, the foreign secretary said. “The threat may not feel as urgent as a terrorist or an imperialist autocrat. But it is more fundamental. It is systemic. Pervasive. And accelerating towards us,” he warned.Mr Lammy blasted Russia’s “fascism” and “imperialism” last week on a visit to war-torn Ukraine. He made the vow after the death toll in central Europe rose to at least 15 in the wake of a series of devastating floods.Foreign secretary David Lammy making a speech on the climate crisis More

Labour MP defends Starmer over donor row: ‘He’s an Arsenal fan’Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseMy recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyondEric GarciaWashington Bureau ChiefA Labour minister has been grilled over Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to accept tens of thousands of pounds in gifts and hospitality, amid a row over his late declaration of a donation by a Labour peer to pay for dresses for his wife Victoria.Sir Keir was facing questions over the £5,000 donation from ex-Asos chair Lord Waheed Alli which he initially failed to put on his register of interests. The PM has insisted his team had reached out for advice on what declaration should be made and that rules are being followed.While the commissioner has decided not to investigate, Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle was repeatedly pressed by reporters on Tuesday about Sir Keir’s acceptance of gifts – totalling more than £65,000 in the nine months to May ahead of cutting the winter fuel allowance for millions of pensioners.Dame Angela told Times Radio she had no opinion on Sir Keir accepting gifts and accused the host of “ranting”. However she conceded to Sky News that she was not sure whether it was “possible to have an explanation” for accepting Coldplay tickets.Show latest update 1726583833Government urged to make ‘this year the last NHS winter crisis’Turning to the NHS, Sir Ed Davey told the Lib Dem annual conference: “We know the terrible state of the public finances thanks to the Conservatives’ shocking mismanagement. There can be no doubt about the scale of the challenge ahead.“Yet that makes it even more important to make the investment we’ve proposed in frontline NHS services – not less. Because if you invest wisely, if you make sure people can get the care they need, when and where they need it, if you bring down waiting lists and get people back to work, if you help people to stay healthy for longer, not only will you dramatically improve people’s lives, but you will actually save taxpayers’ money in the future and give the economy the boost it needs.“The problem is, the Treasury simply isn’t wired to think this way. Instead, we have the short-term negative thinking that leads governments to postpone hospital repairs and cancel new buildings – short-term thinking to save a bit of money now, even though you know it will only cost a lot more in the future.”The Lib Dem leader added: “What if, instead of stumbling from crisis to crisis, instead of throwing more and more money at just plugging the gaps, what if we invested now to make the NHS winterproof?“The government could and should make this year the last winter crisis in our NHS.”Andy Gregory17 September 2024 15:371726582813Ed Davey reveals rejected election stunt ideas Wing walking on a biplane was among the stunt ideas “rejected” during the Lib Dem election campaign, Sir Ed Davey has suggested.He told conference delegates that he is “not supposed to tell you what stunt ideas were rejected – not least because they’re still trying to persuade me to do them for the next election”.He added: “But I’ll let you into a little secret. It was only health and safety rules that stopped me putting my hand up a cow’s behind or wing walking on a biplane.”Andy Gregory17 September 2024 15:201726582266Ed Davey sings to Abba as he arrives for conference speechSir Ed Davey sang along to Abba’s “Take A Chance” as he arrived on stage for his Brighton conference keynote speech.The leader of the Liberal Democrats said: “It’s been joyful, hasn’t it? Getting together to celebrate, and to start planning the future – having fun, but with a serious focus.“It reminds me of our election campaign. Do you know they wanted me to wear a wetsuit today? But I said it was abseiling or nothing, so here we are, having a party after winning our largest number of MPs for over 100 years.”( More