UK Politics

Yvette Cooper shed tears as she became emotional discussing the victim of a ninja sword stabbing in Wolverhampton.As a ban on the weapons came into effect, the home secretary described the mother of Ronan Kanda, 16, showing her the last moment she shared with her son before he was murdered. “His mother, Pooja, showed me the CCTV from outside her house. [It was] the last time she saw her son. It was the honour of her showing me their affectionate goodbye … then he goes off and she doesn’t see him again,” Ms Cooper told The Times as she wiped away tears.Yvette Cooper became emotional talking about the ninja sword ban More

Labour has been urged to launch a massive expansion of family centres under the Sure Start brand to fend off Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. A commission backed by Labour peer Hilary Armstrong has said a reintroduction of Sure Start family centres could rebuild faith in neighbourhoods blighted by Tory austerity. Her Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods found the reinstatement of Sure Start would be backed across the political spectrum, with two-thirds of potential Reform voters supporting the move.Bridget Phillipson has been urged to revive the Sure Start brand to fend off Reform More

Sir Sadiq Khan has threatened legal action against the government over its controversial plans to allow a third runway at Heathrow. The London mayor doubled down on his opposition to the plans, warning that it will have a “severe impact” in terms of noise and air pollution and leave Britain’s climate targets in jeopardy. Sir Sadiq said he will “carefully scrutinise” Heathrow’s expansion plans and the impact they will have on Londoners.Khan threatens legal action against the government More

Former Labour minister Anneliese Dodds has urged the government to consider a wealth tax at the next Budget in order to plug holes in the public finances. The former shadow chancellor – who quit Sir Keir Starmer’s government in February over the PM’s decision to cut the foreign aid budget to fund a boost in defence spending – warned that spending cuts will not “deliver the kind of fiscal room that is necessary”.It comes amid mounting questions over how the government will raise the money to fill the black hole in the public finances left by a series of major U-turns and spending commitments.Ministers have already squeezed significant savings out of their departments in cuts that were unveiled at last month’s spending review, meaning there is now a mounting expectation that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will be forced to raise taxes instead.Anneliese Dodds resigned over cuts to the aid budget earlier this year More

Fears have been raised about the future of an initiative launched by Angelina Jolie and William Hague to tackle sexual violence in warzones which has been plunged into chaos in the wake of Sir Keir Starmer’s aid cuts. A funding settlement for Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) was due to run out on Thursday, with critics of the prime minister’s decision to reduce international aid calling for him to urgently agree a new budget for the programme.An annual review of PSVI in October called for it to be extended as it “retains a strong strategic fit with current government priorities”. But Sir Keir’s cuts, which he used to fund a boost in the defence budget, came just four months later. William Hague launched the initiative championed by Angelina JolieGovernment officials insisted the programme will be funded until the end of 2026, with millions of pounds set aside for the next financial year. But the money appears to have come from stretching its initial settlement over a longer timeframe, with experts warning the programme faces months of uncertainty until a new multi-year deal is announced. October’s review said the programme had “demonstrated impressive results”, giving survivors of sexual violence access to medical, psychological and financial support to rebuild their lives. It also highlighted a need for PSVI to lean into current crises, including ongoing conflicts in Sudan and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.PSVI was founded in 2012 by former foreign secretary Lord Hague with the support of Hollywood actress and former UN special envoy Ms Jolie More

The head of the UK’s air traffic control firm was called in for a meeting with the transport secretary after a fault left tens of thousands of summer holidaymakers facing grounded flights on Wednesday. Passengers across Europe were stranded during the peak holiday season when planes were cancelled and diverted – with some turning around mid-air to return to their departure cities – because of a 20 minute glitch.And Heidi Alexander has held an urgent meeting with National Air Traffic Services (NATS) boss Martin Rolfe to discuss his handling of the chaos. Ms Alexander said the meeting would help her “understand what happened and how we can prevent reoccurrence”. Following the talks, she said the incident was an “isolated event and there is no evidence of malign activity”. An air traffic control glitch left planes grounded More

The leader of train drivers’ union Aslef has said resident doctors are “not asking for enough” in their pay dispute with Wes Streeting, arguing they should earn more than his own members. Resident doctors formerly known as junior doctors, were awarded an average 5.4 per cent pay increase this financial year, following a 22 per cent rise over the previous two years.However, the British Medical Association (BMA) says real-terms pay has still fallen by around 20 per cent since 2008, and is pushing for a 29 per cent pay increase to achieve full “pay restoration”.“They’re not asking for enough,” Mick Whelan told PoliticsHome. “What they haven’t asked for is all the money they’re owed for that pay restoration.Resident doctors have been offered a 5.4 per cent pay increase for 2025-26 More

Nigel Farage has called for a “tech answer” to protecting children online, but said neither he nor the Government have the solution.The Reform UK leader was this week accused by a Cabinet minister of being on the side of “people like Jimmy Savile” over the party’s pledge to scrap the Online Safety Act.Speaking on LBC, Mr Farage described the comments, made by Technology Secretary Peter Kyle, as “absolutely appalling”.During the phone-in, the Clacton MP took questions about his opposition to the Online Safety Act and new Government demands that social media companies tackle illegal content and activity online, along with content that is harmful to children.George Nicolaou, from Cheshunt in Hertfordshire, said his 15-year-old son Christoforos was “murdered by predators to an attack propagated through social medias three years ago”.He described the law as a “matter of life and death” for some families.Mr Farage replied: “If age verification of itself was able to prevent incidents and tragedies like this, I would, George, 100% support it.“But the problem is it doesn’t, because of the VPN route.”VPNs or virtual private networks can enable internet users to circumvent the new rules, by masking a user’s digital identity.“There has to be a tech answer around this,” Mr Farage added.“I don’t know what it is, certainly the Government doesn’t know what it is, but there has to be a tech answer of some kind, and we need to try and find it.”Mr Farage also said: “We’re talking about, how do we protect young people?“How do we stop them accessing dangerous, violent content, or worse?“I’ll tell you what, George, here’s the real danger – that if you go through a VPN, you can then access content on what’s called the dark web, which is even worse than what you can find online now.”Mr Kyle told Sky News earlier this week: “I see that Nigel Farage is already saying that he’s going to overturn these laws.“So you know, we have people out there who are extreme pornographers, peddling hate, peddling violence. Nigel Farage is on their side.“Make no mistake about it, if people like Jimmy Savile were alive today, he’d be perpetrating his crimes online. And Nigel Farage is saying that he’s on their side.”Mr Farage said: “Most 13-year-olds are more tech savvy than Peter Kyle and the people that drew up this legislation didn’t know what they were doing.“We have to have a fresh look.”The Reform UK leader alleged the Government was “setting up an elite police force to monitor what people say about illegal immigration and migrant hotels”.He added: “This legislation is the biggest threat to free, open debate and speech we’ve ever seen.” More