UK

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 CorrespondentLabour has been accused of being “cruel” over cuts to the winter fuel payment as figures emerged showing almost 800,000 pensioners who need the benefit will lose it this winter.Keir Starmer is facing increased pressure with Unite, the party’s biggest union backer, reportedly submitting a motion to Labour’s party conference calling for the prime minister to reverse the controversial move.It comes as figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) showed 780,000 low income pensioners who do not claim certain benefits to make them eligible will lose the fund, worth up to £300 a year.Unite’s motion to the party’s conference this month, reported by Sky News, presents a potential rift among members. The union’s general secretary Sharon Graham told the outlet: “There is no question that Britain is better off under Labour… but people voted for change and they now need to see that change.“The government needs to dump its cruel winter fuel policy… I make no apology for holding Labour’s feet to the fire.”Under Labour’s means-testing of the benefit, only pensioners who receive pension credit or certain other benefits will continue to receive the allowance – but many, although eligible for the benefits, have not applied.Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the move passed through Parliament last week is necessary to help fill a “£22 billion black hole” in the public finances. The government expects to save about £1.3 billion through the measure.It will see a total of 10 million people stripped of the allowance this winter.Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves put forward means-testing of the winter fuel allowance 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 CorrespondentBoris Johnson described Tory backbenchers as “spineless chicken s***” for repeatedly criticising his top adviser Dominic Cummings, the former head of the 1922 Committee of Conservative MPs has claimed.In a memoir about his time leading the powerful committee of backbenchers, Sir Graham Brady has laid bare the backroom deals behind the most turbulent decade in Tory history.In a telling extract about the former prime minister, Lord Brady has detailed how Mr Johnson was so irritated by criticism of Mr Cummings’ infamous lockdown-breaking Barnard Castle trip that he dubbed Conservative MPs “spineless chicken s***”.When challenged that ‘no sane’ person would have driven their family to test their eyesight, as Cummings claimed, Johnson replied, ‘he’s not sane’ 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 CorrespondentThe Liberal Democrats have called for freedom of movement for young people within the EU, piling pressure on Labour to reconsider such a scheme.The party, now Britain’s third biggest after a surge in July’s general election, said the idea was a “common sense” move to improve the prospects of young people in the UK.With Sir Keir Starmer embarking on a reset of relations with the European Union, the Lib Dems have joined a growing chorus of campaigners calling for a youth mobility scheme.The party is calling for the extension of an agreement Britain already has with countries including Australia and Japan, which lets 18 to 35-year-olds move and work freely between countries for up to two years.Ed Davey’s party is piling pressure on Labour to pursue closer ties with the EU 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 defence secretary Ben Wallace has said he is “disappointed” by the “tug of war” discussions between US President Joe Biden and PM Sir Keir Starmer about Ukraine amid an apparent delay on a decision on the use of long-range missiles.Sir Keir has said the UK and US have come to a “strong position” in their quest for a resolution to the conflict in Ukraine following his meeting with President Biden on Friday. The prime minister described his discussions with Mr Biden as “long and productive”, but he would not be drawn on what the pair had decided regarding Ukraine’s potential use of Storm Shadow weapons against Russian targets.Sir Keir and Biden met in the Blue Room at the White House on Friday 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 CorrespondentAn ex-immigration minister has warned the Tory party’s“Stop The Boats” slogan fuelled the violent far right riots that erupted across the UK last month.Lord Timothy Kirkhope, the Conservative Party’s former immigration minister, argued discussions about migrants had fostered a climate of hostility towards refugees ahead of August’s violent unrest.He told the BBC that the “Stop the boats” rhetoric had inadvertently whipped up “emotionally” charged sentiment and had been hijacked by those “in support of more extreme views and activities”.It comes after rioters attacked mosques, ambushed riot police, set fire to a hotel housing migrants and torched a public library and Citizens Advice Bureau building in the aftermath of the fatal stabbing of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport at the end of July.There were multiple incidents of ethnic minorities being attacked on the streets. In the aftermath of the Southport stabbing, false information spread rapidly online claiming the suspect was a Muslim asylum seeker who came to the UK on a small boat crossing.Rishi Sunak made the ‘Stop the boats’ message a key part of his campaign to clamp down on migration 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 CorrespondentPresident Joe Biden and Sir Keir Starmer came together for talks in the White House on Friday night under growing pressure from both Ukraine and Russia over the potential use of long-range missiles in the war. The leaders met under the shadow of nuclear threats from Vladimir Putin and desperate demands from Volodymyr Zelensky, who wants to be allowed to use Storm Shadow weapons at targets in Russia. No final decision was made during the talks on the use of Storm Shadow missiles by Ukraine, according to Politico. After the meeting Sir Keir said the issue will be taken up again at the UN General Assembly at the end of this month. “We’ll obviously pick up again in UNGA in just a few days time with a wider group of individuals,” he said.But their talks were overshadowed by:Putin expelling six UK diplomats from Moscow, accusing them of spying.The Russian president also threatening that permission to use the missiles would mean Russia would be “at war with Nato”, while reminding Starmer and Biden that Russia is a nuclear power.Zelensky warning that delay is costing lives of Ukrainian citizens.Russia remained silent on international condemnation for targeting a Ukrainian cargo ship carrying wheat in the Black Sea.Experts warned against Starmer and Biden backing down to Russian aggressionSpeaking to journalists in the Blue Room in the White House during a break in their meeting a bad tempered Biden scolded Sky News for asking a question but in response to concerns about Putin’s nuclear threat, he said: “I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin.”The meeting had originally been set for two hours and reduced to 90 minutes before Starmer’s arrival and then curtailed further as the two leaders avoided making a final decision on the crucial issue of the Storm Shadow missiles.However, even as Mr Biden and Sir Keir prepared to meet, President Zelensky increased the pressure with a direct plea via X to the two leaders.Mr Zelensky also praised the past actions of Boris Johnson, who he met on Friday at a summit in Kyiv.Mr Zelensky said: “We are now in the third year of a full-scale war. After so much death, destruction, and countless Russian war crimes, Putin can still afford to destroy life in Ukraine as he pleases, buy and produce missiles, bombs and artillery, and issue ultimatums to the world. He expects the world to fall for his madness.Starmer and Lammy hold meetings in Washington DC 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 CorrespondentPresident Joe Biden and Sir Keir Starmer came together for talks in the White House on Friday night under growing pressure from both Ukraine and Russia over the potential use of long-range missiles in the war. The leaders met under the shadow of nuclear threats from Vladimir Putin and desperate demands from Volodymyr Zelensky, who wants to be allowed to use Storm Shadow weapons at targets in Russia. No final decision was made during the talks on the use of Storm Shadow missiles by Ukraine, according to Politico. After the meeting Sir Keir said the issue will be taken up again at the UN General Assembly at the end of this month. “We’ll obviously pick up again in UNGA in just a few days time with a wider group of individuals,” he said.But their talks were overshadowed by:Putin expelling six UK diplomats from Moscow, accusing them of spying.The Russian president also threatening that permission to use the missiles would mean Russia would be “at war with Nato”, while reminding Starmer and Biden that Russia is a nuclear power.Zelensky warning that delay is costing lives of Ukrainian citizens.Russia remained silent on international condemnation for targeting a Ukrainian cargo ship carrying wheat in the Black Sea.Experts warned against Starmer and Biden backing down to Russian aggressionSpeaking to journalists in the Blue Room in the White House during a break in their meeting a bad tempered Biden scolded Sky News for asking a question but in response to concerns about Putin’s nuclear threat, he said: “I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin.”The meeting had originally been set for two hours and reduced to 90 minutes before Starmer’s arrival and then curtailed further as the two leaders avoided making a final decision on the crucial issue of the Storm Shadow missiles.However, even as Mr Biden and Sir Keir prepared to meet, President Zelensky increased the pressure with a direct plea via X to the two leaders.Mr Zelensky also praised the past actions of Boris Johnson, who he met on Friday at a summit in Kyiv.Mr Zelensky said: “We are now in the third year of a full-scale war. After so much death, destruction, and countless Russian war crimes, Putin can still afford to destroy life in Ukraine as he pleases, buy and produce missiles, bombs and artillery, and issue ultimatums to the world. He expects the world to fall for his madness.Starmer and Lammy hold meetings in Washington DC More