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 CorrespondentSir Keir Starmer has refused three times to say whether he will publish an impact assessment of his decision to withdraw winter fuel payments from millions of pensioners.It came as the prime minister also failed to give a guarantee on continued support for pensioner discounts for council tax, telling MPs they will have to wait for the Budget on 30 October. During PMQs he refused to guarantee bus passes and discretionary travel would be protected but a spokesperson later confirmed they are safe.Sir Keir came under pressure at PMQs over his decision to means test the payment, worth up to £300, removing it from all but the poorest pensioners.Ahead of a crunch vote on the decision, The Independent revealed that the government has assessed how many additional pensioners will be driven into fuel poverty by the move. But ministers have so far refused to publish the assessment, promising only that it will be made public “in due course”.Labour has so far failed to publish an impact assessment on the fuel cuts 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 CorrespondentRachel Reeves has been warned that expected tax rises in October’s Budget could damage growth, after suprise new figures showed the economy flatlining. Economists said there could be further misery ahead as a result of the chancellor’s decisions and higher energy bills this winter. In May, the chief economist at the Office for National Statistics described the economy as “going gangbusters”. But the latest figures unexpectedly showed growth has stalled for the second month in a row.Rachel Reeves warned change will not happen ‘overnight’ (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 CorrespondentLandlords have warned they may raise rents as a result of Labour’s Renters’ Rights Bill, which is aimed at giving tenants more power when renting.The proposals could include legislation to allow tenants to walk away from deals just two months after moving in, as well as introducing a ban on so-called no-fault evictions in the coming week.Previously, tenants generally had to wait for six months before they could leave a rental agreement. The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), which represents over 110,000 landlords, warned that, if the policy is introduced, it could lead to an increase in rent prices particularly in city centres and tourist hotspots.It said its members are considering adjusting prices to mitigate the risk to incomes posed by added flexibility for renters.Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said renters have been let down for ‘too long’ (Chris Furlong/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 Correspondent A new foreign minister was named in Sweden on Tuesday, nearly a week after the post was vacated in a surprise resignation.The move to appoint Maria Malmer Stenegard, 43, came after Tobias Billström said on Sept. 4 that he was leaving the government in a shock departure. Malmer Stenegard had previously been migration minister.Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also made other changes to his center-right government as part of a Cabinet shakeup.Johan Forssell, who was development minister, takes up the migration portfolio vacated by Malmer Stenegard. Benjamin Dousa replaces Forssell as development minister.The Swedish government leader also tapped Jessica Rosencrantz as the new European Union affairs minister. She replaces Jessika Roswall, who was nominated as Sweden’s new EU commissioner in July.All are members of Kristersson’s conservative Moderates party. Finally, two Liberal ministers swapped roles: Johan Pehrson became education and research minister, while Mats Persson became minister for employment and integration. In October 2022, Kristersson formed a center-right, minority Cabinet with his own Moderates, the Liberals and the Christian Democrats. It was relying on Sweden Democrats, the populist party with far-right roots that supports the government but isn’t a part of it.Kristersson’s announcement was made as Swedish lawmakers returned to the Riksdagen, Sweden’s 349-seat parliament, after the summer recess.Billström, who steered the Scandinavian country along a sometimes bumpy road to NATO membership and is a strong supporter of Ukraine, said that he was resigning and that he hadn’t decided what to do in the future. 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 CorrespondentLabour will give renters the right to have pets and end no-fault evictions as it revives a package of rental reforms abandoned by the Tories.In a major overhaul of renters rights to be introduced to Parliament on Wednesday, the government has vowed to “clean up the mess” in the rental market left behind by the Conservatives.Sir Keir Starmer’s party will abolish Section 21 so-called no-fault evictions, under which tenants can be removed from rented housing when a fixed-term tenancy ends or during a rolling tenancy.Angela Rayner said renters have been let down for too long as the government published plans to ban no-fault evictions 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 won his first major political test as prime minister, seeing off a major rebellion over his government’s plans to cut winter fuel payments to 10 million pensioners.On a day when the prime minister defended making tough decisions and rejected the “snake oil of easy answers” in his speech to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Brighton, he stared down a threat of mutiny from his own backbenchers.Despite criticism at the TUC of his “austerity” policies, Sir Keir said he made no apologies for doing what was needed to fix the country.Just one Labour MP voted against the cut, while another 53 abstained. However, only 12 of those did not have permission to be away from parliament on other business.Keir Starmer faced the biggest rebellion of his time as prime minister 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 CorrespondentUS secretary of state Antony Blinken gave the strongest indication yet that the Labour government’s attempts to heal the relationship with the EU in the wake of Brexit have significantly improved relations between Washington and London.With Sir Keir Starmer set to fly to Washington DC this week to meet up with US president Joe Biden, there had been concerns that the so-called “special relationship” may have been cooled by David Lammy’s announcement that he was suspending 30 arms export licences to Israel.However, the two men insisted that they are working hand in hand, and united to condemn Iran after it was revealed that the country has been sending ballistic missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine. Sources have suggested that Tehran is receiving nuclear technology in exchange. Mr Blinken said that the US would be imposing further sanctions on Iran, and it is understood that the UK will follow suit.US secretary of state Antony Blinken, left, and British foreign secretary David Lammy were speaking at a joint press conference in London More