Politics

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced mandatory housing targets and an end to the onshore wind ban to get “Britain building again”. The UK’s first ever female chancellor said Labour will create a new taskforce “to accelerate stalled housing sites in our country”. She promised her government would build 1.5 million homes over the next five

Inspectors have described the “worst conditions they have ever seen in immigration detention” inside a centre near Heathrow in west London. Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor was so concerned by what he found during the visit in February that he wrote to then Home Secretary James Cleverly but received no reply. The visit to

The new Labour cabinet has a record number of state-educated ministers.  Out of 25 cabinet members, just one went to private school and one to grammar, with the remainder – 92% – attending comprehensive school, according to analysis by The Sutton Trust. By comparison, in the cabinets of Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss just 19%

The Conservative Party has announced a reshuffle, as former ministers and returning MPs make the transition into becoming the shadow cabinet. Lord Cameron has resigned from Rishi Sunak’s frontbench, having been foreign secretary before Labour’s victory in Thursday’s election, and has now been replaced in the shadow role by his deputy Andrew Mitchell. Also, despite

Sir Keir Starmer has said his government will have a “different way of doing politics” as he toured the UK’s nations in his first week as prime minister. The UK’s new leader said it is “very important” for him to “reset relations” with Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. He kicked off his tour of the

Just days into his premiership, Sir Keir Starmer is heading to the US for a meeting with NATO leaders. We take a look at why he is taking the trip and what might happen when he is there. Why is the prime minister going to Washington? NATO – or the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation –

Has Nigel Farage made his first blunder of the election campaign? His incendiary claim that the West provoked the war in Ukraine will be offensive to many people. It may make some of those Conservative supporters considering switching to Reform UK on 4 July think again. And a clarification in a late-night tweet appearing to

Nigel Farage has reiterated that he blames the West and NATO for the Russian invasion of Ukraine – as he confirmed that he previously said he “admired” Vladimir Putin as a statesman. Speaking to the BBC, the Reform UK leader was asked about his previous comments on Russia and Ukraine. Asked about Russia’s 2022 invasion,

Sir Keir Starmer took a break from the campaign trail to watch Taylor Swift perform at Wembley Stadium. The Labour leader made a “swift” pitstop for the first night of the London leg of the American pop star’s record-breaking Eras tour. Election latest: Farage criticised for ‘disgraceful’ comments on Ukraine war Swift is performing three

Sir Keir Starmer said he always suspected Boris Johnson’s relationship with the truth “would bring him down”- as he revealed how he “set a trap” for the ex-prime minister over the partygate scandal. In an interview with The Guardian, the Labour leader said he “couldn’t care less” about the insults Mr Johnson hurled at him

Sir Keir Starmer has defended Labour’s record on gender equality after JK Rowling accused the party of “abandoning women”. The Downing Street hopeful said he was “proud” of his party’s history on the subject after the Harry Potter author wrote a 2,000 word essay in The Times criticising his views. Ms Rowling has been outspoken

Rishi Sunak has said Nigel Farage’s comments about the West provoking Vladimir Putin were “completely wrong” and play into the Russian dictator’s hands. The Reform UK leader is facing a backlash from across the political spectrum for saying that the expansion of NATO and the EU “provoked” Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Follow the latest updates

The general election may be “the last chance” to fix the UK’s “broken renting system”, housing organisations have warned as they called on party leaders to come up with bolder solutions to the crisis. In an open letter to Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer, groups representing tenants said thousands more people “face homelessness, poverty

Rishi Sunak’s “soaring” personal wealth has come under fresh attack ahead of crucial inflation figures coming out tomorrow. In what will be a key moment in the election campaign, the rate of inflation is expected to ease back to the Bank of England’s target of 2% for the first time since spring 2021. Election latest:

A billionaire donor who backed Boris Johnson at the last election said he will be voting for Labour next month because the Tories’ record has left him in “despair”. Jon Caudwell, who founded Phones4U, gave half a million pounds to the Conservatives in 2019 to avoid what he called “the disaster that would have been

Sir Ed Davey has said legal migration is “too high” but refuses to accept his own policies would exacerbate the issue. In an interview with Sky’s Sophy Ridge, the Liberal Democrat leader said rising immigration is “a massive broken promise” by the Conservatives and “one of the reasons why we’re seeing such disillusionment in politics”.

A Labour Party candidate has been suspended following reports he shared “pro-Russian” posts online. Andy Brown has been dropped as Labour’s candidate for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East after sharing posts denying Russia’s involvement in the Salisbury poisonings. He shared a link in 2018 to an article on the state-run RT website (formerly Russia Today)