Former cabinet minister’s move on eve of Reform conference is further boost for party that took almost £1m in donations from ex-Tory donors
Nadine Dorries has defected to Reform on the eve of its conference, saying the Conservative party “is dead”.
The former Tory cabinet minister, a close ally of Boris Johnson when he was prime minister, served as culture secretary until 2022 before resigning a year later when blocked from getting a peerage.
Continue reading...Chancellor offers unequivocal backing to colleague following stamp duty error
Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, was also asked in her Sky News interview if the Rayner controversy showed that the stamp duty regime was “way too complicated”. Reeves sidestepped the question, saying:
Well, look, Angela tried to do the right thing, and of course it is incumbent on all of us to try to properly understand the rules, and she is now working to make sure that the correct tax is paid.
Well, the definitive advice came in on Wednesday morning, and that’s when Angela put out the statement.
On Tuesday as well some court injunctions were lifted related to her disabled son and those circumstances, and that’s why Angela was able to make a full statement on Wednesday.
Continue reading...As ITV’s Long Lost Family airs, campaigners say retaining archives is crucial for those separated by forced adoptions at unmarried mothers’ homes
Ministers have been urged to digitise records essential to reuniting families separated by the UK’s unmarried mothers’ home scandal by campaigners who fear they could be lost in Angela Rayner’s local government reorganisation project.
Hundreds of thousands of British women were coerced to give up babies at church-linked homes, which worked alongside statutory agencies, between the 1940s and 1980s.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Cross-party Poverty Strategy Commission says abolishing limit would be part of its ‘once in a generation’ plan
A cross-party commission including former welfare ministers is urging the government to scrap the two-child benefit limit as part of an ambitious “once in a generation” plan to lift millions of people out of poverty.
The Poverty Strategy Commission said billions of pounds of investment – including a boost to the rate of universal credit – was needed to reverse record levels of poverty in the UK, and tackle longstanding failures over rising hardship and destitution.
Continue reading...Devolved government says contractors seeking support must prove products will not be used by Israeli military
The Scottish government has banned arms companies which supply the IDF from getting grants and investment support, and will freeze support for trade with Israel.
John Swinney, the first minister, said on Wednesday any defence contractors who wanted financial help in Scotland would have to prove their products would not be used by the Israel Defense Forces.
Continue reading...Jamie Raskin says Farage is ‘a Trump sycophant’ before UK politician addresses the House judiciary committee in Washington
Kemi Badenoch is probably hastily redrafting her PMQs script in the light of Angela Rayner’s statement about underpaying her stamp duty. She has got less than half an hour to craft the right questions. And she will probably want to ask about the economy, and hate speech laws, too.
Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.
Continue reading...Prime minister has a track record of firing errant ministers – but will her power within the party protect his beleaguered deputy?
Keir Starmer has a hard-won reputation for ruthlessness when it comes to dispensing with ministers who cause the government embarrassment. But the future of his deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, is the toughest call of its kind.
Every time Starmer has been confronted with this kind of decision since the very early days of his leadership, his instinct has been to cut loose.
Continue reading...Watchdog’s report says government is unable to calculate exact cost of response to data breach, raising doubt over £850m estimate
More than 7,300 Afghans are expected to be resettled in the UK as a result of a major government data breach, according to a National Audit Office report that raises doubts over officials’ claims of a £850m cost.
The accidental leak by an MoD official in 2022 of 18,700 Afghans’ details who had worked with or for the British government led to the opening of a new route by which those endangered could seek relocation to the UK from their home country.
Continue reading...Government to ban sale of energy drinks with more than 150mg of caffeine, citing concerns over obesity and lack of concentration
Under-16s in England will be banned from buying energy drinks such as Red Bull and Monster because they fuel obesity, cause sleep problems and leave them unable to concentrate.
Health experts, teaching unions and dentists welcomed the ban and said it would boost children and young people’s health. It fulfils a pledge Labour included in its manifesto for last year’s general election.
Continue reading...Yvette Cooper has announced several tough policies after a summer dominated by Farage and Reform UK
After a summer recess dominated by headlines about Reform UK’s hardline immigration proposals and protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers, the home secretary returned to parliament seeking to wrest back control of the narrative.
Yvette Cooper has announced a flurry of tough asylum measures including suspending refugee family reunion applications, and even floated the idea that refugees could be moved out of hotels and into warehouses instead.
Continue reading...Chancellor will face more limited fiscal headroom at budget after yield on 30-year bond increases to 5.723%
Britain’s long-term borrowing costs have hit their highest level in 27 years, intensifying the pressure on the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, before the autumn budget.
The yield, or interest rate, on 30-year UK government debt hit 5.723% on Tuesday. That is its highest level since 1998, indicating that it will cost the UK more to borrow from the markets, above the previous 27-year high of 5.649% set in April.
Continue reading...Home secretary earlier suggested warehouses could be used instead of hotels, while PM will urge ministers to go ‘further and faster’ on immigration in Tuesday meeting
Lamb says the Greens are “the antidote to Reform”.
That gets a big round of applause.
We’re a home for all those people across the country holding their heads in their hands as the Labour government lets them down again and again and again, whether it is switching from the aid budget or from people with disabilities and not bringing in taxes … we need.
And that is why, in reaction, a new Green wave is sweeping the country as people turn to us.
It’s already become a bit of a cliche, but we are really moving into a multi-party system, with the Greens poised to help create the next government.
And, like all the best cliches, it has the distinct advantage of also being for true.
Continue reading...Yvette Cooper says rules were designed years ago to help families separated by war but are being used in a different way now
And while we are talking about Blair-era Labour aides, Peter Hyman, who wrote speeches for Tony Blair and later worked for Keir Starmer in the run-up to the general election, has launched a new Substack blog. It is called Changing the Story, which tells you quite a lot about what he thinks is going wrong with No 10. Here is an extract from his first post.
Starmer is an ‘opportunity’ prime minister forced to become a ‘security’ one. And that’s why the government’s narrative is seen by some to be elusive.
Let me explain.
I remember well Tim Allan’s leaving drinks at Number 10 in the earlyish Blair era. In his fulsome farewell speech Tony Blair noted only half jokingly “Tim’s even more right wing than me..”
The same Tim Allan who as head of Portland had a contract to polish Vladimir Putin’s reputation?
Continue reading...About 74,150 patients waited at least 12 hours on trolleys in June and July, a situation almost nonexistent 10 years ago
Corridor care in the NHS is now a year-round crisis, experts have warned, as analysis showed nearly 3 million patients attended A&E over the first two months of the summer.
The latest NHS figures in England, analysed by the Liberal Democrats, show that since 2015 the number of people going to A&E in June and July has increased 15% to 2.9 million – the highest level recorded over the past decade.
Continue reading...East Midlands passengers to test digital tickets that will automatically charge best fares at end of day
Train passengers in the East Midlands are to test technology that will let them tap in and out for journeys and be charged the best fare for their trip at the end of the day.
Trials of digital rail tickets based on GPS tracking will begin on Monday as part of the government’s plan to improve the rail network’s complex fare system.
Continue reading...Education secretary targets 800 schools as she attempts to turn around post-Covid trends with enhanced support
Parents and caregivers “need to do more” to reverse post-Covid trends of poor attendance and behaviour in schools, the education secretary has said, announcing new measures to support schools in England before the start of the new school year.
Bridget Phillipson unveiled a UK government programme on Sunday targeting 800 schools attended by about 600,000 pupils, beginning with an initial wave of 21 schools that will serve as attendance and behaviour hubs.
Continue reading...The £18m deal to acquire Challenge Recruitment Group assets from administration repaid private funders in full
The UK exchequer is chasing about £90m in unpaid taxes after a temporary staffing business was rescued from insolvency proceedings in an £18m deal that reimbursed private funders in full.
The main assets of Challenge Recruitment Group, which counted Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Co-op among its top customers, were acquired from administration in July by the US website swipejobs, in what appears to be the second time the British staffing business has emerged from insolvency while owing tens of millions of pounds to the exchequer.
Continue reading...Conservative leader says it is ‘absurd’ to shift away from fossil fuels and leave ‘vital resources untapped’
The Conservative party will aim to “maximise extraction” of oil and gas in the North Sea if it wins power, Kemi Badenoch is expected to announce.
Badenoch will use a speech in Aberdeen in the coming days to set out her plans to extract as much oil and gas as possible instead of shifting away from fossil fuels, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
Continue reading...Purchase of snowmobiles, timeshares and furs prohibited, despite asylum seekers receiving only £9.95 a week
Are you an asylum seeker and are you considering buying an armoured car, a snowmobile or a timeshare using your Home Office pre-paid cash card? If so, think again, for these are just some of the luxuries on a list of banned items and activities drawn up by the government.
Quite how asylum seekers living in hotels who are banned from working but are provided with meals and receive £9.95 a week are expected to afford any luxuries is unclear. Similarly, those in self-catering accommodation who receive £49.18 a week may find it tricky to foot the bill for flowers (also on the list).
Continue reading...Ruling has bought government time to plan closures but Farage and Tories have more fuel for their grievances
Protesters were already gathering outside the Bell hotel by Friday evening with union flags and St George’s flags waving. This court ruling was never going to end as a quiet legal moment.
For the Home Office, the court of appeal’s decision was a practical win. If the ruling had gone the other way, the government would have been forced to rehouse 138 asylum seekers in a matter of days, opening the floodgates to similar legal challenges from other councils. Since there is scant alternative accommodation available, this ruling buys the government time.
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