Move follows run of downbeat economic data and looks to cushion UK from Trump’s trade war fallout
Bank of England policymakers have cut interest rates by a quarter point to 4.25% to cushion the UK economy against the impact of Donald Trump’s trade war.
The widely expected move from the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC), its fourth cut since last August, should lead to cheaper mortgages for homeowners.
Continue reading...Leaders to hold separate press conferences revealing first trade agreement by White House since global tariffs move
The UK and US are poised to announce a trade agreement, the first by the White House since Donald Trump announced his sweeping global tariffs.
Trump said it was “a very big and exciting day” for both countries before a press conference in the Oval Office on Thursday. Keir Starmer is planning to deliver his own press conference at around the same time.
Continue reading...Row over exemption of national insurance contributions for Indian short-term workers overshadows deal
A multibillion-pound free trade agreement with India has long been touted as a big Brexit boon.
Cheaper clothes and shoes for British shoppers, a huge market for scotch whisky producers and luxury carmakers, and billions of pounds worth of extra trade are among the benefits of the agreement, which was finalised this week.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Conservatives ask Keir Starmer to stand ‘against indefinite occupation’ and ‘reinforce international law’
More than a dozen senior Conservative MPs and peers have written to the prime minister calling for the UK to immediately recognise Palestine as a state, breaking ranks with their own party to do so.
Seven MPs and six members of the House of Lords have signed the letter to Keir Starmer urging him to defy the Israeli government and give formal recognition to Palestine in advance of key UN talks next month.
Continue reading...Deal could help UK industries hit by Trump tariffs, as ministers say it will add £4.8bn a year to economy by 2040
Britain and India have agreed a long-desired trade deal that ministers said would cut tariffs and add £4.8bn a year to the UK economy by 2040.
The agreement, which was finalised on Tuesday after more than three years of negotiations under successive governments, has long been touted as one of the biggest prizes of Brexit.
Continue reading...Polling finds two-thirds of voters would back a rethink on the policy and would not see it as a sign of weakness
Downing Street has been accused of being “completely tone deaf” over the damage wreaked by winter fuel cuts as new polling suggested two-thirds of voters would back a rethink on the policy.
Senior Labour ministers have privately warned the policy is an electoral disaster while Eluned Morgan, the Welsh first minister, said she was “losing patience” with UK Labour as she urged the government to think again.
Continue reading...James Timpson says he will fight ‘normalised’ sexual harassment, bullying and racism within prison service
Sexual harassment, racism and bullying have become “normalised” in jails and probation offices across England and Wales, the prisons minister has warned, as he announced a plan to overhaul a “toxic culture of cover-up” among senior staff.
James Timpson said one in eight of HM Prison and Probation Service’s (HMPPS) 65,000 staff say they have been bullied. Sexual assaults on female staff have led to arrests while black and Asian staff have faced repeated racist comments amid a “vacuum of pastoral care”.
Continue reading...Former Scottish first minister expresses concern about interim advice from EHRC
The lives of transgender people in the UK are at risk of being made “unliveable”, Nicola Sturgeon has said in her first public comments about the supreme court ruling on the legal definition of a woman, which was prompted by legislation she oversaw in the Scottish parliament.
The UK supreme court ruled that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act referred only to a biological woman and to biological sex. This was the conclusion of a long-running court action by the gender critical campaign group For Women Scotland, who objected to a law passed at Holyrood aimed at improving women’s representation on public boards being extended to transgender women.
Continue reading...India has made concessions in trade negotiations, leaving UK heralding deal as ‘most significant’ since Brexit
It is not exactly the deepest and most comprehensive trade deal the UK has ever entered, but the timing of the announcement that Keir Starmer has clinched a free trade deal with India could not be more fortunate.
Over the weekend, the US president, Donald Trump, hinted he was on the verge of announcing his first trade deal, prompting speculation it could be with Japan, South Korea or India.
Continue reading...Applicants will be targeted by Home Office due to suspicions they are most likely to overstay and claim asylum
Nigerians, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans applying to work or study in the UK face Home Office restrictions over suspicions that they are most likely to overstay and claim asylum, Whitehall officials have claimed.
The government is working with the National Crime Agency to build models to profile applicants from these countries who are likely to go on to claim asylum.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: Can a partial U-turn on the winter fuel allowance help the party set a new agenda – and keep support for Nigel Farage at bay?
Good morning. After Reform UK’s resounding success in last week’s local elections, Keir Starmer has faced relentless questions over how Labour will change tack to deal with the problem. Now, we may have the beginning of an answer.
On the front page of today’s Guardian, Pippa Crerar and Jessica Elgot report that Downing Street is seriously rethinking the cuts to the winter fuel payment – the policy that above all others summarised Starmer and Rachel Reeves’s shaky start to life in government. While a full reversal is not on the cards, No 10 sources say that the £11,500 threshold over which pensioners are no longer eligible for the allowance could be increased in the autumn.
Israel-Gaza war | Israel is to expand its military operations in Gaza in the coming weeks, with the aim of “conquering” and establishing a “sustained presence” in the Palestinian territory, Israeli officials have said.
Film | Donald Trump’s threat to impose 100% tariffs on movies made outside the US could wipe out the UK film industry, ministers have been warned, as they came under immediate pressure to prioritise the issue in trade talks with the White House.
Charities | Macmillan Cancer Support is to scrap its £14m-a-year specialist advice service, which helps tens of thousands of people every year, in what has been described as a betrayal of vulnerable patients. With the charity’s income falling behind its expenditure, it said that the service was no longer sustainable.
Wildfires | After the warmest start to May on record, a wildfire has destroyed about 5,000 hectares (12,500 acres) of moorland on Dartmoor in Devon. Emergency services were called to the blaze at about 2.25pm on Sunday, and firefighters spent almost 24 hours at the scene before it was extinguished on Monday.
VE Day | The UK marked the 80th anniversary of VE Day with military pomp before large crowds who had gathered in central London. The royal family and war veterans were among the attendees at a 1,300-strong military procession while street parties were held around the UK.
Continue reading...UK system makes it a ‘real outlier’ among liberal democracies, according to study examining 62 countries
The UK has one of the most difficult voter registration processes among liberal democracies, according to research that examined 62 countries.
Requirements to actively register to vote, meet strict deadlines before polling day and cast a ballot at specific polling stations make the UK a “real outlier internationally”, academics at the University of Manchester found.
Continue reading...Rachel Reeves concerned that lenders’ restrictions are holding back growth in the SME sector
Ministers will meet bank bosses on Tuesday to discuss how big lenders can support the government’s growth strategy as concerns mount inside Whitehall that small businesses are struggling to access the funds needed to make vital investments.
Senior executives from HSBC, NatWest and Lloyds are expected to explain how they will meet the government’s mission to increase lending after criticism from business groups about the lack of credit available after the pandemic.
Continue reading...Cross-party group’s report emphasises risk of failure after finding 3.5 million people not getting care they need
A cross-party group of MPs has warned attempts to reform adult social care are doomed to fail unless ministers accept major investment is needed to overhaul a “broken” system that was failing millions of people.
Reform of social care was typically seen by governments as a “burden” on the taxpayer, and a “drain on resources” rather than a positive boost to people’s lives, the NHS and the economy, said the health and social care select committee.
Continue reading...PM writes of ‘debt that can never be fully repaid’ in letter marking 80 years since end of second world war in Europe
Keir Starmer has praised the “selfless dedication” of those who have served in the military before the anniversary of VE Day as the government unveiled a new £50m support system for veterans.
In an open letter to mark 80 years since the end of the second world war in Europe, the prime minister said the sacrifice made by members of the armed forces was a debt that could “never fully be repaid”.
Continue reading...Echoing comments by Nigel Farage, Zia Yusuf says judicial reviews, injunctions and planning laws will be used
Reform UK has vowed to use “every instrument of power” to resist housing people seeking asylum in areas where it now controls councils, its chair has confirmed.
Zia Yusuf, the party chair and a major donor, acknowledged Reform may not be able to stop people seeking asylum being put up in hotels where the Home Office has contracts with accommodation providers.
Continue reading...Andrea Jenkyns says she wants a ‘lean, mean local government’ and says she is ‘up for a fight’ with unions
The Conservatives will come back from their poor results in the local elections but it will have to be a “slow and steady” effort, party leader Kemi Badenoch has said, PA reports.
She told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “I am sorry to all of those councillors who’ve lost their seat”.
Continue reading...Conservative leader’s remarks to BBC suggest she may develop policies that encourage women to have more children
People should be having more children rather than the UK relying on immigration to deal with an ageing population, Kemi Badenoch has suggested.
The Conservative leader said the UK needed to answer the question of how we “make sure we can deal with [an] ageing society, people not having enough children”.
Continue reading...The Reform UK leader has somehow dodged responsibility for the economic damage of Brexit and is winning over disaffected Labour voters
There was a time when any election campaign featuring the name Nigel Farage would have featured the word “Brexit” just as prominently.
And yet, almost a decade after Farage orchestrated Britain’s great EU schism, and with the Reform leader emerging as a bigger political threat than ever, at this week’s local elections Brexit was not a word on the lips of voters.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Ministers understood to be drafting white paper this month in move to reduce legal migration
Ministers will crack down on international students applying for asylum in the UK in a move designed to tackle migration figures, after a series of bruising losses to Reform in the local elections.
An immigration white paper setting out the proposed reforms in mid-May will include measures to bring down the numbers of UK student visa holders who make asylum claims, the Guardian understands.
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