Category Archives: Politics

Fears for health of Alaa Abd el-Fattah and mother as hunger strikes take toll

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Activist jailed in Egypt receives medical treatment and family worry his mother Laila Soueif is ‘dying in slow motion’

The family of the imprisoned British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah say they fear for his health along with that of his mother, Laila Soueif, as both continued their hunger strikes to demand his freedom.

Relatives of Soueif said they were worried she was “dying in slow motion” after eight months on full or partial hunger strike. “What are we supposed to do, just sit around and wait to die?” said Soueif.

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UK offers EU strategic partnership to boost trade and security

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Officials draft declaration to help tackle ‘fluctuations’ in world economy

The UK is offering the EU a “new strategic partnership” aimed at bolstering trade and presenting a united European front when Donald Trump is threatening to upend decades of transatlantic alignment.

A draft declaration being drawn up by London and Brussels ahead of a UK-EU summit on 19 May points to a “common understanding” on a number of shared interests.

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Starmer claims voters being ‘conned’ by Tories and Reform UK as parties are planning a coalition – as it happened

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PM says supporters of both groups are being misled and a tie-up would be a ‘disaster’ for Britain. This live blog is closed

Downing Street has described the alleged comments by the band Kneecap in the ‘kill MP’ footage (see 12.10pm) as “completely unacceptable”.

At the morning lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson described the comments as “completely unacceptable”.

We do not think individuals expressing those views should be receiving government funding.

That’s up to the group, but clearly the PM rejects the views expressed … does not shy away from condemning them.

I don’t want to see strike action, I don’t think anybody wants to see strike action.

And certainly here we are in a healthcare environment with all the staff working really hard. The last thing they want to do is to go into dispute again.

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African diplomats urge UK government to back bill to speed up debt restructurings

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Exclusive: Countries are struggling to manage expensive loans, with much of debt transacted through London

Diplomats from eight southern and east African countries have signed a letter calling on the UK government to support a private member’s bill that aims to speed up debt restructurings, after economic crises meant countries were unable to pay back loans.

Poor countries’ economies have been hit by a series of global events in recent years, including the coronavirus pandemic, which reduced growth; the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which sent inflation soaring; and raised US interest rates, which have pushed up the cost of international loans to often unaffordable levels.

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Reform UK challenged to give details on donations after £2m mailshot campaign

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Exclusive: Liberal Democrats say voters need to know sources of funding for Nigel Farage’s party before local elections

The Liberal Democrats have publicly challenged Nigel Farage to give details of his party’s donations after calculating that Reform UK spent more than £2m on personalised letters to postal voters before the local elections.

In a letter to Farage, Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem deputy leader, said people needed to know the source of the money before Thursday’s elections, given that Reform received only £281,000 in donations in the last set of publicly available figures, for the final quarter of 2024.

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Shabana Mahmood warned of risk to pregnant women in halting Sentencing Council guidelines

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Exclusive: Stopping pre-sentencing reports could put more pregnant people behind bars, groups tell justice minister

Shabana Mahmood risks putting more pregnant women behind bars through her bill to prevent new guidelines which highlighted the need for pre-sentencing reports based on “different personal characteristics” including age, sex and ethnicity, charities have warned.

The justice secretary introduced the bill as emergency legislation after the Sentencing Council’s guidelines provoked claims of a “two-tier” justice system, with Mahmood saying she “would not stand for differential treatment before the law like this”. The council suspended the guidance hours before it was due to take effect in response to the backlash.

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‘Tories are not listening’: Ed Davey sure Lib Dems can woo more disgruntled voters

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Leader hopes local elections in many traditionally Conservative areas will help party build on recent success

Days before the local elections, with Kemi Badenoch demanding apologies over gender identity and Nigel Farage complaining about mental illness diagnoses, Ed Davey was quietly getting on with what he perhaps does best: having fun.

In a converted shed near Stratford-upon-Avon, the Liberal Democrat leader was joking with photographers as he made chocolate truffles alongside Manuela Perteghella, his party’s MP for the formerly true-blue constituency.

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For political parties judging this year’s local election results it’s all about the baseline

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The polls will be first electoral test for Labour government, while Reform is standing candidates in almost every contest

It’s all about the bass – well at least the baseline. With all political parties likely to win in some places it can be hard to judge what a good night looks like for any party when it comes to local elections.

One way to judge this is to compare with how parties did the last time these contests took place: the baseline. For the seats up for election next week that was 2021 – though many of the places that voted then will not be doing so in 2025. Those elections included places where elections were held over from 2020 because of Covid restrictions; these seats returned to their normal schedule last year.

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For political parties judging this year’s local election results it’s all about the baseline

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The polls will be first electoral test for Labour government, while Reform is standing candidates in almost every contest

It’s all about the bass – well at least the baseline. With all political parties likely to win in some places it can be hard to judge what a good night looks like for any party when it comes to local elections.

One way to judge this is to compare with how parties did the last time these contests took place: the baseline. For the seats up for election next week that was 2021 – though many of the places that voted then will not be doing so in 2025. Those elections included places where elections were held over from 2020 because of Covid restrictions; these seats returned to their normal schedule last year.

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Six things we learned about the future of energy security at UK summit

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Critical minerals, nuclear power and the ‘weaponisation’ of energy supplies were discussed at international conference

The UK and the International Energy Agency gathered ministers and high-level officials from 60 countries to Lancaster House in London for two days of talks on the future of energy security this week. The EU was out in force, the US sent a top official, but China stayed away. Here’s what we learned.

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Tories urged not to ‘panic’ into uniting with Reform or removing Badenoch

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Former ministers warn that leader must not be ‘pushed off course’ as Conservatives expect disastrous local elections

Senior Conservatives have warned colleagues against “bloody panic”, urging them not to consider doing deals with Reform or removing Kemi Badenoch as leader, as the party braces for a disastrous set of local election results.

Two former cabinet ministers warned against changing direction regardless of the result next Friday, with Andrew Mitchell saying “talk of deals with Reform is misplaced” and John Glen arguing Badenoch must not be “pushed off course”.

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UK politics: Reform UK on course to win in two mayoral contests – as it happened

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Polling predicts victory for party in Greater Lincolnshire and Hull/East Yorkshire with the Greens possibly taking West of England

There are six mayoral elections next week. Two of them are for single-authority mayors (Doncaster and North Tyneside), but the others are for combined-authority mayors (or regional mayors – like metro mayors, but not just covering city regions). Today YouGov has released polling covering all four of these contests and it suggests Reform UK is on course to win two of them easily. And the Green party is narrowly ahead in a third, the poll suggests.

Here are the polling figures.

In theory the Tories should be winning in Lincolnshire as they hold most of the parliamentary seats in the area and have dominated local politics forever. But it’s also the most Reform-friendly part of the country. It contains Richard Tice’s constituency and numerous seats in which they came second. Plus their candidate is a former Tory MP – Andrea Jenkyns, famous for her Boris Johnson obsession and making a middle finger gesture at a crowd outside Downing Street. She is, by all accounts, quite a few sandwiches short of a picnic but, nevertheless, is strong favourite to win. Large chunks of local Conservative parties, including several councillors, have already defected.

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English schools left to subsidise infants’ free meals after 3p funding increase, say leaders

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Department for Education criticised over funding rise from £2.58 to £2.61 per child per meal in September

Primary schools in England will be forced to subsidise free school meals for infants from their own budgets after the government’s “pitiful” 3p increase in funding, according to school leaders.

The Department for Education announced that its funding for universal infant free school meals would rise from £2.58 to £2.61 per child in September, with the 3p rise well below expected inflation and wage increases facing schools.

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Wales and north of England face disability cuts ‘double whammy’

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Policy in Practice analysis shows twice as many people affected in north-east, north-west and Wales than in London and south-east

A £5bn programme of disability benefits cuts planned by the UK government will disproportionately hit people living in Wales and northern England “entrenching deprivation”, according to new analysis.

The consultancy Policy in Practice has looked at how the proposed changes would affect individual regions and local authorities, and found the impact across the UK starkly uneven.

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Farage claims doctors ‘massively over-diagnosing’ children with Send and mental health conditions – UK politics live

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Reform UK leader claims he is ‘not being heartless, I’m being frank’ as he states rising number of diagnoses is a ‘massive problem’

John Swinney, the first minister of Scotland, is attending the funeral of the Pope on Saturday, the Scottish government has announced. In a statement Swinney said:

His Holiness Pope Francis was a voice for peace, tolerance and reconciliation who had a natural ability to connect with people of all ages, nationalities and beliefs.

On behalf of the people of Scotland, I am deeply honoured to attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome to express my sorrow, thanks and deep respect for the compassion, assurance and hope that he brought to so many.

Eating the Tories for breakfast. @Keir_Starmer

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Labour MPs urge Starmer to back youth mobility scheme amid EU trade reset

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More than 60 MPs sign letter calling for time-limited visas for 18- to 30-year-olds to travel freely

Keir Starmer is under pressure from more than 60 Labour MPs to allow thousands of young Europeans to live and work in the UK, a move seen as key to unlocking a more ambitious trade reset with Brussels.

The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said discussions on a potential scheme were ongoing, in the clearest hint yet that the government is preparing to do a deal.

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Keir Starmer’s realignment with Europe will be a low-key one

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The aim in No 10 is to Make Brussels Boring Again and never say the words ‘single market’ or ‘freedom of movement’

Talk of veterinary agreements, “Canada-plus” and rules of origin are likely to give even the most hardened Westminster veteran terrifying flashbacks. There was once a time when a word from Tory Eurosceptic Bill Cash on dynamic alignment could splash national newspapers.

Now the more common reaction to those terms is a barely stifled yawn. And that is exactly how No 10 would like it to stay.

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MPs should not do media work that ‘monetises’ their role, says government

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Labour sets out preferences as Commons standards committee looks at tightening rules on second jobs

The government has backed proposals to stop MPs taking second jobs they have been offered because of their role in parliament, and expressed concern that some paid media roles allow them to “monetise” their privileged positions.

It set out its detailed thinking on how the rules could be tightened on MPs’ outside interests in evidence to the House of Commons standards committee.

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Badenoch declines to criticise Jenrick over Reform coalition comments – as it happened

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Spokesperson for Tory leader says she agrees with colleague that ‘we need to bring centre-right voters together’. This blog is closed

Rosie Duffield, the independent MP who left Labour after the election in part because she felt her gender critical views made her unwelcome in the party (although her resignation letter focused on welfare issues), has claimed that Keir Starmer no longer arguing a trans woman is a woman shows he is a “manager rather than a leader”.

Speaking on LBC, Duffield said:

It’s just another sign of the prime minister’s lack of leadership skills. I’m bound to say that, he’s a manager rather than a leader. He responds and reacts rather than leads from the front, and this is what we’re seeing again from him.

Nigel Farage is peddling a dangerous fantasy by claiming the UK can be self-sufficient in gas.

After sixty years of drilling, the truth is the UK has already burned most of its gas. That’s down to geology, not politics, and no amount of hot air from Farage will change that.

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Welsh Tory to quit at next Senedd poll to fight general election betting charges

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Russell George, who is among 15 people under investigation, says he wants to focus on clearing his name

A Welsh politician who is among 15 people charged after bets were placed on the timing of the 2024 general election is to quit at the next Senedd election.

Russell George, the Conservative member for Montgomeryshire, said he was withdrawing his candidacy to stand in next year’s election to focus on clearing his name.

The Senedd member was one of a number of people linked to the Conservative party reported to have made bets on the election date, which was called by then-prime minister Rishi Sunak.

Senedd Conservative leader Darren Millar withdrew the whip from George last week after the Gambling Commission announced the charges, meaning he now sits as an independent within the Welsh parliament.

George, 50, said in a statement on Tuesday: “I was shocked and surprised to have been informed by the Gambling Commission that I am facing charges for cheating.

“To be clear, I have never cheated. However, given the Gambling Commission’s decision, and my understanding of what will follow, this is likely to be a lengthy process that may not be resolved by May 2026.

“In the circumstances, I feel I have no alternative but to withdraw my candidacy for next year’s Senedd elections so that I can focus on fighting to clear my name.

“I will of course continue to serve the people of Montgomeryshire to the very best of my ability.

“I am grateful for the many messages of support that I have received in recent days, particularly from constituents.”

Among others facing charges are: Craig Williams, the former MP for Montgomeryshire; Nick Mason, a former chief data officer for the party; Laura Saunders, the Conservative candidate for Bristol North West last July; and Tony Lee, the Conservatives’ campaigns director, who is married to Saunders.

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