High-profile politician reported to have collapsed after delivering speech in North Macedonia on Saturday
Alex Salmond, the former first minister of Scotland who led Scotland to the brink of independence, has died at the age of 69.
Salmond served as first minister of Scotland from 2007. He stood down from the role after failing to secure independence in the 2014 referendum, handing over to his deputy, Nicola Sturgeon.
Continue reading...Dismayed senior Tories predict second contest for head of party will be needed amid chaos after centrist’s shock ejection from race
• Paul Goodman: No matter who Tory members choose, the party has a mountain to climb in 2029
James Cleverly launched a last-minute and doomed attempt to stop supportive MPs from trying to manipulate the Tory leadership contest in his favour, after fearing the tactics could accidentally knock him out of the race.
The shadow home secretary’s narrow departure from the contest last week came as a huge shock across the party, coming just a day after he had topped a poll of MPs. As the one remaining centrist candidate, he seemed certain to pick up votes from supporters of one nation Conservative Tom Tugendhat, who had just been knocked out.
Continue reading...Party donor Dale Vince warns that urging homeowners to switch to clean-power technology risks political storm bigger than Ulez
The government risks a huge political backlash if it keeps pushing the public to install heat pumps to replace their boilers, one of Britain’s leading green entrepreneurs has warned.
Dale Vince, a major Labour donor and renewable energy advocate, called on Keir Starmer to rethink national programmes, championed by Boris Johnson, pushing the technology. Vince argued that Whitehall should explore alternatives to the devices, which he said were expensive, caused serious disruption and could end up increasing energy bills for some people.
Continue reading...Migrant workers accuse Home Office of targeting the victims of labour exploitation rather than companies profiting from them
Migrant workers living in a caravan encampment raided by immigration enforcement officers have accused the Home Office of targeting the victims of labour exploitation rather than companies profiting from the hidden economy.
The Observer reported in August that about 30 mainly Brazilian delivery riders working for large companies such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats were living in dilapidated caravans in the centre of Bristol. Many claimed they were, in effect, earning below the minimum wage and could not afford to rent in the city.
Continue reading...With the budget and Starmer’s investment summit approaching, the industry’s lobbyists are in full cry over ‘carried interest’
When the future deputy prime minister Angela Rayner walked the floor of a bespoke kitchen outfitter’s warehouse in October 2022, she was doing more than gladhanding local workers in her Greater Manchester constituency.
The real reason Rayner had been invited to tour Goyt Kitchen Fabrications in Ashton-under-Lyne was not to see how the firm had fared through the Covid pandemic, but to be sold the benefits of private equity. Goyt’s bosses had taken a £200,000 investment from Welsh-government-backed FW Capital.
Continue reading...Thousands could lose up to £4,900 a year if the plan is retained in the forthcoming budget
Rachel Reeves is coming under intense pressure to use the budget to abandon a £1.3bn cut to benefits for people with disabilities, first announced by the Tory government, amid warnings it will lead to hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable people losing almost £5,000 a year.
The leading independent thinktank, the Resolution Foundation, has called on the chancellor to drop or delay changes to the work capability assessment (WCA), arguing that key aspects of the policy have not been thought through, and that around 420,000 people who are unable to work through disability or ill-health could lose up to £4,900 a year.
Continue reading...With the amount spent on refugees and asylum seekers this year on course to hit £3.6bn, the sum available for international projects must be cut again, warns thinktank
Ministers have been warned that £900m will have to be raided from UK overseas aid projects to meet the costs of supporting asylum seekers in Britain this year.
Projections seen by the Observer show that the amount of overseas aid set to be spent in the UK on refugees and asylum seekers this year is still on course to reach £3.6bn, despite a big fall in the costs of housing people from Ukraine.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Request to postpone Tsai Ing-wen’s trip came before ‘goodwill visit’ to China by David Lammy next week
The UK Foreign Office (FCDO) asked for a visit by the former Taiwanese president to be postponed so as not to anger China ahead of a trip by David Lammy, the Guardian has learned.
Lammy is due to travel to China next week for high-level meetings in his first trip to the country as foreign secretary.
Continue reading...Group says government policy would force many to close and leave deeply religious families with no alternatives
Independent faith schools have held talks with ministers over a proposal to exempt small private establishments from VAT if their fees are far below those charged by elite schools such as Eton.
The group, representing more than 270 Jewish, Muslim and Christian independent faith schools that often rely on donations and volunteers to survive, say the government’s policy of adding 20% VAT to fees from this January would force many to close and leave deeply religious families with no alternatives.
Continue reading...Tory leadership also suggests it was a mistake for him to order murals at a children’s asylum centre to be painted over
Keir Starmer was “appalled” by reports that Israel deliberately fired on peacekeepers in Lebanon, Downing Street said this morning.
Asked about the prime minister’s reaction to the story, a Downing Street spokesperson said:
We were appalled to hear those reports and it is vital that peacekeepers and civilians are protected.
As you know, we continue to call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to suffering and bloodshed. This is a reminder of the importance of us all renewing our diplomatic efforts.
All parties must always do everything possible to protect civilians and comply with international law. But we continue to reiterate that and call for an immediate ceasefire.
The very hard Brexit forced through by Boris Johnson means that we are for now driving with the economic handbrake on – we can’t let that handbrake off. It is what is, It is difficult to see this being reversed within the next decade.
The truth is it could be a conversation that starts in 10 years’ time. It could be longer, but the beginning of a conversation is not the end of that; it’s not the resolution of our relationship to the European Union.
I think it’ll be very hard to persuade people in the European Union to revisit, to reengage and start getting into another negotiation about Britain’s membership of the European Union, for a long time to come. I’m sorry to say that but they have had up to here with us.
Continue reading...Conservative MP says his tack to the right has rattled Nigel Farage and confirms he would like the UK to exit the ECHR
Robert Jenrick has denied that he would drop his hard-right policies and return to the Conservative middle ground if he become leader, arguing that his ideas for the party have left Nigel Farage “rattled”.
Jenrick, who faces Kemi Badenoch in a ballot of Tory members for the post, confirmed that he would expect his shadow frontbench to sign up to the plan of immediately quitting the European convention on human rights (ECHR), a red line for some centrists.
Continue reading...Multimillionaire Derek Webb, a Labour donor, goes all-in with support for levy on online casinos and bookmakers
As a former professional poker player, Derek Webb is used to rising from the table holding more chips than he started with.
Vanquished opponents are left scratching their heads, wondering how they have been bested by a softly spoken, bespectacled septuagenarian with a Derby accent.
Continue reading...Treasury weighing proposals as chancellor attempts to plug £22bn hole in public finances
Ministers are considering a tax raid of up to £3bn on the gambling sector as Rachel Reeves casts around for funds to shore up the public finances.
Treasury officials are understood to be weighing up proposals, put forward by two influential thinktanks and backed by one of the party’s top five individual donors, to double some of the taxes levied on online casinos and bookmakers.
Continue reading...Labour peer says in meantime it is essential to try to reduce damage of Brexit deal struck by Boris Johnson
Peter Mandelson has suggested the UK could start talks on rejoining the EU in 10 years’ time, much earlier than Keir Starmer believes.
Lord Mandelson told an audience in Edinburgh the “truth is that [reversing Brexit] could be a conversation which starts in 10 years’ time”, but only if EU member states were willing to consider it.
Continue reading...Survivor of blaze which killed 72 ‘disgusted’ Quentin Marshall gave £5,000 to candidate promoting deregulation
One of Kemi Badenoch’s Tory leadership campaign funders is a councillor who had oversight of Grenfell Tower and dismissed some residents’ complaints about the pre-fire refurbishment as “grossly exaggerated”.
One survivor of the blaze that killed 72 people said he was “disgusted” that Quentin Marshall, a senior politician at the Conservative-controlled Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) which owned the block, has given £5,000 to the current shadow housing secretary to help her become the leader of the opposition.
Continue reading...Assessment finds detention unit is subjecting families to ‘unnecessary suffering’ amid lengthy Home Office delays
Young children are being traumatised while held at a Gatwick airport deportation centre that should be closed down, a watchdog has found.
The independent monitoring board (IMB) also said the children’s parents were being subjected to “callous treatment and unnecessary suffering” because of the Home Office’s lengthy decision-making process over removals.
Children are witnessing or overhearing their parents’ “considerable distress” at their expected deportation, despite staff efforts to shield them.
Children are being asked by staff to translate for their distraught parents, despite having been taken from their homes and facing removal to a country they may know very little about.
The use of the Family PDA may prolong or add to trauma already experienced, particularly for children.
Continue reading...Industry bosses to meet prime minister before government’s international investment summit next week
The leaders of the world’s biggest green energy companies have promised more than £24bn of new private investment across Great Britain ahead of a meeting with the prime minister on Friday.
Keir Starmer is expected to meet the green energy bosses on the sidelines of the first Council of Nations and Regions in Edinburgh to discuss the multibillion-pound projects just days before the government’s international investment summit next week.
Continue reading...Bill will give new rights to millions of workers including protection from third-party harassment
Employers must protect their workers from sexual harassment – including from customers and clients – under the government’s sweeping new employment rights bill.
The new obligation is part of a series of measures published in Thursday’s landmark employment bill, which Labour had promised to lay before parliament within 100 days.
Continue reading...Exclusive: private message from whips aims to crackdown on discipline, telling MPs to speak with ‘one voice’
Labour MPs have been warned that they must not put down any amendments on government bills and must resolve disagreements privately with ministers, in a crackdown on discipline in parliament.
In a private message, seen by the Guardian, Labour whips told MPs that they could no longer act as if they were in opposition and said amendments suggested a lack of trust in the government. The message said MPs should be speaking with “one voice” in public.
Continue reading...Downing Street indicates no change in position on Ukraine’s request to fire Storm Shadow weapons into Russia
The UK has not lifted restrictions on Ukraine using long-range missiles after Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit, Downing Street has said.
The Ukrainian president met Keir Starmer in No 10 on Thursday and reiterated his request to fire Storm Shadow missiles and other western-supplied weapons deep inside Russian territory.
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