Category Archives: Politics

UK’s £22bn carbon capture pledge follows surge in lobbying by fossil fuel industry, records show

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Scope of oil and gas influence underscores concerns technology will prolong demand for planet-heating natural gas

The UK government’s move to award £22bn in subsidies to carbon capture projects followed a sharp increase in lobbying by the fossil fuel industry, it can be revealed.

Oil and gas giants such as Equinor, BP, and ExxonMobil attended 24 of 44 external ministerial meetings to discuss carbon capture and storage (CCS) in 2023, according to official transparency records.

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Minister denies government in disarray despite departure of Sue Gray

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John Healey says Labour ‘getting on with job’ after chief of staff quit less than 100 days into new government

A senior cabinet minister has denied that No 10 is at a crisis point despite the prime minister’s chief of staff leaving her post less than 100 days into the new Labour government.

John Healey defended his cabinet colleagues on Monday amid suggestions that, had a senior Conservative aide quit No 10 in similar circumstances, he would have claimed his opponents were in disarray.

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Doubts grow over Labour’s VAT plan for private schools

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The Treasury refuses to confirm 1 January start date as unions, tax experts and school leaders say it is unworkable

Government plans to impose VAT on private schools from 1 January next year may have to be delayed because of warnings from unions, tax experts and school leaders that meeting the deadline will cause administrative chaos and teacher job losses, and put pressure on the state sector.

The Treasury on Saturday night refused to confirm that the plan to impose 20% VAT on private school fees would go ahead from 1 January, as confirmed by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in July, instead saying it would be introduced “as soon as possible”.

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UK ‘resolutely committed’ to its overseas territories, says foreign minister

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Stephen Doughty’s remarks come as Argentina vows to gain ‘full sovereignty’ of Falkland Islands

The UK is “resolutely committed” to all of its overseas territories, the responsible foreign minister said, after Argentina vowed to gain “full sovereignty” of the Falkland Islands.

Stephen Doughty said on Saturday that the sovereignty of the territories is “not up for negotiation”.

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Assisted dying supporters court Tories to bolster cross-party appeal

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After all four would-be leaders spoke against law change, both sides seek to sway waverers

Supporters of an assisted dying law in England and Wales are ­battling to stop the issue from splitting along party political lines after all four Tory leadership candidates ­suggested they would vote against the historic change.

An all-important House of Commons vote on the issue could now be just weeks away after it was revealed that Labour MP Kim Leadbeater would be introducing a private member’s bill that would give some terminally ill adults the option of being helped to end their lives.

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Faith leaders unite to reject prejudice on eve of 7 October anniversary

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Muslim and Jewish figures join archbishop in first act of high-level solidarity

Muslim and Jewish leaders today unite around an unprecedented joint statement calling the assaults on Israel on 7 October last year “brutal Hamas terrorist attacks” that led to a “devastating war in Gaza and beyond” which together have caused “horrific” human suffering.

Joined by the archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in the first high-level act of inter-faith solidarity in the year-long conflict, they say in a letter to the Observer: “Our faiths and our humanity teach us that we should mourn for all the innocent people who have lost their lives.

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Wealthy, white and rightwing: the Tory members holding the party’s future in their hands

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The electorate for the Conservative leadership contest likes a winner, but lately has had trouble picking one

The Conservative party is more than just 121 MPs. It’s also tens of thousands of ordinary members. The £39 a year they pay to belong might not entitle them to any real say on the party’s policies, but it does give them the right to help select its candidates and, even better, its leader.

Quite how many individual blades make up the Tory grassroots these days, we won’t know until we learn the result of the membership ballot, which starts on 31 October. In 2019, when Johnson was elected leader, it came in at 159,000. And in 2022, when Liz Truss got the nod, it had actually risen to 172,000. But that was considerably down on the 254,000 who got to choose between Davids Cameron and Davis back in 2005 and way off the 2.8 million members that the party claimed to have at its postwar peak in the mid-1950s.

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Sky News pulls out of Boris Johnson interview over recording ban

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Beth Rigby’s withdrawal after not being allowed to record conversation follows BBC cancellation over notes gaffe

Sky News has pulled out of an interview with Boris Johnson after its political editor, Beth Rigby, was told she could not make an audio recording or transcript of the talk.

The former prime minister had promised to “reveal what really happened during my time as [London] mayor, foreign secretary and PM” during the conversation next week as he promotes his memoir Unleashed. Johnson’s interview with the BBC was dropped earlier this week after the presenter Laura Kuenssberg mistakenly sent him her briefing notes.

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Starmer defends UK ceding control of Chagos Islands amid Tory criticism

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PM says deal has secured future of US-UK military base as Conservative leadership hopefuls play blame game

Keir Starmer has defended giving up UK control of the Chagos Islands, as the decision has descended into a political blame game among Conservative leadership candidates.

The prime minister said the agreement with Mauritius over the islands would secure the long-term future of a joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia, which he deemed as the “single most important thing”.

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Cabinet set for split over support for England and Wales assisted dying bill

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Some senior ministers expected to vote against measure in free vote, while others are still undecided

MPs backing a new bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales hope to secure a Commons vote by Christmas, but cabinet ministers are set for a big split over support for the legislation.

The bill, due to be brought forward by the Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater this month, is to be a free vote but some senior cabinet ministers are expected to vote against – and several, including the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and the health and social care secretary, Wes Streeting – remain undecided.

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A year on, how the Hamas attack has profoundly affected UK political life

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From general election upsets to protests on the streets, the shockwaves from the Middle East have resonated in Britain

When Shockat Adam, the newly elected independent MP for Leicester South, addressed his supporters at the July election count, he brought his speech to an end with a dedication – not to the constituents of the East Midlands city he now represents, but to people more than 2,000 miles away.

“This is for the people of Gaza”, he said, holding a Palestinian keffiyeh aloft.

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Boris Johnson calls for referendum on leaving ECHR

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Move over European convention on human rights likely to put pressure on Tory leadership candidates to follow suit

Boris Johnson has called for a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European convention on human rights, a move likely to increase pressure on those vying for the Conservative leadership to follow suit.

The former prime minister told the Daily Telegraph there was a “strong case” for a vote on the ECHR, which some Tories blame for hampering their efforts to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.

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Labour to commit almost £22bn to fund carbon capture and storage projects

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Investment will fund two CCS clusters – but environmental campaigners have criticised plans

Rachel Reeves is paving the way for a multibillion-pound increase in public-sector investment at the budget after the government announced plans to commit almost £22bn over 25 years to fund carbon capture and storage projects.

In what is expected to be one of the biggest green spending promises of the parliament, the chancellor, prime minister and the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, will unveil the details on a visit to the Liverpool city region on Friday declaring a “new era” for clean energy jobs.

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Tories challenge other Labour ministers to follow Keir Starmer in paying back donations – UK politics live

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The prime minister said he’d paid back £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality, including Taylor Swift tickets and his wife’s rented clothing

The UK has agreed to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, ending years of bitter dispute over Britain’s last African colony, Haroon Siddique reports.

Today’s homelessness figures highlight the need for the government to press on with banning no-fault evicitions, campaigners say.

It’s frankly ridiculous section 21 still exists – we’re approaching 6 years since the previous government first promised to abolish it, while every indicator on the dashboard has been going in the wrong direction. And now we discover homelessness caused by evictions is up almost 5% on the previous year. It’s clear from today’s data that that the renting crisis is driving the homelessness crisis …

Amid this escalating social crisis, the government’s renters’ rights bill is absolutely crucial. This legislation is a significant improvement on the last government’s effort. As drafted it will already make a difference for a lot of people.

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Britain to return Chagos Islands to Mauritius ending years of dispute

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Agreement to hand back UK’s last African colony follows 13 rounds of negotiations and international pressure

The UK has agreed to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, ending years of bitter dispute over Britain’s last African colony.

The agreement will allow a right of return for Chagossians, who the UK expelled from their homes in the 1960s and 1970s, in what has been described as a crime against humanity and one of the most shameful episodes of postwar colonialism.

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Tesco boss says new workers’ rights laws must not hurt growth

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Bill is likely to include measures such as ending ‘exploitative’ zero-hours contracts and changes to sick pay

The boss of Tesco has called on the UK government to work with business to ensure new legislation to improve workers rights also increases productivity and growth as the retailer revealed better-than-expected profits.

Ken Murphy, the chief executive of the UK’s biggest supermarket, said he was keen to use a planned consultation on the wide-ranging employment rights bill, announced by the government in the king’s speech in July, to “make sure that whatever the government decides to put forward has the intended consequence of stimulating productivity and growth and protecting workers at the same time”.

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Starmer repaid freebies to restore trust in politics, minister says

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Sarah Jones suggests PM believes he should be held to higher standards now he is in government

Keir Starmer has repaid thousands of pounds in freebies to restore trust in politics, a minister has said as she ruled out accepting more hospitality.

Sarah Jones, the industry minister, said the prime minister’s motivation for repaying the money was “to do more to make people trust politicians”.

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BBC cancels Boris Johnson interview after Laura Kuenssberg message gaffe

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Briefing notes mistakenly being sent to ex-PM meant it was ‘not right for the interview to go ahead’, says presenter

The BBC has cancelled a prime-time interview with Boris Johnson after the presenter Laura Kuenssberg accidentally sent the former prime minister her briefing notes.

Kuenssberg said she sent Johnson the notes “in a message meant for my team”. The former BBC political editor said it was “embarrassing and disappointing”, adding the error meant it was “not right for the interview to go ahead”.

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Why official register of MPs’ financial interests is now a must-read

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Revelations about gifts of clothes and tickets to sporting events have put MPs’ declarations in the spotlight

Revelations that Keir Starmer and his team have accepted donations of clothes, accommodation and sports tickets have focused attention on the official register of MPs’ interests, usually published every couple of weeks.

Here are some highlights from the latest version, published on Wednesday.

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Starmer vows to turn page on UK’s relationship with the EU

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PM promises ‘constructive’ relations, despite resisting talks with the bloc on a proposed youth mobility scheme

Keir Starmer has vowed to turn the page on the UK’s relationship with the EU, despite differences with Brussels over proposals for a European youth mobility scheme.

The prime minister said: “Of course, there will be challenges” in resetting relations but insisted he was “turning the page on the old way of doing these negotiations” in favour of a more “constructive” approach.

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