Category Archives: Politics

UK cut health aid to vulnerable nations while hiring their nurses, research finds

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Royal College of Nursing says Labour has a duty to fix health ‘double whammy’ by raising aid and funding for UK nursing

The UK cut health aid to some of the world’s vulnerable countries at the same time as recruiting thousands of their nurses, in a “double whammy” for fragile health systems, new analysis has found.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN), which carried out the research, said Labour had a “duty to fix” aid cuts imposed by the previous government, and to work on increasing the UK’s domestic supply of nurses.

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Give working parents help with childcare and commuting costs, UK thinktank says

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Child poverty plan must address the 70% of families with at least one parent in work, Resolution Foundation says

Labour must offer extra support to working parents, including with childcare and commuting, if it is to fulfil its promise of cutting child poverty, the Resolution Foundation thinktank has argued.

The government’s manifesto promised an “ambitious strategy” on child poverty, and ministers have said they will publish a 10-year plan in the spring.

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Swinney to warn opposition of fuelling populism if Scottish budget not passed

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Scottish Labour, Greens and Lib Dem MSPs accuse first minister of ‘creating false narrative’

John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, will warn opposition parties that they will fuel populist forces if they prevent his budget from being passed this month.

In a keynote speech in Edinburgh on Monday to mark the new year, Swinney will say Scottish voters would be astonished and public services damaged if MSPs fail to allow the budget to go through.

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UK charity steps up campaign against child hygiene poverty

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The Multibank, founded by Gordon Brown, receives boost with Amazon-led drive for 250,000 items this month

A charity founded by the former prime minister Gordon Brown is to increase its campaign efforts against child hygiene poverty this year.

The Multibank, which was founded by the former Labour leader, is working with a number of sports clubs across Britain and the Hygiene Bank charity. Over the Christmas and new year period it collected thousands of hygiene products at sporting fixtures.

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Expanded seven-day health hubs to help tackle NHS waiting times in England

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Proposals to be outlined by Keir Starmer will offer patients 500,000 more appointments a year, as health secretary says without reforms NHS could collapse ‘like Woolworths’

Patients in England will be offered 500,000 more appointments a year via seven-day health hubs under plans to tackle lengthy waiting times, as ministers warned the NHS could collapse like Woolworths without major reform.

Millions of people will be able to access checks, tests and scans closer to home as the health service expands the number of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) opening 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

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Curb extremism now or face new terrorist threats, Labour warned

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Experts say measures announced so far are not enough to turn the tide

Labour must reverse years of ­political failure on extremism to stop it ­fuelling more disorder, violence and terrorism in Britain, leading figures have said.

Neil Basu, the former head of counter-terrorism policing, and Dame Sara Khan, previously the government’s counter-extremism tsar, warned that proposals unveiled last month would not be enough to address a toxic pool of hatred, conspiracy theories and “dangerous rhetoric” from high-­profile figures including Elon Musk.

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Protesters march in London for release of teenage boy in Dubai jail

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Marcus Fakana from north London was convicted of having sex with British girl, now 18, when they were on holiday

Protesters have marched through central London calling for the release of a teenager in prison in Dubai for having sex with a 17-year-old British girl.

Marcus Fakana, from Tottenham in north London, was jailed last month after being convicted of having sex with the girl, who has now turned 18, when they were on holiday in September.

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Labour goes slow on rape courts pledge amid fears over shortage of lawyers

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Election manifesto promise to set up specialist tribunals to deal with huge backlog of cases has been put on hold

The government appears to have stalled on plans to set up dozens of specialist rape courts to deal with a huge backlog of cases, amid warnings there are not enough lawyers to make the proposals work.

Labour pledged during the election campaign to use vacant rooms and buildings on crown court sites to fast-track rape cases and reduce the numbers awaiting trial.

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Nigel Farage ‘very pleased’ Elon Musk backs Reform UK, calling him a ‘hero’

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Speaking at party conference, its leader calls reports of tech mogul’s potential $100m donation ‘somewhat overexaggerated’

Nigel Farage has hailed Elon Musk as a “hero” and said he was “very pleased he’s backing our party”, but he called reports that the tech mogul was preparing to donate $100m (£80m) to Reform UK “somewhat overexaggerated”.

Speaking at Reform’s East Midlands conference on Friday night, the party leader said Musk’s efficiency plan for Donald Trump’s government was the “blueprint we need” as he called for a “complete change of culture in Britain”.

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Starmer’s team hope policy blitz will prove that Labour can deliver change

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Those close to PM worry voters are running out of patience and want reforms to directly help public

Keir Starmer has at last managed a family holiday, but by next week the Madeira sun may already feel a distant memory as he embarks on a policy blitz that could be crucial in deciding his government’s fortunes over this parliament.

A speech on Monday detailing what No 10 is billing as a “radical” approach to cut NHS waiting lists is expected to be followed by an announcement on crime, as the prime minister faces pressure to make changes that directly and rapidly benefit voters, rather than just promising they are on the way.

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Keir Starmer to announce radical NHS changes to cut waiting times

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Exclusive: Patients in England to get direct referrals for tests without seeing consultant, but critics say plan is ‘deluded’

Keir Starmer will attempt to reset his premiership next week by setting out a series of radical NHS changes aimed at reducing waiting times for millions of patients in England.

The shake-up comes after a torrid first six months in government and amid mounting frustration among patients. More than 6 million are waiting for care.

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Musk accused of ‘politicising’ rape of young girls in UK to attack Starmer

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Ex-health worker who exposed paedophile ring says billionaire’s triggering of row ignores plight of survivors

Elon Musk has “politicised” the rape of young girls in the UK in an attempt to attack Keir Starmer, a former health worker who exposed a major paedophile ring has told the Guardian.

Sara Rowbotham, who gathered evidence that led to the imprisonment of nine men in Rochdale, said the tech billionaire had launched a “political swipe” at the prime minister that overlooked the plight of abuse survivors.

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Wes Streeting defends pace of plans for adult social care reform – UK politics live

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Health secretary says initial reports from commission led by Louise Casey will come next year

As well as being asked about plans for adult social care and a new national care service, Wes Streeting was questioned this morning on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme about progress on assisted dying legislation in England and Wales.

As health secretary, Streeting intervened before November’s vote, suggesting that legalising assisted dying in the two countries would have resource implications for the NHS, and might lead to healthcare cuts.

The bill committee will work through those policy issues before the bill comes back to the Commons as a whole for further amendment, and then a final vote on a third reading before it goes to the Lords.

So whatever my misgivings, I’ve said all the way through this that I’ve respected parliament, that this isn’t the government’s responsibility, the government is neutral. That is for the Commons and the Lords to decide.

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Fixing UK social care will be biggest challenge yet for Louise Casey

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Troubleshooter for four previous prime ministers is charged with saving troubled national care sector

She is the no-nonsense civil servant from Portsmouth who was called upon by four prime ministers to tackle deep-rooted social issues, including rough sleeping, antisocial behaviour, victims’ rights and troubled families.

Now Louise Casey has been tasked by a fifth to chair an independent commission into adult social care. Her mission? Develop a plan to save the sector.

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Ministers plan biggest shake-up of adult social care in England for decades

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But final report on reforms would not emerge until 2028, which health leaders say is kicking crisis ‘into the long grass’

Ministers are to launch a historic independent commission to reform adult social care, as they warned older people could be left without vital help and the NHS overwhelmed unless a “national consensus” was reached on fixing a “failing” system.

The taskforce, to be led by the cross-bench peer Louise Casey, will be charged with developing plans for a new national care service, a Labour election manifesto pledge, in the biggest shake-up to social care in England in decades.

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Ex-chief prosecutor rejects Musk’s calls for new child abuse inquiry

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Nazir Afzal and police whistleblower Maggie Oliver say previous lengthy inquiries were not acted upon

A former chief prosecutor and a police whistleblower who uncovered a notorious paedophile gang have hit back at demands from senior Conservatives and the billionaire Elon Musk for a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation.

Nazir Afzal, the ex-chief prosecutor who was central to successful prosecution of the Rochdale grooming gang, said lengthy and expensive inquiries were not acted upon by the previous Conservative government.

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DWP spent £50,000 trying to stop release of review into disabled man’s death

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Previous government spent almost £1m trying to prevent release of documents in 56 legal cases

More than £50,000 of taxpayers’ money was spent on lawyers to try to prevent the release of a safeguarding review ordered after a disabled man starved to death in his own home.

The costs were part of a bill of nearly £1m spent under the last government to prevent the release of various documents under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act.

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Automatic voter registration may be an answer to UK’s troubling turnout gap

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Experts say evidence from abroad shows AVR is effective – and it’s one of several proposals to try to boost voting

A healthy democracy depends on people participating in it. In the UK, the proportion of people doing so is falling. Voter turnout in general elections stayed above 70% from 1945 through to 1997, hitting more than 80% in 1950 and 1951. But it collapsed to 59.4% when Tony Blair won his second term in 2001, and though it rose again between 2010 and 2019, it has not reached the 70% mark since 1997. In the 2024 election, turnout fell to 59.7%.

The decline has been acute enough to trigger concern among Labour officials. Before July, the Guardian revealed they were drawing up plans to introduce automatic voter registration (AVR). In the election, when it came around, just 52% of adults living in the UK exercised their right to vote – the lowest proportion since universal suffrage was introduced. Crucially, this statistic counts all adults eligible to vote in the UK, not just those registered on the electoral roll.

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Turnout inequality in UK elections close to tipping point, report warns

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IPPR says elections could lose legitimacy because of falling turnout among groups such as renters and non-graduates

UK elections are “close to a tipping point” where they lose legitimacy because of plummeting voter turnout among renters and non-graduates, an influential thinktank has said.

Analysis by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that the gap in turnout between those with and without university degrees grew to 11 percentage points in the 2024 general election – double that of 2019.

Lowering the voting age to 16.

Implementing automatic voter registration.

Introducing a £100,000 annual cap on donations to political parties.

Creating an “election day service”.

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Prisons in England and Wales record rapid rise in drones delivering drugs

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Exclusive: tenfold increase in drone incidents since 2020 leads MPs to call for urgent action over security concerns

Prisons will need more money to combat the rapid rise in drones delivering drugs, the head of an influential Commons committee has said, as figures showed the number of aerial incursions predicted to have tripled in two years.

A freedom of information request by the Guardian found there were 1,296 drone incidents at prisons in England and Wales in the 10 months to the end of October 2024, a tenfold increase since 2020.

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