updraftplus domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home2/bharrod/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114Exclusive: shadow energy security secretary promises to fill ‘vacuum’ left by Rishi Sunak’s U-turn on net zero
Labour will promise to take the lead on global efforts to tackle the climate crisis, filling a “vacuum of leadership” on the world stage and proving Rishi Sunak’s U-turn on net zero has been a “historic mistake”, Ed Miliband has said.
The shadow energy security and net zero secretary said the UK needed to change course and was “off track”.
Continue reading...Labour leader hopes to gain closer economic ties with EU if he becomes PM and says he would work with ‘whoever’
Keir Starmer has said that a government in France led by Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) party would not hamper a Labour government’s intention to negotiate a better EU deal.
The RN made historic gains in the first round of France’s snap elections on Sunday with 33% of the vote, bringing the possibility the party could emerge as the largest in the final round of voting next Sunday.
Continue reading...Tories make last-ditch attempt to persuade their voters to turn out for Thursday’s election
Labour would use a landslide victory to shift politics to the left and stay in power for decades, Rishi Sunak will warn on Monday, as he launches a last-ditch attempt to persuade Conservative voters to turn out for Thursday’s election.
The prime minister will address a rally at the beginning of the final week of the election campaign, which polls suggest will end in the Conservatives being ousted from power.
Continue reading...Prime minister says he’s ‘fighting very hard’ as campaigning reaches final days with Labour retaining the lead in polling for the Observer
Rishi Sunak said the slur used about him by a Reform UK canvasser was “deeply inappropriate and racist”.
The prime minister told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show that anyone becoming a politician expects a degree of criticism because it “comes with the territory”.
Continue reading...Reform UK leader echoes Donald Trump in response to claim hostile state actors are backing his party
Nigel Farage has angrily denied he is “fanning the flames of prejudice” to further his political ambitions, as he doubled down on claims Reform UK had been “set up” by an exposé of racism and prejudice among activists.
He was also confronted about a report in the Sunday Times – which the deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, said he was “gravely” concerned about – that there is a threat to the general election from hostile actors such as Russia seeking to influence the democratic process.
Continue reading...Northern Ireland’s politicians and the Irish government hopeful of a post-Brexit reset and an end to Tory turmoil
The prospect of a Labour government has united Northern Ireland’s political parties and the Irish government in hope of a reset in relations with London after the convulsions of Brexit.
Unionists and nationalists expect Keir Starmer to bring stability and focus to Downing Street’s approach to Northern Ireland and to mend frayed ties with Dublin.
Continue reading...Celebrities including Kit Harington, Deborah Meaden and Jason Manford back Keir Starmer’s party
Elton John has led a lineup of celebrities who have announced their support for Labour at the general election.
The singer-songwriter and his husband, David Furnish, joined actors Kit Harington and James Norton, singer Beverley Knight, comedian Jason Manford and businesswoman Deborah Meaden in bringing some stardust to a Labour supporters’ meeting held in the final days before next week’s poll.
Continue reading...Writing in the Observer, the Labour leader vows to restore the bond of trust with politics if his party wins Thursday’s general election
Keir Starmer pledges to “relight the fire” of optimism and hope among the British people – and rekindle their faith in politicians as public servants - if they come out in sufficient numbers and vote for a Labour government in Thursday’s general election.
Writing exclusively for the Observer with just days to go until polling day, the Labour leader says that after 14 years of the Tories “serving themselves”, restoring the “bond of respect between people and politics” will be the precondition for a Labour government’s success.
Continue reading...Reform also complains to Electoral Commission and Essex police about Channel 4 undercover investigation of party
Nigel Farage has announced he is boycotting the BBC, accusing the broadcaster of bias over his reception on Friday night’s Question Time.
The Reform leader took part in a leaders’ special episode, a half-hour Q&A session with a live audience, in which he was heavily criticised. One audience member called him a racist and another asked why his party attracted extremists.
Continue reading...The Reform leader complained of a ‘dishonest Question Time audience’, while his party also reported Channel 4 to the Electoral Commission
The Conservative party deputy chair Angela Richardson called the sewage crisis a “political football” and claimed opposition parties and activists had put Tory MPs in physical danger by campaigning on the issue.
Richardson, who is standing for re-election in Guildford, where the River Wey was recently found to have 10 times the safe limit of E coli, also suggested the only reason people were talking about the problem was “because the Conservatives let everyone know it was happening”.
Continue reading...Outgoing Green MP calls for combined strategy to ensure net zero will not be done ‘on the backs of the poor’
Labour must combine tackling the climate crisis with pursuing social justice, if elected, to show that achieving net zero will not be done “on the backs of the poor”, the UK’s outgoing Green party MP has warned.
Caroline Lucas, who has held the seat of Brighton Pavilion since 2010, said: “The biggest priority is to demonstrate that is not the case. We have to make sure that this is a strategy and a policy that is the opposite of being done on the backs of the poor.”
Continue reading...Loss of income, curbs on benefits and soaring bills are piling pressure on people caring for family members
People who look after family members free of charge are taking a huge hit to their finances which could continue into their retirement as they find themselves unable to balance paid work with their caring commitments.
Recent analysis of official figures by the financial firm Just Retirement found seven in 10 people who were receiving carer’s allowance were not in paid work, and missing out on earnings and private pension contributions.
Continue reading...PM responds to comments by Reform activists, who were filmed by Channel 4 reporter while canvassing in Clacton
Here’s the latest in the Guardian’s series on The broken years: Tory Britain 2010-24:
Unless the polls are wildly inaccurate, the Conservative party is heading towards a catastrophic defeat in the coming election.
Continue reading...Essex police say they are ‘urgently assessing’ racist and homophobic remarks made by party’s volunteers
Rishi Sunak has said he was hurt and angry to hear a Reform UK canvasser calling him a racial slur, saying Nigel Farage “has some questions to answer”.
The prime minister responded after a Channel 4 undercover investigation found a Reform campaigner had called him a “fucking [P-word]”. Sunak repeated the slur and said he had done so because it was important to call it out for what it was.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Boom Radio listeners share in election fatigue but demographic arguably has less to lose than younger voters
Sometimes only a song can sum up the national mood.
When a soggy Rishi Sunak fired the starting gun on the general election in May, D:Ream’s Things Can Only Get Better blared across Downing Street. Five long weeks later and voters are cueing up rather more mordant tracks to capture their political fatigue.
Continue reading...PM again declines to say whether he told Craig Williams in advance about his decision to hold the election in July
Rishi Sunak is returning to the campaign trail on Thursday, PA reports, after a two-day hiatus for the Emperor and Empress of Japan’s state visit and preparations for the final head-to-head debate with Sir Keir Starmer.
With one week to go until polling day, the deepening gambling scandal is still likely to feature heavily when he faces the media during a tour of the East Midlands and Yorkshire.
He is expected to visit a factory in Derbyshire and hold an evening campaign event in Leeds.
Keir Starmer accused Rishi Sunak of using transgender issues “as a political football to divide people” during their head-to-head debate on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Central bank raises concerns over newly elected governments as more than 80 countries go to polls this year
Uncertainty caused by a global wave of elections, starting this weekend in France, risks destabilising the UK’s financial system, the Bank of England has warned.
Officials are concerned about the kind of policies that newly elected governments may enforce in large economies, including the US, where Donald Trump is vying for another term as president in the run-up to the election in November.
Continue reading...A number of political figures have been accused of placing suspicious bets in the lead-up to the election
The Metropolitan police are to take an expanded role in investigating the criminal allegations triggered by the Westminster betting scandal, which is continuing to overshadow the election campaign.
Sources confirmed that talks between the Gambling Commission, which has been investigating multiple suspicious bets on the election date, and Scotland Yard have been continuing for days.
Continue reading...Labour officials said to be upset that Jovan Owusu-Nepaul was gaining traction for viral social media posts
Labour has been accused of “not putting up a fight” against Nigel Farage in Clacton after the party’s candidate was instructed to leave the constituency after “distracting” from Keir Starmer’s campaign.
Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, 27, who works for Labour’s equalities team, was installed by the party last month to contest the seat, weeks before Farage changed his mind and decided to stand in the Essex constituency.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Videos on Reform leader’s account show more engagement and average views than any other candidate
Nigel Farage is outperforming all other parties and candidates on TikTok throughout the general election campaign, analysis shows, eclipsing politicians considered most popular among young people.
Since the election was called, videos posted to the Reform leader’s personal account had more engagement and views on average than any other candidate – as well as the main channels of other parties.
Continue reading...