Starmer implies he didn’t tell Trump he was ‘fed up’ about his impact on rising UK energy bills – as it happened

Prime minister says conversation with US president on Thursday night focused on need for ‘practical plan’ to open strait of Hormuz

Tony Blair, the former Labour prime minister, has joined those saying the government should allow drilling for oil and gas in the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields in the North Sea.

Both applications were approved by the last Conservative government, but then overturned by a court ruling. Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, has to make a decision about the revised applications operating in a quasi-judicial capacity, which means he has to follow due process and can’t take the decision purely on political ground.

The current debate [on energy policy] is deadlocked between two incomplete responses. The government argues the answer is to accelerate Clean Power 2030, focusing on decarbonising the electricity system as quickly as possible. The opposition argues that the answer is to expand domestic oil and gas production. Both positions contain elements of truth, but neither addresses the core strategic problem: outside the power sector the UK economy remains overwhelmingly dependent on fossil fuels, and electricity is still too expensive to support mass electrification.

The UK is caught in a self-reinforcing high-cost, low-electrification trap. High electricity costs suppress demand, slowing the uptake of electric vehicles, heat pumps and industrial electrification. Weak demand growth, in turn, means that the fixed costs of the system – from networks to long-term contracts – are spread across a smaller base, keeping prices high. The result is a system that is too expensive to electrify and therefore remains dependent on fossil fuels and exposed to global shocks …

The first of these vital measures will ban anyone from possessing or publishing harmful pornography that shows incest between family members, and sex between step or foster relations where one person is pretending to be under 18.

A further amendment will criminalise the publication and possession of pornography where an adult is roleplaying as a child.

This government is uncompromising in our mission to protect women and girls online, and we have taken action to stop tech firms from publishing this abusive content.

In February, we told platforms that they must remove reported non-consensual intimate images within 48 hours.

I greatly welcome the government’s plans to fully address harmful pornographic content such as incest, step-incest and the mimicking of child sexual abuse. This content that is freely and widely available online is deeply harmful, normalising child sexual abuse and abusive relationships within families …

Today the government has answered our calls for change, and I am delighted that once again the UK is leading the way on regulating this high harm industry.

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Reform promises huge cuts to benefits but would keep pensions triple lock – UK politics live

Reform UK would impose ‘biggest cuts to benefits bill ever seen in history of this country’ if they came to power, says Farage

Q: Do you agree with the Tories about wanting more oil and gas drilling from the North Sea?

Davey says Kemi Badenoch claims she can get an extra £2.5bn in tax revenue by allowing more exploration in the North Sea. He says she is “just lying”. He says everyone knows that that is not realistic.

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Want to boost the UK’s birthrate? Fix the housing crisis, research suggests

Policymakers should address financial barriers that hinder young people from starting families, says thinktank

Politicians hoping to persuade young people in the UK to have more children should prioritise tackling housing affordability, according to research by the Resolution Foundation thinktank.

There has been growing concern in recent years about Britain’s declining birthrate, given the long-term fiscal pressures of supporting an ageing population.

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NSW to crack down on property underquoting, forcing sellers to publish price guides on all listings

Underquoting and ‘dummy bidding’ will attract fines of $110,000 in bid to create a ‘fair property market’

The New South Wales government will introduce new laws this week to force property sellers to publish a price guide on all advertising, and impose a fivefold increase to fines for underquoting real estate agents.

The government says the draft laws, first flagged last year, are aimed at cracking down on agents providing misleading price estimates on property listings, a practice often used to inflate interest.

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Homeless people camping in Queensland park ‘not treated as humans’ during council evictions, court finds

Moreton Bay council’s clearing of tent city breached human rights, supreme court rules

Homeless people living in tents in a park were “not treated as humans” while being evicted by a Queensland council, with the supreme court ruling it an unlawful breach of human rights.

A group of residents who had been living in a park off Goodfellows Road, Kallangur, challenged eviction notices issued against them by the City of Moreton Bay last year.

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Most senior council officers in England say building work hit by delays

Funding uncertainty is main concern, despite Labour’s pledge to revitalise construction, survey shows

Almost two-thirds of senior council officers have said they are seeing construction projects delayed, despite the key role of local authorities in creating the wave of new housing and infrastructure promised by Labour.

Before Rachel Reeves’s spring forecast on Tuesday, a survey of senior council officers showed that 40% do not think the local authority they work for is well placed to follow through on its construction plans.

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Desperate first home buyers are fuelling price ‘up-crash’ at lower end of market, experts say

Biggest house price increases in February come in smaller capital cities as buyers undeterred by interest rate hikes

Hot competition for cheaper Australian homes has powered a relentless “up-crash” in prices despite rising interest rates, economists warn.

Desperate first home buyers have bid up the price of affordable properties as they face off against investors, who have borrowed big despite government warnings they could lose tax discounts and deductions.

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Wieambilla police shootings property listed for sale for $190,000

Son of Nathaniel and Stacey Train says he is ‘hoping for a quick sale to someone who will be respectful of the property, considering its history’

The site of the Wieambilla ambush, Queensland’s worst police shooting, is up for sale.

In 2022, conspiracy theorists Gareth, Stacey and Nathaniel Train killed constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow at their remote property at 251 Wains Road, about 300km west of Brisbane.

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Where will Victoria’s new homes be built? Competing Liberal and Labor visions are as much about politics as planning

Jess Wilson’s housing plan offers little that is truly new – but Jacinta Allan claims it draws a line through Melbourne and locks millennials out

A genuine policy contest has finally broken out over housing in Victoria – but it is as much about politics as it is about planning.

The opposition leader, Jess Wilson, on Wednesday announced a plan to expand Melbourne’s capital city zone – effectively expanding the CBD to take in Collingwood, Fitzroy, Fishermans Bend, North Melbourne, Parkville and parts of Southbank not already included. This will mean height limits can be lifted, density increased and development encouraged to “restore vibrancy” to the city.

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UN experts accuse one of England’s biggest social landlords of habitability failings

Exclusive: Letter says L&Q appears to have systematically failed in its duty to provide adequate standard of living

UN experts have said that one of England’s biggest social landlords appears to have systematically failed to ensure the habitability of its rental properties.

In a letter to the UK government, they cite the case of a disabled tenant, Sanjay Ramburn, 55, who they say lived with his family of five in an L&Q group property in Forest Gate, east London, for several years with no electricity. They experienced four ceiling collapses, as well as severe damp and mould that affected their health.

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Nature not a blocker to housing growth, inquiry finds

Commons committee report challenges ‘lazy narrative’ used by ministers that scapegoats wildlife and the environment

Nature is not a blocker to housing growth, an inquiry by MPs has found, in direct conflict with claims made by ministers.

Toby Perkins, the Labour chair of the environmental audit committee, said nature was being scapegoated, and that rather than being a block to growth, it was necessary for building resilient towns and neighbourhoods.

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Property investors make up two in every five Australian home loans amid record borrowing

Investor home borrowing surges nearly 18% in the September quarter compared with previous three months, prompting calls to ‘urgently rein in overheated credit market’

Property investors have borrowed record amounts of money for home purchases amid a decline in first home buyer lending and surging house prices.

Investors accounted for two in every five home loans from July to September, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Wednesday, sparking calls for the Albanese government to force banks to put the brakes on landlord lending.

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Paint me cool: scientists reveal roof coating that can reduce surface temperatures up to 6C on hot days

Sydney researchers commercialising a product they say can cool indoor spaces and will cost little more than standard premium paints

Australian scientists have developed roof coatings that can passively cool surfaces up to 6C below ambient temperature, as well as extract water from the atmosphere, which they say could reduce indoor temperatures during extreme heat events.

Heatwaves are becoming more intense, more frequent and more deadly due to human-caused global heating.

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Beachside apartments deemed ‘affordable’ cost $1,000 a week. Is the NSW policy helping renters or developers?

Developers flock to build ‘affordable’ housing – but are poised to reap benefits while tenants could pay 50% of post-tax income in rent

A small block of units on Clovelly Road built in 2021 was granted extra floor space so the developer could add five affordable units, taking the total development to 13. The Sydney units, three minutes’ walk from the beach, with parking and a bus stop outside, are in a highly desirable spot.

But “affordable” they are not.

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Lucy Powell urged ministers to rethink legal action against Labour donor’s firm

Exclusive: Intervention by deputy leadership contender could have saved company based in her Manchester constituency millions

Lucy Powell urged ministers to reconsider costly legal proceedings against a property development firm in her constituency founded by a Labour donor, in a move that could have saved his company millions, the Guardian can disclose.

Powell, who is the favourite to be elected Labour’s deputy leader this week, wrote to Angela Rayner on behalf of Urban Splash, a property developer in Manchester founded by party donor Tom Bloxham.

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Will affordable housing be the casualty as London tackles its building emergency?

Collapse in construction activity causing alarm but mayor and Whitehall face pushback over ‘extreme solutions’

Sadiq Khan has known for a while that he has a problem with housebuilding in London. But last week a consultancy published figures about the scale of the problem, which prompted full-scale alarm in City Hall and Whitehall.

The analysis from Molior showed that new housebuilding in the capital had collapsed. Only 40,000 homes are under construction – two-thirds the normal rate – and in the first three months of the year builders started work on just 3,248 private sector units.

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EU executive to propose short-term rental rules to tackle ‘social crisis’ in housing

Bloc’s first affordable housing plan to cover issues such as tenants’ rights, property speculation and tourist lets

The EU executive will propose rules to tackle the “huge problem” of short-term rentals via platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com, as it seeks to confront the “social crisis” of people struggling to afford a home, its first-ever housing commissioner has said.

In an interview with the Guardian and other European newspapers, Dan Jørgensen said it was time for Brussels policymakers to take housing seriously or cede ground to anti-EU populists, who, he said, did not have the answers to the shortage of affordable homes.

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UK ministers aim to speed up homebuying by four weeks

Proposed government overhaul of house purchase process looks at shifting some costs from buyers to sellers

Ministers are attempting to cut the time it takes to buy a home by four weeks under new proposals aimed at overhauling the housebuying process.

The UK government will also consult on plans to shift costs from buyers to sellers, including compelling sellers and estate agents to provide buyers with vital information – such as the condition of the home and the scale of any leasehold costs – upfront.

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Millions of Australians eligible for 5% first home buyers scheme may be unable to afford repayment

Greens and experts argue policies that let first home buyers spend more than usual only creates more expensive housing – without lifting the proportion of homeowners

Millions of Australians eligible to take up the federal government’s new 5% deposit scheme could be unable to afford mortgage repayments, new analysis has shown.

Data compiled by the Parliamentary Library and commissioned by the Greens shows of the 3.8 million Australians in the top 10 most common professions in Australia, the vast majority would be unable to afford mortgage repayments on the median Australian home without falling into housing stress.

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Perky Maxwell House viral ad takes on housing crisis as ‘Maxwell Apartment’

Historic US company also offering ‘12-month lease’ – an annual supply – of pre-ground coffee for under $40

Housing in the US has become so unaffordable that a coffee company has based a viral marketing campaign on the idea that almost nobody can afford to buy a house.

Maxwell House coffee, a 133-year-old brand, recently launched a marketing campaign rebranding themselves as “Maxwell Apartment Coffee”.

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