Politics

Sir Keir Starmer was the first leader to arrive at this meeting in Paris, strolling down the road from the British Embassy. When he emerged, after three hours of discussion, he looked sombre. Sir Keir, like the other political heavyweights who came to the Elysee Palace, knows that Europe has been battered and marginalised over

Kemi Badenoch has said failing to spend more on defence “is not peacemaking, it is weakness” as Sir Keir Starmer and other European leaders face pressure from Donald Trump to increase NATO contributions. The Conservative leader told the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference: “Totalitarian states like Russia, Iran and North Korea are coordinated in their

The whole government recognises the need to spend more on defence, including Chancellor Rachel Reeves, a cabinet minister has said. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that he “disagrees” with claims the prime minister is preparing to overrule the chancellor on the amount of cash being spent on the

Unlike Theresa May, Sir Keir Starmer will not be the first world leader to set foot in the Trump White House, but he has at least now secured an invitation to Washington. It wasn’t issued on the most gracious of terms – with the president telling reporters “it was his request not mine” – but

Donald Trump has confirmed he will meet Sir Keir Starmer “very soon” after the prime minister “asked to come” to the US. Mr Trump discussed details of his phone call with Sir Keir while taking questions from the media in the White House’s Oval Office on Friday. “He asked for a meeting, and I agreed

Rachel Reeves says “no one ever raised any concerns” about her expenses when she worked at HBOS, as she responds to reports she was investigated while working for the bank. The chancellor was accused by former employees of being involved in an “expenses scandal” while working at Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) from 2006 to

A waiting game on tariffs is beginning to play out between the UK and the United States on tariffs, amid warnings that Donald Trump’s latest strategy could hit the UK especially hard. The US president on Thursday revealed he has asked his government to consider what tariffs should be applied to other nations – and

People who believe the things posted in a controversial Labour WhatsApp group shouldn’t have been MPs in the first place, according to Harriet Harman. Speaking on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the veteran Labour parliamentarian said the scandal was “very serious” as the public already thinks MPs are “contemptuous of their voters”. Politics live: Follow the

Farmers forced the prime minister to cut short a visit to a housing development as they drove tractors to the site in a protest against changes to inheritance tax. Sir Keir Starmer was in Buckinghamshire to announce more than 100 new towns could be built under the government’s plans for the “largest house building programme

A “loophole” that allowed a Palestinian family to be granted the right to come to the UK under a Ukrainian resettlement scheme was the subject of a lot of debate in the House of Commons today. Both the prime minister and leader of the opposition criticised a decision by a judge to allow the family

A leak inquiry will take place following reports that economic growth forecasts have been reduced by the government’s financial watchdog. Bloomberg reported that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had reduced its growth forecasts in data sent to Chancellor Rachel Reeves last week. Reduced growth could force the government to cut further spending or increase

A Palestinian family that fled Gaza has been granted the right to live in the UK following an appeal – after they applied to enter the country through a Ukrainian refugee scheme. The mother, father and their four children – who were aged seven, eight, 17 and 18 in September – were displaced after their

Angela Rayner has insisted the government can meet its target to build 1.5m homes over the next five years as ministers pledged an extra £350m for housebuilding. An extra £300m has been injected to the affordable homes programme, a move ministers believe will allow 2,800 additional homes to be built. More than half of these

Has Sir Keir Starmer picked a fight with a bat tunnel that – in time – he will eventually discover he just can’t win? For the last six months, the prime minister has singled out the most hated construction site in Britain for criticism – a kilometre-long, £100m shed to protect bats in Buckinghamshire from

Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has a ruthless streak when it comes to suspending MPs who’ve brought the party into disrepute or failed to toe the line. It’s no surprise that Andrew Gwynne was sacked before the story of his outrageous comments on WhatsApp had even been published, given that Sir Keir has built his

More than 600 immigration arrests were made last month, as authorities carried out more than 800 raids, the Home Office has said. The Labour government points out this was a 73% increase compared to January last year – when the Conservatives were in power – and 352 arrests were made across 556 visits. Labour have