Political news

• Reform council proposes to increase tax by nearly 4%

  08-01-2026 22:33 via bbc.com
  Leader of the Opposition, Anthony Hook, has criticised Reform for "breaking election promises".
  
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• Peers back calls for extra time to debate assisted dying bill

  08-01-2026 22:08 via bbc.com
  Supporters are increasingly concerned the bill could run out of time to become law.
  
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• UAE cuts funds for citizens keen to study in UK over Muslim Brotherhood tensions

  08-01-2026 22:01
  Emirates’ fear of Islamist radicalisation weighs on exclusion of British universities from scholarships
  
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• UK to exclude financial services from push for closer EU alignment

  08-01-2026 22:00
  City of London firms have been lobbying against a return to Brussels rules
  
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• Government to water down business rate rise for pubs

  08-01-2026 20:10 via bbc.com
  The hospitality industry had called for a rethink of planned changes to the way the tax based on property is calculated.
  
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• Chancellor under pressure to extend tax relief to rest of hospitality sector

  08-01-2026 20:04
  Restaurants and music venues among businesses urging chancellor to rethink rates rise plan after U-turn on pubs
  
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• The world is in chaos. So thank God for the UK’s lone fixed point: Liz Truss

  08-01-2026 19:24 via theguardian.com
  Nine episodes in, Radon Liz’s YouTube show is as laughably deranged as everA world on the brink. Regime change in Venezuela. Greenland under threat from Donald Trump. Shadow fleet tanker seized by the US and the Brits in the North Atlantic. The Europeans battling to keep America onside in any Ukraine peace deal. A woman gunned down by ICE agents in Minneapolis.So thank God that some things never change. Be grateful we still have Liz Truss. The UK’s lone fixed point. Our very own guil
  
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• Labour’s swift pubs U-turn shows government learning – and repeating Treasury mistakes

  08-01-2026 19:17 via theguardian.com
  Revolt among MPs was resolved quickly, yet it echoes pattern of making decisions without proper consultationLabour to announce pub business rates U-turn after industry outcryPolitical U-turns come in various forms, and as news of the latest government reversal drifted out, this one connected to the plight of the pub trade, Labour MPs could take comfort in one thing: at least it happened quickly.While last summer’s change of stance on benefit reforms was forced on Downing Street by open reb
  
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• Ben Jennings on a dramatic start to 2026 – cartoon

  08-01-2026 19:06 via theguardian.com
  Discover and buy more of Ben’s cartoons hereOrder your own print of this cartoon from the Guardian Print Shop Continue reading...
  
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• Starmer vows action against X over Grok’s AI sexualised images of children

  08-01-2026 18:54
  UK prime minister steps in amid growing public anger at ‘disgraceful’ images, saying it is ‘simply not tolerable’
  
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• Reeves’ retreat on pub taxes adds to pile of Labour U-turns

  08-01-2026 18:15
  Climbdown an embarrassment for chancellor whose poll ratings are already at record lows
  
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• Rachel Reeves’ retreat on pub taxes adds to pile of Labour U-turns

  08-01-2026 18:15
  Climbdown an embarrassment for chancellor whose poll ratings are already at record lows
  
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• New powers for councils to fine pavement parkers

  08-01-2026 18:03 via bbc.com
  Councils will be able to take action against those creating "unnecessary obstruction" of the pavement.
  
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• FCA to implement four-point ‘traffic light’ system to show pension fund performance

  08-01-2026 17:35
  UK regulator updates reforms in drive for better retirement outcomes
  
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• Government accused of dragging its heels on deepfake law over Grok AI

  08-01-2026 17:33 via bbc.com
  The End Violence Against Women Coalition said it had been a year since the inital law was suggested
  
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• Trial date over protest outside David Lammy's home

  08-01-2026 17:06 via bbc.com
  Two women are next set to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court in May for a two-day trial.
  
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• Three NHS trusts still using fax machines, Streeting confesses

  08-01-2026 16:49 via bbc.com
  The health secretary had made it his personal mission to banish the fax machine from the NHS.
  
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• Reform candidate admits Lammy post was 'clumsy'

  08-01-2026 16:25 via bbc.com
  Reform mayoral candidate Chris Parry had posted that David Lammy's "loyalty lies" in the Caribbean.
  
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• Post-Brexit agriculture subsidies overhauled in effort to woo farmers

  08-01-2026 15:52
  Move follows UK government’s U-turn on inheritance tax last month
  
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• UUP leadership: 'Let's have a contest, let the members decide'

  08-01-2026 15:01 via bbc.com
  The North Antrim assembly member Jon Burrows is in the running to become the next leader of the Ulster Unionist Party.
  
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• More changes to farm inheritance tax plans ruled out

  08-01-2026 14:22 via bbc.com
  The government says it has listened to farmers and increased the proposed inheritance tax threshold.
  
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• Slowly but surely, a state can repress its people. Why is the UK channelling Viktor Orbán’s Hungary? | Lydia Gall

  08-01-2026 14:16 via theguardian.com
  I know enough about the erosion of civil rights to fear what I now see in the UKLydia Gall is a senior Europe researcher at Human Rights WatchRight to protest is under attack in England and Wales, reports warnI saw, at first hand, the slow erosion of the rule of law in Hungary. It began not with a single shocking act but with quiet legal changes that narrowed space for dissent; each step justified as reasonable or necessary, until suddenly, democracy itself felt like a performance rather than a
  
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• Reeves set to announce U-turn on pubs business rates

  08-01-2026 14:12
  Chancellor had commissioned officials to examine the impact of her Budget on the sector
  
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• BBC warns over wait for World Service funding

  08-01-2026 13:46
  System of annual settlements from Foreign Office criticised by interim news chief
  
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• Morgan urges PM to stand up to Trump on Venezuela and Greenland

  08-01-2026 13:17 via bbc.com
  Welsh first minister saysthere comes a point when you have to "say up to here and no further".
  
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• Workers' rights reforms will cost billions less after concessions, analysis shows

  08-01-2026 12:07 via bbc.com
  Firms implementing the new employment terms are expected to face lower additional costs after the legislation was watered down.
  
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• Here’s why Labour is struggling to deliver: the British state is immense, but pull the levers and nothing happens | Larry Elliott

  08-01-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  At home, the machinery of government creaks badly – abroad, a leaden UK lags far behind dynamic competitors. A radical overhaul is needed Governments come into office brimming with confidence. They say their election win is a mandate for change, and that work on its manifesto pledges will start immediately. Invariably, there is talk of sleeves being rolled up.Sooner or later, there is a rude awakening. Ministers push buttons and pull levers expecting things to happen instantly, and are sho
  
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• Kemi Badenoch’s illusory comeback

  08-01-2026 10:30
  Decent performances at PMQs will help her survive as leader, but she has failed to increase Tories’ appeal where it matters
  
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• Minister blames 'slow' watchdog for trans guidance delay

  08-01-2026 09:48 via bbc.com
  The EHRC has urged Bridget Phillipson to speed up her approval of the guidance, which was submitted in September.
  
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• How AI is posing a threat to democracy in Yorkshire

  08-01-2026 09:01 via bbc.com
  Councils discuss the challenges as they seek to stop the spread of fake news online.
  
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• Greenland’s future must be decided by island and Denmark, Starmer warns Trump

  08-01-2026 08:47
  Leaders discussed Arctic island in first call since US president’s intervention in Venezuela
  
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• Chris Mason: Trump and Starmer speak as ship seizure caps extraordinary few days

  08-01-2026 08:38 via bbc.com
  The leaders speak on the phone following a blitz of overseas activity by the Trump administration, writes the BBC's political editor.
  
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• Police watchdog to probe Met’s vetting standards over lax recruitment checks

  08-01-2026 01:01
  Home Office says force may have wrongly recruited ‘thousands’ of people who went on to commit misconduct
  
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