Political news

• UK and China to share intelligence over people traffickers in the Channel

  28-01-2026 23:30
  Prime minister hopes pact will help Britain tackle gangs bringing migrants from France in small boats
  
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• Chagos discussions with US continue, says Starmer

  28-01-2026 23:15 via bbc.com
  The prime minister says he has discussed the deal with Donald Trump, but there are concerns in Whitehall the US could withdraw support for the agreement.
  
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• Universal basic income needed to cushion blow from AI job losses says UK minister

  28-01-2026 22:00
  Lord Jason Stockwood had previously suggested that tech companies could pay a windfall levy to fund the payments
  
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• Universal basic income is needed to cushion AI jobs blow, says minister

  28-01-2026 22:00
  Lord Jason Stockwood had previously suggested tech companies could pay windfall levy to fund payments
  
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• Talks with US over Chagos Islands deal have reopened, confirms Starmer

  28-01-2026 19:49
  London raises subject with Washington after stinging criticism from Trump
  
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• Pete Songi on Keir Starmer’s trip to China – cartoon

  28-01-2026 19:36
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• High-rise rules relaxed after internet rollout warning

  28-01-2026 18:38 via bbc.com
  Industry bodies say post-Grenfell safety regulations are frustrating broadband upgrades in tall buildings.
  
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• Hereditary peer banned from House of Lords

  28-01-2026 18:24 via bbc.com
  The Earl of Shrewsbury broke rules on claiming travel expenses, a conduct committee finds.
  
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• First minister's 'car crash interview' highlights old Labour divisions

  28-01-2026 18:04 via bbc.com
  The relationship between UK and Welsh Labour is under the microscope after Eluned Morgan failed to back the prime minister.
  
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• Starmer vows to push ahead with cuts to jury trials despite backlash

  28-01-2026 18:00 via bbc.com
  The prime minister says he made a promise to crime victims that he would tackle court delays.
  
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• China trip will bring benefits to UK, Starmer insists, ahead of Xi meeting

  28-01-2026 16:27 via bbc.com
  The prime minister seeks to strengthen ties with China but faces fierce criticism from opponents at home.
  
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• WhatsApp group councillors breached standards

  28-01-2026 15:59 via bbc.com
  A report finds Labour councillors in Tameside's Denton wards breached code of conduct.
  
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• First Minister refuses to answer questions over devolved policing

  28-01-2026 15:36 via bbc.com
  First Minister Eluned Morgan responds to questions from BBC Wales political editor Gareth Lewis.
  
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• Labour movement ‘on the line’ because of Starmer’s mistakes, says union boss – UK politics live

  28-01-2026 15:33
  Starmer’s ‘control freakery’ could end up leading Nigel Farage into No 10, Unison boss Andrea Egan saysBadenoch is now taking questions.Asked if she agreed with Reform UK that Britain is broken, Badneoch said she believed that it can be fixed.I was not elected to reheat the party with 1990s policies, and I was not elected to dismantle the party so that Nigel Farage can finally have a go.I was elected by Conservative party members to renew and rebuild. That is exactly what I am
  
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• Ofsted finds no political bias at Bristol school criticised for cancelling MP’s visit

  28-01-2026 15:09
  Snap inspection of Brunel academy took place after it withdrew invitation to pro-Israel Labour MP Damien EganA snap inspection of a Bristol secondary school criticised for postponing a visit by an MP who is a member of a group that advocates for Israel has found “no evidence of partisan political views”.Ofsted inspectors arrived at Bristol Brunel academy earlier this month after reports that its leaders had called off a visit by Damien Egan, the Labour MP for Bristol North East, afte
  
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• Centrist ideas no longer wanted in Conservative party, says Kemi Badenoch

  28-01-2026 14:53
  Party leader tells MPs that one-nation Tories doubting her rightward direction ‘need to get out of the way’UK politics live – latest updatesCentrist ideas are no longer wanted in the Conservative party, Kemi Badenoch has said, arguing that one nation-type Tories or others who have qualms about her rightward direction for the party “need to get out of the way”.Making a speech in Westminster intended to set out her vision for the party after a spate of recent defectio
  
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• Badenoch apologises for Braverman mental health claim

  28-01-2026 14:50 via bbc.com
  But she branded defectors from the Conservative party "drama queens", saying people who did not agree with the direction she was taking the party "need to get out the way".
  
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• England planning proposals fail to mention safety of women and girls, say critics

  28-01-2026 14:00
  Draft proposals likely to ‘embed risk and inequality’, campaigners and urban planners sayGovernment proposals to overhaul England’s planning system fail to mention women or girls and ignore official recommendations to keep women safe made after the death of Sarah Everard, experts have told the Guardian.Draft planning proposals – published two days before the government’s strategy to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG) – are likely to “embed ri
  
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• Labour risks election wipeout unless it improves Britain’s high streets, study finds

  28-01-2026 13:52
  Decay of town centres a top issue among voters, especially Reform UK supporters, and is fuelling resentment against WestminsterHow has your local high street changed since 2019? Check your postcodeThe struggling billionaire-owned high street that shows Reform’s road to No 10Labour will be “washed away in a tide of discontent” at the next general election unless it tackles the decline of Britain’s high streets, a study has warned, as Guardian analysis lays bare the changin
  
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• Starmer and Badenoch blast Reform UK’s by-election candidate

  28-01-2026 13:42
  Prime minister launches attack on Matt Goodwin ahead of high-stakes vote next month
  
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• Why China views the UK visit as part of something bigger

  28-01-2026 13:16 via bbc.com
  Sir Keir Starmer is one of a number of world leaders heading to Beijing
  
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• Wales' first minister refuses to support Keir Starmer

  28-01-2026 13:15 via bbc.com
  Eluned Morgan repeatedly refused to say if the prime minister is good at his job in a BBC interview.
  
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• UK cuts subsidies to ‘overcompensated’ renewable power groups

  28-01-2026 13:10
  Scheme will be linked to CPI rather than the higher RPI inflation measure and is expected to save £270mn a year
  
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• Starmer insists he will take ‘pragmatic’ approach during Beijing trip

  28-01-2026 13:03
  Four-day visit to China overshadowed by concerns about human rights and spy threats
  
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• Chris Mason reports from the tarmac in Beijing

  28-01-2026 12:01 via bbc.com
  Keir Starmer has arrived in China for a three-day visit - the first time a UK prime minister has visited the country since 2018
  
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• ‘You’d be ashamed to bring someone here’: The struggling billionaire-owned high street that shows Reform’s road to No 10

  28-01-2026 11:02
  Newton Aycliffe was meant to be a model town for a fairer postwar Britain. But unaffordable rents on a high street amounting to 0.12% of its property tycoon owner’s holdings have made it a symbol of decline – and a warning for LabourHow has your local high street changed since 2019? Check your postcodeLabour risks election wipeout unless it improves Britain’s high streetsUnder blue skies and bunting, the whole of County Durham seemed to turn out for the young Queen Elizabeth II
  
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• Starmer vows to raise issues ‘that need to be raised’ with Xi amid push to free Jimmy Lai

  28-01-2026 10:59
  PM may also discuss fate of Uyghurs with Chinese leader on trip aimed at improving economic relations‘Very low bar’: Starmer faces slim pickings in ChinaKeir Starmer has said he will “raise the issues that need to be raised” on human rights with China’s president, Xi Jinping, as he arrived in Beijing for the first trip to the country by a UK leader in eight years.The prime minister has come under pressure from rights groups to try to secure the release of Jimmy Lai,
  
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• Keir Starmer insists he will take ‘pragmatic’ approach during Beijing trip

  28-01-2026 10:44
  Four-day visit to China overshadowed by concerns about human rights and spy threats
  
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• The case for Labour’s policing overhaul — and the big risks

  28-01-2026 10:30
  Breaking down the good, the bad and the unclear in the government’s new white paper
  
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• Rwanda seeks £100m from UK over axed asylum deal

  28-01-2026 10:25 via bbc.com
  The African nation argues it is owed payments but the Home Office says it will fight the case.
  
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• Starmer speaks to Burnham after by-election row

  28-01-2026 09:16 via bbc.com
  Sir Keir rejects claims that Andy Burnham was told in advance he would not be accepted as a candidate.
  
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• Starmer says Reform pursuing politics of ‘toxic division’ after Matt Goodwin unveiled as byelection candidate

  28-01-2026 08:00
  Prime minister says Reform seeking to ‘tear people apart’ after Gorton and Denton candidate questions whether all UK-born people are BritishKeir Starmer has accused the Reform UK candidate in the Greater Manchester byelection of pursuing the politics of “toxic division” after he refused to disown his claim that UK-born people from minority ethnic backgrounds are not necessarily British.The prime minister suggested that Matthew Goodwin, a hard-right activist, would try to
  
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• Starmer blasts ‘toxic’ politics of Reform UK’s by-election candidate

  28-01-2026 08:00
  Prime minister launches attack on Matt Goodwin ahead of high-stakes poll next month
  
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• Will Suella Braverman's defection prompt a by-election?

  28-01-2026 07:07 via bbc.com
  Suella Braverman has defected to Reform UK from the Conservatives - but what does that mean for her constituents?
  
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• From the Burnham row to the China visit, avoiding hard choices is the Starmer doctrine | Rafael Behr

  28-01-2026 07:00
  Whether at home or abroad, the pattern of ducking difficult arguments and calling it pragmatism is the sameThere comes a point in a prime minister’s career when foreign travel offers respite from domestic trouble. Even when relations with the host country are tricky, as Britain’s are with China, the dignifying protocols of statecraft make a beleaguered politician feel valued.Next comes the phase where missions overseas feel dangerous because plotters can organise more openly against
  
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• The rise of the ‘National Health State’

  28-01-2026 06:00
  As patients and residents struggle to access deteriorating public services in England, NHS trusts are stepping in
  
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• UK’s deadline for paying IHT on pensions poses ‘huge problem’, peers warn

  28-01-2026 01:01
  Government should extend time to pay from six to 12 months, says Lords committee
  
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