Political news

• Seven UK Labubu shops to open, after PM's China visit

  30-01-2026 23:31 via bbc.com
  The furry dolls have a signature spiky-toothed grin and became a viral purchase last summer.
  
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• Starmer’s China trip thaws relations with Beijing but spurs criticism at home

  30-01-2026 23:30
  Fruits of improved relationship — with claims of £2.2bn in export deals and £2.3bn in ‘market access wins’ — appear relatively modest
  
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• Chris Mason: What Starmer's China reset tells us about his foreign policy

  30-01-2026 22:38 via bbc.com
  The prime minister has set out his vision - and now begun to match it with actions and overseas visits.
  
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• Epstein sent £10,000 to Mandelson's partner, released emails show

  30-01-2026 21:06 via bbc.com
  The emails were published by the US Department of Justice as part of a release running to three million pages.
  
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• Labour peer who had sanctions lifted by China says it's 'meagre return' for UK

  30-01-2026 20:12 via bbc.com
  She says raising the case of campaigner Jimmy Lai is more important than lifting sanctions against her.
  
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• Jeffrey Epstein sent money to Mandelson’s husband after prison release, emails suggest

  30-01-2026 19:43
  Child sex offender sent thousands of pounds to Reinaldo Avila da Silva, according to documents published by US justice departmentJeffrey Epstein sent thousands of pounds in bank transfers after his release from prison in 2009 to Peter Mandelson’s husband, according to emails published by the US Department of Justice on Friday.The latest documents raise fresh questions about Epstein’s relationship with Mandelson, who was sacked as the UK’s ambassador to Washington when details o
  
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• Lobbyists' trade body calls for urgent reform after Jim Murphy 'errors'

  30-01-2026 19:42 via bbc.com
  It comes after the BBC uncovered details of a firm owned by the ex-Labour minister offering access to officials for money.
  
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• Americast

  30-01-2026 19:19 via bbc.co.uk
  The president kicks off the Republican election campaign in Iowa
  
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• The Guardian view on China’s military purge: the risks grow in an age of strongmen | Editorial

  30-01-2026 18:59
  Xi Jinping’s ousting of the country’s top general underscores the concentration of power in the hands of a few – with dangers for us allSir Keir Starmer is only one of the middle power leaders trekking to Beijing to renew relations. No one has forgotten China’s increasing international forcefulness, its handling of the pandemic and its closer relations with Russia as war engulfed Ukraine. But the wildness of Donald Trump’s first year back in power is spurring Canada
  
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• The Guardian view on the class crisis in the arts: the UK’s culture must not become the preserve of the elite | Editorial

  30-01-2026 18:58
  Countless reports and celebrities have called for greater working-class representation, so why has nothing changed?In his McTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh TV festival in 2024, the playwright James Graham called class “everyone’s least favourite diversity and representation category”. A socioeconomic duty on public bodies was included in 2010’s Equality Act, but has never been enacted. Now Class Ceiling, a review from Manchester University, co-chaired by the former chief
  
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• Labour accuses Reform candidate of ‘toxic politics’ after Tommy Robinson endorsement

  30-01-2026 18:19
  Far-right activist tells X followers to vote for Reform’s Gorton and Denton candidate, Matthew GoodwinLabour have accused the Reform UK candidate for the Gorton and Denton byelection, Matthew Goodwin, of representing “toxic politics” after he was endorsed by the far-right agitator Tommy Robinson.The move will be uncomfortable for Nigel Farage, who has consistently kept the parties he leads separate from Robinson, an anti-Islam campaigner and one of the UK’s leading far-ri
  
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• UK politics: Starmer shrugs off Trump’s criticism of ‘very dangerous’ deal with China – as it happened

  30-01-2026 18:10
  Prime minister suggests US president was ‘talking more about Canada’ when asked for reaction to Beijing visitProminent Hong Kong and Uyghur activists living in exile in the UK have accused Starmer of seeking China’s desperate approval, after the prime minister visited Beijing for the first time in eight years this week.Pro-democracy campaigner and prominent critic of the Communist Party, Finn Lau said the Hong Kong community is disappointed by Starmer’s visit, but unsurpr
  
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• We will use EU summit to further unwind Brexit, vows Starmer

  30-01-2026 18:00
  UK prime minister plans to explore ways to tear down trade barriers to boost growth and cut prices
  
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• Greens select former mayoral candidate to run in Gorton and Denton byelection

  30-01-2026 17:09
  Hannah Spencer, a Trafford councillor and plumber, ran as the party’s candidate for mayor of Manchester in 2024The Green party has selected the former mayoral candidate Hannah Spencer to run in the Gorton and Denton byelection.Spencer, a Trafford councillor and plumber by trade, used to live in the constituency and was the Green candidate for mayor of Manchester in the 2024 election, where she finished fifth behind Labour’s Andy Burnham, who retained the post, and Conservative, indep
  
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• Starmer signals support for Trump’s aggressive approach towards Iran

  30-01-2026 17:07
  Prime minister says ensuring that Iran does not develop a nuclear programme is a ‘number one priority’Keir Starmer has signalled support for Donald Trump’s aggressive approach towards Iran, saying it is vital the Iranian leadership is not able to develop nuclear weapons.While the prime minister did not comment directly on the possibility of US military strikes on Iran, he said allies needed to face up to the nuclear issue and “deal with” the deadly repression of ant
  
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• Greens name Gorton and Denton by-election pick

  30-01-2026 17:00 via bbc.com
  The Green Party's leader on Trafford Council has also worked as a plumber since she was 16.
  
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• Chinese whispers - at home and abroad

  30-01-2026 16:18
  Starmer and Xi talk ties and trade while leadership challengers plot and plan in Westminster
  
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• ‘It’s about ego’: Matt Goodwin’s journey from far-right expert to firebrand Reform candidate

  30-01-2026 16:10
  Anti-immigration activist is contesting poll in borough where he previously researched far-right extremismUK politics live – latest updatesIt was the autumn of 2011 and Dr Matt Goodwin was documenting the potential reach of the racist far-right in Tameside, a borough in east Manchester that is part of the parliamentary constituency of Gorton and Denton.The borough council had spotted the work the young academic had been doing on the rise of the British National party – the subject of
  
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• For UK growth, look to the Andys

  30-01-2026 16:00
  Burnham and Street have a keen understanding of the value of empowering local people and places
  
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• Trump tells Iran to drop nuclear aims and stop killing protesters to avoid military action

  30-01-2026 15:59 via bbc.com
  Iran's Foreign Minister Araghchi says armed forces had "fingers on the trigger" to respond to any US strike.
  
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• China has lifted sanctions from six serving British MPs and peers, Starmer says

  30-01-2026 15:37
  Starmer confirms immediate removal, but it is unclear if sanctions remain on former MP, academic and barristerChina has lifted the sanctions it imposed on serving British MPs and peers in a significant sign of warming relations after Keir Starmer travelled to Beijing for landmark talks with Xi Jinping.Nine UK citizens were banned from China in 2021, including five Conservative MPs and two members of the House of Lords, targeted for highlighting human rights violations against the Muslim Uyghur c
  
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• Kemi Badenoch denies sacked Tory's claim party doesn't allow free speech

  30-01-2026 15:30 via bbc.com
  The Conservative leader was responding to a claim made by an ex-member sacked for speaking to Reform.
  
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• China lifts sanctions on MPs and peers, as Starmer says he hopes Xi will visit UK

  30-01-2026 14:51 via bbc.com
  The prime minister says lifting of travel ban on six MPs and peers vindicates his approach to China, amid criticism.
  
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• Government has duty to help pass assisted dying bill, says Leadbeater

  30-01-2026 14:19 via bbc.com
  Supporters of the proposals are urging Keir Starmer to intervene, as opponents warn against forcing the bill through.
  
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• Ex-Reform councillors join Advance UK party

  30-01-2026 14:05 via bbc.com
  Two Devon County Council members who previously quit Reform UK join a new political party.
  
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• Chinese whisky tariff cut to come into force on Monday

  30-01-2026 14:00 via bbc.com
  Import taxes on Scotch whisky will be halved from 10% to 5% - a deal the UK government said would be worth £250m to the UK's economy.
  
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• Social Democratic Party names by-election candidate

  30-01-2026 13:44 via bbc.com
  Sebastian Moore, the SDP’s north west chair, is the party's choice for the Gorton and Denton by-election.
  
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• China lifts travel ban on British MPs

  30-01-2026 13:02
  Parliamentarians were placed under sanctions in 2021 after criticising Beijing’s human rights record
  
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• Should I hire someone with designs on my job?

  30-01-2026 12:00
  Managing an ambitious subordinate remains one of the great dilemmas of working life
  
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• UK services sector holds out hopes for China boost after Starmer visit

  30-01-2026 11:40
  Finance, banking and professional services seek to grow footprint in mainland market despite past challenges
  
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• Lib Dems name Gorton and Denton by-election choice

  30-01-2026 11:20 via bbc.com
  Local activist Jackie Pearcey is the Liberal Democrats' candidate for the Greater Manchester seat.
  
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• Trump warns Starmer against closer business ties with China

  30-01-2026 11:02
  UK prime minister travels to Shanghai seeking to drum up deals after meeting Xi Jinping
  
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• Labour lacks the data and modelling to justify its judicial reforms

  30-01-2026 10:30
  Government’s misunderstanding of operational failures facing courts makes planned juryless trials hard to defend
  
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• Healthcare, visas and whisky: What did UK and China get from Starmer's visit?

  30-01-2026 09:23 via bbc.com
  Sir Keir Starmer's visit to China brought agreements on visas, services, healthcare, green tech and finance.
  
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• How liberals lost the internet | Robert Topinka

  30-01-2026 09:00
  In the first part of our series on digital politics, we look at how centrists have lost ground fighting disinformation – when the real battle is over emotion and attentionRobert Topinka is a reader in digital media and rhetoric at Birkbeck, University of LondonThere’s a strange tendency to describe social media as something other people use – those young people on TikTok, that conspiratorial uncle on Facebook, the rightwing trolls on X. In truth, we’re all online now. The
  
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• We have entered a new age of political rhetoric – and that’s bad news for Keir Starmer | Andy Beckett

  30-01-2026 07:00
  Pre-2008, voters with prosperous and improving lives didn’t mind being excluded from the conversation. Those days are over Who was the last politician you listened to for any length of time? Perhaps it was Andy Burnham or Zack Polanski. Or maybe it was Wes Streeting, Nigel Farage or Zarah Sultana. Perhaps your dark secret is that it was Donald Trump.One thing these politicians have in common is that they are all unusually good communicators. From Farage’s drawling provocations to Pol
  
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• Anomaly in UK rental reforms would leave thousands paying stamp duty

  30-01-2026 06:00
  The government said it is ‘aware’ of the issue facing tenants and working on a solution
  
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• Trump warns Starmer against closer China business ties

  30-01-2026 04:48
  UK prime minister to travel to Shanghai seeking to drum up deals after meeting Xi Jinping
  
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