Political news

• Five things we learned from Senedd election debate

  04-01-2026 15:11 via bbc.com
  Political parties take part in a New Year debate ahead of May's Welsh Senedd election.
  
  Read more

• UK competition watchdog cleared every merger in 2025 after government pressure

  12-01-2026 06:00
  CMA chair Marcus Bokkerink was ousted a year ago over concerns the regulator was hampering Labour’s pro-growth agenda
  
  Read more

• Danish officials hope to calm the conversation over Greenland

  11-01-2026 19:15
  Talks over Arctic island’s future, Le Pen in court again, Wall Street bank results season kicks off and UK gets a GDP update
  
  Read more

• Britain in talks with Nato allies over increasing presence in Arctic

  11-01-2026 19:00
  UK premier Keir Starmer is seeking to fend off Donald Trump’s threat to take over Greenland
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Andy Burnham backs Kemi Badenoch’s call for stricter rules on children and social media

  11-01-2026 15:55
  Keir Starmer has so far resisted an Australian-style ban on under-16s using social media
  
  Read more

• The UK needs a detox from fiscal turmoil

  11-01-2026 13:00
  Budget speculation dominated much of 2025. The chancellor’s New Year’s resolution should be to avoid a repeat in 2026
  
  Read more

• I never saw young women on Epstein visits, Mandelson tells BBC

  11-01-2026 11:23 via bbc.com
  In his first interview since being sacked as the UK's US ambassador, Lord Mandelson also says he does not believe Donald Trump will take Greenland by force.
  
  Read more

• Tories would ban under-16s from social media

  11-01-2026 07:21 via bbc.com
  Kemi Badenoch has promised to follow the example of Australia, which introduced the policy in December last year.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• EU demands ‘Farage clause’ as part of Brexit reset talks with Britain

  11-01-2026 06:00
  Brussels wants insurance in the event that Reform UK wins the next election
  
  Read more

• Potholes map rates council road repair progress

  11-01-2026 03:09 via bbc.com
  Thirteen local authorities received a "red rating" on the Department for Transport mapping tool for England.
  
  Read more

• Starmer has kept Trump on side - but is it coming back to bite him?

  10-01-2026 15:00 via bbc.com
  The PM’s increasingly assertive opponents are set on turning one of his few sweet spots sour.
  
  Read more

• Musk says X outcry is 'excuse for censorship'

  10-01-2026 12:41 via bbc.com
  The government is urging Ofcom to use all its powers – up to and including an effective ban – against X.
  
  Read more

• You’ve withdrawn your pension lump sum — now what?

  10-01-2026 06:00
  Make the most of your tax-free cash. Live long, live well and live generously
  
  Read more

• Will the latest Budget U-turn save Britain’s pubs?

  10-01-2026 06:00
  Watering down business rates for pubs alone fails to reflect pressures in the wider hospitality sector
  
  Read more

• Why schools are training children to be able to hold a knife and fork

  10-01-2026 06:00
  Rising number of five-year-olds in England lack basic skills to be ready for the classroom
  
  Read more

• Spending on consultants cut by 14% across UK government

  10-01-2026 06:00
  Consultancy costs have ballooned in recent years due to Brexit and the pandemic
  
  Read more

• Trump threatens Greenland and Iran at meeting with oil bosses on Venezuela – as it happened

  10-01-2026 03:59 via theguardian.com
  This live blog is now closed.Trump news at a glance: president pitches oil companies on major extractions in VenezuelaPope Leo XIV has denounced how nations are using force to assert their dominion worldwide, saying they are “completely undermining” peace and the post-Second World War international legal order, AP reported.In his most substantial critique of US, Russian and other military incursions in sovereign countries, Leo told ambassadors who represent their countries’ int
  
  Read more

• Farage vows to fight Starmer’s reset of EU ties and uphold Brexit

  10-01-2026 00:40
  Reform UK leader launches party’s campaign for London local elections by targeting control of six councils
  
  Read more

• Zarah Sultana’s Your Party membership launch may be ‘criminal’ matter for police, ICO says

  09-01-2026 21:58 via theguardian.com
  Information watchdog says party’s data controller should consider ‘taking further action’ over unauthorised portalZarah Sultana’s unauthorised launch of a Your Party membership portal may have been “serious criminal activity” and should be referred to the police, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has advised.Jeremy Corbyn’s Peace and Justice Project (PJP), which referred Your Party to the information watchdog last September over a potenti
  
  Read more

• Reform UK accused of betraying election pledges after council tax rises

  09-01-2026 18:53 via theguardian.com
  Four out of five councils controlled by party have proposed 5% council tax rises, the maximum permitted by lawNigel Farage’s Reform UK has been accused of betraying election promises to cut council tax after several councils it controls said they planned to increase rates close to the maximum allowed.They include Kent county council – the party’s flagship local authority and one viewed by it as the “shop window” for what a Reform-led government would look like &ndas
  
  Read more

• EU member states back Mercosur trade deal

  09-01-2026 18:38
  Majority of countries approve agreement with South American bloc despite opposition from European farmers
  
  Read more

• Watch: Backlash against Musk's Grok AI explained

  09-01-2026 18:19 via bbc.com
  Technology editor Zoe Kleinman explains the row over changes made by X to it's Grok AI image edits, after the UK government called it "insulting".
  
  Read more

• UK facing £28bn defence spending gap claims

  09-01-2026 17:32 via bbc.com
  The MoD believes it requires an extra £28bn over the next four years, according to reports.
  
  Read more

• Trump's grand plan to reshape the world order leaves Europe with a difficult choice to make

  09-01-2026 17:30 via bbc.com
  The turbocharged events of the last week - and the new US National Security Strategy - raise pressing questions about the new world order, and what it means for Europe
  
  Read more

• Council writes off £3m Liberty Steel rates debt

  09-01-2026 17:29 via bbc.com
  Rotherham Council says it intends to submit a claim to administrators for the outstanding balance.
  
  Read more

• Long waits for disability benefit claims unacceptable, MPs say

  09-01-2026 17:22 via bbc.com
  Some people are waiting more than a year to have their claims processed, the Public Accounts Committee says.
  
  Read more

• UK politics: Reform UK mayoral candidate apologises for Lammy ‘go home’ tweet – as it happened

  09-01-2026 17:15 via theguardian.com
  Chris Parry, who is contending for the Hampshire and Solent mayoralty, says his post was intended ‘ironically’Downing Street has defended its decision to single out pubs for special help with the problems created by rising business rate costs.At the No 10 lobby briefing this morning, the PM’s spokesperson confirmed that a package of measures to help pubs will be unveiled in the coming days. But he did not give any further details.We recognise that pubs are at the heart of our c
  
  Read more

• Starmer should not be afraid to pick a fight to get things done

  09-01-2026 17:00
  Public sector reform should be easiest for Labour to do, precisely because it is Labour
  
  Read more

• UK right to weigh diplomacy before ‘calling out’ allies on international law breaches, says attorney general

  09-01-2026 16:14 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: In first comments since US attack on Venezuela, Richard Hermer refrains from singling out Trump administrationNations are right to consider diplomatic relations when deciding whether to “call out” potential breaches of international law, the attorney general has said, after the UK government faced criticism over its reluctance to condemn the US attack on Venezuela.In an interview with the Guardian, Richard Hermer, the government’s most senior law officer and a close
  
  Read more

• Lib Dems call on Reform MPs to donate income from X to charity amid Grok row

  09-01-2026 15:40 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Party says Nigel Farage and colleagues receiving ‘tainted money’ for their posts on Elon Musk’s platformThe Liberal Democrats have urged Reform UK MPs who receive payment from X for their posts to donate the money to charities working to combat sexual exploitation, after the site was flooded with AI-generated sexualised images of women and children.The Lib Dem spokesperson for science, innovation and technology, Victoria Collins, said Nigel Farage and other MPs paid
  
  Read more

Follow @political_UKnws on Twitter!