Political news

• Labour criticises Tory shadow minister for representing Abramovich

  30-12-2025 16:04 via bbc.com
  Labour says it is "indefensible" for Lord Wolfson to keep his role while acting as a lawyer for the Russian billionaire.
  
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• You’ve withdrawn your pension lump sum — now what?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
  
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• 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
  
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• 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
  
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• 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
  
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• 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
  
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• 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
  
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• 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
  
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• 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
  
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• 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
  
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• 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
  
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• 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
  
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• 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
  
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• 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
  
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• Starmer rules out EU financial services alignment talks

  09-01-2026 14:32 via theguardian.com
  City firms welcome clarity as government signals it will not reopen Brussels-era rules, despite closer cooperation elsewhereBusiness live – latest updatesUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer will exclude financial services from negotiations on closer alignment with the EU, prompting a sigh of relief from Brexit-weary City lobbyists.A government spokesperson said officials would continue to explore cooperation “where it is in our economy’s interest”, but it
  
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• EU member states provisionally back Mercosur trade deal

  09-01-2026 14:01
  Ambassadors approve agreement with South American bloc in indicative vote despite opposition from European farmers
  
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• Trump trouble: Starmer's tricky start to 2026

  09-01-2026 13:55
  Navigating the foreign policy frenzy
  
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• The UK’s great worker rights experiment

  09-01-2026 13:00
  New employment law will not harm growth, government predicts
  
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• UK armed forces warn of £28bn defence funding shortfall

  09-01-2026 11:07
  Military chiefs are wrangling with Keir Starmer’s government over spending plan
  
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• No, Reform hasn’t peaked

  09-01-2026 11:02
  Still, the Conservative Party could recover some support by leveraging its pro-business instincts and intellectual offer
  
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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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