Political news

• Watch: Counting under way in Clacton by-election

  14-08-2026 00:16 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Votes are being counted in the Clacton by-election, with results expected in the early hours of Friday.
  
  Read more

• Labour MP suspended amid investigation into Covid loans

  17-08-2026 20:39 via ft.com
  UK Bounce Back scheme provided taxpayer-funded loans at a low interest rate
  
  Read more

• The UK is going the wrong way about protecting pubs

  17-08-2026 20:03 via ft.com
  Government measures do little to support bars’ underlying business case
  
  Read more

• DUP MP Jim Shannon charged with common assault of a woman

  17-08-2026 18:35 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The incident is alleged to have happened on 1 October 2023.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Labour MP suspended as party launches investigation into Covid loans

  17-08-2026 18:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Alaba has said he took out two taxpayer-funded loans during the pandemic but insisted he had not tried to avoid paying the money back.
  
  Read more

• Reform proposes ban on most benefits for foreign nationals in UK

  17-08-2026 17:15 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The move would require renegotiating the UK's Brexit deal and could risk stripping British expats living in the EU of similar rights.
  
  Read more

• Wildfire phone alert was 'entirely appropriate', government says

  17-08-2026 16:35 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Millions of phones across England and Wales bleeped with a "severe alert" notification on Friday.
  
  Read more

• Burnham exchanged messages with person posing as Trump's chief of staff

  17-08-2026 16:24 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Downing Street has declined to comment on the security breach, first reported by Politico.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Reform’s deputy leader tells Britons to ‘enjoy’ heat amid record drought

  17-08-2026 16:00 via ft.com
  Richard Tice’s call for people to ‘celebrate’ hotter weather comes as farmers warn of one of the worst harvests on record
  
  Read more

• UK government to pay KPMG and EY up to £456mn to train civil servants

  17-08-2026 14:42 via ft.com
  Deal marks largest contract awarded to Big Four firms in at least a decade
  
  Read more

• What I read on my holidays

  17-08-2026 10:30 via ft.com
  Muddled thinking about vocational education and fixing the driving test backlog
  
  Read more

• Burnham exchanged texts with person posing as Trump’s chief of staff

  17-08-2026 10:11 via ft.com
  UK prime minister was contacted by someone claiming to be Susie Wiles
  
  Read more

• Changing pubs into homes to be made harder under new rules

  17-08-2026 09:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The rules will come into force on Monday along with other changes to planning policy.
  
  Read more

• Burnham faces climate test over North Sea oil decision

  17-08-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Prime minister expected to approve development of controversial Rosebank and Jackdaw projects
  
  Read more

• Andy Burnham faces climate test over North Sea oil decision

  17-08-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Prime minister expected to approve development of controversial Rosebank and Jackdaw projects
  
  Read more

• Jamie Dimon warns UK chancellor against higher bank taxes

  16-08-2026 21:00 via ft.com
  JPMorgan chief’s call to John Healey is part of lobbying by financial services sector ahead of October Budget
  
  Read more

• Thames Barrier may need £20bn replacement far sooner than expected

  16-08-2026 20:00 via ft.com
  Extreme weather has put London’s flood defence under strain, senior government officials warn
  
  Read more

• London’s flood-defence system may need urgent replacement as extreme weather worsens

  16-08-2026 20:00 via ft.com
  Thames Barrier upgrade could cost at least £20bn, senior government officials warn
  
  Read more

• London’s flood defence may need replacing far sooner than expected due to extreme weather

  16-08-2026 20:00 via ft.com
  Thames Barrier upgrade could cost at least £20bn, senior government officials warn
  
  Read more

• Rayner reforms planning to protect England’s pubs and boost housebuilding

  16-08-2026 18:35 via ft.com
  Ministers to encourage property developments close to train, tram and underground stations
  
  Read more

• Emergency phone alert put domestic abuse victims at risk, campaigners say

  16-08-2026 17:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The alert took many by surprise when it was sent to millions of phones on Friday night - but it may have also put vulnerable people at risk.
  
  Read more

• Calls for public inquiry into Jason Arday 'witch hunt'

  16-08-2026 17:33 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Lord Simon Woolley said Arday had been "hounded" by the media and pursued relentlessly.
  
  Read more

• British farmers need more help to cope with brutal heat

  16-08-2026 15:06 via ft.com
  Water shortages have become a dark daily reality affecting crops, livestock and the viability of farms
  
  Read more

• Reform UK vows to cut £50bn from welfare bill if it wins power

  16-08-2026 14:39 via ft.com
  Robert Jenrick says current benefits system is ‘a strange perversion of compassion’
  
  Read more

• Reform UK vows to block foreign nationals from claiming benefits if it wins power

  16-08-2026 14:39 via ft.com
  Party’s Treasury spokesperson Robert Jenrick says current welfare system is ‘a strange perversion of compassion’
  
  Read more

• Farage’s fruitless by-election gambit

  16-08-2026 14:35 via ft.com
  Victory in Clacton will not enable Reform UK leader to dodge questions over finances
  
  Read more

• UK-made drones strike targets inside Russia

  16-08-2026 14:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The drones have been used for the first time in mainland Russia to hit military and industrial targets.
  
  Read more

• The Italian university benefiting from the post-Brexit student shift

  16-08-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Bocconi is among the institutions filling the gap as European undergraduates avoid higher UK fees
  
  Read more

• I survived two years as prime minister in a hit new game - then my cabinet deserted me

  16-08-2026 01:45 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Mobile game No 10: Full Confidence recently ranked above Minecraft on the UK App Store paid games chart
  
  Read more

• Who voted for Count Binface and why?

  15-08-2026 18:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Cheaper Flakes and using Adele to fund the NHS - voters on why they support a man dressed as a bin.
  
  Read more

Follow @political_UKnws on Twitter!