Lead News

The chancellor has warned against allowing Britain’s benefits bill to balloon while not offering young people opportunities. John Healey told Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool that cutting welfare spending was “more than an economic must – it’s a moral duty”. “The best thing we can offer a young person is not a benefit payment – it’s a first job with ...

Shabana Mahmood has announced the reopening of a scheme to resettle refugees in the UK, as she hopes that offering “safe and legal” routes will deter small boat crossings. The home secretary said the UK wants to “live up to our international obligations” by helping those who are fleeing war and persecution, but the process must be “capped and controlled”. ...

The UK will set up a new centre to “stem the poisonous tide” of disinformation, including from Russia, and lead efforts to establish global safety standards for artificial intelligence, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said. In his first major international speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, Burnham warned Russian agencies are using “every means at ...

Britain’s King Charles sounded “like a lottery winner” after the death of his late first wife Diana, her brother writes in his forthcoming book, new extracts of which were published on Thursday. Diana’s brother Charles Spencer said the then-Prince Charles was “giddily elated” in the immediate aftermath of Diana’s death in 1997, possibly because he felt it meant he was ...

The leaders of the main political parties in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have declared their right to “self determination” in a joint agreement signed at a rare meeting in the Welsh capital, Cardiff. All three parties – the Scottish National Party (SNP), Plaid Cymru in Wales and the pro-Irish unity Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland – want greater autonomy ...

A bill to permit assisted dying in England and Wales has been voted down by MPs, almost certainly stopping such a measure from being enacted before the next general election at the very least least. In the second reading of the bill, put forward by Labour’s Lauren Edwards, MPs voted by 286 to 270 for it to be blocked. The ...

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has denied her party’s plans to cut housing benefit would make people homeless, but suggested some would have to “move somewhere cheaper”. At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, she had challenged Andy Burnham to commit to spending 3% of GDP on defence by 2030, saying the cost could be covered by cuts to welfare. The Conservatives ...

The British government on Monday condemned the “intimidating and thuggish behaviour” of anti-immigrant demonstrators who converged on a port in southern England where migrants were brought ashore after crossing the English Channel. Hundreds of protesters, many dressed in dark clothing and wearing masks, faced off with police in Portsmouth late Sunday in an attempt to prevent lifeboats from bringing the ...

Plans for a large reorganisation of local government have been put on hold after the government received new legal advice that suggested they might not comply with the law. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said the review was to ensure the process was robust and aligned with the new government’s aim to “rewire the state”, and ...

Keir Starmer is to quit as the MP for Holborn and St Pancras, saying it is the right time for him to leave the Commons. Starmer, who resigned as prime minister in July, told the Camden New Journal he wanted to focus on international affairs and “pass the baton to a successor”. Starmer had previously said he would seek to ...