Lead News

Nearly all women who try to reach the UK in small boats from northern France have been raped on their journey, Shabana Mahmood has claimed. In an interview with The Rest Is Politics podcast, the home secretary said far-right, balaclava-wearing activists would “kill” or “kick me out of my own country” if they took power. Speaking to the former Tory ...

Andy Burnham will pass legislation to scrap the state pension triple lock in this parliament, even though the guarantee will remain until 2030, the government has said. The prime minister used his conference speech to announce a change to the policy, which guarantees that the state pension rises by the highest of 2.5%, inflation or earnings growth. In future, the ...

LONDON, Sept 30, 2026 : Andy Burnham put the idea of Britain rejoining the EU on the table Wednesday, breaking a taboo for a UK prime minister and leading French President Emmanuel Macron to declare in English “Welcome back”. Burnham reopened the divisive Brexit debate by saying his centre-left Labour government could go “all the way” and propose membership of ...

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 ...