Lead News

A former Conservative minister who lost his seat at last year’s general election has been accused of continuing to “parade around as MP” by the leader of the House of Commons. Brendan Clarke-Smith was a children’s minister under Boris Johnson and the MP for Bassetlaw from 2019 until July last year, when Labour’s Jo White won the seat. More than ...

Some people on benefits are “taking the mickey”, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has said, as the government seeks ways to curb welfare spending. Kendall was speaking to ITV about a Department of Work and Pensions survey that suggested 200,000 people on benefits were ready to work if they had support. The DWP report found 49% of health and ...

Sarah Cooke, British High Commissioner to Bangladesh, has said the United Kingdom (UK) will remain a steadfast partner of Bangladesh, noting that the two countries continue to expand their bilateral trade through the UK’s Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS). Representing eight businesses by a group of diverse and inspirational Bangladeshi women entrepreneurs is set to lead a trade mission to ...

Sir Keir Starmer will visit Washington for talks with Donald Trump within weeks, the foreign secretary has suggested. Speaking ahead of Trump’s inauguration as president on Monday, David Lammy said the “strength” of the UK-US relationship meant he was “very confident” the PM would secure an early meeting. There are several diplomatic challenges looming for the Labour government in its ...

The humble sandeel is set to take centre stage in the first courtroom trade battle between the UK and EU since Brexit. The UK has banned European vessels from catching the silvery fish species in its North Sea waters to protect marine wildlife that depend on it for food. But the EU is challenging the move, arguing it discriminates against ...

Sir Keir Starmer faced a grilling from Kemi Badenoch over Tulip Siddiq’s resignation and the economy as the two leaders clashed at Prime Minister’s Questions. The London MP quit as a Treasury minister on Tuesday after a ministerial standards watchdog probe into links to the political movement of her aunt, the exiled former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina. As City ...

Sir Keir Starmer has made his first trip to Kyiv as prime minister, vowing to put Ukraine in the “strongest possible position” in 2025. Arriving on Thursday morning, he accompanied Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to lay flowers at a wall of remembrance for those killed in the war with Russia – telling reporters the UK will “never let up” on ...

Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq has resigned after growing pressure over an anti-corruption investigation in Bangladesh. The Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate had referred herself to the PM’s standards adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, but insisted she has done nothing wrong. She said that whilst Sir Laurie found she had not breached ministerial rules, it was “clear that continuing in my ...

Artificial intelligence presents a “vast potential” for rejuvenating UK public services, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Monday. In a speech setting out the government’s plans to use AI across the UK to boost growth and deliver services more efficiently, the Prime Minister said the government had a responsibility to make AI “work for working people”. The AI Opportunities ...

King Charles will travel to Auschwitz later this month to attend an event marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp. The commemoration in Poland will take place on 27 January, with the King among the international visitors expected for memorial events. On Monday afternoon at Buckingham Palace, the King will meet people involved in education ...