Lead News

Commonwealth leaders have agreed the “time has come” for a conversation about reparations for the slave trade, despite the UK’s desire to keep the subject off the agenda at a two-day summit in Samoa. A document signed by 56 heads of government, including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, acknowledges calls for “discussions on reparatory justice” for the “abhorrent” transatlantic ...

Sir Keir Starmer has attempted to define who “working people” are, amid renewed scrutiny of his tax plans ahead of next week’s Budget. Labour promised at the general election not to increase taxes on working people – but the party did not define who it had in mind. The government is looking at increasing tax on asset sales, such as ...

Commonwealth heads of government are preparing to defy the United Kingdom and agree plans to examine reparatory justice for the transatlantic slave trade, the BBC has learned. Downing Street insists the issue is not on the agenda for the summit of 56 Commonwealth countries, which begins in the Pacific island nation of Samoa on Friday. But diplomatic sources said officials ...

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has played down the significance of alleged interference by the Labour Party in the US presidential election. The Trump campaign has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in Washington seeking an immediate investigation into alleged “blatant foreign interference”. Sir Keir, who met Trump last month, said party staff going to the US to ...

Health Secretary Wes Streeting will vote against changing the law on assisted dying, the BBC has confirmed. Backbench Labour MP Kim Leadbeater has put forward a bill proposing that terminally ill adults nearing the end of their lives get the right to choose to shorten their deaths if they wish. But in a meeting of Labour MPs on Monday, Streeting ...

King Charles has arrived in Samoa for a four-day state visit where he will preside for the first time over a gathering of Commonwealth presidents and prime ministers. Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa greeted the King and Queen Camilla at Faleolo International Airport where a red carpet had been rolled out amid high winds and last-minute vacuum cleaning. The Royal ...

Conservative leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch has criticised a Tory MP who said he wouldn’t choose her as leader as she is “preoccupied with her own children”. Sir Christopher Chope told ITV that “you can’t spend all your time with your family” while being leader of the opposition. He said he would be voting for Robert Jenrick – Badenoch’s opponent in ...

British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Sarah Cooke today met with Foreign Affairs Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain and discussed the UK’s support for Bangladesh’s interim government. During the meeting, the British envoy reiterated the UK’s commitment to assisting Bangladesh’s interim administration as it works to lay the foundation for a democratic transition in the country. Both of them also discussed the ...

Sir Keir Starmer has not ruled out a National Insurance increase for employers in the Budget, in a BBC Breakfast interview. The prime minister side-stepped questions over whether Labour’s manifesto promise not to raise taxes for “working people” covered employers’ National Insurance (NI), but it was apparent from the prime minister’s interview that NI for employers is going to rise. ...

After a torrid few weeks, Labour now has the opportunity to get on the front foot, and deliver on a major election pledge. The government will fulfil their promise to bring forward legislation on workers’ rights within 100 days. But in some cases employees will have to wait nearer to 1,000 days to enjoy new rights. The new Employment Bill, ...