UK News

Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK cannot afford to ignore the economic opportunities presented by China, as be prepares to become the first British prime minister in eight years to visit Beijing. In an interview with Bloomberg News, Sir Keir said his visit would bring “significant opportunities” for British companies. He insisted the UK would not be forced to ...

Around 50 Labour MPs have signed a letter objecting to the decision to block Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham from standing in a forthcoming parliamentary by-election, BBC News understands. They have written to Sir Keir Starmer to warn the decision is a “real gift” to Reform UK, as polling suggests Burnham may be Labour’s “very best chance at winning” the ...

Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman has accused the Conservatives of “betrayal” as she became the latest MP from the party to defect to Reform UK. She is the third sitting Tory MP to join Nigel Farage’s party in the last eleven days, and takes Reform’s tally of MPs to eight. At a press conference following her defection, Braverman said she ...

The home secretary has announced a blueprint for reforming what she called the “broken” policing model in England and Wales. Shabana Mahmood confirmed the shake-up will create a new National Police Service (NPS) to fight the most complex cross-border crime and could also see the number of local forces in England and Wales cut by about two-thirds. She told the ...

Thousands of people have marched through an East Sussex market town to protest against UK government plans to house asylum seekers on a former military site. Crowds of men, women and children walked to Crowborough from the base, where the Home Office plans to house up to 500 male asylum seekers as part of plans to end the use of ...

Labour must do all it can to avoid a “psychodrama” over Andy Burnham’s possible return to parliament, Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, has said. Mahmood is chair of Labour’s national executive committee (NEC), which was due to meet later on Sunday to decide whether Burnham should be allowed to seek selection for the Gorton and Denton byelection, which would involve ...

If it was on the menu, a side helping of lettuce never made it to the table. Over blood-red steak and chips, Nigel Farage and Liz Truss came together on Monday for a discreet lunch at a swish Mayfair club, organised by a climate-denying US thinktank. Lois Perry, a former leader of the far-right Ukip party who is now Europe ...

Former Labour minister Andrew Gwynne has announced he is standing down as an MP, paving the way for Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to potentially run in a by-election in his Gorton and Denton constituency. In a statement, Gwynne said he had suffered “significant ill health” and had been advised by his GP that it wasn’t safe for him to ...

The minister responsible for council elections has confirmed that 29 English councils planning elections for May will now have these postponed. Local Government Secretary Steve Reed told the House of Commons he had approved delays until 2027, with a final application still under consideration due to it being submitted on Thursday morning. Opposition MPs have criticised the decision, saying delays ...

Keir Starmer has noticeably hardened his rhetoric towards Donald Trump, telling the Commons that the US president’s condemnation of the Chagos Islands deal with Mauritius was intended to weaken the UK’s resolve over Greenland. In a sometimes angry exchange with Kemi Badenoch at prime minister’s questions, Starmer denounced the Conservative leader’s use of Trump’s words to push back against the ...