UK politics

UK politics

Banks and card providers will be given the power, from March, to set a maximum - or unlimited - single payment amount without the need to enter a four-digit PIN. But they are also being encouraged by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to allow cardholders to set their own individual limits, or switch off contactless entirely. Some banks already offer this function.

Essex Police said it could not investigate the Clacton MP because more than a year had passed since the alleged offence. It followed a former member of Farage's campaign team claiming Reform spent more than the 20,660 spending limit set by law. A police spokeswoman said: "Any prosecution for such an offence must commence within one year." She said an "allegation around misreported expenditure by a political candidate" in July 2024 was made on 5 December.

It is not fair that Wales is treated the way it is, and it is not fair that Welsh ministers are humiliated and we saw it this afternoon having to run to catch up because they don't know what's being said from London,

No 10 normally holds two briefings on most days that parliament sits to allow the lobby political journalists that cover Westminster to question the prime minister's official spokesperson. But in an email on Thursday, Tim Allan, Downing Street's executive director of communications, said there would be no afternoon briefings from next month. He said No 10 would instead hold occasional afternoon press conferences with ministers, as well as technical briefings with officials.

Richard Pearson is visiting Surrey to close down his late father's home and settle his affairs and, everywhere he looks, the flag of St George is flying from suburban gardens and filling stations and branch post offices. How nice, he thinks, how festive. Soon he learns the truth. So runs the opening not of a recent piece of journalism, but a novel by JG Ballard, Kingdom Come, which despite being almost 20 years old anticipates today's Britain with eerie precision.

Chair of the committee Dame Chi Onwurah started by asking about cellular coverage, noting that the government's aim in its Proposed Statement of Strategic Priorities (SSP) is to have high-quality standalone 5G in all populated areas of the UK by 2030. She asked what that meant. Sadly, Baroness Lloyd struggled to articulate what "high-quality standalone 5G" means. She offered that "standalone 5G, which is sometimes called 5G-plus, is the next capability on from 5G. It allows much better data transfer."

Keir Starmer has appointed the career diplomat Christian Turner as the new ambassador to Washington, government sources have confirmed. Turner will be replacing Peter Mandelson who was forced to quit over his links to Jeffrey Epstein. Turner, the ambassador to the United Nations, was previously political director at the Foreign Office and brokered a close relationship with the new Labour administration before he left for New York.

In the year leading up to March 2025, one in eight women in England and Wales had been a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking. Almost 200 rapes are recorded every day. And on average, three women are killed by men in the UK every single week. Just pause and consider that. There has been plenty of tough talk on violence against women and girls over the past decade but too little action.

Health secretary Wes Streeting has insisted the government's approach to trans youth healthcare is based on the "highest standards of ethics" despite concerns over the impact on young people. The Ilford North MP, 42, argued that the government is committed to an "evidence-based approach" to gender-affirming care for trans and non-binary young people. Responding to questions on the upcoming NHS puberty blocker trial during a Commons debate on Wednesday (17 December), Streeting insisted he was following "clinical advice" in his decision-making.

The Office of National Statistics latest report shows unemployment has risen from 4.1% when Labour took office in July 2024 to 5.1% on Tuesday, an increase of around 24%. This is the sharpest rise in joblessness in several years and takes us back to levels last seen during the recovery from the pandemic. Businesses have been hit hard by Labour's increase to employers National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and National Minimum Wage (NMW).

Labour's crackdown on foreign workers could cost the UK economy millions, Sir Keir Starmer has been warned. Plans to increase the salary threshold for workers seeking to come to Britain, as part of wider changes to bring down immigration numbers, would cost between 520-710 million because thousands fewer people would be contributing to the UK economy, an independent watchdog has found.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures last month showed there was a 69% drop, from 649,000, in the number of people immigrating minus the number of people emigrating in the year to June 2025. Just under 900,000 people immigrated to the UK between July 2024 and June 2025, down more than 400,000 on the year before. At the same time, 693,000 people emigrated from the UK, up by 43,000 on the previous year.

When the billionaire chief executive of AI chipmaker Nvidia threw a party in central London for Donald Trump's state visit in September, the power imbalance between Silicon Valley and British politicians was vividly exposed. Jensen Huang hastened to the stage after meetings at Chequers and rallied his hundreds of guests to cheer on the power of AI. In front of a huge Nvidia logo, he urged the venture capitalists before him to herald a new industrial revolution,

When we said we'd protect jobs and invest in Britain's future, we meant it - and this is proof,

Freemasonry has the highest moral and ethical standards standards that have been a cornerstone of its identity since the earliest days of organised Freemasonry over 300 years ago. The decision by the Metropolitan Police casts an aura of mistrust over the entire Freemason community. Given the obvious, detrimental impact on our members, United Grand Lodge of England, Order of Women Freemasons and Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons consider that we now have no choice but to take legal action to challenge this unlawful decision.

The conciliation service Acas has offered to help to try to break the deadlock in the resident doctors' strike in England. The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service has become involved in an effort to find a resolution to the long-running dispute as medics strike for the 14th time over pay and jobs. Acas's intervention comes after NHS bosses and the Patients Association in recent days urged the government and the British Medical Association to agree to independent mediation to break the deadlock.