UK politics

UK politics

Nearly 30 councils will no longer hold elections this year due to a major reorganisation of local government, with some requesting a delay and others giving the government information about capacity that has led to a delay being granted. Councillors in all 29 areas where a postponement has occurred will have their term extended, meaning they have the opportunity to continue in their roles until the next elections are held, which is expected to be in 2028.

The Labour peer Julie Elliott said the north must be front and centre of the Treasury's growth strategy for clean energy. Analysis published by the business group Northern Powerhouse Partnership shows net zero accounts for a higher share of regional output in the north of England than it does across Britain, and the north accounts for just over a fifth of the country's net zero output.

Belfast City Council looks set to suspend its use of social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, following recent concerns over its AI tool Grok. The council's strategic and resources committee on Friday decided it should "suspend posting on its account and signpost followers towards the council's other social media channels". The decision is subject to ratification at the next full council meeting on 2 February.

The Scottish Labour leader was speaking alongside families of children and adults who died after contracting infections while undergoing cancer treatment at the Queen Elizabeth university hospital (QEUH) campus in Glasgow. Friday is the final day of hearings in the six-year public inquiry ordered by the former health secretary Jeane Freeman into the design and construction of the hospitals launched after deaths linked to infections in the water supply and ventilation system.

The British government has conceded it should not have approved a campus near London's M25 orbital motorway and that the decision should be quashed, following a legal challenge by campaign group Foxglove. The non-profit filed its challenge last year after the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government overturned Buckinghamshire Council's rejection of the Woodlands Park site near Iver. The local authority had blocked the project on grounds it would significantly alter the area's character and appearance.

Quizzed on whether the proposal, first outlined in Reform UK's 2024 manifesto, remained party policy, Farage replied bluntly: "We are going to do it." "Some of the banks won't like it," he added. "Well, I don't like the banks very much because they debanked me, didn't they? This will be tough for banks to accept, but the drain on public finances is just too great."

There's a huge amount of work to do we won't be one of the signatories today, because this is about a legal treaty that raises much broader issues, and we do also have concerns about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace, when we have still not seen any signs from Putin that there will be a commitment to peace in Ukraine. And to be honest, that is also what we should be talking about.

Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

Under existing rules, savers can draw on their private pension from age 55, 11 years before the state pension age, which is due to rise from 66 to 67 this year. Up to a quarter of a private pension, capped at £268,275, can be taken tax-free from that point. In a new intervention, the think tank said ministers should consider limiting access to private pension wealth before state pension age, either by raising the minimum access age or by reducing the amount that can be withdrawn tax-free.

Public sector net borrowing the difference between spending and income was 11.6bn last month, the Office for National Statistics said, compared with 18.7bn in the same month a year earlier. Economists polled by Reuters had expected borrowing to be 13bn in December. The figure is closely watched by the City as it shows how much the government is borrowing to finance its spending plans and whether it is exceeding its target for the year.

A former minister has warned the prime minister could face a "mass rebellion" if the government waters down promised reforms of the leasehold system in England and Wales. Justin Madders told the BBC Labour must stick to its pledge to cap ground rents - an annual fee leaseholders must pay to their freeholder. Labour's election manifesto promised "to tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rent charges" but there are concerns the government may row back on a cap because of the potential impact on pension funds.

those options range from "option 0", simply doing nothing and leaving UK copyright legislation in its currently uncertain state when it comes to the use of copyright materials to train AI models, through to options which would either require specific consent from rights holders in all cases ("option 1") or allow consent to be assumed by AI developers unless a rights holder objects, subject to developers being transparent about what materials have been used in training ("option 3").

Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

These powers could cover "governance, financial management and recruitment" at the Aspirerun authority but should be used "only where necessary".