UK politics

UK politics

The Birmingham reggae band UB40 began as a quintessential product of the troubled era when Margaret Thatcher was the UK's prime minister, archly taking their name from the attendance card needed to claim unemployment benefit, and singing songs about life at the sharp end of her rule. Their peak period lasted until the early- to mid-1990s. In 2008, there came a rupture due to management and business disputes rather than anything musical which opened the way to the choice that now confronts

The Hillsborough Law would introduce a legal obligation for public authorities to cooperate and tell the truth in inquiries. However, bereaved families and some Labour MPs have raised concerns the heads of security services would be able to exempt MI5 and MI6 officers from disclosing information. Nandy insisted security services would not be exempt from the legislation but she told the BBC the challenge was also ensuring officers, who often held confidential information, could continue to do their jobs.

The response to the 2024 riots in England and Northern Ireland failed to address its root causes and delinked the violence from racism, a thinktank has claimed. A paper by the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) reported that an obfuscation of the causes and consequences of the riots risks legitimising further far-right mobilisation and vigilante violence. It said that what happened has often been reduced to mindless thuggery or violence.

I think perhaps there is some work to be done in supporting and helping our councils to understand what powers they do have. And how they might use them going forward in this new world - where we are beginning to look quite seriously at proper devolution down to parish council level.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has insisted Britain is not broken after her former minister Robert Jenrick criticised the party for failing to campaign on that line. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, she said: "Ours is still one of the most successful, resilient and influential countries on Earth," adding that telling voters their "country is finished" only "drags them down". She also insisted that the Conservatives were stronger after Jenrick was sacked, ahead of his defection to Reform.

He was secretary of state for international development when he launched an unsuccessful bid to become Tory leader in 2019. Later that year, he resigned from the party to stand as an independent in the London mayoral elections. He co-hosts the podcast The Rest Is Politics and is the author of prize-winning and bestselling books including The Places in Between and Politics on the Edge. His latest is Middleland.

Metropolitan Police/PA Wire Justice Secretary David Lammy has intervened to block the transfer of a killer to an open prison after it emerged he had released drill music with lyrics referencing the murder, under a pseudonym. Jake Fahri was sentenced to life in 2009 for killing 16-year-old Jimmy Mizen by throwing an oven dish at him that shattered and severed the arteries in his neck.

It is never ideal in politics to have a senior colleague defect, hurling insults as they depart, but as the dust settles on Robert Jenrick's move to Reform UK, many of the remaining Conservative MPs agree on one thing: it has left Kemi Badenoch stronger. Historically, the party has suffered from two weaknesses: too many people trying to bring down the leader, and not enough leaders getting rid of those people, one shadow minister said. Hopefully now we're all pulling in the same direction.

I would look to ban face coverings, if I could, but I would like to make it a reason for stop and search. I don't think in an open society you need to cover your face. I've prosecuted a woman in a burka. It has to be assumed that if you're hiding your face, you're hiding it for a criminal reason.

"It is staggering Labour has now presided over a fall of 1,313 police officers already,"

Tens of thousands of jobs could be lost if the UK's clean energy supply chains were to suffer a shock as a result of an over-reliance on China, a left-leaning thinktank has warned. A year-long disruption to the supply of essential battery components used to manufacture electric vehicles could wipe out production of more than 580,000 electric cars and endanger 90,000 jobs, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research.

According to an investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ), Portland outsourced Wikipedia edits relating to some of its high-profile clients, including the state of Qatar. TBIJ said it had evidence of alleged Wikipedia edits made on behalf of Portland between 2016 and 2024. Between 2016 and 2021, many were made by Web3 Consulting, which is run by a consultant allegedly used by Portland to make edits.

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.

Five pro-Palestinian activists have pleaded not guilty to breaking into a British military air base and damaging two planes in protest against the UK's support for Israel's war in Gaza. The five are accused of breaking into the Brize Norton Royal Air Force base in central England in June and spraying red paint over two Voyager aircraft used for refuelling and transport.