Politics

The UK has not agreed to allow the US to launch air strikes against Iran from a British base on Diego Garcia and another in Gloucestershire, it is understood. The Times first reported the lack of permission. The newspaper said, as a result of the UK’s reticence, Donald Trump had withdrawn his support for a…

Baroness Harman has said Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest has heightened the need for him to testify to US politicians about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. It follows the former prince being taken into custody by Thames Valley Police on Thursday – his birthday – over allegations of misconduct in a public office. He has previously denied…

Number 10 will be nursing its whiplash this evening as Donald Trump once again throws a diplomatic hand grenade into the UK’s Chagos deal with Mauritius. Posting on Truth Social, Donald Trump implored Sir Keir Starmer to scrap the deal, saying: “DO NOT GIVE AWAY DIEGO GARCIA!” In his long post online, the US president…

Donald Trump has launched a fresh broadside on the UK’s Chagos Islands deal with Mauritius, saying Sir Keir Starmer is “making a big mistake”. In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president warned against the loss of the US-UK military base on Diego Garcia, which the UK is retaining through a 99-year…

MPs have called on the government to immediately ban Brazilian butt lifts (BBLs). The Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) of MPs accused ministers of “not moving fast enough” in introducing a licensing system for non-surgical cosmetic procedures. They warned that a lack of regulation in the cosmetics industry had led to a “wild west” where…

Sir Keir Starmer has warned “public health isn’t a culture war” and urged parents to check their children are up to date with vaccinations after a measles outbreak. The prime minister said it was “concerning to see more children getting measles” as Enfield, north London, recorded 34 confirmed cases between 1 January and 9 February…

Nigel Farage pulled out all the stops to dazzle the audience when he unveiled his cabinet-in-waiting: podiums, lights, music and a sense of showbiz his rivals would struggle to muster. But there remains one problem he cannot entirely shake: the faces behind those podiums are politicians who stood for the Conservative Party when it was…

The UK’s unemployment rate has increased again – to the highest level in nearly five years, according to new official figures. The jobless rate ticked up to 5.2% in December, the highest since the three months up to January 2021, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed. The figure had stood at 4.1%…

The government has changed its mind again. By my count, for the 15th time. The government planned to postpone local elections in 30 areas of England due to take place in May, but after a court challenge from Reform UK, it thought better of it. With government lawyers offering new legal advice saying the proposed…

The government has abandoned plans to postpone 30 local elections in May following legal advice. Labour announced in December it was planning to cancel elections in 30 areas – affecting more than 4.5 million people – to overhaul English council structures. But on Monday, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said it…