Politics

For a prime minister who has perhaps had his hardest two weeks in office, Donald Trump became the unlikely elixir of a tough political run. It’s not a sentence I imagined writing in the run-up to this state visit – particularly when the UK ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, was sacked from his post…

A row has broken out at the top of Your Party after Jeremy Corbyn accused co-leader Zarah Sultana of sending out unauthorised emails encouraging paid membership. Meanwhile Ms Sultana admitted she had broken ranks, but claimed she did so after being “sidelined” by a “sexist boys club”. Suspicions were aroused when Mr Corbyn released a…

London’s mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has for the first time described the situation in Gaza as a “genocide”, becoming the most senior Labour figure to contradict the government’s official position. Earlier this week, a UN Commission said a genocide was taking place in Gaza – something repeatedly denied by Israel. Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer has…

The Home Office will appeal against the High Court’s decision to temporarily block the deportation of an Eritrean man to France under the government’s “one in, one out” scheme, Shabana Mahmood has confirmed. Speaking for the first time since the court’s decision on Tuesday, the new home secretary said: “Last minute attempts to frustrate a…

The UK steel industry body has said it is “disappointing” that exports of the metal will be hit with 25% tariffs. UK Steel, however, did welcome the certainty and competitive nature of the agreed 25% tax on exports of steel entering the US. “It will be disappointing if we do not have the tariff-free quota…

Downing Street has insisted its migrant returns scheme with France is not a “shambles” after the High Court blocked a man’s deportation. Having seen the previous Conservative government’s Rwanda scheme run into trouble with the courts, the Labour administration’s alternative suffered its own setback on Tuesday. An Eritrean man, who cannot be named for legal…

An Eritrean asylum seeker, who arrived in the UK on a small boat, will not be deported on Wednesday under the government’s “one in, one out” pilot scheme. It comes after the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, won his High Court bid to have the removal temporarily blocked. He had been due…

Another former Conservative MP has defected to Reform UK. Maria Caulfield, who served as the MP for Lewes for nearly a decade, as well as a government minister, is the 13th ex-Tory to join Nigel Farage’s party, which continues to gather momentum. The announcement of her move on Tuesday follows sitting MP Danny Kruger’s decision…

Hillsborough campaigners have hailed a “momentous” day as a bill to force public officials to tell the truth is finally introduced into parliament. The Public Office (Accountability) Bill, known more commonly as “Hillsborough Law”, will be tabled on Tuesday, after a nearly decade-long fight to get it on the statute book. Politics Live: Speaker grants…

The UK has summoned the Russian ambassador in London over the country’s “utterly unacceptable” incursions into NATO airspace. Romania said a drone breached its airspace during a Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine at the weekend, days after Poland shot down Russian drones in its airspace. The UK said the incursions into Polish and Romanian airspace…