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Andy Burnham and his allies set out a vision of Britain moving even further to the Left under his premiership today, hours after he was effectively anointed Labour leader without a fight. The former Manchester mayor last night won the backing of 322 Labour MPs to replace Sir Keir Starmer, in practice meaning no challenger can now get enough support to oppose him. And this morning one of his closest allies in the Cabinet signalled he could put up taxes or increase public borrowing to fund an increase in defence spending.

ANDY Burnham is all but nailed on to become Prime Minister in 11 days time after Labour MPs overwhelmingly backed him. Some 322 colleagues nominated him to replace Sir Keir Starmer on the opening day of nominations today. The Makerfield MP is the sole candidate running to be Labour leader after all his rival bids melted away. It is now virtually impossible for anyone else to get the 81 MPs required to launch a challenge and prolong the contest. Tonight Mr Burnham sought to firm up his party by apologising for Sir Keir’s stance on the Israel-Gaza war – as...

Talking to LBC's Sunday with Lewis Goodall, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party called for more restrictions on social media usage around the date of elections, calling for rules to be aligned with current broadcasting restrictions. "We absolutely need to strengthen regulation in the social media place," she told LBC, adding that she already has some proposals to put forward, "especially when it’s election time,” as part of a current bill being looked at in Parliament. "We’ve got an elections bill going through the House of Commons at the moment; to strengthen that bill, so that social media comes...

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggests to a classroom full of youngsters that Donald Trump has been “humiliated” by his war in Iran – and the President cancels deployment of the long-range missile systems around which Germany had planned its defense strategy for the coming decades. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez observes a strict neutrality on Iran, declaring his country’s bases out of bounds – and Trump urges Spain be kicked out of NATO. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hesitates to sacrifice his country’s navy in a war on which he wasn’t consulted – and Trump mocks him in public for...

Check out the utter state of policing in the UK. The guys surrounded. The mob circling him are clearly the aggressors. Right. So, he's being closelined to the floor, punched in the face. Guess who the female cop decides to tackle? Oh, you just knew it was coming, didn't you? The people who attacked him get away. Then this happens. I mean, fair enough. That was pretty dumb. Some people in the comments claimed he was just reacting and didn't even know it was a copper. I don't know about that, but if she hadn't charged into the wrong guy,...

On the tenth anniversary of the vote to leave the EU, Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said the prominent Leave campaigner had a worldview which was “sympathetic” to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, Mr Farage accused political leaders, including former prime minister Boris Johnson, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of failing to understand the “forgotten places” across the country which had wanted a “fairer deal” for the UK. A debate over the future of the UK-EU relationship has reignited in recent weeks after the outgoing Prime Minister made closer ties with Brussels a key pillar...

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has announced she and her department are leaving Elon Musk's X platform. Explaining her decision in what seemingly will be her last post on X, Nandy said the platform "isn't healthy for our democracy or our communities and I don't want to support it". "A platform originally designed for free speech and expression now favours abuse and misinformation over meaningful debate," she wrote. The culture department becomes the second government department to stop using X after the attorney general's office, while several MPs also left the platform earlier this year over reports its AI tool was...

"Will Coleshill interviews Sammy Woodhouse on the newly released Rape Gang Inquiry Report." 50 min. video

Backsliding on climate action would drive the Labour party into political obscurity, Zack Polanski has warned, as trade union leaders said more drilling in the North Sea would not help UK workers. The Green party leader, speaking to the Guardian as searing heat swept the country for the second time this year, urged Andy Burnham – widely expected to be the UK’s next prime minister – to be bold on climate justice. He said any move to water down the party’s commitments would have dire consequences at the ballot box. “Half measures or backsliding on climate action would be a...

Elon Musk @elonmusk·11m TRANSCRIPT BEGINS~~~UK immigrant: "You guys started a war that nobody can save you on this (matter?). Nobody. You can join force with America, You can join force with NATO and you can join force with all Germany and nobody gonna save you guys.Trust me. Nobody gonna save you guys. They can put you on the middle of (this?) with (?), RPG, AK47. They surround you, more than 200 billion and 200 billion soldiers and you are in the middle, they cannot save you. Trust me."~~~END TRANSCRIPT

0:022 seconds: been a number [music] 10 for what feels like forever. Taxes upers wide and the country's under weather. Now the Red Rose boys are whispering Burnham's our 0:1111 seconds: guy. Like swapping the driver on the same sinking ship is why they say he's [music] different. He's northern he's tough, but he's still the same party 0:1919 secondsthat loves to tax stuff. Same manifesto, 0:2121 seconds: [music] 0:2222 seconds: same net zero dreams. Same open borders and the same work schemes. Replacing star [music] 0:2929 seconds: with burn is like [ __ ] in your pants and changing...

At least two senior Labour MPs are considering launching leadership bids to prevent Andy Burnham becoming prime minister without a formal contest. Former defence minister Al Carns has said he is weighing up whether to run, while Sir Keir Starmer's Chief Secretary, Darren Jones, has also not ruled out a challenge, BBC News understands. Labour MPs increasingly believe Burnham could become prime minister as early as 17 July - the day after nominations for the new leader close - after Sir Keir announced his resignation on Monday. However, a large contingent are uncomfortable with the idea of a leader whose...

Ever since the May 7 Labour wipeout in the local council elections - elections, mind you, that British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer knew he was on course to get savaged in, so tried mightily to cancel or postpone for one flimsy reason or another until taken to court by Nigel Farage's Reform UK - Starmer has heard what might be described as the ticking of the clock in Capatin Hook's crocodile following him around.The ticking only got louder as Labour ministers resigned either in disgust that Starmer himself had not at the election losses the party had suffered. A...

Tommy Robinson has just walked out of court with a victory that is already being called one of the most explosive free-speech moments in Britain. The terrorism-related case against him — linked to his refusal to hand over his phone PIN to UK police — was thrown out after the judge ruled the stop unlawful and reportedly said Robinson had been targeted because of his political views. This was not just about a phone. This was about power, politics, journalism, and whether the state can treat someone like a national security threat simply because it dislikes what they say. Robinson...

Tommy Robinson was detained by police on Saturday at Heathrow airport under counter-terrorism laws, after a week in which he rose to further prominence on social media. It was understood the far-right activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was stopped and had his phones seized under section 3 of the Counter-Terrorism Border Security Act 2019. Robinson used social media to claim he was detained for almost three hours and had his iPhone and Samsung Galaxy phones taken, and to ask his supporters to donate money to fund his legal defence. A spokesperson for Robinson posted on X: “They likely...

A former Royal Navy commander has expressed concerns over reports Sir Keir Starmer could axe a new fleet of warships. Tom Sharpe, who commanded four warships during his 27-year career, said he fears ministers will take the “cheapest option” rather than the best one in the future of the Type 83 destroyer programme. Reports claim the Prime Minister is weighing up scrapping plans to build the warships, expected to replace the current Type 45s next decade. Mr Sharpe said there is a decision to be made about the programme, as the First Sea Lord pushes for a transition towards a...

Defence Secretary John Healey resigns This is breaking news - we'll have more details in our next post.

Alice Smith reposted Nina Wysocka @realninawysocka Elon Musk to Starmer: “Murderous migrants beheading innocent people in their hometown is what’s making people angry, not social media!”

In a joint letter signed by former ministers and all of the Labour chairs of Westminster select committees, the UK Government has been told there is an “urgent need for accountability and concrete consequences in response to Israel’s violations against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, which are spiralling by the day”. The letter to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper was co-ordinated by Melanie Ward, the Labour MP for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy and the former chief executive of Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP). It comes as Israel launches air strikes on Iran despite a so-called ceasefire, closes all...

Middle-class white men have been banned from a taxpayer-funded internship in a case of 'blatant discrimination'. The National Audit Office (NAO), a publicly-funded Government spending watchdog, said only applicants who were female, of black heritage or from lower socio-economic backgrounds could apply for its diversity internship this summer. In a job advert the watchdog said its six-week scheme aimed to 'support diverse talent' in accounting and was open to penultimate-year undergraduates studying any degree.