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Sir Keir Starmer has been put on notice of a fresh Labour rebellion over the Government's 'family farm tax'. More than 40 Labour MPs are said to be considering a bid to water down looming changes to agricultural and business inheritance tax relief. It comes after the Prime Minister performed a trio of embarrassing U-turns in recent weeks. Sir Keir has reversed his position on axing the winter fuel payment for millions of pensioners, a national grooming gangs inquiry, and welfare cuts. This has left Labour rebels feeling emboldened that they can force the Government into further policy changes. According...

Sir Keir Starmer’s personal polling ratings are so awful that some Labour backbenchers are beginning to question whether he can survive until the next election. His first year in office – which he’ll mark next week with a major climbdown on welfare reform – has been catastrophic. Of the prime ministers since Thatcher, only Gordon Brown had a worse net approval rating at the same stage in his premiership. On current polling, Labour is heading for a single term and a devastating defeat. It is only the split on the Right – with Right-leaning voters currently torn between Reform and...

Keir Starmer has announced a fresh package of military aid for Ukraine – this time paid for using the UK’s interest haul from frozen Russian assets. The UK will send 350 advanced air defence missiles, built in Britain and adapted in record time for ground launch, using £70m of interest raised through the government’s extraordinary revenue acceleration (ERA) scheme. The move marks the first time the UK has used Russia-linked funds to directly bankroll weaponry for Kyiv. The missiles will be deployed through UK-supplied Raven systems – five more of which are en route to Ukraine, taking the total to...

The United Kingdom will buy 12 U.S.-made F-35A fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear bombs and will join NATO’s shared airborne nuclear mission, in a major expansion of its nuclear deterrent, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Wednesday. The government called it “the biggest strengthening of the U.K.’s nuclear posture in a generation.” Starmer made the announcement while attending a NATO summit in the Netherlands. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte welcomed the decision, calling it “yet another robust British contribution to NATO.” The U.K. phased out air-dropped atomic weapons in the 1990s after the end of the Cold War. Its nuclear arsenal...

Britain will commit to spending 5% of its GDP on defence by 2035 after weeks of diplomatic pressure and intense negotiations with allies. The decision came as Keir Starmer, the prime minister, prepared to join Nato leaders at a summit dominated by global conflict and expectations of European military self-reliance. The UK’s pledge aligns with Nato’s new spending targets – but at a slower pace than key allies including Poland. Britain pushed for and secured a later date. Military chiefs are expected to welcome the announcement but officials acknowledged the 5% increase would combine traditional defence spending of 3.5% with...

Sir Keir Starmer warned there was a risk of the Middle East crisis spiralling beyond the region after Donald Trump ordered US planes and submarines to attack Iran's nuclear programme. The Prime Minister urged all sides to return to negotiations but said he had taken 'all necessary measures' to protect British interests in the region if the conflict escalates. He spoke out ahead of a Cobra meeting this afternoon, as Tehran vowed to retaliate for the strike on three facilities in the heart of the country. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds confirmed this morning that the UK was told about the...

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer appeared the most willing of America’s allies in Europe to align himself with President Donald Trump’s decision to bomb Iranian nuclear sites, while fellow European leaders stressed for calm and a return to talks. On Saturday evening, President Donald Trump made a surprise announcement that the United States had conducted targetted ariel bombings of three nuclear sites in Iran. In an address to the nation, President Trump said that the facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan had been “completely and totally obliterated.” Trump added that “Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now...

Donald Trump has delayed a decision on whether to join Israeli attacks on Iran as Sir Keir Starmer continues to urge restraint in the Middle East. The US president said he was still hopeful of reaching a negotiated solution with Tehran and would decide on military action within two weeks, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday. Quoting a message from the president, Ms Leavitt said: “Based on the fact that there is a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision on...

Broadband and Heathrow’s third runway are to be counted as defence spending under Sir Keir Starmer’s plans to redraw the definition of national security. The Government’s national security review, due to be published before a Nato summit next week, will expand the definition to include economic stability, food prices, supply chains, crime and the internet. It could allow the UK to hit Nato’s new defence spending target of five per cent of GDP without committing any further public money. Mark Rutte, Nato’s secretary general, has proposed member states spend 3.5 per cent on core defence activities and a further 1.5...

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday he would accept an investigation into grooming gangs who sexually abused thousands of girls. Starmer had previously resisted a national inquiry into the scandal, Sky News reported, which revealed that mostly Pakistani men had groomed, trafficked and raped young white girls over a decade ago. His change of mind on the matter comes after a government-requested audit found that a nationwide investigation was needed. Starmer told reporters traveling with him to the G7 summit in Canada that he had read the report and would accept the recommendation for a national inquiry. He said...

As they pounded the Iranian nuclear facilities yesterday, the Israelis were finally doing what so many Western leaders had expected they would do for years, if not decades. In fact, let us be honest: the rest of the world has not just been expecting this Israeli action. Secretly or openly, many governments have been hoping for it. In one astonishing operation the Israelis crippled the Natanz enrichment reactor and seriously damaged two others. They took out six of the most important Iranian nuclear scientists, as well as an astonishing array of the country’s top brass. They blew up radars and...

Sadiq Khan dropped a major hint about his future political ambitions this morning, refusing to deny he has his eye on No. 10 Downing Street. Speaking to American news outlet CNBC, the London Mayor suggested he could do a better job as PM than his mayoral predecessor Boris Johnson. Asked whether he wants a fourth term in City Hall, “I'm enjoying being the mayor of London. I think I've got the greatest job in the world. Is only about a year ago where I won that historic record breaking mandate, so let’s wait and see.” Asked whether he could “see...

Keir Starmer has called Israel’s recent actions in Gaza “appalling, counterproductive and intolerable”, as the UK government comes under mounting pressure to take stronger action after the killings of dozens of civilians at food points in recent days. The prime minister told MPs on Wednesday the UK was considering imposing sanctions on members of the Israeli government, but is so far resisting growing calls for a complete ban on arms sales and immediate recognition of Palestine. Starmer was speaking after several attacks at food distribution hubs in recent days left dozens of people dead and hundreds more injured. The attacks...

Sir Keir Starmer has sent his thoughts to those injured and affected by a car ramming incident in Liverpool and is being "kept up to date" with developments as they come in. Merseyside Police confirmed a 53-year-old man has been arrested after a car collided with pedestrians in Liverpool city centre during Liverpool FC's Premier League victory parade. Emergency services rushed to Water Street after Merseyside Police were contacted just after 6pm on Monday with reports of the incident. The car stopped at the scene and a man was detained by police. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: "The scenes...

Summoned Israeli ambassador to Two-tier's Presence, demand that Israel surrender. Lots of sanctimonious platitudes. Halted trade talks. More threats. Israel: GFYS Transcript linked below video.

Labour’s immigration civil war intensified on Tuesday as Sir Sadiq Khan refused to back Keir Starmer’s “island of strangers” warning. The Prime Minister admitted the UK is facing a crisis because integration has failed. Jake Richards, one of the leading MPs in the Red Wall group of MPs, claimed the PM was “absolutely right”, warning “millions of people across the country have similar concerns.” But some backbench MPs slammed the “island of strangers” comment, claiming it echoed Enoch Powell’s “rivers of blood” speech. Sarah Owen, the Labour chair of the women and equalities committee, who is of Malaysian-Chinese heritage, said:...

Keir Starmer has been posting new policies concerning immigration. Here are a few: "We're charging employers more to recruit from overseas and, if they do, they must prove they are investing in British workers and increasing British skills. That's the fair and right thing to do." "This is my promise to British people: Every area of our immigration system will be tightened up, so we have more control. And migration numbers will fall." "Promise made. Promise delivered." "Under the Tories, nearly one million people came to the UK from overseas between 2019 and 2023. My Labour government is taking back...

@zarahsultana The Prime Minister imitating Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech is sickening. That speech fuelled decades of racism and division. Echoing it today is a disgrace. It adds to anti-migrant rhetoric that puts lives at risk. Shame on you, Keir Starmer.

LONDON, May 11 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised on Monday to cut net migration to Britain significantly over the next four years, saying greater control was needed to maintain social cohesion and drive investment in the local workforce. Controlling immigration was a key factor in Britain's 2016 vote to leave the European Union, yet net arrivals have quadrupled since it left the bloc, helping boost the popularity of Nigel Farage's right-wing, anti-immigration Reform UK party.

Migrants could be kicked out of the country if they commit any crime under a planned government crackdown. Currently, foreign criminals are only reported to the Home Office if they receive a jail sentence – and only those given a year behind bars are usually considered for deportation. But Labour is set to rip up those rules as it tries to get a grip on immigration and see off the growing threat posed by Nigel Farage's rampant Reform UK party. Under Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's plans, the Home Office will be told of all foreign nationals convicted of any offence,...